Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!uhccux!lee
From: lee@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu (Greg Lee)
Newsgroups: comp.ai
Subject: Re: What's the Chinese room problem?
Message-ID: <5026@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu>
Date: 5 Oct 89 15:15:45 GMT
References: <2245@csadfa.oz>
Organization: University of Hawaii
Lines: 18

From article <2245@csadfa.oz>, by rim@csadfa.oz (Bob McKay):
" From article <2281@uceng.UC.EDU>, by dmocsny@uceng.UC.EDU (daniel mocsny):
" > ... Two translation steps are already
" > going on there---from the speaker's thoughts into a serial symbol
" > string, and then from the string to the hearer's thoughts......
" 
" The conception here of speaking and listening as translation is a little 
" worrying: it has somewhat of the flavour of the homunculus theories of 
" sensation, with the same dangers of an infinite regress.

On the contrary.  Translating (and, within a single language,
paraphrasing) are concrete everyday activities.  Conceiving of
speaking and listening in these terms makes it possible to
avoid appealing to a mysterious internal stream of thoughts
or concepts or cognitive structures or whatever, and so to
avoid any regress at all.
				Yours,
				A. Behaviorist