51) What is Analog Processing?
An analog process is a process that does not use symbolism. Symbols are
arbitary while an analog process is causal, i.e, it is directly linked
to the original input. Basically, computation manipulates arbitary
symbols, according to a set of rules, which results in the input, e.g,
a photograph, being coded and arranged so that it represents the
original input. However, analog processes resemble the input by
creating an analog copy or 'shadow' of the input.
An example of analog processing is the retinotopic maps observed in the
brain. These project images from the retina into the visual centre of
the brain, unchanged. This means that the input images become analog
copies in the brain. The evidence that supports this idea is that
damage to the visual centre of the brain causes the ability to imagine
an object or 'image' to be lost.
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