From newshub.ccs.yorku.ca!ists!helios.physics.utoronto.ca!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!psych.toronto.edu!christo Mon May 25 14:06:48 EDT 1992
Article 5806 of comp.ai.philosophy:
Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy
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>From: christo@psych.toronto.edu (Christopher Green)
Subject: Re: Grounding: Real vs. Virtual (formerly "on meaning")
Organization: Department of Psychology, University of Toronto
References: <1992May20.150243.25894@psych.toronto.edu> <1992May20.191738.18644@mp.cs.niu.edu> <1992May20.221931.20652@news.media.mit.edu>
Message-ID: <1992May21.145410.1055@psych.toronto.edu>
Keywords: symbol, analog, Turing Test, robotics
Date: Thu, 21 May 1992 14:54:10 GMT

In article <1992May20.221931.20652@news.media.mit.edu> minsky@media.mit.edu (Marvin Minsky) writes:
>In article <1992May20.191738.18644@mp.cs.niu.edu> rickert@mp.cs.niu.edu (Neil Rickert) writes:
>>In article <1992May20.150243.25894@psych.toronto.edu> christo@psych.toronto.edu (Christopher Green) writes:
>
>
>>>That is, it would never see a cat, but only the image of a cat. Thus, its
>>>tokening of "cat" owuld not refer to cats.  It would never feel a scratch 
>>>on its arm, but only the "image" of a scratch on its arm. 
>>
>>  It can be argued that you never see a cat now, either, but only the image
>>of a cat.  In other words, what you perceive of vision is perhaps already
>>better thought of as a virtual reality, created by the brain as a way of
>>integrating input from the two eyes, perhaps from other sensory organs, and
>>information from memory.
>
>Right on.  
>Are you ever going to question the fatal assumption that foulds
>the history of philosophy: that idea of a Singel Central Self, which
>"means" and "understands" and looks out through its eyes and "sees"
>the world?  Gosh, I'm tired of complaining about this.


Ne right on pas! Nothing is to be gained by this regress inward. Are you
really prepared to argue that we do not see the world, but only our own
retinal images of the world? And who what sees those?
It's not a question of personal identity. It's a question of coherent
explanation.

-- 
Christopher D. Green                christo@psych.toronto.edu
Psychology Department               cgreen@lake.scar.utoronto.ca
University of Toronto
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