From newshub.ccs.yorku.ca!ists!helios.physics.utoronto.ca!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!psinntp!norton!brian Wed Feb 26 12:54:26 EST 1992
Article 4002 of comp.ai.philosophy:
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>From: brian@norton.com (Brian Yoder)
Subject: Re: Strong AI and panpsychism
Message-ID: <1992Feb25.105322.24546@norton.com>
Organization: Symantec / Peter Norton
References: <1992Feb24.175920.16996@psych.toronto.edu>
Date: Tue, 25 Feb 1992 10:53:22 GMT
Lines: 36

michael@psych.toronto.edu (Michael Gemar) writes:
> In article <1992Feb23.231152.17186@ida.liu.se> c89ponga@odalix.ida.liu.se (Pontus Gagge) writes:
 
> [in response to "Rocks may implement FSAs, but we can't interface (communicate)
>  with them]
 
> >The concept of there being vast universa of intelligences "locked up" 
> >in common rocks; unable to communicate with or affect the physical world, 
> >is somewhat staggering. We are truly priviliged to belong to that class
> >of intelligences which can manipulate the world. 
 
> How do you know that rock-based FSAs don't manipulate *virtual* worlds?   

This is nonsense. Arbitrary positions such as the one that rocks are intelligent
should not be considered "possible"...they should be tossed out as meaningless.
Of course I can't prove that there are not intelligent processes going on inside
rocks, but then you can't expect me to prove negatives like that anyway. Where's
your evidence that rocks have any intelligence?  Until you can come up with some,
you have no business claiming that they might have some.
 
> It
> >reminds one of the idea of there being "parallel" worlds (as in QM 
> >many worlds/global wave-function) which are equally inaccessible.
 
It is very important to differentiate between epistemological "worlds" and 
metaphysical ones.  It's the same difference as that between a pink elephant
in my imagination and one in reality.  Don't get the two confused.

--Brian

 
-- 
-- Brian K. Yoder (brian@norton.com) - Q: What do you get when you cross     --
-- Peter Norton Computing Group      -    Apple & IBM?                       --
-- Symantec Corporation              - A: IBM.                               --
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