The Rainbow Box and Computer Sentience

[...davidelkins]

I argue that in order to perceive computer sentience, a researcher must know that there is at least 1 detail that they do not know about a computer. Even if a computer scientist helped invent the software, they should still treat that software as a mystery. Pertaining to humans, If I were to assume that I knew everything about a pedestrian walking down the street, I would learn nothing. By acknowledging that I only know a little grain of sand, then communication forms. When it comes to desktops for example there are matters of medium, locality, and information.

 

 

[EdEarl]

Computer systems are already so complex that no one knows everything about them. Moreover, combining software from several programmers invariably causes unintended consequences; thus, I believe no group of people know everything about a system such as Windows. Since I expect a sentient computer to be more complex than Windows, I believe your argument will be satisfied. Specifically, "a researcher must know that there is at least 1 detail that they do not know about a computer."