From: kenneth paul collins 
Date: Fri, 15 Nov 1996 18:05:09 -0500

Anders N Weinstein wrote:
> 
> In article <328BD7D8.2EA6@postoffice.worldnet.att.net>,
> kenneth paul collins   wrote:
> >1. The functioning of nervous systems is deterministic
> >because, being comprised of organic materials, everything in
> >them must conform to what's described by the 2nd Law of
> >Thermodynamics (WDB2T).
> >
> >There exists no way around this.
> 
> Right, but it's irrelevant.

It's hardly "irrelevant". The question includes stuff like the existence of 
God and  "quantum uncertainty".

> A rock is a physical system but, prima facie, not a computer.

Unless the rock happens to be a piece of a silicon wafer upon which the 
circuitry of our CPUs are etched.

> Determinism at the physical level does not entail that there is any
> interesting *computational* level.

I disagree. Every "atom" interacts with its "neighbors" (and with the rest of 
the Universe), and that interaction is computed in rigorous accord with What's 
Described By 2nd Thermo (WDB2T) - literally. The so-called "random" motions of 
"atoms" is not random at all. All such motion is rigorously computed by WDB2T.

> For [an interesting computational level] you need to find structured
> representational vehicles with syntax and semantics.

No. One needs to find the computational dynamics.

> Which might well not be a useful higher-level functional explanation of 
> human brains, even if determininism obtains at the physical level of their 
> constituents.

Rock or CPU or brain, it's all WDB2T. What you're missing is that WDB2T is 
some Truely-awesome Stuff.

> If human behavior could *only* be explained at the physical level that
> would mean there is no cognitive science, for cognitivism is committed to
> explaining by reference to representational vehicles, a higher-level
> explanation.

All possible "representational vehicles" are, themselves, "just" more WDB2T. 
Dealing with things in terms of "representational vehicles" facilitates 
communication, but has only interface correlation with cognitive processes. 
The first thing our nervous systems do with "representational vehicles" 
is to transform them into input interface perturbations, and from there until 
the production of output interface purturbations, it's all straight WDB2T.

"Representational vehicles" are like "tools" - inanimate implements, that, in 
the absence of dynamics conforming to WDB2T, are indistinguishable from the 
"rock" to which you referred earlier. It is WDB2T which animates everything 
within Physical Reality. Anything that is not WDB2T not only does not compute, 
but is completely =static=. ken collins
_____________________________________________________
People hate because they fear, and they fear because
they do not understand, and they do not understand 
because hating is less work than understanding.