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Message: <blockquote data-quote="spiney" data-source="post: 110872" data-attributes="member: 192438">.... and that's "killed" this thread, whoops!I'm not going to explain Searle's Chinese Room (go Google it!). But basically, it disproves the Turing Test. He said, if you converse via VDU (teleprinter) to "something" in next room, and can't tell if it's a man or machine, then it's "thinking", whichever it is. John Searle showed this is false. However good the computer simulation, it's just "cogwheels turning", it can't "understand" anything, everything depends on the machine's programme (originally designed by a person, who does understand it!).Question is, is "thinking" the same as "being conscious"? After all, Buddhists have Nirvana, supposedly a state of "pure awareness" without any content ...</blockquote>