SHAFFER%SCOVCB.DECnet@GE-CRD.ARPA.UUCP (12/03/86)
In response to the idea of splitting the group I think that in the long-run it would be a bad idea. But I do support the later suggestion that the length of these dialogs must be limited. As we at GE get things on a limit "bunch" basis, we look through the topics first before reading all of the bulletins. Recently it has become overloaded with long-winded, one-sided, very, very long speeches. Besides the pure waste of computer time and disk space, the people arguing are not going to changes their minds, they are just exercising their fingers. I am not fluent in the language of this "turing, searle" debate, but I can see that the points of interest are becoming a bit on the "off on a tangent" side. Lets all encourage discussion, but lets give everyone a chance to bring up interesting and beneficial topics. Lets not spend the board's entire volume to whether a computer "feels". Earl Shaffer, GE, Philadelphia