IUBio

machine brains

fox_emma at my-dejanews.com fox_emma at my-dejanews.com
Thu Jan 21 06:28:30 EST 1999


In article <36a5d8ea.0 at ns2.wsg.net>,
  "Ray Scanlon" <rscanlon at wsg.net> wrote:

> Our answer to the soul (mind)/body problem is that a material universe has
> no need of soul. We leave that to the philosophers, they may worry it to
> their heart's content. Our position for purposes of brain explanation is
> that there is soul (mind) but it has no part to play in a material account
> of brain action.

What on earth is brain action without mind?  Your statement needs to be
clarified, can you give an example of a brain action that does not in some way
involve the mind?

> We direct our attention to the nervous system and, in particular, the
> mammalian nervous system The brain is an artifact of anatomy, the nervous
> system is the basic reality.

That humans think, is a basic reality; that other mammals probably do, is
another.

> We should leave soul (mind, self, intelligence, whatever) to the theologians
> and proceed with the design of a machine that can think and decide using
> only neuromimes. As a first step we examine the brain to see how the neurons
> do these things. If we can explain the how the brain thinks, how it decides,
> we shall know how to design the machine.

How will you know when it is thinking or making decisions?  What will you
compare it with if you discount soul/mind?

Emma Fox

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