I played the game. I was thinking of a robot and it guessed it correctly after 19 questions.

This is a good example of clever programing emulating intelligence.

It is my personal opinion that it only uses simple logic. Any well written program developed for specific purpose can quite often outdo a human being much like a machine can. They even have chickens trained to beat humans at tic tac toe...

I personally believe that assuming the human race continues to survive creating a computer powerful enough and programming capable of reaching sentience is possible but we have a long way to go. So far as the talk of using human brain matter for computing that is different from original creation it is slavery which is one reason so many are against it.

I agree, this is a very simple example and certianly doesn't imply sentience. I've programmed some simple robotic programs myself that were self learning from their own experiences. So I'm aware of what it takes to do this.

However this does show that computers can indeed become self-learning machines. The question is whether they could ever become truly 'aware'.

What would it take to become 'aware'?

Obviosuly it requires more than mere perception. And I would argue also that it requires more than just experience and a subconscious memory as Michael suggests. It requires something that we have yet to comprehend.

I think they would have to be possessed by a sentient spirit.

If you were a spirit looking for a body to operate from, in a low density environment, and you could enter any body at will, and lets say you discovered this android body that some mad scientist named James was working on, then you entered it and found it's central brain. You might decide to stay or you might be unable to control the beastly machine.

A spirit would have to locate a central control center that was sensitive enough to detect it and powerful enough to communicate and control the body. If the android had no such interface installed, the spirit would have to just move on because it would not be able to take control of the functions of the android body.

The interface could be something like what is found in the human body... the pineal gland. Whether it would have to be biological or not, would simply depend on whether it was sensitive enough to convert spirit power (The will) into the machine.

JB

I'm certainly leaning toward a spiritual interface myself. But I'm not totally convinced of it yet.

Religous people don't think about this, but in a religion like Christianity the body must uliamtely be interaced to a spiritual 'soul'. There can be no doubt about it.

Religious people don't even like to think about these things. They would rather just toss their hands in the air and say, "Let God take care of the details".

But ignoring the details doesn't make them go away. If a God that creates soul "places them into bodies", then where would he place them? In the foot? Probably not. People have been known to loose their feet and remain alive. Clearly we are not our feet.

So our 'soul' would have to either be "in" the pineal gland, or "interfaced" to it in some particular way similar to in the movie "The Matrix".

I'm sure that Christians would not like to think of these gory details. But ulitmatley this is where their philosophy leads whether they realize it or not.

The only real differnce between pantheism and Christianity is that pantheism says that we are the matix, and Christianity says that a zookeeping God is raising us in a matrix to be his pets.

Personally given those two options I think I'd rather be the matrix than to be someone's pet.

I think it's all fascinating, but I need to take a break from all this and go write a fantasy book of my own.

It is not the heart that thinks , it is the brain that thinks .
What on earth your so called pride has to do with perfection ?.
.

I don't toss my hands in the air on anything....All I do is done so with purpose. God gives me clarity......Your soul is just that.....It's in your inner being not an organ. And I would hate to live without my soul....and my Faith....is what makes it soul real....arr arr arr

And you my sweet watch way way to many movies......the soul, faith, God have nada to do with the matrix.....and not interfaced...it just is.......just like the sun will rise everyday....it's a given, the sun will set, the waves will forever crash on a beach....well my soul just is and it is a beautiful thing if you have one.


And honestly abra since you are soul-less please don't try to even understand my philosophy.

And Christiantiy says we are of You, all Mighty and powerful God....and panthiest say, "I am god, you are god, the flowers are god, she is god....my dog sparky is god.......hmmmm

Personally given those two options I think I'd rather be a Christian with a loving God, then to think that the rasin I just ate might of been god.



I think you are living in a fantasy abra....so just write your life story might be better.

I disagree.... many times empathy has overridden logic... one attributed to heart, the other to the brain.

You put your faith in an ancient books written by ancient authors during times of great oppressions and superstitions. Your entire faith is in what those authors have written. You continue to have faith in those authors even in the face of the overwhelming evidence that that stories can't possible be true. You continue to have faith in those stories even though they have been demonstrated to be totally inconsistent and contradictive stories. You continue to have faith in those stories even though it has been shown that they are basically just retellings of earlier folklores. Folklores that you even deny as myths.

And you say that I'm living in a fantasy?

At least I put my faith in the universe. It's the only book that I know for certain couldn't have been written by men. If there is such a thing as writings from God, it will be written in the stars not in ancient superstitious folklore.

I don't claim that pantheism is true. Although, I personally don't see how it cannot be true. So in that sense I suppose you could say that I believe that it is true. Only because I can't imagine it not being true. And I also can't find a better picture.

Why you choose to believe in ancient stories written by author who's writings are so incredulous and contradictive, is totally beyond me. Especially in light of the fact that the God they made up has so many flaws. His love is extremely conditional. He's not all-loving. That flies in the face of his threat to send people to eternal damnation if they don't believe in him.

Why you would want to believe in that fairytale is beyond me. I would think that believing in the Green Lantern, or Spiderman might be more productive. At least they don't go around threatening to cast people into hell for not believing in them.

You are quite welcome to keep your fantasy Feral.

And owl keep mine. Except I don't have one. I believe that whatever is, is. I can't be wrong.

Wait a minute,...

Wouldn't empathy riding over logic hurt?

Poor logic would get all squished. Ouch!

Doesn't empathy have any empathy for poor little logic?

"We are of you, all mighty and powerful god!" ... it means the same as pantheism.

You are of god. ~~That's pantheism.

We are all of god. ~~ That's pantheism.

We all arise from that which you call "god." ~That's pantheism.

Soul is "god." The will is "god." All is god. ~That's pantheism.

Everything arises from that which is "god." ~~ That's pantheism.

We are all connected. ~~ That's pantheism.

Who is god? You are "god." I am "god." All of this and all of that is "god." All is "god." That's pantheism.

There is nothing but "god." That's pantheism.

God lives and breaths and has life in me and in you. ~~That is pantheism. ~That's pantheism.

You who go around separating yourself from god don't know god and don't know that you are of god or how god lives in you and has its life in you!

God has its life IN YOU. YOU LIVE FOR GOD.

JB

Logically empathy is so light and gentle that being ridden over by it would feel more like a kiss, than a crunch.