RogueAI

But it is possible to see the switching operations. For example, the first computers were the size of rooms and made of vacuum tubes. Could you "rever...

Wouldn't you see a set of particular switching operations? That's what code ultimately is.

Sorry, I totally skipped this: "(Not really "knows", but is constrained thus.)" Sorry!

If we use the standard definition, how could a collection of switches have a justified true belief about anything? How would that work?

Can a collection of electronic switches be said to know anything? Doesn't that seem absurd?

Imo, the best objection to the theory that mental states are identical to brain states is simply that I can imagine a blue car, but there's no blue ca...

I think it's obvious, but I've seen raging arguments between people who think computers can simulate things with no one observing the computer vs. peo...

Sean Carrol talks about that. Why don't scientists want to get to the bottom of it?

I see what you did there!

If he's right that the physical universe doesn't count (and I think that's true), then presumably brains can't count (I also agree).

I agree. Do you think simulations can exist without anyone observing them?

I think I was being kind of nitpicky. A lot of what makes up our knowledge comes from casual conversations with people and casual reading of books wit...

I was worried about this too, but a disputed election will be challenged in the courts, and ultimately SCOTUS, and none of the judges on there are mor...

:up: :100:

I like a good discussion, and I learn new things here, but a part of me loves it when someone puts a :100: next to something I've said. Isn't that sad...

I missed this. How do you know chess computers don't have minds?

That's true, but not applicable here. If I tell you I've solved the hard problem, you wouldn't just take my word for it.

I was pointing out that in certain circumstances, just telling someone what's in your back yard doesn't cut it as a good explanation. As the stakes go...

What if your life somehow depended on guessing correctly that there is a tree in my yard? Would you just take my word for it if I said there wasn't, a...

If it was a simple enough account, we wouldn't be posting in yet another "problem of consciousness" thread, yet here we are.

This is not clear: "And do the tests claim the theory is true? Or do they make the more modest epistemic claim that the theory seems pragmatically rel...

Tests and observations are evidence. Evidence is used to confirm/disconfirm theories. The same standards for all theories. Relativity theory has been ...

It certainly tries to. Good theories make testable predictions. Any physical theory of consciousness is going to have to make claims regarding whether...

I saw this article today: "For decades, the idea that insects have feelings was considered a heretical joke – but as the evidence piles up, scientists...

This is what scares me about China: https://www.businessinsider.com/china-social-credit-system-punishments-and-rewards-explained-2018-4

How long should science get a pass on failing to explain consciousness?

The EU is not that far behind the U.S., economically. If the EU suddenly transformed into one large country with a government similar to Germany's, an...

If things get bad enough, we'll pump a bunch of sulphur dioxide into the air.

This is hard to prove since the two countries that have made serious bids at rivaling U.S. power have had governments Americans consider (with good re...

Almost zero. Both sides have too much to lose.

Roger Ebert's take on Ayn Rand's philosophy: ""I’m on board; pull up the lifeline."

That's my intuition too, but is there a problem where if we codify that we create unintended consequences?

What if the a buys something at the store, and has it stolen from them? The person who got the stuff that was stolen from the kid would be receiving s...

A lot of unintentional hilarity here: https://thefederalist.com/2021/11/04/how-covid-vaccine-coercion-drove-me-out-of-west-point/

I'm saying there is a class of things (mental states) that cannot be described by observers other than oneself.

Are first-person experiences a thing? I think they are. If they are, then you are admitting there is some thing in the universe that cannot be describ...

Do you agree then that there are phenomena in the universe (first-person experiences) that cannot be described by an objective third party?

How far does you skepticism go? Do you think there's a strong possibility you're the only mind in existence?

Are you pretending for the thread, or do you actually think you're a p-zombie?

This would be more compelling if materialists had some idea of what consciousness is and how brains produce it. Let me ask you: suppose science is sti...

Instead of mental state = physical state, you would have mental state = mental state, which would commit you to either idealism or dualism.

I think it is. I think scientists can study this for a thousand more years and still not know how minds are produced by brains. This is because there'...

If you're of the mindset that all mental states are brain states, then psychological solutions are material solutions.

Distracting can help, but mostly it's a process of telling the intrusive thought (something along the lines of): hello irrational thought, I'm not goi...

Learning to accept my intrusive thoughts and not fight them went a long way in solving my rumination problem.

If pain hurts, you're not a zombie.

Psychological solutions, or are therapists completely worthless?

Maybe not but that's an epistemological point. It seems to me that P-zombies can exist iff there are no actions caused solely by mental states.

I don't think they could act entirely like a conscious being because conscious beings' actions are sometimes caused by their mental states.

Doesn't coming up with words for mere possibilities require imagination?