[astazangasta]

I think this is an incredibly bad way to try and study the mind. The neural net bears some passing resemblance to a neuron (both have graph connectivity), but the neuron is a biological structure with complex biochemical inputs and outputs. In addition it took us twenty or so years to proceed from simple feed forward neural networks to so-called "deep learning" neural networks. How shallow such networks are when measured against the complexity of an actual neural system is unknown. We may be standing at the shore of a great ocean with one foot in the water congratulating ourselves on our understanding.

[return0]

Yet more and more studies of learning (granted, very basic forms of learning like fear conditioning) provide evidence in support of the connectionist approach to learning , in which machine learning is based. In fact, no other theory has emerged as a popular candidate to replace it , despite the fact that experimental neuroscience has done huge steps forward since the 60s. If machine learning works so well, then its a valid question whether real brains work similarly.