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From: markrose@spss.com (Mark Rosenfelder)
Subject: Re: Thought Question
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References: <3f23q4$oc4@ixnews1.ix.netcom.com> <1995Jan12.184559.2530@galileo.cc.rochester.edu> <3f5nuu$mks@ixnews2.ix.netcom.com> <1995Jan14.043829.29350@galileo.cc.rochester.edu>
Date: Wed, 18 Jan 1995 00:14:18 GMT
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Xref: glinda.oz.cs.cmu.edu comp.ai.alife:1821 comp.ai.philosophy:24732 comp.ai:26563

In article <1995Jan14.043829.29350@galileo.cc.rochester.edu>,
Greg Stevens <stevens@prodigal.psych.rochester.edu> wrote:
>Consider a machine which
>had no consicouness, but was programmed to behave EXACTLY as you do. No.
>we don't have the technology, and possibly there is not enough memory 
>capacity in the universe to do such a program without the kind of process
>the gives rise to consciousness, but this is a thought-experiment, right?
>
>I think what was being asked for us to consider was this: Consider a machine
>that was programmed to respond to stimuli the same as us, but had no
>consciousness.  There would be no evolutionary reason for it to be
>selected out, with us superior, if its behaviors were the same, and all
>it was lacking was subjectivity.  Thus, it seems that there is no
>evolutionary benefit to subjective experience per se.

You're begging the question.  By assuming that "its behaviors [are] the same",
you assume that consciousness has no behavioral consequences.  Naturally
it will then have no evolutionary consequences either.

By the way, evolution responds to "behavior" in a larger sense than 
"respon[se] to stimuli".  For instance, if consciousness takes energy
to maintain, a creature without consciousness should have an evolutionary
advantage over one that has it, since it could divert that energy into
more productive uses.  
