Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!nfsun!ditka!formtek!darth!pitt!cadre!geb
From: geb@cadre.dsl.PITTSBURGH.EDU (Gordon E. Banks)
Newsgroups: comp.ai
Subject: Re: Free Will & Self Awareness
Message-ID: <1176@cadre.dsl.PITTSBURGH.EDU>
Date: 9 May 88 13:11:04 GMT
References: <770@onion.cs.reading.ac.uk> <1177@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu> <10942@sunybcs.UUCP> <31024@linus.UUCP>
Reply-To: geb@cadre.dsl.pittsburgh.edu.UUCP (Gordon E. Banks)
Distribution: comp
Organization: Decision Systems Lab., Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA.
Lines: 19

In article <31024@linus.UUCP> bwk@mbunix (Barry Kort) writes:
>It is not uncommon for a child to "spank" a machine which misbehaves.
>But as adults, we know that when a machine fails to carry out its
>function, it needs to be repaired or possibly redesigned.  But we
>do not punish the machine or incarcerate it.
>
>Why then, when a human engages in undesirable behavior, do we resort
>to such unenlightened corrective measures as yelling, hitting, or
>deprivation of life-affirming resources?
>


Pray tell, how do you repair, or redesign
a human?  Is "Clockwork Orange" the model we want to strive for?
If you had a machine which was running amok, and you did not know
how to repair it or redesign it, would not destroying it or isolating
it from the objects of its aggression be a prudent course?  Punishment
can serve to "redesign" the human machine.  If you have children, you
will probably know this.  Unfortunately, it doesn't work with everyone.