From newshub.ccs.yorku.ca!ists!helios.physics.utoronto.ca!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!psych.toronto.edu!michael Thu Feb 20 15:21:14 EST 1992
Article 3780 of comp.ai.philosophy:
Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy
Path: newshub.ccs.yorku.ca!ists!helios.physics.utoronto.ca!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!psych.toronto.edu!michael
>From: michael@psych.toronto.edu (Michael Gemar)
Subject: Re: Definition of understanding (Re: Evidence that would falsify strong AI.
Message-ID: <1992Feb16.182943.7817@psych.toronto.edu>
Organization: Department of Psychology, University of Toronto
References: <6185@skye.ed.ac.uk> <1992Feb14.181324.16278@psych.toronto.edu> <1992Feb14.221800.23311@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca>
Date: Sun, 16 Feb 1992 18:29:43 GMT

In article <1992Feb14.221800.23311@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca> pindor@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca (Andrzej Pindor) writes:
>In article <1992Feb14.181324.16278@psych.toronto.edu> michael@psych.toronto.edu (Michael Gemar) writes:
>>With reference to the exchange Jeff Dalton has been having with folks
>>regarding what "understanding" is:   
>>
>>When Steven Harnad came to the University of Toronto to give a colloquium
>>on *his* solution to the Chinese Room, he noted, "Everyone thinks that
>>defining understanding is so difficult.  Well, here..." at which point
>>he spouted something entirely incomprehensible in a non-English language.
>>"There," he said, "that was Hungarian.  Did you understand that?  If not,
>>then you know what understanding involves..."
>>
>>- michael
>>
>
>Good showmanship! Very handy at public lectures (or colloquia), but contributes
>little to appreciating that 'understanding' has many facets.
>

Nonsense.  While it may be true that there are "degrees" of understanding,
or that " 'understanding' has many facets," Harnad was merely demonstrating
that there are some instances in which it is *clear* that no understanding
exists.  He (and I presume Searle) would assert that that is all that is
necessary for the Chinese Room, since (according to both him and Searle),
the person in the Chinese Room is in the exact same state as a monolingual
English speaker hearing Hungarian.  One may want to argue about
the *precise* nature of "understanding", but there are certainly cases
in which we can agree it isn't present.

- michael


 



