Well, the Wittgensteinian answer would be to say that the environmental and cultural context that is normally present when asserting that "China Brain" is conscious, is lacking, in the same way that the normal context required for the same assertion is also lacking when considering the abstract operations of a human brain divorced from it's environmental and inter-personal context. — sime
But what if it's a simulation of a human society and not just a brain? Would all those 1s and 0s written out on paper over a century have experiences then? — Marchesk
I would have to say that any simulation of humans that I naturally empathise with, regardless of the medium of instantiation, is conscious for me by definition, and to an extent that is dependant on the overall context. — sime
For consciousness, maybe this is necessary .......Does the computer the simulation runs on matter? — Marchesk
The emergent behavior can model itself. — Jake Tarragon
Assume it's possible to make conscious simulated people with enough detail and computing power. They experience their digital world like we experience our world.
Does the computer the simulation runs on matter? Let's build one using a billion Chinese people. They write out their assigned part of the computation with pencil and paper. Let's say they work 40 hour weeks. This is no sweat shop simulator. It takes them 100 years (the labor force is kept constan ) to finish the simulation on paper. All of the individual papers are saved.
Do the simulated people still have conscious experiences with a human Chinese computer? I would say no way, it's absurd on the face of it. — Marchesk
Assume it's possible to make conscious simulated people with enough detail and computing power. They experience their digital world like we experience our world. — Marchesk
Do the simulated people still have conscious experiences with a human Chinese computer? — Marchesk
Do the simulated people still have conscious experiences with a human Chinese computer? I would say no way, it's absurd on the face of it. So then, what would make an electronic computer different in a way that would confer consciousness to its sims? — Marchesk
Get involved in philosophical discussions about knowledge, truth, language, consciousness, science, politics, religion, logic and mathematics, art, history, and lots more. No ads, no clutter, and very little agreement — just fascinating conversations.