Posted by Bob on September 27, 1999, at 23:10:14
In reply to Re: Getting really philosophical--I love it, posted by Adam on September 27, 1999, at 20:20:14
As a psychologist who researches how people learn, I love the computer metaphor. When you teach it to undergrads (or grads, for that matter) who have never been all that reflective about mind, they typically react in horror -- GASP!! HOW could you even THINK of saying our MINDS work like a machine?
Then I tell them they've got it backwards -- its not that our minds work like computers, but that we have designed computers to work according to models of the mind that were technologically within our grasp.
There's another chicken/egg one for ya.
Because of that ontological (ooh! gotta love those eight-bit (ooh! a pun within a wisecrack ... 3D humor) philosophic words, doncha Noa ;^) quandry, the mind/computer metaphor can actually be stretched a good long way without showing too much stress. Cool.
Cheers,
Bob
poster:Bob
thread:12034
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990914/msgs/12169.html