From: J. R. Molloy (jr@shasta.com)
Date: Mon Mar 06 2000 - 12:52:44 MST
Rob Harris wrote,
>The fact that such effects seem intractable NOW does not make the taming of
>such things "impossible"......when are we gonna learn this? How many times
>havce we heard fool know-it-all scientists branding this and that
>"impossible" without foundation? A lot. We'll go places on the back of the
>"cans", and nowhere with the "can'ts". History has shown this time and
>again...
>
That seems reasonable to me. Consequently, I think it premature to offer an
"explanation of mind" until one has examined it thoroughly. To begin the
examination, why do we need to explain mind?
You see, Max has asked, "can mind be explained naturalistically or do we need to
resort to a supernatural explanation?"
First, eliminate "supernatural explanations," because they don't actually
explain anything at all. That leaves Max's brain ("Professor X") asking for a
"naturalistic" explanation of mind. Does it seen natural to ask why the brain
seeks an explanation of itself? Why do we want to know?
If you know why you want to know yourself, you know why you should proceed.
If you don't know why you want to know yourself, you can't know how to proceed.
So...
Why do we need to explain mind?
Is it that we want to build one, even though we don't know how one works?
No problem. People built flying machines, even though they didn't know how
airplanes worked. They used the Trial and Error method. So, de Garis, Tom Ray,
John Holland, Marvin Minsky, et al., will keep messing about until they put
together an "artilect" that amazes everyone with its cognitive brilliance.
A wise artilect might compose a completely satisfying explanation of mind for
Professor X. Then again, it might ask us why we need this explanation, because
why we need it may determine the composition of the explanation. Not exactly
like the physicist's observations influencing quantum effects, but you
understand the correlation?
As a result of this, until we can say why we want an explanation, reason cannot
proceed.
I think we need to know ourselves before we can transcend ourselves.
Cheers,
--J. R.
-------------------------------------------
"I know I've never completely freed myself of the suspicion that there are some
extremely odd things about this mailing list. I'm sure you'll agree that there's
some truth in what I say."
--Harold 9000
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