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Whatisacomputer?Whyisitimportanttoanswerthisquestion?Whydoweneedtotrytodecidewhatacomputeris?Computersplayaformativeroleinthescientificstudyofthemindandbrain.Oneimportantresearchmethodistomodelaparticularmentalabilitywithinacomputerprogram.Manyresearchersinthefieldgofurtherandclaimthatthemindisliterallyacomputerprogramrunningonyourbrain.Butwhatisacomputer?Thatisamatterofconsiderablecontroversyitself.Theupshotofallofthisisthatmanydebatesaboutthenatureofmindsandcognitioncenterondebatesabouthowbesttomodelcognitionandwhetherthemodelsinquestionare,orarenot,computers.Sothequestion,“Whatisacomputer?”isnotatrivialquestionaboutwhatdefinitiononemightfindinthedictionary.Rather,itisaquestionthattakesusrighttotheheartofsomeofthemostexcitingcontroversiesinthefield.So,let‘sjumprightinandbegintoexploresomepossibleanswerstothisquestion.Whatisacomputer?Well,onewaytodefineacomputeristhatitisamachinethattakesaruleorarecipe(whatisusuallycalledan"algorithm")andappliesittowhateveritisinstructedtoapplyitto.Youdothesamethingwhenyoudoaddition.Whenyou"addup"thenumberofpeopleinaroom,youareperformingthe"add"function.Youtakearule,let'scallitthe"add-1rule,"andyouapplyittothehumanbeingsthatoccupytheroom.Youstartwith0.Youseeonepersonandperformthe"add-1rule"onthe0togetanewtotalof1.Youseeanotherpersonandyouperformtheadd-1ruleonyourpresenttotalof1,andyougetanewtotalof2.Andsoon,untilyou've"added"thetotalnumberofpeopleintheroom.Nowlet'ssaythattherearemanypeopleintheroom,thatyouareinahurryandthatyoudon'twanttomakeanymistakes.Soyoudecidetouseacalculatortodothejobandyouaskafriendtohelp.Yourfriendstartscallingoutthenamesofeachpersonintheroom:"John,Sue,Mary,Bob,..."Foreachnamecalled,youpushthe"+"andthe"1"keysonthecalculator.Youhavenowturnedthejobofaddingovertothecalculator.Eachtimeyoupushthe"+"youaretellingthemachinetoperformthe"add"function;whenyoupushthe"1"youareinstructingitto"add1"totherunningtotal.Anotherwayofdescribingthisistosaythatafterthe"+"hasbeenpushed(therebyturningthemachineintoan"adder")t