Final answer:
The basic commands a computer performs include inputting, storing, processing, and executing arithmetic and logical operations. These functions reflect different levels of interaction with a computer: physical, design, and commonsense levels. The brain's processing power is akin to a computer, with the mind serving as the software to the brain's hardware.
Step-by-step explanation:
The basic commands that a computer performs are inputting, storing, processing, and the performance of arithmetic and logical operations. At the physical level, a computer is a series of electronic changes. From the design level, it is running a program created by the programmer. Lastly, at the commonsense level, from the user's perspective, a computer can be used for activities like word processing or solving an equation.
Similarly, the brain can be compared to a computer, where thinking is comparable to computation. Just as software runs on computer hardware, our mind's activities are processed by the brain. Although the materials used to build computers have evolved from vacuum tubes to silicon chips, the essential functionality remains based on the ability to read and write symbols representing 1's and 0's, whether it's in Babbage's mechanical computer or modern digital computers.