
Ask HN: Should the CPU be compared to the mitochondrion instead of the brain? - l3robot
The CPU is often compared to the brain. This analogy have caused lots of misconceptions. Could the mitochondrion be a better analogy?
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gus_massa
No way.

The main function of the mitochondria is to transform ADP to ATP. A good
analogy is that ADP is an uncharged battery and ATP is a charged battery, so
the mitochondria are the rechargers.

The ATP can be used in other parts of the cell to make something useful, like
moving or building a molecule. To use it, the ATP is split and it produces
ADP. So they are like a battery.

The function of mitochondria is totally unrelated to the function of CPU and
brain.

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l3robot
You are absolutely right, I wanted to say the ribosome was. I confused both.
My bad.

~~~
gus_massa
Ribosomes! Not a bad idea.

Anyway, I think that ribosomes have a very restrictive type of "calculation",
you can compare them with a Jackard Loom
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacquard_loom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacquard_loom)
or a Pianola
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Player_piano](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Player_piano)
. Perhaps an old programmable calculator.

Currently the CPU have a lot more of computational abilities.

