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Article 3430 of comp.ai.philosophy:
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>From: petersow@saifr00.cfsat.honeywell.com (Wayne Peterson)
Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy
Subject: Re: Strong AI and panpsychism (was Re: Virtual Person?)
Message-ID: <1992Feb3.145332.21683@saifr00.cfsat.honeywell.com>
Date: 3 Feb 92 14:53:32 GMT
References: <1992Jan30.170517.29673@psych.toronto.edu> <1992Feb1.212751.5911@bronze.ucs.indiana.edu> <1992Feb2.082603.6355@ccu.umanitoba.ca>
Organization: Honeywell Air Transport Systems Division
Lines: 33

Mr Zirdum asserts
       "I would like to throw out a simple proposition, can anyone
explain how consciousness can be distinct from the brain keeping in 
mind the following:
a) Consciousness does not exist without sense! Try very hard to hold
a consciousness without using one of your senses as a reference point.
b) It is very nice to be able to say "I think!" but I propose that that
statement has no meaning, without being able to say what it is that you
'think of' you might as well have said "I bleep" (This last part I know
is unoriginal) ..."


    Consciousness does exists without the senses, ask people
who have come out of a coma or near death state, or ask the
mathematician. Consciousness is awareness, and therefore it
must be aware of something (visual, thought, aural, feeling).
If you think that the brain produces consciousness, then I
ask how does it do it.

If the world is determistic then no part of it can know it.
For it cannot distinquish what is true from from has been
determined.  Thus a deterministic world is unknowable.

It takes great faith to believe that the mind and the brain are
the same thing just as it takes great faith to believe that 
consciousness comes from the mind. Niether view has any
scientific evidence.

Sincerely,
 Wayne peterson

"There will come a time, dear Socrates when you will learn
to love even the meanest of things, like hair and mud." Parmedides


