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Originally Posted by Interesting Ian  No that's wrong. Functionalism is similar to behaviourism. In behaviourism the pain literally is saying ouch, ones face contorting etc. In functionalism it is the carrying out of the process itself which is pain. It is the execution of the program that literally is the pain. |
This is exactly why I feel this computer gedanken experiment has so much to tell us! Thinking about computers can clean up a lot of fuzzy thinking. For example, it would be completely trivial to write a program that printed "Ouch!" every time the left mouse button was pressed. Would in be feeling pain - I doubt it!
More generally, is it reasonable to expect a computer program to have any side effects - like feeling pain - as it grinds its way to an answer.
Ian, can I take it that when you replied "Yes, absolutely anything that can reproduce the function associated with pain will experience that pain. It could be some device consisting of tin cans, or whatever.", you were answering on behalf of the materialist viewpoint - not your own belief?
People have to choose between accepting the idea that a computer simulation of a brain (or entire body) would be equivalent to the real thing, or rejecting the idea (my position). It is interesting to note that a brain based on the TV receiver analogy would not be capable of simulation, because presumably the computer would be unable to link up to the mental components.
David