RE: Mind is the brain?
April 1, 2016 at 2:54 pm
(This post was last modified: April 1, 2016 at 2:59 pm by I_am_not_mafia.)
A computer does not have to be Turing complete. A calculator is a computer. It computes. It literally has logic gates and performs binary logic. This is what's taught at universities.
There is also the field of natural computation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_computing
Basically if you can get numbers out of it then you can compute with it. The first tools for computing were abacuses. Teams of women calculating Maths used to be called computers. But here is the crucial point:
Computing requires Maths. Maths is a human construct used to reason about the world.
This whole argument about definitions is not relevant to the flawed idea that the mind is the brain. The mind is an emergent phenomenon of the brain. If you start talking about computation happening in natural phenomena then you need to be careful not to make the mistake that theists make in thinking that maths and logic is somehow an objective part of reality. It's not. It's a tool constructed by humans.
There is also the field of natural computation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_computing
Quote:Natural computing,[1] also called natural computation, is a terminology introduced to encompass three classes of methods: 1) those that take inspiration from nature for the development of novel problem-solving techniques; 2) those that are based on the use of computers to synthesize natural phenomena; and 3) those that employ natural materials (e.g., molecules) to compute. The main fields of research that compose these three branches are artificial neural networks, evolutionary algorithms, swarm intelligence, artificial immune systems, fractal geometry, artificial life, DNA computing, and quantum computing, among others.
Basically if you can get numbers out of it then you can compute with it. The first tools for computing were abacuses. Teams of women calculating Maths used to be called computers. But here is the crucial point:
Computing requires Maths. Maths is a human construct used to reason about the world.
This whole argument about definitions is not relevant to the flawed idea that the mind is the brain. The mind is an emergent phenomenon of the brain. If you start talking about computation happening in natural phenomena then you need to be careful not to make the mistake that theists make in thinking that maths and logic is somehow an objective part of reality. It's not. It's a tool constructed by humans.