[kdoherty]

There's something to be said for both sides of this. I think you're right about the way NN's have been blown out of proportion. I find as I work across fields they're the most abused and misunderstood ML technique, since everyone and their dog has heard of NN's at this point. But on the other hand, there's a lot that can be said for simple building blocks combining to form something very complex. The biological "inspiration" behind NN's make them an attractive starting point for investigating this line of thought.