A correspondent asks, If the transgenic monkeys are, as reported, somewhat smarter than other macaques, do they have minds and souls?
I’m not sure that improved memory and processing speed means that the macaques are more humanlike. A computer has much greater memory and processing speed than a human and I would not give the computer even animal rights.
Of course, the real question is, what is the dividing line between animals and humans? I think the above argument shows at least that it is not memory or processing speed.
Another way to think about it is this: What if implanting macaque genes in a mouse makes the mouse smarter? Does that mean the mouse is more human-like? What if the genes of some animals, such as crows, dolphins or elephants, which are considered smarter than macaques in certain respects, are used to make the macaques smarter? Does that mean the macaque is more human-like, or more like these other animals?
Eric Holloway, “Are monkeys with some human genes partly human?” at Mind Matters News
See also: Eric Holloway’s earlier discussions with Querius:
Could AI think like a human, given infinite resources? Given that the human mind is a halting oracle, the answer is no.
The flawed logic behind “thinking” computers, Part I A program that is intelligent must do more than reproduce human behavior
The flawed logic behind “thinking” computers, Part II There is another way to prove a negative besides exhaustively enumerating the possibilities.
and
The flawed logic behind “thinking” computers, Part III No program can discover new mathematical truths outside the limits of its code.
Note: “Querius” is a pseudonym.
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