Samenvatting
There is much discussion about whether the human mind is a computer, whether the human brain could be emulated on a computer, and whether at all physical entities are computers (pancomputationalism). These discussions, and others, require criteria for what is digital. 1 I propose that a state is digital if and only if it is a token of a type that serves a particular function - typically a representational function for the system. This proposal is made on a syntactic level, assuming three levels of description (physical, syntactic, semantic). It suggests that being digital is a matter of discovery or rather a matter of how we wish to describe the world, if a functional description can be assumed. Given the criterion provided and the necessary empirical research, we should be in a position to decide on a given system (e.g. the human brain) whether it is a digital system and can thus be reproduced in a different digital system (since digital systems allow multiple realization).
Originele taal-2 | Engels |
---|---|
Titel | 6th AISB Symposium on Computing and Philosophy |
Subtitel | The Scandal of Computation - What is Computation? - AISB Convention 2013 |
Pagina's | 11-16 |
Aantal pagina's | 6 |
Status | Gepubliceerd - 1 dec. 2013 |
Extern gepubliceerd | Ja |
Evenement | 6th AISB Symposium on Computing and Philosophy: The Scandal of Computation - What is Computation?, Held at the AISB Convention 2013 - Exeter, Verenigd Koninkrijk Duur: 3 apr. 2013 → 5 apr. 2013 |
Congres
Congres | 6th AISB Symposium on Computing and Philosophy: The Scandal of Computation - What is Computation?, Held at the AISB Convention 2013 |
---|---|
Land/Regio | Verenigd Koninkrijk |
Stad | Exeter |
Periode | 3/04/13 → 5/04/13 |