[Wittrs] What Is Ontological Dualism?
- From: Joseph Polanik <jpolanik@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: wittrsamr@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 07 Apr 2010 19:54:35 -0400
iro3isdx wrote:
>Gordon Swobe wrote:
>>Searle's third premise entails a very simple claim: nobody and
>>nothing can understand symbols solely from manipulating them
>>according to their shapes.
>Your DVD player works by manipulating symbols according to their shape.
>Nothing could possibly create a picture by such manipulation. Anybody
>who thinks that a DVD player could actually display pictures must be
>caught in the grips of an ideology.
>Your CD player works by manipulating symbols according to their shape.
>Nothing could possibly create the sound of orchestral music by such
>manipulation. Anybody who thinks that a CD player could actually
>produce the sounds of orchestral music must be caught in the grips of
>an ideology.
The DVD and CD players, to the extent that they are digital devices,
work by manipulating electrical impulses that are arbitrarily assigned
the values of '1' and '0' based on the strength of the impulse.
human intentionality is required to designate the high voltage impulse
as a '1' and the low voltage as a '0'. it's arbitrary. it could have
been done in reverse.
everything built on top of that arbitrary decision is just a programming
convention, syntax if you will.
syntax doesn't generate semantics because it is an act with mental
content (semantic) that creates the possibility of syntax.
Joe
--
Nothing Unreal is Self-Aware
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