> Supporters of the Strong AI Hypothesis insisted that consciousness was a property of certain algorithms – a result of information being processed in certain ways, regardless of what machine, or organ, was used to perform the task. A computer model which manipulated data about itself and its ‘surroundings’ in essentially the same way as an organic brain would have to possess essentially the same mental states. ‘Simulated consciousness’ was as oxymoronic as ‘simulated addition’. \
Opponents replied that when you modelled a hurricane, nobody got wet. When you modelled a fusion power plant, no energy was produced. When you modelled digestion and metabolism, no nutrients were consumed – no real digestion took place. So, when you modelled the human brain, why should you expect real thought to occur? \
I posted this elsewhere here earlier, but when I imagine standing in the rain nothing gets wet. So is my imagination of the rain more like a rainstorm, or more like a simulation of one?
Opponents replied that when you modelled a hurricane, nobody got wet. When you modelled a fusion power plant, no energy was produced. When you modelled digestion and metabolism, no nutrients were consumed – no real digestion took place. So, when you modelled the human brain, why should you expect real thought to occur? \
— Permutation City by Greg Egan