That seems like a reasonable idea. It seems not at all related to what any of the philosophers proposed.
For their proposals, it seems like the computational process is more like: 1. Extract a specific string of 1s and zeros from the sandstorm’s initial position, and another from it’s final position, with the some length as the length of the full description of the mind. 2. Calculate the bitwise sum of the initial mind state and the initial sand position. 3. Calculate the bitwise sum of the final mind state and the final sand position. 4. Take the output of state 2 and replace it with the output of state 3. 5. Declare that the sandstorm is doing something isomorphic to what the mind did. Ignore the fact that the internal process is completely unrelated, and all of the computation was done inside of the mind, and you’re just copying answers.
That seems like a reasonable idea. It seems not at all related to what any of the philosophers proposed.
For their proposals, it seems like the computational process is more like:
1. Extract a specific string of 1s and zeros from the sandstorm’s initial position, and another from it’s final position, with the some length as the length of the full description of the mind.
2. Calculate the bitwise sum of the initial mind state and the initial sand position.
3. Calculate the bitwise sum of the final mind state and the final sand position.
4. Take the output of state 2 and replace it with the output of state 3.
5. Declare that the sandstorm is doing something isomorphic to what the mind did. Ignore the fact that the internal process is completely unrelated, and all of the computation was done inside of the mind, and you’re just copying answers.
I’m going to read https://www.scottaaronson.com/papers/philos.pdf, https://philpapers.org/rec/PERAAA-7, and the appendix here: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/dkCdMWLZb5GhkR7MG/ (as well as the actual original statements of Searle’s Wall, Johnston’s popcorn, and Putnam’s rock), and when that’s eventually done I might report back here or make a new post if this thread is long dead by then