RE: Philosophical zombies
March 5, 2018 at 1:08 pm
(This post was last modified: March 5, 2018 at 1:22 pm by The Grand Nudger.)
A comp representationalist would agree with you, sort of. They don't view any particular mental state as having an inherent meaning either, but as being part of a system of manipulating useful abstractions.
Any meaning exterior to the operation of that system is derived and referent. If, for example, we catalogued every nueron in a brain and gave them unique identifiers, collection A-176Virgo may be the physical correlates of "ice cream" in some individual. Some other set may also serve the purpose (or many sets...both within and between subjects. This is, quietly, the most disturbing implication of any consciousness based upon computational representation. That every brain may speak it's own language, and that the language may not be, strictly, internally consistent over time.
This still leaves sociability and developed behaviors as a translation between us, ofc. Your A-176Virgo is my B-1Catastrophe, but we have a footnote in culture and discussion as to their cross referential nature.
Any meaning exterior to the operation of that system is derived and referent. If, for example, we catalogued every nueron in a brain and gave them unique identifiers, collection A-176Virgo may be the physical correlates of "ice cream" in some individual. Some other set may also serve the purpose (or many sets...both within and between subjects. This is, quietly, the most disturbing implication of any consciousness based upon computational representation. That every brain may speak it's own language, and that the language may not be, strictly, internally consistent over time.
This still leaves sociability and developed behaviors as a translation between us, ofc. Your A-176Virgo is my B-1Catastrophe, but we have a footnote in culture and discussion as to their cross referential nature.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!