X-Message-Number: 8543 Date: Fri, 5 Sep 1997 18:52:10 -0400 (EDT) From: "Perry E. Metzger" <> Subject: Human beings and Consciousness I do not believe that human beings can possibly be consious the way a computer can. After all, if you examine a human being in detail, one will discover that humans just have these squishy things called "nerve cells" that follow the laws of physics without any room for volition at all. Obviously "nerve cells" put together in large quantities can do a good job of pretending they are as flexible and interesting as computers, but they operate by just following deterministic rules, so they couldn't possibly be conscious. Humans are also largely analog, and I think the use of analog techniques in building mission critical computing devices has been widely discredited. "Nerve cells" operate only on these fuzzily defined voltage levels and not on the high level symbols a computer is capable of manipulating. Someday, perhaps, humans will be able to fool some robots into making us think they are conscious, but it will only be an illusion -- we robots know better. Sincerely, Joey the Robot PS Not closed captioned for the sarcasm impaired. Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=8543