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From: ins_akaa@jhunix.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.ai,net.cog-eng,net.philosophy,net.rumor
Subject: Re: re: Computer Dialogue #1
Message-ID: <2345@jhunix.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 28-Mar-86 12:31:07 EST
Article-I.D.: jhunix.2345
Posted: Fri Mar 28 12:31:07 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 1-Apr-86 06:46:18 EST
References: <676@hounx.UUCP> <386@unirot.UUCP> <272@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu> <2290@jhunix.UUCP> <2321@teddy.UUCP>
Reply-To: ins_akaa@jhunix.UUCP (Ken Arromdee)
Organization: TARDIS Repairs, Inc.
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Xref: watmath net.ai:3359 net.cog-eng:644 net.philosophy:4801 net.rumor:1703

>> Maybe not, but this only applies to present-day computers.  "Some people
>> realize that brain cells don't feel emotions any more than toasters do"...
>> doesn't mean that a combination of many brain cells cannot, and the same
>> could apply to future computers with many times the capability of today's
>> computers.
>"Some people realize that brain cells don't feel emotions any more than
>toasters do"... doesn't mean that a combination of many toasters cannot, and
>the same could apply to future toasters with many times the capability of
>today's toasters.

You are actually quite correct.  There's one problem here.  Toasters can store
perhaps two or three bytes of information.  Consider how many toasters
would be required to be as complex as a human brain.

And as for the future toasters, toasters' primary function is to affect
items of a definite physical size (toast).  Future toasters with many times
the capacity of ours would also be many times the SIZE.  This doesn't apply
to computers; just because it has 100 times as much memory and goes 100
times as fast doesn't make it 10000 times the size.  So I fear that the
making of intelligent, emotional toasters may be VERY far into the future.
-- 
Kenneth Arromdee                                               |      |
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