[ExI] How not to make a thought experiment

[Stathis Papaioannou]

On 21 February 2010 23:48, Ben Zaiboc <bbenzai at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Spencer Campbell <lacertilian at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> > I've just read the Wikipedia article for the CRA in
>> more detail, as
>> > well as the following:
>> > http://cogprints.org/4023/1/searlbook.htm
>
>
> OK, I'm reading the latter, and came across this:
>
> "(1) Mental states are just implementations of (the right) computer program(s). (Otherwise put: Mental states are just computational states)."
>
> Apart from the use of the word "just", which seems both unnecessary and prejudicial, I'm puzzling over the statement.
>
> What else could mental states possibly be?  Is this some confusion of terminology?  I don't see how a 'mental state' can be anything but an arrangement of information, which is also what a 'computational state' is.
>
> Can anyone throw any light on this?  What alternatives are there?

Magic.


-- 
Stathis Papaioannou