Would Julian Jaynes Kick a Robot?

Posted 27 Aug 2008 at 23:24 UTC by steve

Stevan Harnad gave an interesting keynote talk at the recent Julian Jaynes Conference on Consciousness that both reminisces about Julian Jaynes and addresses the question of whether consciousness depends more on language or feeling. Harnad updates the classic question asked of Julian Jaynes about whether or not is was alright to kick a dog if dogs were not conscious. And what can we learn about consciousness from speculating on the likelihood of Jaynes kicking dogs and robots? More than you might think. Harnad's talk can be found in a newly released paper titled, "What it Feels Like to Hear Voices: Fond Memories of Julian Jaynes" (PDF format).