dfranke comments on We are not living in a simulation - Less Wrong

-9 Post author: dfranke 12 April 2011 01:55AM

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Comment author: dfranke 12 April 2011 05:22:34PM -2 points [-]

I don't think you read my post very carefully. I didn't claim that qualia are a phenomenon unique to human brains. I claimed that human-like qualia are a phenomenon unique to human brains. Computers might very well experience qualia; so might a lump of coal. But if you think a computer simulation of a human experiences the same qualia as a human, while a lump of coal experiences no qualia or different ones, you need to make that case to me.

Comment author: pjeby 12 April 2011 09:14:28PM 4 points [-]

But if you think a computer simulation of a human experiences the same qualia as a human, while a lump of coal experiences no qualia or different ones, you need to make that case to me.

Actually, I'd say you need to make a case for WTF "qualia" means in the first place. As far as I've ever seen, it seems to be one of those words that people use as a handwavy thing to prove the specialness of humans. When we know what "human qualia" reduce to, specifically, then we'll be able to simulate them.

That's actually a pretty good operational definition of "reduce", actually. ;-) (Not to mention "know".)