Re: Emergent Properties

Iain, Randy,

The system of events Searle imagines to refute against strong AI is as shallow as the one Turing proposed. Are either of you familiar with the endeavors of Jeff Hawkins, of Palm Pilot fame?

http://onintelligence.org/

Imagine the system of bio-chemical events any form of plant life coordinates from all the environmental signals it receives. Step up and give thought to the complexity of the nervous system, the moment by moment cognition of an arthropod. Try this for bingo: what are five, ten month old infants doing when, as it lays on its back in the crib, while staring at the smudgey-looking plastic butterfly hanging above for several moments, something happens to bring the tot's hand and arm up to try and touch the thing?

Contemplating systems and practical models of arthropodic cognition are kids toys: merely mechanistic and simple contraptions that are for elementary school students. Real men of genius have already graduated up to and begun to offer models and practical working systems towards mimicking human cognition.

I want them to keep pursuing their thoughts and ideas though. They're interesting to listen to when I have the time to do so, though their totally impractical thoughts will never, literally never produce functional prototypes of computer cognition.

I will not play my cards yet, just smirk towards these haughty intellectuals.

Kurt L. Hanson
New York City

http://homepage.mac.com/k24anson
ny_mergatroid@mac.com
Received on Sat May 6 13:44:01 2006