When I look at efforts to synthesize the human brain within a computer I see an effort to make a synthetic bird rather than a machine that flies.<p>If this analogy has any use as a model beyond a cursory observation then a focus on machines that solve hard problems will bear more fruit and earlier (maybe ever) than attempts to fully replicate the human brain.<p>Today is it possible to build an (outwardly) anatomically correct and functioning sparrow (in all respects) out of synthetic materials? I don&#x27;t know but surely it is hard. To make one certainly would have been impossible for the Wright brothers.<p>Today we have things like the F22, A380, and little drones. Each is quite complex but the complexity accreted over time, each layer a pragmatic solution to a problem at hand.<p>If we take the same approach what kind of &quot;thinking machine&quot; might we end up with in 100 years time?