[ExI] Zombie glutamate

[Stathis Papaioannou]

On Tuesday, February 17, 2015, John Clark <johnkclark at gmail.com
<javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','johnkclark at gmail.com');>> wrote:

> On Sun, Feb 15, 2015 at 4:29 PM, Stathis Papaioannou <stathisp at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>>
> > there is a proof that IF a being is conscious
>>
>
> But you can't prove that any being is conscious.
>

That's right, but it doesn't follow that you can't prove anything else
conditionally.


> > THEN it is necessarily conscious.
>>
>
> Since you can't prove what causes consciousness you can't prove that
> moving the mind to a different substrate, like from biology to electronics,
> won't effect or destroy the consciousness.
>

Yes, you CAN prove just that, with the only assumption being that
consciousness, if it exists, is due to physical processes in your brain. As
I've tried to explain several times, the argument is a reductio ad
absurdum. If we say that a replacement part functions perfectly according
to every test but lacks the ability to sustain consciousness, that would
allow us to make you completely blind but you would behave normally,
according to any test we apply to you, and either honestly believe that you
had normal vision or, if you realised you were blind, would be unable to
control your vocal cords as your mouth declared that everything was normal.
If the former, consciousness is meaningless; if the latter, the assumption
that you think with your brain is contradicted.



> However having said that I must say that absolute proof is very rarely
> available for real world problems, there is nearly always some uncertainty
> but that doesn't prevent us from acting. And I think the evidence for the
> intelligence-consciousness link is so strong (although falling short of a
> proof) that I wouldn't worry a bit about being uploaded into a computer.
>

But you can prove it, despite being unable to prove that any particular
being is conscious. This is what I have been saying for several posts. What
is needed is that the mechanicalgyy


-- 
Stathis Papaioannou
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