Bladerunner with Harrison Ford has certain parallels to the question "How does Data in Star Trek really know he is an artificial intelligence". brendan > Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2009 19:56:31 +0000 > From: SWMirsky@xxxxxxx > To: wittrs@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > Subject: [Wittrs] Re: How mind works > > --- In Wittrs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Sean Wilson <whoooo26505@...> wrote: > > > > > >How does Data in Star Trek really know he is an artificial intelligence? Is > >it only because of his programming? For it seems that he cannot ever truly > >know that; he can only recite whatever the programming says. I mean, imagine > >two Datas. One is programmed to believe it is an artificial intelligence and > >one is programmed to believe he is "real." How would the set-real data ever > >come to know that it was not "real?" That seems to require more than > >mirrored co-processing. I mean, you'd have to have an existential moment. Or > >you'd have to have a logical flaw (my programming is wrong?). > > > > Of course, in these stupid shows, the scifi isn't done well. So you really > > can't even consider the matter. > > > > > > > How do we ever really know we are what we are? Would a synthetic > consciousness contraption need to have more reason to feel certain about the > answers to such questions than we do? Would it matter if he/she/it did? > > Actually I think Star Trek: The Next Generation did rather a good job of it > with the Data character. On the other hand I never thought they had it right > on transporters, the idea of universal translators converting everyone's > speech to English, alien body forms or the implications of space travel. But > then you can't have everything and the philosophical depth of some of their > stories (especially in the later episodes) was quite good. > > SWM > > > WEB VIEW: http://tinyurl.com/ku7ga4 > TODAY: http://alturl.com/whcf > 3 DAYS: http://alturl.com/d9vz > 1 WEEK: http://alturl.com/yeza > GOOGLE: http://groups.google.com/group/Wittrs > YAHOO: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wittrs/ > FREELIST: //www.freelists.org/archive/wittrs/09-2009 > _________________________________________________________________ Feeling the financial pinch? Check on MSN NZ Money for a hand http://money.msn.co.nz