[ExI] Addition Functionalism (was Mindless Thought Experiments)

[Stathis Papaioannou]

On 02/03/2008, Lee Corbin <lcorbin at rawbw.com> wrote:
> Stathis writes
>
>  > Let me define another philosophical position: Addition Functionalism.
>  > This is the theory that addition is multiply realisable, on widely
>  > varying substrates. Thus, addition can be implemented on your fingers,
>  > in your head, on an abacus, and so on. It is also being implemented by
>  > accident in any arbitrary physical system with enough complexity, even
>  > though no-one is around to recognise it. But this is absurd; so either
>  > Addition Functionalism is false, or some rule must be added to stop
>  > the accidental implementations. Right?
>
>  Okay, I'll bite   :-)    I would say "right", and that Addition Functionalism
>  is correct. My proviso: the key factor is how explicit it is. If two planetoids
>  gently collide, their masses are explicitly added, but if Van Maanen's Star
>  and S Doradus each emit a certain but different number of photons in a
>  given second, then the addition is highly implicit (or hidden).
>
>  At a different, higher level, an intelligent entity (from a crow to an advanced
>  AI) may map these environmental additions, but mostly only explicit ones,
>  into mental sums or feelings of numerical quantity.

There's not much practical difference between saying addition is not
implemented unless someone observes it, or addition is implemented but
is of no interest unless someone observes it. But if the physical
process in question has associated with it consciousness, you would
have to say that the consciousness still happens, unless you claim
that it is somehow contingent on being observed by another conscious
entity.




-- 
Stathis Papaioannou