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From: bwk@mbunix.mitre.org (Barry W. Kort)
Newsgroups: comp.ai
Subject: Re: Question on Chinese Room Argument
Summary: Helen Keller and Symbol Manipulation
Keywords: Water, Sensory-Motor I/O
Message-ID: <45199@linus.UUCP>
Date: 23 Feb 89 08:22:18 GMT
References: <45126@linus.UUCP> <5662@homxc.UUCP>
Sender: news@linus.UUCP
Reply-To: bwk@mbunix.mitre.org (Barry Kort)
Organization: Garden Golems, Inc.,  Norbert, WI
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Permit me to inject another anecdote into the discussion
regarding the inadequacy of symbol manipulation.

Recall the breakthrough scene in the Helen Keller Story.
Helen's tutor has trained the recalcitrant child in
finger-signing.  Helen can manipulate the finger-sign
symbols mechanistically, but she still doesn't communicate.

Then while walking in the woods, Helen's tutor plunks the
girl's hand into a cold flowing stream and signs "w-a-t-e-r".

Suddenly Helen understands.  

Helen discovers that all those symbol sequences turn out to stand
for something.  The scene is about as moving as movies can get.

The Chinese Room is like Helen before her moment of epiphany.
There is little point in manipulating symbols mechanistically
unless one can map the symbols to non-symbolic sensory
information from the external world.  In the modern world,
terrorists and diplomats alike also manipulate symbols to
effect motor responses in the external world.  But that's
another discussion.

--Barry Kort