We will eventually be able to simulate with computers all of the mental abilities that humans have. My partial list (additional contributions appreciated) reads:
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">reasoning, short-term memory, long-term memory, memory reconstruction, abstraction, induction, intuition, deduction, creativity, analysis, visualization, organization, synthesis, empathy, collation, computation, judgment, learning, ability to unlearn or correct error, problem-solving ability, motivation, normal association (pattern recognition), creative free-association (“thinking outside the box”), communication, awareness, nurturing, ability to distinguish reality from fantasy, ability to direct thought – to turn it on and off, mental model-building<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Not on this list is "consciousness" and its closely related ally "self-awareness". Recent experiments in physical psychology cast doubt on the mystical view of consciousness that humans have long fostered. Instead of being a manifestation of intelligence, consciousness appears to be nothing more than an instant replay (delayed by about 1/4 second) of what just happened, together with the added illusion that the conscious mind sent commands to the body about how to perform. Reality is that the autonomic nervous system acts in accord with subconscious programming well before commands can travel from the brain. Reality is also that our mental screens are reconstructions by the brain based on sensory input and subconscious algorithms, and not simply a faithful reproduction of the light images presented to our eyes.
Given this demystification of consciousness, one must wonder how we differ from advanced computers placed in a biological shell for ease of repair and replication. -|Tom|-
