Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mailrus!wasatch!utah-gr!uplherc!sp7040!obie!wsccs!dharvey
From: dharvey@wsccs.UUCP (David Harvey)
Newsgroups: comp.ai
Subject: Re: Intelligence / Consciousness Test for Machines (Neural-Nets)???
Summary: Hmm, methinks we have a problem here.....
Message-ID: <734@wsccs.UUCP>
Date: 13 Oct 88 11:32:05 GMT
References: <1141@usfvax2.EDU> <874@taurus.BITNET>
Lines: 42

In article <874@taurus.BITNET>, shani@TAURUS.BITNET writes:
> In article <1141@usfvax2.EDU>, mician@usfvax2.BITNET writes:
> >
> > When can a machine be considered a conscious entity?
> >
> Oh no! not that again! ;-)
> 
> Okay, I'll make it short and somewhat cyinc this time: The answer is: NEVER!
> 
> You see andy, the only reason for you to assume that there is such a thing as
> a conscious entity at all, is that otherwise, YOU are not a conscious entity,
> and that probebly sounds nonsense to you (Actualy when saying that, I already
> take a dangerious step forward, assuming that YOU ARE... the only thing I can
> know is that I AM a conscious entity...).
> 
> I hope that helps...
> 
> O.S.

If you claim that you are a conscious entity, but that I am not (your
view of the world), and that I am a conscious entity but that you are not
(my view of the world), then I can only assume that you are talking
about self awareness.  But is this what determines whether something is
a conscious entity or not?  If I am not mistaken, your view is that for
anything to be a conscious entity, it must have self awareness, and only
it can determine whether it is a conscious entity.  Please correct me if
I misinterpreted you.  But then why in the world am I writing this
article in response?  After all, I have no guarantee that you are a
conscious entity or not.  But for some reason, I have this persistent
but unverifiable belief that you are a conscious entity.  Otherwise,
why would I write?  In other words, we have a sticky problem that may
or may not have a solution.  Yes, Bertrand Russell is someone who had
a neat idea with the proposal of a third indeterminate state.  In other
words, I prefer to consider this type of question the mystery it should
be categorized as.

dharvey@wsccs

I am responsible for Nobody
and Nobody is responsible for me.
The only thing you can know for sure,
is that you can't know anything for sure.