[ExI] Sunday Creationist

[Will Steinberg]

On Tue, Jul 23, 2019, 15:15 John Clark <johnkclark at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Tue, Jul 23, 2019 at 10:40 AM Will Steinberg <steinberg.will at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> The atoms in a brain can perform calculations because they are organized
> in the only way that can, the way Alan Turing described. The atoms in Earth
> are not.
>

There are MANY atoms in the brain that do not perform calculations.  From
molecules of cerebrospinal fluid to structural cells like glia or
microtubules, though those may very well end up implicated in cognition.

Similarly, just because parts of Earth aren't directly computing (and that
negation itself is a potentially dubious claim) doesn't mean that they
aren't implicated in computation.  Plus, what about the noncomputable?  Cf.
The Emperor's New Mind by Roger Penrose.

The point is, what separates a brain or brains from Earth?  Nothing.

If some aliens only saw Earth as a black box, at a certain resolution, and
they sent a meteor at us, and the world responded as one by sending a
missile to hit the meteor, the aliens would deduce correctly that the Earth
performed a calculation.

Furthermore, those brains are just the current endpoints of a 4D structure
that has 'nonconscious' Earth in its past.  As Sagan said, in order to make
an apple pie, you must first create the universe.

He is hinting at the interconnected and supremely conditional nature of all
things.

And no, the comic wasn't smart.  I'm honestly shocked that an intelligent
person like yourself has such a low bar for something being 'smart'.  It
was low-hanging fruit at best.  Phoned in.  As the funnies pages tend to be.

>
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