Dr. Michael Egnor wrote the other day:

A singular consequence of the materialist-mechanical metaphysics that permeates our culture and our sciences is that we commonly hold basic beliefs that are abject nonsense. One such belief is the almost ubiquitous one — among ordinary folks as well as neuroscientists and surprisingly many philosophers — that the brain “stores” memories. The fact is that the brain doesn’t store memories, and can’t store memories.

Read the rest here. But what about the model of computers? They store memories of a kind, don’t they? Isn’t it possible that the brain operates on the same principle, thus reducing the mind to physical stuff?
Via Twitter, a typically nasty Darwinist poses that very challenge:

@d_klinghoffer stupidest thing I’ve ever read, hint: think computer facial recognition

— Dark Star (@ColdDimSum) December 9, 2014

Dr. Egnor responds:

The reality is that computers store electrons, not memories. Memories are psychological things that pertain only to man (and animals), not to machines.
We use computers — and books and file cabinets and rolodexes, etc. — as tools to cue our own memories. There are no memories in a computer, except in a metaphorical sense. Computers are devices made of metal and electrons that we configure to aid our own memories. Computers no more have memories than chessboards play chess or televisions watch sitcoms or cameras look at pictures or CD players listen to music.
It may seem just semantic, but extraordinary confusion has been caused by our having taken our metaphors to be reality. Much of the implicit public acceptance of materialistic metaphysics is due to our unexamined acceptance of dodgy metaphors as reality.

Oh, by the way, comments Mike Egnor, “You could ask the Twitter Darwinist who thinks that computers remember things if they feel cold when they freeze, too.”
Image source: Matt Sharpe/Flickr.