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Tag Archives: Turing Machine
The Jolly Reaper
Welcome to Reaper version 2.045. Please may I ask your name?
It’s Emily. Emily James.
Hello Emily. You appear to be female, is this correct?
It is.. I am.
Great. Do you mind this voice or would you prefer it if I change to the opposite sex?
Female if possible please.
Sure. How’s this?
That’s fine.
There is only one Emily James with your regional dialect, where you born in the year 2014?
I was.
Shall I continue to speak in your regional dialect? I have alternatives.
No, that’s okay.
Do you still reside at the address which you occupied in June 2042?
I do.
Thank you. Let’s begin. Our first session should last ten minutes or so. Are you positioned comfortably?
Continue reading
It’s Emily. Emily James.
Hello Emily. You appear to be female, is this correct?
It is.. I am.
Great. Do you mind this voice or would you prefer it if I change to the opposite sex?
Female if possible please.
Sure. How’s this?
That’s fine.
There is only one Emily James with your regional dialect, where you born in the year 2014?
I was.
Shall I continue to speak in your regional dialect? I have alternatives.
No, that’s okay.
Do you still reside at the address which you occupied in June 2042?
I do.
Thank you. Let’s begin. Our first session should last ten minutes or so. Are you positioned comfortably?
Continue reading
Filed under Fiction, Philosophy, Short Fiction
Consciousness: It’s Not a Solo Activity
It could be suggested that consciousness is simply an internal state of the mind, within the physical brain itself. This would seem to be a common sense assumption if we regard the mind as a ‘Turing Machine’ all be it a very complex one. However this assumption can be challenged when we begin to think about how the machine is programed.
When a brain first forms it must suddenly begin to be able to change it’s own internal state – a form of self programing using the available data. Admittedly this will at first will be very limited, but remember the built in ‘operating system’ is as old as the evolution of human kind and all of our ‘thoughtful’ ancestors. Upon birth an immediate cascade of information flows into the brain via the senses and continues uninterrupted until death.
Although there are wide varieties of sensory input, the main interaction is a flow of information between brains, language being the main carrier of this data. Every human mind creates levels of simulation of the other minds it communicates with in tandem with it own functions. The prerequisite for consciousness does not solely depend on a complex set of interactions within the mind of one individual, rather it is the presence of other minds in the immediate sensory environment. A mind is only conscious of itself because it is conscious of other minds.
Filed under Philosophy