From newshub.ccs.yorku.ca!ists!helios.physics.utoronto.ca!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!pindor Mon Mar  9 18:35:01 EST 1992
Article 4243 of comp.ai.philosophy:
Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy
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>From: pindor@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca (Andrzej Pindor)
Subject: Re: Definition of Understanding
Message-ID: <1992Mar4.151700.15282@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca>
Organization: UTCS Public Access
References: <EdgwVzO00Uh7Q40SVx@andrew.cmu.edu>
Date: Wed, 4 Mar 1992 15:17:00 GMT

In article <EdgwVzO00Uh7Q40SVx@andrew.cmu.edu> Franklin Boyle <fb0m+@andrew.cmu.edu> writes:
>
>Well, as a first step, let's say that every time a noun occurs in
>one of the rules used to process the Chinese Room input, the person
>in the room is required to draw an instance of that category.
>I suggest this as a starting point for an objective analysis of
>understanding because subjectively I seem to mental image a tree, 
>for example, when I here or see the word "tree".  I feel that I 
>"understand" (modulo the rest of the context) what is being talked 
>about when this word comes up in a sentence in part because I am
>able to mental image it, and given pencil and paper, 
>I can draw it.  Unfortunately, I cannot say the same when I see 
>and hear Chinese or Hungarian.  I do not mental image a tree when
>symbols that are meant to designate it come up, and I would not be 
>inclined to draw it.  I simply cannot get that information 
>out of the structures of the symbols which are arbitrary with respect 
>to those of their referents.
>
Please note that to answer the questions in Chinese, CR has to have a database
of information about the objects in the story (as SHRDLU program uses). If
you want to be able CR to draw a hamburger, you have to agree that the database
shoud also include visual information (like you have such an information, other-
wise you won't be able to draw a tree, agreed?). Then, when encountering word
'hamburger' in the story CR would access all info it had about hamburgers, 
including what it looks like. Do you see any problem here? 

>-Frank
>

-- 
Andrzej Pindor
University of Toronto
Computing Services
pindor@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca


