Identity (Identity)

by dhw, Monday, September 07, 2009, 17:30 (5345 days ago) @ xeno6696

Matt has informed us about the project to build a machine more powerful than the human brain. "If the suspicion of many a researcher is correct and a consciousness arises from this machine without direct intervention by a human being, it will resolve the origin of consciousness question."-David responded: "AI will always be AI and there will be no consciousness, no matter how big the computer power." Matt's response to this is: "Faith. And raw at that. The work here hasn't been done yet. I feel you underestimate human ingenuity! On this topic I'll accept your claim only when it's proven."-Can it be proven that consciousness is NOT purely material? Can it be proven that life could NOT be the product of chance? If one experiment fails, scientists will move onto another. Faith is part of both sets of beliefs, and I am full of admiration for the scientists who pursue these dreams. Man's quest for knowledge is one of the qualities that make me proud to be human, and it will be fascinating to see what the model brain can and can't achieve.-However, you say, Matt, that if consciousness arises, it will resolve the origin of consciousness question. This needs closer scrutiny. First of all, what you are saying amounts to this: if scientists can prove that consciousness is created solely by material means, it will prove that consciousness is created solely by material means. I too find the project exciting, but the hypothesis itself doesn't exactly have me jumping up and down. Secondly, the word 'origin' is misleading. If intelligent humans really do produce a sentient, conscious machine, the achievement will be monumentally, sensationally brilliant, and awards will tumble down on them like confetti. But the feat will not resolve the origin of consciousness question. It will show us that consciousness can be produced by materials, but that it takes super intelligence to put those materials together. -What such a machine would achieve for me personally, though, is proof that we do not need a non-material explanation of identity through concepts like soul or spirit. The mechanism (in this case, I think George will accept the word) will have produced its own will, emotions etc. This would definitely require a rethink, also on the part of theists. But Matt, if I may quote your response to David, "on this topic, I'll accept your claim only when it's proven". Until then, the materialist interpretation of mind and identity is "Faith. And raw, at that." -P.S. You wrote: "Computers are my raison d'être, mon ami." Je vous conseille, mon ami, de ne pas le dire à votre femme.