I am, again, reading Paul Ricoeur. And rather than simply nod to myself knowingly at the end of each session, I shall make some notes here to see if I can actually explain what I've read. In particular, I shall strive to recount the kernel of what I've read without simply parroting Ricoeur's phrases, which is most dissatisfying.
Recently, somewhere, I ran across references to Echo State Networks (ESN) and to Liquid State Machines (LSM). I'm not sure where the original pointer came from, but I will track it down eventually. (That first link is dead, try Echo State Networks at Scholarpedia, Fraunhofer doesn't believe.)