On Saturday, October 27, 2012 6:28:14 AM UTC-4, stathisp wrote: > > On Sat, Oct 27, 2012 at 8:08 AM, John Mikes <jam...@gmail.com<javascript:>> > wrote: > > Stathis: > > > > IMO you left out one difference in equating computer and human: the > > programmed comp. cannot exceed its hardwre - given content while > > (SOMEHOW???) a human mind receives additional information from parts > > 'unknown' (see the steps forward in cultural history of the sciences?) - > > accordingly a 'programmed' human may have resources beyond it's given > > "hardware" content. > > > > John M > > How can a human exceed his hardware? Everything he does must be due to > the hardware plus input from the environment, same as the computer, > same as everything else in the universe. >
What input from the environment might cause an acorn to build and fly a B-52? Is there a special B-52 building gene that comes with humans but not acorns? It's a really narrow view of the cosmos which imagines that the universe is about nothing but what stuff it is made of - that the environment dictates with inputs but that the self has no non-environmental outputs. What happens if we take it a step further and recuse ourselves and our human layer of experience entirely. Who is to say whether the appearance of neurons and atoms is merely an evolutionary device to prop up the hormone and neurotransmitter spray that is 'science' or if, instead, it is evolutionary biology which is the illusion of molecules, whose endless repeating patterns know no genuine coherence as individual creatures or species. Who chooses the level of description? Craig Craig > > > -- > Stathis Papaioannou > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/everything-list/-/uuP0oUFXbMIJ. To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en.
