From: Wei Dai (weidai@eskimo.com)
Date: Sat Jun 19 1999 - 15:03:55 MDT
On Fri, Jun 18, 1999 at 06:33:49PM -0700, hal@finney.org wrote:
> I believe Eliezer's logic is that if it is impossible to define whether
> a computation is instantiated, then there is no "fact of the matter" as
> to whether any given computation is instantiated in any given system.
> But he takes as given, based on his personal experience, that it is
> a definite fact that his qualia exist. It follows that qualia cannot
> result merely from computation.
Thanks for the explanation, Hal. I think I understand Eliezer's reasoning
now, but I have a couple of objections to it. First I think it is possible
to have a computational theory of consciousness (or qualia) that doesn't
depend on a definition of "instantiation of a computation". See for
example http://www.escribe.com/science/theory/index.html?mID=325.
Second, even if we really do need either a definition of instantiation or
non-computable physics to explain qualia, I do not see sufficient reason
to believe that the latter is more likely to exist than the former. The
only justification I have seen is Eliezer's (and other's) failed attempts
to find such a definition. But people have presumably been trying to find
examples of non-computable physics also, and they have also failed so far.
I hope Eliezer will explain to us which approaches he tried when he
attempted to find a definition of instantiation, why they failed, and why
he doesn't believe other approaches will eventually work. What about the
one given at http://pages.nyu.edu/~jqm1584/cwia.htm?
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