Is Thinking Generated by the Brain?

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Image: Aristotle (384-322 BC), Collection of “Centurium Statues” at Southern Utah University

About the Presentation

Thinking. Four arguments for thinking not being generated by the brain: 1. Concepts are not physical and are perceived through thinking; 2. Determining the next thought; 3. Imagining some physical action; 4. Non-physical models determine organic forms. 

Implications for AI: Computers will never think as humans do; traditional programming vs. programs generated through machine “learning” (ML) programs; the impossibility of knowing how a ML program works, and its dangers when used to replace human decisions.

About the Presenter

Valdemar W. Setzer is a retired professor of computer science at the University of São Paulo (USP), the most important university in Brazil. He founded and directed the Computer Center (CCE) at USP, and also the Center for Teaching Computing at his Institute of Mathematics and Statistics. After his retirement, he worked for some years as a consultant for important state and private companies. He has been a member of the Anthroposophical Society since 1971 and of the School of Spiritual Science since 1980. Besides his scientific production on compiler construction, software engineering and computers in education, he has published 19 books about technical, educational and philosophical subjects, also in the US, Germany, UK and Finland. Presently he has been giving lectures about various subjects, including problems causes by electronic media and solutions for them, mental concentration and meditation, and elementary mathematics under the program Ambassadors of Mathematics, which he introduced in this Institute. Valdemar is a musician (flutist, was a concert soloist in his youth) and ceramist. His greatest joy is relating to his 8 grandchildren.