Full Idea
It seems to me now that syntax is not intrinsic to the physics of the system, but is in the eye of the beholder.
Clarification
Syntax is sentence structure (where 'semantics' is meaning)
Gist of Idea
I now think syntax is not in the physics, but in the eye of the beholder
Source
John Searle (The Mystery of Consciousness [1997], Ch.1)
Book Reference
Searle,John R.: 'The Mystery of Consciousness' [Granta 1997], p.14
A Reaction
This seems right, in that whether strung beads are a toy or an abacus depends on the user. It doesn't follow that the 'beholder' stands outside the physics. A beholder is another physical system, of a particular type of high complexity.