Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!umn-d-ub!cs.umn.edu!thornley
From: thornley@cs.umn.edu (David H. Thornley)
Newsgroups: comp.ai
Subject: Re: Do dogs love their humans (was: Can machines think....)
Message-ID: <1990Mar6.035358.1081@cs.umn.edu>
Date: 6 Mar 90 03:53:58 GMT
References: <2313@ritcsh.cs.rit.edu> <1990Feb19.165835.9673@pcsbst.pcs.com> <2348@quiche.cs.mcgill.ca> <4073@cbnewsj.ATT.COM>
Organization: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis - CSCI Dept.
Lines: 26

>Western culture has been built, like all surviving modern cultures, on 
>superior weapons of war -- you may choose to consider this as superior
>thinking ability. If our weapons weren't better than the German and
>Japanese weapons, German and Japanese would be the dominant languages.
>As the Japanese seem to have better economic weapons, Japanese may soon
>be the dominant language.

Our weapons were not better than the German and Japanese weapons.  The Allies
won by the simple means of drastically out-producing the Axis.  German Panther
tanks were overwhelmed by the large numbers of T-34s and Shermans and Cromwells
and...well, you get the idea.  Building a large industrial base, and being 
able to turn it to whatever means are necessary, is a sign of intelligent
behavior.  The Japanese seem to have learned this very well, and are
currently acting very intelligently indeed.

>If you think [sic] that thinking is a large part of our culture, I suggest
>you examine any protohuman between the ages of 14 and 65. Unless the gonads
>are organs of thinking, what drives our world is not thinking.

I disagree.  Thinking is part of what drives the world.  Do you know how
many people spend hours *thinking* about sex?  :-)

>Jim Winer -- jwi@mtfme.att.com -- Opinions not represent employer.

David Thornley
Opinions?  What opinions?  Where?