Daemon

I don't think digital computation has any relation to the biological machinery of consciousness. It's a (recent) product of consciousness, not a cause...

I don't think a computer can be conscious by means of digital computation.

Ok, explain what I'm supposed to get out of it. Do AI researchers use the concept of individuation to prove that their work is misguided? Yes. Then wh...

But it doesn't mon ami. How do I know what AI researchers do? How could they use the concept of individuation to prove that their work is misguided? I...

To be honest I thought of saying this question doesn't make sense, but I decided to establish what you mean by General AI, in order to make some progr...

No let's not start over: what question am I evading?

Which question am I evading?

Wikipedia: Philosophically, "individuation" expresses the general idea of how a thing is identified as an individual thing that "is not something else...

You need to understand the other person's argument before you can counter it.

If something is unclear I will happily explain it. But I don't really think that's the problem.

It seems you didn't understand what I said.

Ok, we will start with what is perhaps the most fundamental reason why computers will never attain personhood. The story begins around 3.5 billion yea...

Well, I have several ways to show that I'm not underestimating computers, but if you don't want to argue the point...

I've noticed that people who talk about "an AI" in this kind of context overestimate the capabilities of computer programs. Calling it "an AI" makes i...

I've noticed that people who talk about "an AI" are rarely to be taken seriously. It's a computer program.

It baffles me why you want to think of things this way. To respond automatically is to respond without understanding. I'm a translator, I use software...

Really don't know if you are being disingenuous here. You don't seem to be stupid. What it's doing is chemical reactions. How could it be conveying in...

Oh man! That part I quoted is the part of the article where the author, one of the pioneers of Information Theory, specifies that "information" is bei...

Warren Weaver: The word information, in this theory, is used in a special sense that must not be confused with its ordinary usage. In particular, info...

Don't understand the "don't bother" part. The ascription and interpretation of meaning takes place in minds. The interactions of living cells and bioc...

So it brings "meaning" into areas of existence where it doesn't belong.

It treats chemicals as if they were persons, with minds. In DNA.

So it's the anthropomorphism I mentioned. It treats cells as if they were persons, with minds. Have you figured out if they take the other common miss...

My questions from yesterday:

I'm not sure what ism I fall under Joshs. I might be a biological naturalist.

Information is communicated between persons, not objects. You're doing the anthropomorphising I cautioned against.

No Joshs: to inform someone is to provide them with facts, the facts are information. The term information is also used in a technical sense in commun...

An immediate response Joshs is that the concept of information adds a great deal to our understanding of DNA, but information doesn't play a role in g...

Ok, I'll tell you then: So chemicals travel through the fungal network: can you say what the information does, in addition to what the chemicals do?

Paywall. Just tell me.

How is the information transmitted?

Yes, that's another example of the position I am arguing against. When mycorrhizae are present, plants are less susceptible to water stress. Not only ...

Yes, I do. As I said, it's an example of the position I'm arguing against. Information isn't everywhere in the universe, it's in minds. It isn't in th...

So you don't understand my argument?

Yes, that's an example of the mistaken thinking I'm arguing against. Do you understand my argument against it? Could you state my argument?

Why is it a different matter? If the neural impulses are not information until interpreted, why isn't it the same for DNA? And where is the interpreti...

I find it a little difficult to understand why you can't understand my argument. In genetics, DNA and RNA do the work. You can describe the whole proc...

If it were, we would be able to decipher the writing systems discussed here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undeciphered_writing_systems Galuchat expla...

Could you rewrite this please?

I was asking you to explain unconsciousness.

But you still can't tell us what role information plays, eh? Tell us the zoom level at which "information" plays a role in genetics. Describe what rol...

I don't want to replace biology with chemistry. I want to replace "information" with biology and chemistry and physics, because I think biology and ch...

That's unfair. I'm interested in protecting my position because I think it's correct. I don't think the alternatives that have been presented are corr...

It's not indispensable. We can describe everything a computer does in terms of electrical and mechanical processes, without mentioning "information". ...

I don't think you do get it Joshs. I'm making the same point as our friend Galuchat: the meaning of I is not in the line, it's in our minds. Similarly...

Can you explain then how we can ever become unconscious? Digestion continues in comatose patients. Can you explain that? Well then, there's a learning...

Hi Galuchat, I'm very much in agreement with what you say here, but did I satisfactorily respond to your challenge to "explain sign evaluation in term...

We might usefully think about this vertical line: I Do you see what I'm getting at Joshs?

Whereas I'd say your approach is analogous to looking at a piece of burned toast and saying "there is the face of Jesus Christ". The interpretation of...

The point of the example was to show that the bacterium's behaviour does not involve sense-making, affective valence and intentional purposiveness. Se...