If you think your brain is more than a computer, you must accept this fringe idea in physics

It's about the brain -- or more precisely, about consciousness -- and it's been going on for decades. Its central question: Is the brain fundamentally like a computer? The side that says no relies on some seriously outlandish thinking. On the more conservative side, there are researchers like Scott Aaronson, a respected theoretical computer scientist at MIT. His view, which is more widely accepted, is that because the brain exists inside the universe, and because computers can simulate the entire universe given enough power, your entire brain can be simulated in a computer.