Rather than putting this in binary terms (capable of reason or not), maybe we should think about what kinds of computation could result in a response like this?
Some kinds of reasoning would let you generate plausible answers based on similar questions you’ve already seen. People who are good at taking tests can get reasonably high scores on subjects they don’t fully comprehend, basically by bluffing well and a bit of luck. Perhaps something like that is going on here?
In the language of “Thinking, Fast and Slow”, this might be “System 1″ style reasoning.
Narrowing down what’s really going on probably isn’t going to be done in one session or by trying things casually. Particularly if you have randomness turned on, so you’d want to get a variety of answers to understand the distribution.
Rather than putting this in binary terms (capable of reason or not), maybe we should think about what kinds of computation could result in a response like this?
Some kinds of reasoning would let you generate plausible answers based on similar questions you’ve already seen. People who are good at taking tests can get reasonably high scores on subjects they don’t fully comprehend, basically by bluffing well and a bit of luck. Perhaps something like that is going on here?
In the language of “Thinking, Fast and Slow”, this might be “System 1″ style reasoning.
Narrowing down what’s really going on probably isn’t going to be done in one session or by trying things casually. Particularly if you have randomness turned on, so you’d want to get a variety of answers to understand the distribution.