Now, replace one neuron with a functionally identical unit, one that takes the same inputs and fires the same way. The behavior of the person remains the same, and they still say, “Wow, it feels so strange to see and to think.” This remains true if you replace more neurons – even the entire brain – with functionally equivalent units. The person will still say the same thing.
The argument is circular — this is the very thing you are claiming to prove.
Anyway, I expect the argument is familiar to people on LessWrong already. Somewhere on the web (that I couldn’t find) there’s a presentation by Dennett a long time ago in which he dramatises the same argument.
The part you’re quoting is just that the resulting outward behaviour will be preserved, and is just a baseline fact of deterministic physics. What I’m trying to prove is that sentience (partially supported by that fact) is fully emergent from the neuron firing patterns.
The argument is circular — this is the very thing you are claiming to prove.
Anyway, I expect the argument is familiar to people on LessWrong already. Somewhere on the web (that I couldn’t find) there’s a presentation by Dennett a long time ago in which he dramatises the same argument.
The part you’re quoting is just that the resulting outward behaviour will be preserved, and is just a baseline fact of deterministic physics. What I’m trying to prove is that sentience (partially supported by that fact) is fully emergent from the neuron firing patterns.