> There is also a good piece there entitle: "The Eternal Now" by
> Jaron Lanier. <URL: http://www.forbes.com/asap/99/0222/072.htm>. I
> completely agree with his declaration: "Information processing will
> never spawn human consciousness in computers."
>
> I really like what he says about "anticonsciousness smart
> alecks":
> A small but robust cadre of intellectual shock
> artists these days is paid to assert that people aren't
> real. Every year one sees more books, mislabeled as
> popular science, aimed at furthering the claim that the
> reader is an illusion: The Astonishing Hypothesis;
> Consciousness Explained; The User Illusion; How the
> Mind Works. On and on, the formula repeats itself. An
> arrogant, overreaching title is essential, as is an
> overview of recent brain research to create an
> atmosphere of scientific authority. But the science is
> peripheral to the boast that the author has attained a
> superior vantage point from which to decimate the
> reader's tender sense of self.
-- Lee Daniel Crocker <lee@piclab.com> <http://www.piclab.com/lcrocker.html> "All inventions or works of authorship original to me, herein and past, are placed irrevocably in the public domain, and may be used or modified for any purpose, without permission, attribution, or notification."--LDC