arndt@smurf.DEC (05/25/84)
But perception, don't you see, is in the I of the beholder!
Remember the problem of Alice, "Which dreamed it?"
"Now, Kitty, let's consider who it was that dreamed it all. This is a
serious question, my dear, and you should not go on licking your paw like
that - as if Dina hadn't washed you this morning! You see, Kitty, it MUST
have been either me or the Red King. He was part of my dream, of course -
but then I was part of his dream, too! Was it the Red King, Kitty? You
were his wife, my dear, so you ought to know - oh, Kitty, DO help to settle
it! I'm sure your paw can wait."
The point being, if WE can't decide logically what constitudes a "REAL"
perception for ourselves (and I contend that there is no LOGICAL way out
of the subjectivist trap) how in the WORLD can we decide on a LOGICAL basis
if another human, not to mention a computer, has perception? We can't!!
Therefore we operate on a faith basis a la Turing and move forward on a
practical level and don't ask silly questions like, "Can Computers Think?".
Comments?
Regards,
Ken Arndt
marcus@pyuxt.UUCP (M. G. Hand) (05/26/84)
Eye agree! While it is valuable to challenge the working premises that underlie research, for most of the time we have to accept these on faith (working hypotheses) if we are to be atall productive. Most arguments connected with Descartes or to perceptions of perceptions ultimately have lead to blind alleys and dead ends. marcus hand (pyuxt!marcus)
gurr@west44.UUCP (Dave Gurr) (06/04/84)
< force of habit .. > > The point being, if WE can't decide logically what constitudes a "REAL" > perception for ourselves (and I contend that there is no LOGICAL way out > of the subjectivist trap) how in the WORLD can we decide on a LOGICAL basis > if another human, not to mention a computer, has perception? We can't!! > Therefore we operate on a faith basis a la Turing and move forward on a > practical level and don't ask silly questions like, "Can Computers Think?". For an in depth discussion on this, read "The Mind's I" by Douglas R. Hofstatder and Daniel C. Dennett - this also brings in the idea that you can't even prove that YOU, not to mention another human being, can have perception! mcvax / ukc!root44!west44!gurr / \ vax135 hou3b \ / akgua Dave Gurr, Westfield College, Univ. of London, England.