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I teach philosophy at a university. Whenever we discuss basic issues about the mind, my computer science students are always dismissive about any and all positi
by logicchop 15y ago
I teach philosophy at a university. Whenever we discuss basic issues about the mind, my computer science students are always dismissive about any and all positions that don't simply say "the brain is a computer, the mind is software." It turns out that this is a pretty naive and simplistic way of thinking about the issue; but that's the "easy" way for them to frame the problem, and they often think that, because computer science is difficult subject, this response must be pretty good.
- Symmetry 15y agoJust computer science students? I would generally expect most scientists or engineers to have have a developed antipathy to anti-reductionism. "The brain is a computer, the mind is software" is in fact a very naive statement, but I hope your problems with it have more to do with the non-existent in reality hardware/software distinction than silly constructs like qualia.
- joelangeway 15y agoI find this deliciously ironic. I can hear myself arguing as a sophomore CS student, "but whatever is going on that constitutes the mind is observably a process on information that happens entirely inside your skull, of course we can model it with software," to which I would today answer "you can model any phenomena with software, stating as such doesn't constitute a model."
- turbojerry 15y agoPerhaps I am being naive, but hasn't the study of the mind now shifted to the neuroscience department?