> On 26 Oct 2015, at 8:02 PM, Bruce Kellett <[email protected]> wrote: > >> On 26/10/2015 6:15 pm, Stathis Papaioannou wrote: >> On 26 October 2015 at 17:51, Bruce Kellett <[email protected]> wrote: >>>> On 26/10/2015 5:32 pm, Stathis Papaioannou wrote: >>>> On 26 October 2015 at 17:08, Bruce Kellett <[email protected]> >>>> wrote: >>>>>> On 26/10/2015 5:01 pm, Russell Standish wrote: >>>>>>> On Mon, Oct 26, 2015 at 03:40:45PM +1100, Bruce Kellett wrote: >>>>>>> I think Carroll's Paradox (or 'What the Tortoise Said to Achilles') >>>>>>> effectively undermines computationalism, or any argument that >>>>>>> arithmetic is prior to physics. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_the_Tortoise_Said_to_Achilles >>>>>>> >>>>>>> In order to escape the paradox, you have to resort to a formalist >>>>>>> approach, and that renders the formalism devoid of semantic content. >>>>>> I don't see why that undermines computationalism. Could you please >>>>>> expand? >>>>> >>>>> Modus ponens is only a formal manipulation of symbols, with no semantic >>>>> content. >>>> >>>> This is an argument John Searle has made. The problem is, the brain can >>>> also be described as manipulating symbols with no semantic content - so >>>> where does semantic content come from? >>> I can point at it, or when I kick the dog, he yelps. >> >> The same with an appropriately specified and programmed computer. > > And on which reality is the computer running?
In the physical world, if there is one, or in Platonia, if there is not. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
