Hi, Motumos.

Consider any basic living thing. A virus, for example. It only has a few hundred genes. Would you consider it conscious? I think the AI in a video game is certainly more "conscious" than a virus. How about a mold? Where do you draw the line?

Also, you could easily reduce something complex like human consciousness to a set of "If-Then" statements. If you are hungry, eat. If you have your hand on a hot iron, pull it away. You can measure the strength of the impulse from the nerve to the brain, the exact number of motor neurons the brain will stimulate, etc. If 10110110, 00101110.

As far as complex decision making goes, for example what to eat for dinner tonight, it is still the same process. Items in the refrigerator are given higher priority (lower threshold stimulus) than items at the grocery store. Items you personally like better or are better for you are given higher priority than foods you don't like or are bad for you. Items that take longer to prepare are weighed against your current level of hunger. It's a quite simple discrimination process. How does such a system differ from a computer except for complexity?

• Human's are no where near that simple - highvoltage - July 6, 2001 - 01:48 UTC
  • I oversimplified, but the premise is the same - stormcrow - July 6, 2001 - 02:08 UTC
    • Not exaclty. - motumos - July 6, 2001 - 04:03 UTC
      • I agree with you on the level of complexity - stormcrow - July 6, 2001 - 04:17 UTC
        • Not crossed wires - highvoltage - July 6, 2001 - 05:39 UTC
        • I disagree about you saying that pople have no free-will. - motumos - July 6, 2001 - 05:50 UTC
          • Actually atomic bomb was against Stalin's growing power. - alexander - July 6, 2001 - 16:58 UTC
            • It was a choice nontheless - caprinicus - July 7, 2001 - 00:23 UTC
            • Even you typing this reply was a choice, not a necessity. - caprinicus - July 7, 2001 - 00:34 UTC
              • Not neccesarily - stormcrow - July 7, 2001 - 02:34 UTC
                • I don't think so - highvoltage - July 7, 2001 - 03:32 UTC
                • Free will works regardless of normal DNA in humans. - caprinicus - July 7, 2001 - 03:52 UTC
                  • I'll try and explain - stormcrow - July 7, 2001 - 13:55 UTC
                    • Wrong again. - caprinicus - July 8, 2001 - 13:08 UTC
                      • Omni-Post - stormcrow - July 9, 2001 - 00:17 UTC
                        • God-days may be true - highvoltage - July 9, 2001 - 05:22 UTC
                          • Sure, back it up - stormcrow - July 9, 2001 - 13:40 UTC
                            • God days.... - highvoltage - July 9, 2001 - 17:07 UTC
                              • I see your point, but doesn't this prove the Bible's ambiguity? - stormcrow - July 9, 2001 - 19:31 UTC
                                • Doens't prove the bible's ambiguity - highvoltage - July 9, 2001 - 20:16 UTC
                                  • Bible is full of impossible phenomena. - alexander - July 9, 2001 - 20:43 UTC
                                    • again proof - terry - November 15, 2001 - 12:36 UTC
                      • Caprinicus - you don't know how brain, universe, etc works. - alexander - July 9, 2001 - 18:43 UTC
• Here's the difference - aurino - July 6, 2001 - 13:55 UTC
  • NOT ALL BRAIN CELLS are speech, image and sound related. - alexander - July 6, 2001 - 17:11 UTC