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From: marty@homxc.UUCP (M.B.BRILLIANT)
Newsgroups: comp.ai
Subject: Re: Question on Chinese Room Argument
Message-ID: <5662@homxc.UUCP>
Date: 22 Feb 89 15:43:29 GMT
References: <45126@linus.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Holmdel
Lines: 38

From article <45126@linus.UUCP>, by bwk@mbunix.mitre.org (Barry W. Kort):
> ....
> In _Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman_, Richard Feynman recounts
> an attempt to teach physics in Brazil.  The students had become
> very adept at formal symbol manipulation.  They could regurgitate
> the definitions and formulas, but they had no idea that the symbols
> actually referred to anything in the outside world!

I think this is a very significant observation.  Feynman succeeded in
determining that his students were not doing physics.  Supposedly, they
were not just trying to simulate an understanding of physics; they
sincerely believed they understood physics.  They fooled themselves,
but they did not fool Feynman.

This seems to show that the Chinese Room Argument fails in its premise,
not in its logic.  You cannot persuade a human observer that you are
his or her equal if you are only manipulating symbols.  If you assume
you can, you will draw false conclusions.

I think that proves something, but I'm not sure what.  I think it
proves that a system that passes the "Total Turing Test" (TTT) is not
doing "mere symbol manipulation."

I recall that the TTT is not formally defined.  It is defined
operationally, in terms of a received notion of a human observer.  So
any conclusion you draw from it is operational.  Therefore, even if it
provides an operational definition of "mere symbol manipulation," it
brings us no closer to a formal definition.  Same thing goes for
"intelligence," "understanding," etc.

Can we have a review of the question?  What are we arguing about?

M. B. Brilliant					Marty
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Holmdel, NJ 07733	att!homxc!marty

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