Human Consciousness: Role of the unconscious (Humans)

by David Turell , Friday, February 12, 2016, 15:15 (2989 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID: That animals might have souls is a tenet of Judaism, nothing more.
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> dhw: You have never to my knowledge discounted the possibility. See below for further comment on animal thought.-I never meant to 'discount' it. I accept it as a possibility.
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> dhw: You have also said that Adler does not believe computers will ever be able to “think” like humans. I'm inclined to agree.
> DAVID: You are referring to Penrose.
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> Read your own p. 247: “His [Adler's] primary point is that matter cannot think, and he predicts that any form of computer will never reach that state.” -Thanks for the correction. But Penrose has a book on it.
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> dhw: Even you agree that some animals and birds think, have emotions, take decisions... Huge gulf in degree, yes, but working out solutions to problems can also count as “immaterial” thought, as can grief, as can making choices. And you agree that humans and apes share a common ancestor. So why is the distinction between kind and degree so important to you? What are you trying to prove?-What Adler proves. We are so different in degree it is obvious we are different in kind, because that degree in difference could not have been created by undirected evolutionary processes.