<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></head><body><div style="font-family:'bookman old style', 'new york', times, serif;font-size:10pt"><div>Two points: First, why do you believe that thinking can be an emergent property of physical brains, but not of digital simulations of brains?</div><div><br></div><div>Second, your analogy is imperfect; a better comparison to the project underway would be artificial hearts, not digital simulations of hearts.</div><div><br></div><div>Regardless, both artificial hearts, and digital simulations of hearts, can hold the property of "beating".</div><div style="font-family:bookman old style, new york, times, serif;font-size:10pt"><br><div style="font-family:bookman old style, new york, times, serif;font-size:10pt"><font size="2" face="Tahoma"><hr size="1"><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">From:</span></b> Gordon Swobe <gts_2000@yahoo.com><br><b><span style="font-weight:
bold;">To:</span></b> ExI chat list <extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org><br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Mon, February 22, 2010 8:20:56 AM<br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> Re: [ExI] Is the brain a digital computer?<br></font><br>
--- On Mon, 2/22/10, Stathis Papaioannou <<a ymailto="mailto:stathisp@gmail.com" href="mailto:stathisp@gmail.com">stathisp@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br><br>> Those who claim that the brain has properties that make it unique in the <br>> universe are sometimes lumped together with the vitalists and the<br>> dualists. It's perhaps name-calling, but it's what happens.<br><br>You and others here, not I, give the brain special status. <br><br>You think the organic brain differs from other biological organs. You will agree with me for example when I assert that a digital simulation of a complete heart running on a computer does not equal a real complete heart capable of pumping real blood through its chambers. Yes? But then you will disagree with me when I assert the same exact principle with respect to brains: you will disagree when I assert that a digital simulation of a brain running on a computer does not equal a real brain capable of having
real thoughts. <br><br>Can you or anyone here explain why you think the brain deserves that special status without asserting mind/matter dualism? I don't think so.<br><br>-gts<br><br><br> <br>_______________________________________________<br>extropy-chat mailing list<br><a ymailto="mailto:extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org" href="mailto:extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org">extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org</a><br><span><a target="_blank" href="http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat">http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat</a></span><br></div></div><div style="position:fixed"></div>
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