Dragaera

OT: bois (was: Sethra Lavode vs. Enchantress of Dzur Mountain)

Wed Aug 21 18:22:25 PDT 2002

At 02:16 PM 8/17/2002 -0500, David Dyer-Bennet wrote:
>Steven Brust <skzb at dreamcafe.com> writes:
>
> > It may be that my definition of "language" is too broad to be useful.
> > But it seems to me that it is valid to make the point that thought
> > occurs by manipulating symbols in our brains.  I believe that the
> > learning of a skill involves (in part) learning the language
> > associated with that skill.  That was my point.
>
>Now, at *some* level thought occurs by diffusing neurotransmitters
>through the soup.  If what's in our head *actually* works anything
>like a "neural network" (the modern technological concept) works,  I'd
>say that "symbol" isn't a very relevent concept to it.

Deffusing neurotransmitters through the soup, as you put it, happens during 
a lot of activity that cannot be considered "thought" by any reasonable 
definition.  What distinguishes what we call thought from the other brain 
activity?  I contend that it is, in fact, symbol manipulation.