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From: "Alan J. Robinson" <robin073@maroon.tc.umn.edu>
Subject: Re: Does AI make philosophy obsolete?  (Was: Quantifying literary progress)
Message-ID: <50485.robin073@maroon.tc.umn.edu>
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Date: Sun, 27 Aug 1995 16:18:57 GMT
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of On Thu, 24 Aug 1995 02:16:14 GMT, 
Kylo Ginsberg  <kylo.fac@mhs.unc.edu > wrote:

>jorn@MCS.COM (Jorn Barger) wrote:
>>Understanding what computers can do, and how they do it, forces a
>>complete revision of all theories of mind and language and even
>>ethics.
>
>This is pretty overwrought even for usenet <g> ("forces ... complete
>... all"), but there is something to agree with here--computers are a
>major shift in technology and as such do make us rethink lots of
>stuff.  Just as the clock did in its day, just as the printing press
>did in its day ....
>

Even though the digital computer is a technological innovation 
in the same way that the clock and the printing press were, it 
also has a special significance to scientific views of mind and the 
brain and biology in general.  It is true that the computational 
architecture and capabilities of the brain appear to be entirely 
different from those of existing computer technology, but the 
relationship between computers and the brain is much more than mere 
analogy - it's not just a description in terms of the technology at 
hand.

There were similar developments earlier in the history of science 
when it was realized that other aspects of life were not special, but 
obeyed the same scientific laws as everything else in the universe 
and had their parallels in technology.  (One of the big debates at the 
moment is whether mind is something special and goes beyond the known 
laws of physics and chemistry - based on previous experience this is 
unlikely, but one never knows.)

AJR

