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Full Idea
Neuro-science matters because - and only because - we have discovered that the many different neuromodulators and other chemical messengers that diffuse throughout the brain have functional roles that make important differences.
Gist of Idea
What matters about neuro-science is the discovery of the functional role of the chemistry
Source
Daniel C. Dennett (Sweet Dreams [2005], Ch.1)
Book Ref
Dennett,Daniel C.: 'Sweet Dreams' [MIT 2005], p.19
A Reaction
I agree with Dennett that this is the true ground for pessimism about spectacular breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, rather than abstract concerns about irreducible features of the mind like 'qualia' and 'rationality'.
| 7651 | With wonderful new machines being made, a speaking machine no longer seems impossible [La Mettrie] |
| 8056 | AI can't predict innovation, or consequences, or external relations, or external events [MacIntyre] |
| 7654 | What matters about neuro-science is the discovery of the functional role of the chemistry [Dennett] |
| 12655 | Frame Problem: how to eliminate most beliefs as irrelevant, without searching them? [Fodor] |
| 3135 | Is thought a syntactic computation using representations? [Fodor, by Rey] |
| 3215 | Images can't replace computation, as they need it [Rey] |
| 3194 | CRTT is good on deduction, but not so hot on induction, abduction and practical reason [Rey] |
| 6655 | The 'Frame Problem' is how to program the appropriate application of general knowledge [Lowe] |
| 6657 | Computers can't be rational, because they lack motivation and curiosity [Lowe] |
| 23518 | Modern AI is mostly machine-based pattern recognition [Seth] |