Kevin Hellman (kevin at brain) wrote:
: Still, the internet would fail the conventional neruology tests for
: higher order intelligence. I am unaware of any test scientifically
: labeled for determining conciousness (In my opinion, a human is
: unable to ever prove it).. The usual test battery does not involve
: a series of questions, but a series x-rays, pet's and eeg's to pinpoint
: the centers for higher order intelligence.
: Therefore, I challenge everybody, is it possible to develop a test
: for conciousness ? For suggestions, examine the work of Searle and
: Turing.
I think for now determining consciousness is impossible without some
sort of communication. The internet could be conscious, but even if
it were it would be conscious in a way we couldn't possible recognize
since its sensory apparatus and internal structure are so bizarre by
our standards. The only method we have for determining conscousness
is comparison with ourselves -- if we can 'relate' to a system we
are likely to call it conscious. This requires communication or at
least observation of behavior on a level we understand.
I guess my point is that 'consciousness' is defined (to the extent it's
defined at all, which is almost not at all) so poorly and so
human-centrically that it's almost not applicable outside of our own
species, much less to something as different as the internet.
--
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Adam Clark One of these days, I'm going
rubble at leland.stanford.edu to cut you into little pieces...
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