Stathis Papaioannou wrote:
>
>
> On 01/06/07, *Torgny Tholerus* <torgny.domain.name.hidden
> <mailto:torgny.domain.name.hidden>> wrote:
>
> I am unconscious.
>
> I have no mind. I have no feelings. I have no perceptions. I am
> not thinking. I am just a machine that claims that I am conscious.
> The only thing that happens is a lot of chemical reactions in my
> brain. (Or rather, there are a lot of mathematical relations...)
>
> I just behave AS IF I am conscious. If you interview me, I will
> answer that I am conscious. I will strongly claim that I am
> thinking, and that is the only thing I am really sure of.
>
> But that is a lie. The only thing that exists is a lot of protons,
> neutrons, and electrons reacting with each other inside my brain.
>
> I behave AS IF I am conscious because the natural selection has
> favored that type of behavior.
>
>
> Which implies you really are conscious, because otherwise why would
> evolution have gone to the trouble of making *me* conscious if it could
> have got away without it?
>
>
> --
> Stathis Papaioannou
How do you know it was "trouble" - maybe it's a probable spandrel, or maybe it's even a necessary effect.
Brent Meeker
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Received on Fri Jun 01 2007 - 14:16:24 PDT