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>From: santas@inf.ethz.ch (Philip Santas)
Subject: Re: Causes and Goals
Message-ID: <1992Mar22.185518.12932@neptune.inf.ethz.ch>
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References: <1992Mar18.230046.22121@a.cs.okstate.edu> <1992Mar21.030527.15609@ccu.umanitoba.ca> <1992Mar21.221618.531@a.cs.okstate.edu>
Date: Sun, 22 Mar 1992 18:55:18 GMT
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  A breakdown in our network caused various problems with our news server.
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In article <1992Mar21.221618.531@a.cs.okstate.edu> onstott@a.cs.okstate.edu (ONSTOTT CHARLES OR) writes:
>
> A virus is capable of identifying a patient.  Therefore, a virus
>is also an agent.  The problem still remains:  is a computer the
>type of agent that can attribute meaning to something.

What does 'identification' has to do with 'attributing meaning'?

I think that before we arrive to your problem, some questions must get
an answer from those who state that a virus is an agent while  a cloud 
is not:

In what way is the virus identifying a patient?
Why are blood or neural cells not responsible for the symptoms of a desease?
(example: aspirin deals with the neural system, but not with the 
viruses which are responsible for the headaches of a person with flu).

Why is HCl not capable of identifying biological tissue, since it destroys it?

Philip Santas

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email: santas@inf.ethz.ch				 Philip Santas
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