From newshub.ccs.yorku.ca!torn!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!ames!agate!doc.ic.ac.uk!uknet!news.cs.bham.ac.uk!axs Mon Oct 19 16:59:44 EDT 1992
Article 7322 of comp.ai.philosophy:
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>From: axs@cs.bham.ac.uk (Aaron Sloman)
Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy
Subject: Re: Ginsberg & Human intelligence vs. Machine intelligence
Message-ID: <BwA6yz.9u9@cs.bham.ac.uk>
Date: 17 Oct 92 19:47:22 GMT
References: <Bw0GEu.Jp0@unx.sas.com> <1257@tdat.teradata.COM> <Bw62rC.5I@unx.sas.com> <1265@tdat.teradata.COM>
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swf@teradata.com (Stanley Friesen) writes:

> Date: 16 Oct 92 22:00:03 GMT
> Organization: NCR Teradata Database Business Unit

> sasmsr@zinfande.unx.sas.com (Mark S. Riggle) writes:
>......
> |In the Strong AI vs. Weak AI hypothsis arguements, it is easy to forget the
> |very special treatment of consciousness in quantum physics and that it
> |should be accounted for.
>
> The point is that I do not think this is anything except a mark of our
> ignorance about quantum phenomena.  I seriously question all interpretations
> of QM that give humanity a special status with regard to the universe.

I agree.

Anyone who thinks that human beings are in some sense "merely"
physical systems, albeit very complex ones, must agree with this.

If consciousness or observation has any special effects in quantum
phenomena (collapsing wave functions or whatever) that must mean
only that certain kinds of physical systems have those effects.

Interestingly I went to a lecture by Roger Penrose (given to
physicists here in Birmingham) a few months ago, in which he seemed
to be supporting this view himself. He essentially seemed to be
arguing (or rather speculating) that all the phenomena that people
attribute to "observation" are best construed as phenomena in which
small scale quantum processes are closely coupled with large scale
processes, in such a way as to change the behaviour of both. I was
out of my depth as regards the technicalities, but it all sounded
far more sensible than some of the mystical talk about consciousness
that occasionally comes even from distinguished physicists! (And
from non-physicists who are too easily impressed by "experts".)

Aaron
-- 
Aaron Sloman, School of Computer Science,
The University of Birmingham, B15 2TT, England
EMAIL   A.Sloman@cs.bham.ac.uk  OR A.Sloman@bham.ac.uk
Phone: +44-(0)21-414-3711       Fax:   +44-(0)21-414-4281


