Animal / Human Hybrids

[Ziggamafu]

Another point is that one need not have a body to have a spirit. Angels are pure spirit. What's to say that God couldn't give a spirit to a robot? It would be a third form of intelligent life, I suppose, neither angel nor human.

[mommas_boy]

The scientist (read: materialist) in me believes that humans and lower animals are "biological robots" that are composed of materials (a physical brain, body, and all of the chemical processes) that perform cognitive action, the same way that an advanced "electrical robot" could exhibit "artificial intelligence" through electronic processes, rather than biological ones.

An old philosophical thought experiment on the topic of artificial intelligence is known as the Chinese Room Argument. In the argument, a person is placed in a room that has all of the dictionaries and lexicons needed to translate Chinese to English. Through one door to the room, he receives text in Chinese, and must translate that text to English and output it through the second door. The argument is that the person need not actually understand Chinese in order to perform this function, only follow the (however complex) instructions that are contained in the room. The author of the argument contends that this is not true intelligence, because the man in the Chinese Room need not actually be able to understand Chinese, just follow instructions, the same way that a robot follows the instructions of a computer program.

Thus, the author argues, no robot can truly possess "comprehension", because the robot is only following instructions.

I answer that while the man in the room may not understand Chinese -- the room, as a whole machine, does. Here, I view the man as only one component of the Chinese Room Computer. None of the components in themselves (the man, nor the books/instructions) understand Chinese. But taken together, I believe that the whole DOES understand Chinese.

Similarly, the materialist in me likes to think of humans as following the instructions of a biological computer program. Clearly, no single neuron is capable of cognition on their own. However, taken together and as a whole, cognition occur. In short, I believe that the human brain itself does not pass the test for intelligence, according to the Chinese Room Argument. Yet, we clearly know and experience that the opposite is true: humans are capable of immense intelligence and self-reflection, yet our minds only follow a clear set of biological instructions.

What is, however, difficult to account for biologically, and then to recreate synthetically, is the concept of free will. I think, examining my own materialist misgivings, that this is the one weak point in my view.

[Socrates]

[quote name='Ziggamafu' date='11 June 2010 - 03:45 PM' timestamp='1276285558' post='2127397']
Another point is that one need not have a body to have a spirit. Angels are pure spirit. What's to say that God couldn't give a spirit to a robot? It would be a third form of intelligent life, I suppose, neither angel nor human.
[/quote]
It would be essentially a possessed object (though in this case, possessed by an angel or good spirit, rather than by a demon or evil ghost like in the typical horror movie).

According to Thomistic philosophy, a human being is not the Cartesian "ghost in the machine," but the soul is the "form" of the matter of the human body, the life-principle of a living creature which makes that creature a distinct substance from other creatures. In human beings, this "form" or soul is rational, spiritual, and immortal, yet it is intrinsically tied to the body, and the separation of the soul from body at death is not a natural state.

Man-made machines, on the other hand, have no soul or informing principle, but are only complex tools made out of various different substances artificially cobbled together with screws, glues, and welding, etc. to perform some purely physical function.

God being God, He theoretically could create a spirit to "possess" a robot or other machine, but this would be a miracle (that is, an event outside the course of nature), and God generally does not perform miracles without a good reason. God is certainly under no obligation to provide such a spirit if someone creates a sufficiently complex robot or other gadget.
God would have no more reason to give a spiritual soul to a robot or AI program than He would to an automobile, laptop computer, or pocket calculator.

Such speculation may make interesting sci-fi, but I don't think it has any relation to actual reality, being in the realm of pure fantasy.

[zealousdefender]

[quote name='homeschoolmom' date='07 June 2010 - 01:31 PM' timestamp='1275928276' post='2125223']
I refuse to speculate.
[/quote]

I'm with Mom, but I'll say this much. If, after we die, we should meet some Rabbitmen in Heaven or Hell, then our question will be answered. Meanwhile, I don't think we should be setting the stage for prejudging future Rabbitmen.

Edited June 15, 2010 by zealousdefender