The Paradox of Mary and Mark
On subjective consciousness This is a variation on Frank Jackson’s thought experiment “Mary’s Room” (1982). This much of the argument should convince you that you believe subjective consciousness is real. There is nothing confusing or mysterious about the concept. You know exactly what I mean when I say “there is a difference between knowing which…
Ghosts and Other Invisible Stuff
Metaphysical consciousness and the human essence. The characters in Ghost in the Shell struggle to understand their “ghost” — their actual self, the real person beneath all the cybernetic enhancements in their bodies, brains and bloodstream. They worry that they have lost it and wonder if they ever had it. Major Motoko Kusanagi: Maybe all…
Requiem for the Turing Test
Human simulation and human essence (an addendum) In 1950, Alan Turing argued that if a machine had the ability to perfectly simulate human conversation, it would be reasonable to say that “the machine can think”. We say that the machine that can do a perfect simulation of a human being has “passed the Turing Test”. Turing…
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CHARLES GILLINGHAM 