Will Computers Eventually Make the Human Mind Obsolete?

“Breath on the Wind” writes on my post: “A Chilling Lesson From Two of History’s Most Important Philosophers,” A computer can progress from one bit of logical data to another in a far more rapid progression than is possible for human beings. Will we one day have computers tell us that they have a right to “personhood” because they think? Humans have the potential for multiple levels of thinking and we seem to have the potential for intuition: the ability to jump to a correct conclusion bypassing the logical steps.

I also often wonder about the limits of computers vis-a-vis human thinking. It’s normal to believe that emotions are going to be hard or impossible to program, and so many of our daily lives are wrapped up in what we feel about a certain thing or person.

Of course, this is anything but a new idea. A huge reason for the success of Star Trek is the quirkiness of Mr. Spock, a brilliant fellow who did all his reasoning and decision-making based on logic, since he and his entire species was born without emotion.  That worked in the show, since that’s what the writers made happen, but it’s hard to imagine its success in the real world.

When I was a young man, I kissed a few pretty girls. It’s hard to image that my thoughts and feelings before, during, and after each of those moments could be reduced to ones and zeroes.

But who knows where this is going to end, or if there will ever be an end?