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From: yba@mit-athena.ARPA (Mark H Levine)
Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish
Subject: Re: AI and souls
Message-ID: <184@mit-athena.ARPA>
Date: Sun, 1-Jul-84 02:52:59 EDT
Article-I.D.: mit-athe.184
Posted: Sun Jul  1 02:52:59 1984
Date-Received: Mon, 2-Jul-84 00:23:07 EDT
References: <970@eosp1.UUCP>
Organization: MIT, Project Athena, Cambridge, Ma.
Lines: 33

I think you have not understood most of the replies; a theologian who
thought an AI system had a soul would probably base his concepts of the
soul on the model he uses for human beings.

A human being's soul is not modified by surgery is it?  Or by granting
a college degree after "educating" the mind?  Nor is it harmed in any
way by death (turning off the machine).  Your hypothetical theologian
just does not act like a theologian.  There is no such thing as soul
murder--murder is the unlawful killing of a person, the unbinding of
his soul from his body.  Doesn't your Kaballah teacher tell you the
soul returns to God after death?  That you get to try life until you get it
right?

What you have originated is an inconsistent conjecture.

To illustrate, allow me to turn the tables: I, a programmer, coming from
outside of theology, decide that you, Tony, have a soul.  I declare that
you must not be allowed to die, as that would violate your soul, something
I, educated in your school of thought, find unacceptable, even if part of
the natural order.  I believe we must turn all our societal efforts to
AI research in order to preserve your soul past your death, by loading
it into a computer.  In order to accomplish this, like the inquisitional
church of the dark ages, I am even willing to kill (NOT murder) you to
effect the transfer.  Now, what have you to say?

This discussion grows like an onion; it gets longer as your head gets
buried deeper.  Can we stop yet?

Anybody heard the one about the widower and the parrot who davens?  I
like the jokes that are up front about it!  Offensive to no one....

-- 
yba%mit-heracles@mit-mc.ARPA		UUCP:	decvax!mit-athena!yba