[ExI] Do digital computers feel?

[John Clark]

On Fri, Feb 10, 2017 at 7:37 PM, Colin Hales <col.hales at gmail.com> wrote:


> ​> ​
> In exactly what way does this OBSERVING happen? It happens in the
> subjectivity of the ‘scientific observer’.
>

​
If you want to get technical it does NOT happen in the
​
subjectivity of
​ ​
just any old
​
 scientific observer, it happens in the subjectivity of John K Clark and of
absolutely nobody else. However nobody
​can​
​
function if they really believed in solipsism therefore everybody this side
of a looney bin has a axiom of existence that says if something behaves in
ways similar to me then they have subjective experiences similar to me. I
have observed other things behave intelligently so I use the aforesaid
axium to conclude that I am not the only conscious thing in the universe.



> ​> ​
> Claiming that qualia are not evidenced is
> ​[...]​
>
>
​I don't claim that, my qualia is certainly​

​evidence, ​and if the above axiom is used your qualia is evidence of stuff
too.  What I do claim is that qualia theories of the sort you find in
abundance on the internet are doomed to failure because they don't even try
to explain how intelligence works.  Dreaming up pure qualia theories is the
easiest thing in the world because there is no way to disprove any of them,
but coming up with theories that explain intelligent behavior is hard, very
very hard.


> ​> ​
> What would be the “evidence” of a scientific observer?
>
>
​Repeatability. I can observe your behavior but I can't observe your
qualia, however I don't need to, if I do what you did and I get the same
result you did then I will conclude that what you claim to have found is
probably true.

​> ​
> The real problem is the total lack of the self-governance of scientific
> behaviour.
>
>
​I don't know what that means, I don't even think the scientific community
has a real problem, although the current political community certainly
does. The subjective world of the most powerful man on Earth has 5 million
voters in it that nobody else can see, what happens if tomorrow this same
man's subjective world includes 5 million Chinese soldiers invading Idaho?

  John K Clark
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