> -----Original Message----- > From: Brent Meeker [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Wednesday, 10 October 2001 4:06 a.m. > > It was a hypothetical that Bruno used. It's pretty certain nobody knows > how to do it now and it might never be practical. But if the > processes, including the sensory ones, were duplicated I have > no reason to think that it would not be conscious. The contrary > conclusion would seem to imply vitalism and magic.
The question is more whether there *is* a level of abstraction that can be skimmed off the biological substrate. Although I suppose it would be possible (in theory) to simulate the behaviour of all the cells in the brain to arbitrary accuracy - if necessary at the level of molecules, or atoms (I can't see you having to go any lower than that). And leaving aside any problems with speed and memory, at *that* point it seems unlikely that you'd be able to argue the thing wasn't conscious. Charles
