(April 21, 2013 at 2:04 pm)ChadWooters Wrote:(April 21, 2013 at 12:51 pm)whateverist Wrote: Whereas pieces of papers are not the sort of thing we think of as assigning or conveying meaning, brains are precisely the kind of thing we think does so.To me that is part of what makes the problem so interesting. Why do you (and I) make an exception for one particular physical system? What makes the brain different from the paper is the presence of operations you associate with mind. We do not suppose that ink and paper, thermostats, and computers have minds?
But we have good reason to think we have brains in our heads. Whether or not we can 'implant' consciousness into a thermostat or some other device, no engineering is required to get consciousness into brains. As it turns out, that is the only place, so far as any one knows, any consciousness has ever been found. Where as creatures with brains frequently claim to have consciousness, no toaster or other device has ever chipped in "me too". At the risk of being seen as a brainist, I do think that is the salient marker for minds/consciousness/souls and the rest.
