Will computers ever be conscious?

An excellent discussion on one of my favourite hobby horses - the nature of conscious experience - is going on via the comments pages of David Weinberger's blog (Why Matter Matters). It is quite an experience trying to make your thoughts clear by writing them down and getting reactions from the various participants. I think I know what I mean when I write something, only to find I've been quite ambiguous or even sloppy. Nevertheless, I've learned a bit more. I'll try and summarise my own views more clearly here next.

Motivational Slogans

Companies resort to these, in the belief that unless we are constantly reminded of it, we just won't know how to organise our worklife, or we will just slack-off and do whatever we want. The assumption behind this technique is that we are basically stupid. "Think Quality" "The Customer comes first" . To many companies believe in these silly, simplisitic approaches to getting their staff to work productively, and they avoid the harder task building teams of people that work together well, investment in training, mentoring, work environment, process design and improvement. I'd rather see action on the real work and no slogan filled posters.

SARS is good for ecommerce

The ABC reported an increase in sales of cookbooks and DVDs over the internet since the outbreak of SARS. Apparantly people being restricted from going out reached for their cookbooks and sat down and watched soap operas via the DVD player. Talk about a silver lining to a cloud! It will be interesting to know if the trend stays or disappears with the disease.

Mountain Climbing

This past week saw the celebration and 50th anniversary of Edmund Hilary's and Tensing Norgay's climb to the top of Mount Everest. I was listening to one of the stories, being told by mountain climbers. What I found interesting was the way mountain climbing was described as "conquering" the highest peak on earth, and how preparation for a climb was described as an "assault" on a mountain. And then we name a mountain typically after some person we wish to honour.

Then someone pointed out that the Nepalese name for Mount Everest meant something like "Divine Godess of the Universe".

Says something about our way of thinking in the West, I reckon.

Who was shocked and Awed?

David Weinberger suggests the real target of the "Shock and Awe" campaign in today's blog:

"Shock and Awe worked. It turned out not to work exactly as advertised in Iraq: the Iraq military didn't fold once they saw our might on display. But that's not what I think the aim of Shock and Awe was.

Take Shock and Awe as applying not to the three nights of massive bombing but to the entire Iraqi campaign. Its target wasn't the Iraqi enemy but the rest of the world. And it worked. Our political system is in shock and awe: The Democrats have scattered like ants in shock and awe of the Bush Administration's willingness to lie, threaten and stuff socks down its crotch to get a war that it wanted for reasons it couldn't explain. The world is shocked and awed to learn that the US can and will slam anyone into the sand we want to, no questions asked, no recourse allowed.

Shock and awe worked."

There's a lot of truth in this - even if the result wasn't intended as such.
I heard another way of putting it today (on the radio today). "The terrorists, by attacking the USA were saying 'fuck you, America' - and the Americans responded with 'fuck you back' - and bombed Afghanistan and Iraq." (something like that anyway). This message is for the whole world to hear.