X-Message-Number: 12955 From: Thomas Donaldson <> Subject: it's not just parallelism Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 23:41:59 +1100 (EST) Hi! I will apologize for believing that you weren't familiar with how brains worked, though it seems to me that this is something quite relevant to what you were saying. Parallelism is one simple feature without which no real computer (even IBM's) has any chance at all of coming close to a human brain. Your reply omits any discussion of another major problem with your list: the existence of very great computational capability does not imply consciousness. Consciousness may require some special design features if it is to be anything like our own consciousness (note that we're not normally aware of the parallelism of our nervous system: a very interesting hint). Consciousness can probably occur even with the computational capability of an 8086 PC --- not extensive or deep consciousness, but consciousness still. But it's also likely to require special hardware designs to get it, it does not come automatically for an 8086 PC either. Moreover, for a computer to be INDEPENDENT it must not only have some version of consciousness, but also its own desires and emotions (which are closer together than many think). If you read CRYONICS you'll see my book review in the latest issue in which I discuss just these problems. And I also point out that omission of these factors seems to be a common failing, too, whenever computer people talk about computers becoming independent minds. To put the issue briefly, it doesn't really matter what the computational capability may be (within wide limits). It's emotions, desires, and consciousness that make a machine independent. Best wishes and long long life, Thomas Donaldson PS: And what books on brains have you read? Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=12955