Brains and computers are different things. That's because they're both computer systems, right? Well, yes and no. Computers are machines that run software code on digital memory storage, while brains are biological organs that process information by having thoughts about it. So what does this mean for teaching kids about STEM?
Computers are machines.
Computers are machines.
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to perform certain tasks, such as solving mathematical equations or playing chess. But computers are not alive—they're designed to follow set rules, not feel emotions or think like humans do. In fact, computers don't even have brains! These two facts show how different our brains are from those of machines:
Computers have off switches.
Computers have off switches.
Computers are machines, not living things. They're not alive, and they don't have brains—they just make calculations and decisions based on their programming. If a computer breaks down and stops working (which happens often), there's nothing you can do about it except wait until it recovers on its own or get an entirely new one. This is why our digital devices are so reliable: they don't have feelings or emotions like us humans do!
Electronic devices can be repaired using tools that rely on electricity generated by a battery pack installed inside the device itself; however, if this doesn't work then the only option would be replacing those parts with something entirely different such as wires soldered onto circuit boards instead of soldered directly onto chipsets themselves (and thus requiring less maintenance).
Computer memory is digital storage.
As you learned in the previous section, computer memory is digital storage. Digital storage uses binary code (0's and 1's) to represent information stored on computer hard drives, flash drives and other devices that store data for long periods of time. The difference between a computer and a human brain is that computers can read only what they want to read; they don't have any way of storing information in their memory banks if they don't need it at the moment.
Digital storage has several advantages over analog storage:
It's fast—we're talking milliseconds here, not seconds or minutes like humans' brains require
It's small—the concept of "Big Data" has become popular because it makes sense that more information means better decisions made faster
Computer memory is accessed and updated via patterns of electrical activity.
One of the most important differences between brains and computers is that brains don't work like a computer. Computers store information as data, which can be read and manipulated by software programs. But in order for you to remember something (like where you left your keys), your brain must send signals back through time that encode what happened in the past—that’s why we have memory!
Brains are different: they can process information much faster than an ordinary computer because they’re made up of many interconnected neurons that communicate with each other via chemical synapses. This means that while our minds may seem like they work like computers, in reality they operate differently!
Computers run elaborate sequences of instructions on the information they store in memory.
Computers run elaborate sequences of instructions on the information they store in memory. They are programmed with sequences of instructions that tell them what tasks to perform, how to accomplish those tasks and when. They are also programmed to run programs or carry out calculations based on the information stored in their memory.
A computer's processor (the part responsible for processing data) will usually consist of some type of logic unit (such as an AND gate), an arithmetic unit (which performs mathematical operations), an address generation unit and control registers (which allow you to control how much power your processor uses).
The execution of these sequences normally depend on information that’s external to the machine (words, images, sounds, numbers).
In order to function properly, computers need information that’s external to the machine (words, images, sounds and numbers).
Computers are good at following instructions. They can only do what they’re told. If you tell a computer to do something it will do it without asking questions or making decisions on its own.
Computers can't think for themselves and they don't know how to learn from their mistakes so they never get better at anything over time. This is why we still use typewriters instead of computers today!
Computers can't make decisions about anything because there isn't enough data available for them to understand what might happen next based on past experiences with similar situations before now where we got exactly right every time when using our old typewriters :)
The things you can do with computers are very new.
Computers are very new, and brains have been around for millions of years. They're not as smart as computers; in fact, they're pretty dumb compared to us humans.
Brains are really complex structures with lots of different parts that work together to make you who you are today: your personality, your memories and thoughts (if any), your ability to learn new things quickly and retain them longer than most people do...the list goes on! It's hard for us humans to understand how these parts fit together into one whole person—especially when we look at our own brains next time we take a shower or get dressed in the morning!
Brains are biological organs.
Brains are biological organs. They are made up of cells, neurons and synapses. The brain is divided into two hemispheres: the left hemisphere controls your right side of your body, while the right hemisphere controls your left side of your body.
Brains contain millions of nerve cells called neurons that use chemicals called neurotransmitters for communication with each other (synaptic transmission). The axon terminal at one end grows long enough to reach out from one neuron cell to another or from one part of an organ such as muscle tissue or skin to another part; this process is called dendrite growth . Glial cells support neurons by providing nutrients and removing waste products produced by them.
Brains don’t have an “off switch”, but only function when supplied with energy.
Your brain is a biological organ that needs oxygen to function. It doesn't have an off switch, but only functions when supplied with energy. The more you use your brain and learn new things, the longer it will last.
Brains are always active at a cellular level; they're not like computers that shut down when they're not in use (though some people do turn their computers into "sleep mode"). Brains function because of the electrical activity of neurons, which means that even if someone loses their memory or becomes paralyzed from the neck down—their brain still works just fine!
Brain memory is not digital and it’s not read-only storage.
It’s not just that brain memory is distributed throughout the neural network. It’s also that the information in your brain is constantly active and not stored in a single place.
In other words, there are no hard drives in our heads—and if you think about it, that makes sense because brains aren't digital computers (they're more like a huge network of processors) so there's no point having them be read-only storage for all of your memories!
Brain memory is distributed throughout a neural network, and activity within this network is what represents information.
In a computer, memory is stored in one place. On the other hand, brain memory is distributed throughout a neural network and activity within this network represents information.
Neural networks can be connected in many different ways depending on how they're being used. For example:
You might have heard of "deep learning" as a technique for teaching machines to recognize images by analyzing large amounts of data at once—but it's not just computers that use deep learning! Deep learning has been used to train our brains as well! When we learn something new or solve some problem, our neurons fire together automatically (called "synchrony") because they've already been trained together by previous experiences over time; these connections become stronger when more often used together again later on down through adulthood until eventually forming an entire network inside us called "long-term potentiation" which makes learning easier every time we try something new again later on down through adulthood again...
The brain is constantly processing information, whether we want it to or not.
The brain is constantly processing information. Whether we want it to or not, our brains are always changing their structure and function in order to process the world around us. This means that every minute of every day, your brain is making new connections between neurons and firing them up with electrical impulses like a computer running on battery power.
This constant activity can be confusing at first—we think about our bodies as being static and unchanging structures because most of our lives revolve around sitting still for long periods of time (as opposed to moving around). But the truth is that the human mind isn't just one big blob of mushy gray matter floating around in space; instead, it's an incredibly complex network of interconnected parts that work together using specialized skills such as problem solving or planning ahead into the future (or past).
The brain processes information by having thoughts about it, which may or may not be conscious.
The brain processes information by having thoughts about it, which may or may not be conscious. For example, if you're in a room with a bunch of people and want to talk with one of them, your brain will ask "Who do I talk to?". If so, then who else am I going to talk to? She's my friend from high school.
The same thing happens when we try to solve problems using math: we think about what numbers would be involved in this problem and how they would interact with each other; then we make plans based on those numbers—like finding out how long something will take or calculating how many steps there are between two points on a map.
Brains and computers are different!
It's important to remember that brains and computers are different. Brains are biological organs, while computers are machines. Computers have off switches, while brains do not (at least not yet). This means that one has to think about things like off switches when they use a computer—if they didn't think about them, their brain could get damaged by power surges or other issues with the hardware itself.
Computers process information much more quickly than brains can; for example, if you ask me what my favorite color is right now (the answer: blue), then I'll probably reply “blue” before your question even finishes asking! This isn't because my brain knows how long it takes for us both to finish speaking; rather it's because there are fewer connections between neurons in our brains than there would be between each neuron in a computer.