(July 24, 2013 at 9:21 pm)bennyboy Wrote:The twinkling can be done but another computer or a robot, so nix the trinity.(July 24, 2013 at 7:59 pm)little_monkey Wrote: I'm quite convinced that one day we will show that the brain is the hardware and mind is the software. By twinkling the hardware at spot X, you will have no choice but to think Y.Without a subjective human user, there really is no software: it's just a bunch of fluctuating electrical charges. So in that case, you don't have a duality: you have a trinity. (ooh scary word lol) While the hardware (brain) is necessary to run Windows (mind), you need a third element (the human user) in order to allow Windows to have any meaning. So in your analogy, what/where is that third element?
But seriously, if I can show that by doing something to spot X on your brain, and all you can think is "eating muffins", and spot Y, "visions of climbing mount Everest", etc. then that would demonstrate that every thought you have is the effect of a cause. Then the debate over determinism is over.