In CW 9.17, I mentioned Ray Kurzweil's "The Age of Spiritual Machines: When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence." Dan Corbett says there's an interesting (and lengthy) review/rebuttal by John Searle at . (The New York Review of Books, at , appears to be a useful resource.) Searle accepts that the brain is a machine, and doesn't object strongly to the idea that "Evolution determined an answer to this problem [intelligence] in a few billion years. We've made a good start in a few thousand years. We are likely to finish the job in a few more decades." (He just lacks Kurzweil's optimism that we are close to knowing how to do this.) However, he draws the line at Kurzweil's belief that soon we will all download ourselves into software and artificial hardware (like Arnold Rimmer in "Red Dwarf," or perhaps the holographic doctor on Voyager). Searle claims that no algorithm is equivalent to human thought or consciousness -- his Chinese Room Argument -- and thus no one should give up life to be a robot or synthetic being. "What was [Deep Blue] thinking about? Certainly not about chess, because it had no way of knowing that these symbols represent chess positions. Was it perhaps thinking about numbers? Even that is not true, because it had no way of knowing that the symbols assigned represented numerical values. The symbols in the computer mean nothing at all to the computer. ... Wristwatches, pocket calculators, computers, and cars are not candidates for intelligence, because they have no mental life whatever. ... The fact that Deep Blue can go through a series of electrical processes that we can interpret as 'beating the world champion at chess' is no more significant for human chess playing than it would be significant for human football playing if we built a steel robot which could carry the ball in a way that made it impossible for the robot to be tackled by human beings." Searle accepts that a brain replaced with non-biological materials -- neuron by neuron or section by section -- might retain consciousness, or even that a full synthetic brain might be conscious, but he rejects that a software implementation could ever be conscious. Simulated cognition is not cognition. "You do not cause digestion by doing a computer simulation of digestion." And besides, Kurzweil gets the Church-Turing Thesis wrong. [, 02Jun99.]

(I'll go out on a limb and say that I disagree with Searle about software implementations being inherently different from hardware. The system and its functioning matter, not the implementation. (The man in the Chinese Room does not understand Chinese, but his algorithmic system does. The algorithmic system is not conscious, but that's because it wasn't built to be.) Digital patterns, electrical currents, neural excitations, or positions of levers and wheels -- it's all the same. But I don't see being able to download brains into hardware or software any time soon. Synaptic structure isn't enough; we'd need to know sub-cellular structure and synapse-specific biochemical data, as well as gene structure and activation in multiple cell types. Then we'd need models of how all that interacts in a specific body, perhaps allowing for individual variants of each complex protein type. And don't think your mind is solely located in your brain -- it's also in your spinal column, solar plexus, hormone systems, muscles, and everything else that swaps signals in your body. Still, personality isn't particularly volatile, fragile, or (most likely) subtle. Someone can come out of a decades-long coma and pretty much pick up where he left off, despite massive cell replacement during that time. And however memory is encoded, it seems to be mostly limited to a small region around the hippocampus. That would simplify the readout task.)

----- "We tend to think of our selves as the only wholly unique creations in nature, but it is not so. Uniqueness is so commonplace a property of living things that there is really nothing at all unique about it." -- Lewis Thomas. [Thought, 12Apr99.] -----

5> Personal advice: [With Mike Hanafin.]

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Silicon Valley CEOs and employees are hiring "get-a-life consultants" to help mellow out their lifestyles of 60-hour weeks, working lunches, constant interruptions, late-night email, and the highest divorce rate in the US. People are seeking out psychologists, gurus, and yoga instructors. 1,200 business leaders showed up for a recent Stanford conference on spirituality and technology. Companies are trying to be supportive, if only to prevent workers from fleeing to other companies. Private therapy sessions for senior staff can cost companies $150-$500; 24/7 phone counseling and financial or concierge services for lower-level workers are cheaper. More companies are also supporting drop-in centers where workers can plug in with minimal commute, and those who make the drive to work may get access to gyms, yoga sessions, massage, video games, home repair seminars, and ballroom dancing classes. Still, deadlines have to be met and work in the Valley is "as stressful as cramming for finals." [Nadine Joseph, Newsweek, 07Jun99, p. 68.]

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Lily and I recently read Richard Carlson's "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff with Your Family." I can't say yet that it's changed our lives -- or that it hasn't -- but the book is definitely worth skimming through. Most of the ideas can be captured just by reading the 100 short chapter titles, such as "Become Clutter-Free" or "Remember, This Too Shall Pass." Each is illustrated by observations from Carlson's family life or from his experiences as a lecturer and stress consultant. It's all presented as simple common sense, without the [self-ridiculed and denied] self-importance of Zen insights, and without making a whole book out of just a few points as in John Gray's Mars/Venus series. Carlson's points are commonplace, but no less profound for that. We *should* slow down, enjoy the moment, count our blessings and successes rather than our failures, and treat our family members at least as well as we treat strangers. "Never, Ever, Take Your Spouse for Granted," as he says, and "Treat Your Family Members as if This Were The Last Time You Were Going to See Them." After all, it's often the little interactions and tender moments that we notice and remember -- not the vacations, special events, awards, and promotions. If ordinary life isn't beautiful, it's usually our own fault. Work on it, and appreciate the chance to do so.

Incidentally, Carlson recommends Jon Kabat-Zinn's "Wherever You Go, There You Are" in addition to his own #1 best sellers, "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff" and "Don't Worry, Make Money."

The over40talk list is a chat group for folks over 40, and for comments more substantial than "hehehehehehe, Gracie! ROTFLMAO! Cya later!" . [Phil Glowatz , NEW-LIST, 16Mar99.]

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("Meekness: uncommon patience in planning a revenge that is worthwhile." -- A. Bierce. [Dave Cleveland , Jun99. Bill Park.])

The Assertive Advocate is a free monthly newsletter (edited by a clinical psychologist) for those trying to become more assertive. . [Linda D. Tillman , NEW-LIST, 23Mar99.]