[ExI] Semiotics and Computability

[Spencer Campbell]

Stathis Papaioannou <stathisp at gmail.com>:
> Is there anyone out there still following this thread who is confused
> by my description of the thought experiment or doesn't understand its
> rationale? Please email me off list if you prefer.

Seems pretty clear to me, as a neuron-by-neuron replacement is
precisely what I've wanted for the past two to five years. I would
advise phrasing it again, simply and concisely, because (a) what you
have in mind may have changed since you last did so, (b) I might have
overwritten your description with my own, and (c) the point on which
Gordon disagrees remains a total mystery.

Incidentally, I had a toothache last night. Not that anyone asked, but
it was an illusion and I was very frustrated that I couldn't dispel
it.

Gordon, time for the true or false game: there is a difference between
real toothaches and illusionary toothaches.

My answer is "false", and I get the impression that yours will be
"true". If so, why? How?

Is there any way to measure realness in a toothache, scientifically?

If not, is it possible to distinguish between the two through purely
subjective experience?

To both of these questions I give, of course, a decisive "no". But
maybe you mean something by the word "illusion" that I haven't yet
grasped. Currently, I am using a definition borrowing partly from
Buddhism and partly from Dungeons & Dragons. If anyone knows of
another dimension I've missed, do tell.