Dragaera

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

David Dyer-Bennet dd-b at dd-b.net
Wed Aug 21 19:54:56 PDT 2002

Steven Brust <skzb at dreamcafe.com> writes:

> 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.

At the moment I can't get any closer to this than "I don't know".  I
have a fair amount of idea of what it feels like from the inside, and
some anecdotal reports from other people on that topic.  And I know a
bit about what's been learned about the low-level mechanics of the
brain.  But I have *absolutely no clue* how those hook up in the
middle. 
-- 
David Dyer-Bennet, dd-b at dd-b.net  /  New TMDA anti-spam in test
 John Dyer-Bennet 1915-2002 Memorial Site http://john.dyer-bennet.net
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