As/Is







3.15.2004



poem #130


Lady Lovelace's objection may be parried

There is nothing new that was not simply the growth of the seed

Machines take me by surprise because I do not do sufficient calculation

Assumptions of my vicious ways throw doubt on my credibility

I testify to silence my critic

The idea of surprise required a creative mental act

Machines cannot give rise to philosophers

The nervous system is not discrete

A small error in the neuron may make a large difference to the being

If we adhere to the conditions of the interrogator the situation can be made clearer

It is not possible to describe what a man should do