Skills as stored-instructions (programs)

The first analogy is with computing. The first practical digital computer, the Eniac, had to be set up manually to do a computation. The next generation was designed so that the set-up information was stored internally.

• The von Neumann architecture for stored instruction computing (post-ENIAC).
• The ENIAC was designed to calculate ballistics trajectories, using arithmetic operations.

The main challenge in following this analogy is to identify the information processing - computational components required for converting skills into action.

• A von Neumann - equivalent architecture for innate skills.
• Innate skills can be seen as stored instructions in DNA and in the brain.
• The output controls action and is likely to be a combination of information about joint-angles and timing
• The input represents gravity, vision, and other sensory modalities