[ExI] Do digital computers feel was Re: Is the wave function real?

[Rafal Smigrodzki]

On Fri, Dec 30, 2016 at 6:25 PM, Stathis Papaioannou <stathisp at gmail.com>
wrote:

>
>
> On 30 December 2016 at 17:41, Rafal Smigrodzki <rafal.smigrodzki at gmail.com
> > wrote:
>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Dec 12, 2016 at 11:33 PM, Stathis Papaioannou <stathisp at gmail.com
>> > wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> Here's another way to look at it. Suppose your brain contained identical
>>> parallel circuits A and B, tied together at input and output, which could
>>> be switched on and off independently of each other. It would be difficult
>>> to do with biological tissue due to chaotic internal processes but more
>>> straightforward if you consider a digital implant. Obviously, if you switch
>>> A and B off together you will lose all the functionality of the circuitry.
>>> But if you switch off either A or B, you will notice no change.
>>>
>>
>> ### Let's say the A/B circuits run all the way from a simulation of your
>> spinal cord sensory areas, such as the substantia gelatinosa, all the way
>> to the frontal lobe cortical areas involved in attaching an affective
>> valence to sensory stimuli (cingulate cortex, DLPF and others). We simulate
>> the neural processes of you being slowly burned alive, separately in
>> circuit A and in circuit B, and route the identical output to the rest of
>> the brain. Obviously, the other parts of the brain, involved in e.g.
>> producing screams and generating a memory of pain, will not scream twice as
>> loud, or remember twice the pain. Yet, a process sufficient to produce the
>> experience of pain ran twice. Are you sure you know how much pain was
>> actually experienced by the system as a whole (A+B+ the rest of you)?
>> Please note that the observable results of the experiment (loud screaming)
>> would be the same no matter whether A/B are digital or analog.
>>
>> As I mentioned in the initial post, I do not know. My intuitions are
>> overtaxed by the problem.
>>
>
> If I tried either a 20% reduction in the painful stimulus I would be in
> slightly less pain and scream slightly less, while if circuit A were
> switched off I would feel I was in just as much pain and scream just the
> same. So if I had a choice, I would choose the 20% reduction. If you told
> me that I was deluded about my pain, and I was actually better off
> switching circuit A, I would probably use some bad words telling you what
> you could do with your advice.
>

### Obviously, other people's pain doesn't hurt much. I know that. The
discussion is not just about the pain you remember but about the sum total
of pain being experienced in the system under consideration.

Rafal
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.extropy.org/pipermail/extropy-chat/attachments/20161230/c8a13db2/attachment.html>