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From: gurr@west44.UUCP (Dave Gurr)
Newsgroups: net.ai
Subject: Re: "I see", said the carpenter as he picked up his hammer and saw.
Message-ID: <211@west44.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 4-Jun-84 10:47:08 EDT
Article-I.D.: west44.211
Posted: Mon Jun  4 10:47:08 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 1-Jun-84 06:19:59 EDT
References: <621@decwrl.UUCP>
Organization: CS Dept., Westfield College, London
Lines: 25

< force of habit .. >

> The point being, if WE can't decide logically what constitudes a "REAL"
> perception for ourselves (and I contend that there is no LOGICAL way out
> of the subjectivist trap) how in the WORLD can we decide on a LOGICAL basis
> if another human, not to mention a computer, has perception?  We can't!!

> Therefore we operate on a faith basis a la Turing and move forward on a 
> practical level and don't ask silly questions like, "Can Computers Think?".

	For an in depth discussion on this, read "The Mind's I" by Douglas R.
Hofstatder and Daniel C. Dennett - this also brings in the idea that you can't
even prove that YOU, not to mention another human being, can have perception!

                 mcvax
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	     akgua


	Dave Gurr, Westfield College, Univ. of London, England.