Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!bellcore!faline!thumper!gamma!pyuxp!nvuxj!nvuxr!jgn
From: jgn@nvuxr.UUCP (Joe Niederberger)
Newsgroups: comp.ai
Subject: Re: Question on Chinese Room Argument
Message-ID: <1002@nvuxr.UUCP>
Date: 1 Mar 89 19:46:07 GMT
References: <4298@pt.cs.cmu.edu> <Feb.18.17.26.17.1989.23438@elbereth.rutgers.edu> <4296@cs.Buffalo.EDU> <Feb.20.20.43.21.1989.15687@elbereth.rutgers.edu> <1989Feb20.213329.10376@cs.rochester.edu> <855@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU> <17923@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu>
Reply-To: jgn@nvuxr.UUCP (22115-Joe Niederberger)
Organization: Bell Communications Research
Lines: 30

In article <17923@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu> dave@duckie.cogsci.indiana.edu (David Chalmers) writes:
 
<lots of good stuff deleted>

>It is a very mysterious question indeed how real understanding, subjective
>experience and so on could ever emerge from a nice physical system like
>the human brain, which is just toddling along obeying the laws of physics.
>But nevertheless we know that it does, although we don't know how.

>one.  Just remember, semantics CAN arise from syntax, as long as the 
>syntactical system is complex enough, and involves manipulating 
>micro-structural objects which interact in rich and subtle ways.  

Now, I am not religiously convinced either of the truth or falsity
of the above statement, but I can't help noticing the fervor implied
by the capitalized "CAN." But isn't it the point of this discussion
to present evidence supporting or contradicting a held belief? If I
were to grant that David's argument against Searle's "proof" was
valid, I may still be unmoved (and logically uncompelled) to agree
with his claim that semantics CAN arise from syntax. If the
reference to the human brain is the evidence he offers, I ask: why
must I view the brain as a syntactical system ?

Yes, it may be an interesting hypothesis that the brain's essential
function is to serve as a syntactical system, (and this may deserve
further investigation,) but lack of a disproof doesn't serve as a
proof for me.


Joe Niederberger