> what I often wonder is whether it's really possible to make a computer think of a thing Trivial constructive proof that the answer is "yes"; as far as we kno

> what I often wonder is whether it's really possible to make a computer think of a thing Trivial constructive proof that the answer is "yes"; as far as we know, it is physically possible to measure and then simulate a human brain to an accuracy much smaller than the thermal noise floor at normal brain temperature. That is, you can always literally just run a human brain on a computer, and unless we're entirely wrong about all of physics, it will do everything a physical human brain would. > So long as a computer does not have any desires "Desire" is actually pretty well understood in the frameworks of decision theory and utility theory. You can always make a program "want" something in terms of that thing having a positive value in the program's utility function. > What would anything matter to you if you didn't eat, drink, sleep, feel, get bored, get curious? What would anything matter to you if you didn't shit, get pneumonia, and die? All the things you mentioned are just random things that humans happen to do; I'm not sure what it has to do with the concept of having preferences. > Without that, it's all just text. The representation doesn't really matter. Having desires is a property of the internal behavior of an agent, not how those behaviors are implemented.