Good morning, readers!
Here’s an article on Artificial Intelligence and philosophy of mind from New Atlantis — “Why Minds Are Not Like Computers,” by Ari Shulman — that you might enjoy.
I’m posting this article because the abuse and misuse of the mind-as-computer metaphor have bothered me for some time. I would argue that the mind is not a computer, nor is it like a computer, except, perhaps, in a few equivocal senses. Here, I am following the criticisms of, e.g., Joseph Rychlak and John Searle. At best, the metaphor of the mind as computer is inapt and imprecise; at worst, it drives research in philosophy of mind and psychology down dead-ended paths. Yet, I continue to see philosophers and others use this metaphor as if it is fact, forgetting that it is, at best, a literary device to convey an imperfect description of the human mind.
Shulman has some fascinating things to say about the workings of the mind, Artificial Intelligence, and related topics, along with some interesting insights into Searle’s Chinese Room Argument.
I’m curious to know what you think of Shulman’s piece. Feel free to leave your comments in the comment box.
A hat-tip to Bookforum.com for this link.
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