eonsim

Comment Threads

• David Wallace commented on A message from our sponsors
  Hang on, that's not what Turing is saying. His "objection" is that something might count as thinking even if it doesn't pass the TT, so if a machine can't pass the TT, it might still be thinking. And then he's right in saying that if a machine can pass the TT, that objection's moot. You're saying separately that something might pass the TT without thinking. And that's clearly true for these silly media-circus versions of the TT. But the real TT still looks like a pretty good sufficient condition for thought. Dennett's "can machines think?" (http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/philo/courses/ mindsandmachines/Papers/dennettcanmach.pdf) makes the case...
• J Carl Henderson commented on A message from our sponsors
  Ben Aaronovitch is a very good writer. I'm glad to hear he is having a lot of success in the UK. It means I get to read more "Waters of London" novels--and anything else he writes....
• scott-sanford commented on A message from our sponsors
  [Turing's] "objection" is that something might count as thinking even if it doesn't pass the TT, so if a machine can't pass the TT, it might still be thinking. Likewise, I've encountered humans who don't pass the Turing Test to demonstrate actual thought; whether this is due to unwillingness or inability is open to question. This reciprocal question is one rarely brought up in computer science, although philosophers have had a fine time wanking off over it....
• Trottelreiner commented on A message from our sponsors
  BTW, for Urban Cthulhiania, may I introduce to to a somewhat drastic video? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqsXshAhC6k...
• uptohisneck commented on A message from our sponsors
  months on it reaching Audible! sounds like I'll be breaking out my EYES to read something for once, ugh, I thought this was the future. your new releases always take me by surprise, and it's always such a pleasure!...