From: Harvey, Steven (sharvey@co.coconino.az.us)
Date: Thu Jun 24 1999 - 10:30:58 MDT
>> The point is not whether some external observer could determine whether
>> the brain is conscious by giving it a Turing test. The point is whether
>> the brain is *actually* conscious, a fact which is true or not regardless
>> of anyone else's opinions or whether it is willing to participate in
>> any kind of testing.
>Now you seem to be trying to say it is conscious even though it fails the
>consciousness test, or that it is internally conscious even though this
>consciousness is not detectable or provable by any outside source. You
seem
>to be trying to prove a point without having it be testable, falsifiable,
or
>scientifically verifiable.
- --
>Harvey Newstrom <mailto://newstrom@newstaffinc.com
<mailto://newstrom@newstaffinc.com> > <http://newstaffinc.com
<http://newstaffinc.com> >
>Author, Consultant, Engineer, Legal Hacker, Researcher, Scientist.
It seems to me that consciousness is never proveable by an outside source.
One assumes that since one is conscious, others who appear similar are
likewise conscious. And there is the argument from intersubjectivity of
language, namely that if I can understand you, then you must be speaking
from the same subject position, i. E. that you are conscious.
I can certainly conceive of nonconscious intelligence. And some, some
Buddhists for example, would consider consciousness an inferior state of
mind to postconsciousness.
Steven L. Harvey Sharvey@co.coconino.az.us
<mailto:Sharvey@co.coconino.az.us>
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