[ExI] Semiotics and Computability

Stathis Papaioannou stathisp at gmail.com
Thu Feb 18 14:00:48 UTC 2010


On 19 February 2010 00:46, Gordon Swobe <gts_2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> I understand the man in the room is a metaphor for rules-processing by
>> rote, but what if we take the literal approach that he IS a man - even a
>> supremely gifted intellectual who is informed that eventually these
>> symbols will reveal the means by which he can escape?
>
> Lots of unread messages on my end and I'm in a rush this morning and I don't know who wrote the above (Mike?) but I wanted to take a moment to encourage this approach above. The CRA tells us as much about the philosophy of mind as it does about computers.
>
> The man cannot understand the symbols - no way, no how, not in a million years - and when you realize this you'll learn something important about yourself.

Amazingly the brain does understand symbols, even though it is in the
same position as the CR, except worse since the neurons are far dumber
than even the dumbest man. When you understand this you will
understand something important about yourself.


-- 
Stathis Papaioannou



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