Re: computationalism and supervenience

From: 1Z <peterdjones.domain.name.hidden>
Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2006 15:30:43 -0000

Quentin Anciaux wrote:
> Le Tuesday 29 Août 2006 16:46, 1Z a écrit :
> > Stathis Papaioannou wrote:
> > > I'm not necessarily talking about every possible computation being
> > > implemented by every physical system, just (at least) the subset of
> > > finite computations implemented by a physical computer or brain. I think
> > > this is another way of saying that a recording, or a single trace of a
> > > computation branching in the multiverse, can be conscious. To prevent a
> > > recording being consious yoiu can insist on counterfactual behaviour, but
> > > that seems an ad hoc requirement introduced simply to prevent the
> > > "trivial" case of a recording or any physical system implementing a
> > > computation.
> >
> > The requirement that computations require counterfactuals isn't
> > ad hoc, it comes from the observation that computer programmes
> > include if-then statements.
>
> Would you say that a conscious program (if it is possible of course, imagine
> for the argument) that contains a lot of dead code (code that is not executed
> whatever input) should be more "conscious" than the same program without the
> dead part ?

Computationalism does not hold that every programme (or rather process)
is conscious. Whatever the further criteria are, they may or may
not have to do with the amount of counterfactuallity.

> If a conscious program exists, and we record all input that this program as
> received and like Stathis propose we restart it and feed it with the same
> exact input will it still be conscious ?

The counterfactuals are still there.
it would behave differently with different input.

> If your answer to this is is a conscious program exists, it should be non
> deterministic...

That is another question.

> Then that would only mean we cannot record exactly the
> input... because a program which use a true random generator is not
> deterministic not because of the program which is always deterministic, but
> from the inability to predict/record the input exactly. And so my question
> would be, is the consciousness located in the random generator instead of the
> program ? why bother with the program then ?




> Quentin


--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group.
To post to this group, send email to everything-list.domain.name.hidden
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to everything-list-unsubscribe.domain.name.hidden
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
Received on Tue Aug 29 2006 - 11:33:42 PDT

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.0 : Fri Feb 16 2018 - 13:20:12 PST