The brain and its information trapping device

It is often assumed that neurons are basically simple and well approximated by a switch of some sort . I claim, and shall line up' some arguments behind the claim, that the opposite approximation is closer to the truth . The neurons are not "ideally stupid" but "ideally smart" . That'' a neuron can do much (rather than only little) data processing is certainly not beyond possibility . After all, there exist whole animals that are no bigger' and no more complex than the neurons, and they must even hunt for their food . It is not unbelievable that if a whole cell is specialized to the task of information processing, it could be ideally good at it . The more worrysome.feature of the assumption is that the gross brain circuitry, already too complicated' for treatment when the neuron is a switch, CHAPTER 11-6