X-Message-Number: 12548 From: Thomas Donaldson <> Subject: I wasn't claiming we were superior at all Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999 01:40:02 +1000 (EST) Hi John! I guess I didn't make it clear enough what my point was. No, emotions don't have to be particularly difficult, although as someone whose read a lot about what we know of how our brains work, I would not call them easy. The point I was making pertained to Mr. Kurzweil, who seemed to believe that intelligence ALONE would allow computers to take over. I was not making any claims about how difficult or easy it would be to make a computer with emotions. I was simply pointing out a major error made by Kurzweil. And it would not help his case if he came to me and said, "Oh, I did not discuss the need for emotions because I thought they'd be simple to implement". HE OMITTED ANY DISCUSSION OF THEM. That is why I thought his book was rather weak. Without emotions, we can make very good hyperslaves --- so good that they'd never want to take over because they had no wants of their own. If you want to make a computer with desires and emotions, no one is now preventing you --- nor are there any laws of nature or computing that prevent it. True, such computers might give us lots of competition; this is one reason why I don't expect them to be built. Why does a computer designed to help US solve OUR problems have to have any emotions or desires? We aren't "superior" because of our emotions and desires. It's just that we have them and they guide our behavior autonomously. And a computer, no matter how intelligent, without emotions and desires is simply one more tool for us to use. Best and long long life, Thomas Donaldson Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=12548