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Article 2121 of comp.ai.philosophy:
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>From: geb@dsl.pitt.edu (gordon e. banks)
Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy
Subject: Re: Scaled up slug brains
Message-ID: <12689@pitt.UUCP>
Date: 14 Dec 91 14:28:24 GMT
References: <40461@dime.cs.umass.edu> <12677@pitt.UUCP> <60044@netnews.upenn.edu>
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Organization: Decision Systems Laboratory, Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA.
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In article <60044@netnews.upenn.edu> weemba@libra.wistar.upenn.edu (Matthew P Wiener) writes:
>In article <12677@pitt.UUCP>, geb@dsl (gordon e. banks) writes:
>>>There are some humans who are capable of behavior somewhat more complex
>>>than that of your typical slug. You believe, on religious or some other
>>>grounds, that human brains are merely scaled up versions of slug nervous
>>>systems. Good luck with your theory, but don't expect everyone else to
>>>believe until you come up with some evidence.
>
>>I don't expect everyone to believe it or even examine the evidence,
>>as you don't seem to be willing to do.
>
>Well, OK.  What is the evidence that human brains are merely a scaled
>up version of slug brains?  (Besides certain USENET posters and US vice
>presidents?)
>
>Would you call uranium merely a scaled up version of helium?  Would
>you call the US economy a merely scaled up version of tribal barter?
>Would you call USENET merely a scaled up talk(1)?

The words "scaled up" are my detractors', not mine.  I would say
that yes, the principles that cause the Helium atom to exist
are the same ones that cause the uranium atom to exist and that
understanding the helium atom is fundamental to understanding
the uranium one, although perhaps the uranium is complex enough
that there are additional principles involved in its understanding.
I think the analogy holds.  The worm has the same basic elements
as the human, although the human may have additional elements that
do not exist in the worm, it appears that it is mainly a matter of
complexity of connections and not new and different structures that
characterize the differences, at least on an anatomic and neurochemical
level.  Incidentally, your anesthetics example was interesting, but
you can also anesthetize primitive animals, so whatever the process
is, it is even present in these primitive brains and isn't something
peculiar to humans.

-- 
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Gordon Banks  N3JXP      | "I have given you an argument; I am not obliged
geb@cadre.dsl.pitt.edu   |  to supply you with an understanding." -S.Johnson
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