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From: stephens@latcs1.oz.au (Philip J Stephens)
Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy
Subject: Re: Introspection
Message-ID: <9550@latcs1.oz.au>
Date: 18 Feb 91 01:47:51 GMT
References: <1991Feb4.224101.18846@watdragon.waterloo.edu> <1574@pdxgate.UUCP>
Organization: Comp Sci, La Trobe Uni, Australia
Lines: 43


  Before I begin, I would just like to mention that I'm quite
uninformed about the current state of AI investigation in regards to
models of consciousness, so some of my questions may be hum-drum to
some.  But hey, you've got to start somewhere!  (And it will be
short...)

Michel P. Devine writes:

>I should be careful to point out that I do not repudiate the machine
>model in toto, but that I consider it incomplete.  It is true that it is 
>possible to assign specialized functions to parts of the brain, but it is 
>pure speculation to conclude that we are purely mechanistic.

  With the theories of Quantum Mechanics and Chaos been so successful
of late (not that I have read enough about them), I am curious to know
whether or not the brain is as susceptible to unpredictability as, for
instance, the weather.  Do neurons always behave in a deterministic
fashion, or do they exhibit random fluctuations?  Could a neural
network amplify these variations in behaviour like a ball bouncing
amongst an array of pegs, never producing the same result from the
same initial conditions?  Just how much is known about living neural
networks, and is it a fair assumption to say that they are purely
mechanical in function?
  I quite often wonder about the rationale behind searching for a
deterministic model of the brain, when so much natural phenomena is
chaotic and inherently unpredictable in nature.  Obviously there are
some quite dramatic philosophical implications that would be raised if
the brain were found to be governed by the laws of Chaos, but I am
often surprised to find that the majority of people find these implications
unsavory rather than potentially revolutionary.
  With the scientific models of the world gradually leaning towards an
acknowledgement of the unpredictable nature of the universe, why do
people still cling so dramatically to mechanistic models of
consciousness?  [I think I already know some of the reasons, but I
want to hear the views of others first].

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<  Philip J. Stephens                ><   "Many views yield the truth."        >
<  Hons. student, Computer Science   ><   "Therefore, be not alone."           >
<  La Trobe University, Melbourne    ><   - Prime Song of the viggies, from    >
<  AUSTRALIA                         ><   THE ENGIMA SCORE by Sheri S Tepper   >
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