Newsgroups: comp.ai.alife,comp.ai.philosophy,comp.ai,alt.consciousness
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!das-news2.harvard.edu!news2.near.net!howland.reston.ans.net!ix.netcom.com!netcom.com!vlsi_lib
From: vlsi_lib@netcom.com (Gerard Malecki)
Subject: Re: Thought Question
Message-ID: <vlsi_libD2IpIA.4A1@netcom.com>
Organization: VLSI Libraries Incorporated
References: <3fbdcb$44t@ixnews2.ix.netcom.com> <3fbepm$f70@lyra.csx.cam.ac.uk> <3fbte9$ksc@agate.berkeley.edu>
Date: Mon, 16 Jan 1995 21:39:45 GMT
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Xref: glinda.oz.cs.cmu.edu comp.ai.alife:1806 comp.ai.philosophy:24682 comp.ai:26524

In article <3fbte9$ksc@agate.berkeley.edu> <jerrybro@uclink2.berkeley.edu> writes:
>mtbc100@cus.cam.ac.uk (Mark Carroll) wrote:
>
>: |> >No, he isn't. If you create a machine that works exactly like a human
>: |> >but isn't self-aware wouldn't it be able to work just like a human?
>: |> >Of ourse it would..
>: |> 
>: |> That is an assumption which has no evidence to support it.
>: 
>: Something that works exactly like a human would obviously be able to
>: work just like a human; it's a tautology. You mean to dispute that such
>: a thing could be created?
>
>The assumption is in the "if" clause.  There is much doubt about
>whether you can create a machine that works exactly like a human
>but isn't self-aware.  Since this may be impossible, all the
>conclusions which follow from the "if" may be irrelevant.
>

It is quite possible that machines can act like human beings the
same way humans could pretend to be in a particular state of mind when 
they aren't.

Shankar Ramakrishnan
shankar@vlibs.com

