Underneath each cell group of the homunculus are a set of columnar brain structures like those discussed for hearing, but devoted to touch. Coded impulses fan out to other parts of the brain, becoming more and more enigmatic. By the fourth level, Johnson says neurologists have no idea what's happening. Deep neural readouts, when they can be obtained, look chaotic. The image of A must be stored in memory as a pattern, a template.
People do it magnificently.
Machines do not. Johnson says the template must be in an abstract, all-purpose kind of form, because the brain does not care whether the A comes from sight or touch. It is not fooled by small print, Olde English lettering, or anything else. We recognize things in an instant, even in forms we've never seen before. Touch in old age is just beginning to be studied, says Johnson.