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Excerpts from netnews.comp.ai: 27-Dec-89 Re: Can Machines Think?
martin.b.brilliant@cbnew (2932)

> !In article <1037@ra.stsci.edu> bsimon@stsci.EDU (Bernie Simon) writes:

> !5) Hence, while it may be possible to build a machine that thinks, it
> !does not follow that it will be possible to build a computer that
> !thinks, as not all physical activities can be performed by computers.

> We seem to have got off the track.  The question was not whether
> computers can think, but whether machines can think.  If you put a
> computer into a machine that can accept sensory input and create
> motor output, it might be able to do what we call thinking.


I would welcome some clarification... 

Let's assume there  is some agreement on what constitutes "what we call
thinking" -- a big assumption. 
Is it the case that machines alone can think?  Or is it that a machine
requires a computer (as a necessary but not sufficient condition) to
think?  (and that a computer alone is insufficient)

If it is only the machine+computer combination that is capable, what is
it about the combination?  Is it the ability to control its sensory
inputs and outputs (the machine part) or some other distinction?



-David
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