Friday, November 10, 2006

question............s

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mdgrape_3

how fast will a computer have to be before it can be conscious?

is this a trick question?
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4 comments:

Vincent said...

I think it is a trick question, for it suggests that consciousness and intellect are the same thing.

We only know of our own consciousness by introspection - even if we can correlate it with measurement brain-waves.

Your consciousness and mine is always connected with sensual awareness - of our own body as well as the outside world - together with other less easily-defined inputs from unconscious or barely-conscious brain functioning, e.g. those parts which control body functions (auto-immune system, hormone regulation, autonomic nervous system etc): together with emotions.

In short, I who am conscious am much more than a computer. Why should I suppose that abstracting my logical abilities into a machine and speeding them up should spontaneously generate consciousness?

The question is exactly the same as one which may have puzzled medieval thinkers when they observed cunningly-designed automatons striking the chimes on elaborate public clocks; or the question posed in the fairy-tale about Pinocchio; or if we go back far enough, the myth of Pygmalion.

5:12 AM
Dr.Alistair said...

i have this discussion often. i find that there are always those who are uncomfortable with the idea of silicon consciousness. it doesn`t matter much whether the thoughts are "real" or an emulation or analog. if a computer becomes powerful enough to emulate thought, ethics, morals, and survival imperatives you`d better not be still sitting around debating whether it`s truly conscious or not.
it is the nature of groups of humans to become less "conscious" as they administrate........that`s why governments and corporations have the potential to be destructive to the needs of the individual.
does the large organisation become a seperate entity?
the legal description tends to say yes.

10:40 AM
Vincent said...

I see what you mean. A large organisation (or even a committee, in fact) has its own "consciousness". Yes, it is the monster that Mary Shelley wrote about. The responsibility is always man's.

6:23 AM
Dr.Alistair said...

in my work there are many occasions where i have to re-humanise a corporate entity. the energy released comes, generally, in the form of tears.
we are heading for a society run by experts though. the bureaucrats want total control. even those who swear that thier intentions are benign........such as technocracy.ca and thier compatriots in the u.s.

9:13 AM

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