lesterzick at earthlink.net wrote:
>> The idea of a soul is an amorphous concept usually relegated to philosophy
> or religion in the hope that it will go away, and a mechanistic brain is
> substituted with the idea that the mind can understand a machine even if
> it cannot understand itself.
>> The brain is simply a mechanical foundation for the mind. Whatever the
> mind may be, it must be superimposed on some mechanism. This does not
> suggest that it can be imposed on any mechanism. But it does require some
> mechanical foundation.
>> Given the appropriate foundation, however, the mind then becomes a form
> unto itself. This does not mean the mind ceases to utilize a mechanical
> foundation. What it means is that the mind becomes its own cause, using
> the brain for its own purposes in being and not necessarily for the brain's
> purpose in mechanical terms.
>> The analogy is to software. The computer is a determinate, mechanistic
> environment, at least in terms of contemporary implementations. The
> software run on a computer requires a mechanical foundation but then uses
> the machine for its own purposes.
>> There is no suggestion that computer software is a mind in conscious terms.
> The so-called mind, soul, or spirit implicit in consciousness simply
> realizes itself through the mechanism of the brain and its facilities.
>> And just because the brain happens to be a determinate mechanical environment
> does not necessarily imply that the mind superimposed on the brain has to
> be as well. We understand that the rules of logic supposedly employed by
> the brain can routinely be ignored by the mind because the mind has other
> purposes in mind.
>> Regards - Lester
>> -----------== Posted via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==----------
>http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Discuss, or Start Your Own
The "mind/soul" is ONLY in your model of how the "brain" is. Both your
own and other's.
In my model my computer has a "soul". Therefore it has a "soul". By
definition.
Thus I experience that "soul". I/We do the same with meat machines.
In the case of normal human to human the models/memes are probably
genetically biased/based. So we can't just change our "minds". Brain
surgery
is not normal. (Computer surgery is.) Therefore I need a model on which
to infer
your brain states.
Best,
--
f. martin mcneill Web : http://www.fuzzysys.com
"Make yourself at home - clean my kitchen."
"We are mature adults and I think we can arrive at
sensible decisions." :)
