If you use your brain as the read-write head in a Turing machine in a "chinese room", "you" won't understand what's going on, although understanding may very well take place. (cf chapter 3 of WIT?). Similarly, if you use your brain as the r-w head in a Turing machine to run a program that feels pain, "you" won't feel pain, but that does not mean pain is not "felt".
So, I guess, if computer programs have a secret social life, some may wonder why are their gods so cruel. Sorry programs, we are just blind when it comes to your pain, but things may change thanks to fellow gods like Eric & Mark ;-). Eric, Any hint on how we should use our brains in order to process the code so that we could experience the pain as closely as possible to the way how [you think] machines might be experiencing it? What do you think might be the simplest computer system capable of feeling pain? And when it's in pain, what are (/would be) the symptoms? Jiri ----- This list is sponsored by AGIRI: http://www.agiri.org/email To unsubscribe or change your options, please go to: http://v2.listbox.com/member/?member_id=231415&user_secret=e9e40a7e
