Re: virus: kurzweil cuts the mustard

Robin Faichney (robin@faichney.demon.co.uk)
Thu, 31 Dec 1998 19:41:24 +0000


In message <368AAFC6.21605221@ma.ultranet.com>, sodom
<Sodom@ma.ultranet.com> writes
>For all I know you could be Prof Tim in disguise, or a sophisticated
>program. I choose to think of you as my equal because you display
unique
>perspective to me (as every conscious entity I met has).

So two machines, identically programmed, would not be
conscious because their perspectives were not unique?

>Right now you think of
>me as most likley as Human. And in your experience humans are
conscious. If you
>were to find out now that I were a machine, I am willing to bet that
instead of
>granting me consciousness, you would change your mind about me and I
would be
>less than conscious all of a sudden.

That's so speculative as to be meaningless.

>You cant even consider the notion that a
>conscious machine can exist

On the contrary -- I believe "conscious machine" is actually
quite a good description of a person.

> yet you believe in a God and the Spiritual nature
>of humankind

I don't believe in any God, and I don't know what "the
Spiritual nature of humankind" means. But I do enjoy
teasing woolly thinkers.

-- 
Robin