<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<title>UTas ePrints - Would a digital brain have a mind?</title>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/javascript/auto.js"><!-- padder --></script>
<style type="text/css" media="screen">@import url(http://eprints.utas.edu.au/style/auto.css);</style>
<style type="text/css" media="print">@import url(http://eprints.utas.edu.au/style/print.css);</style>
<link rel="icon" href="/images/eprints/favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon" />
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="/images/eprints/favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon" />
<link rel="Top" href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/" />
<link rel="Search" href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/cgi/search" />
<meta content="Holmes, Neville" name="eprints.creators_name" />
<meta content="neville.holmes@utas.edu.au" name="eprints.creators_id" />
<meta content="article" name="eprints.type" />
<meta content="2007-08-24" name="eprints.datestamp" />
<meta content="2008-01-08 15:30:00" name="eprints.lastmod" />
<meta content="show" name="eprints.metadata_visibility" />
<meta content="Would a digital brain have a mind?" name="eprints.title" />
<meta content="pub" name="eprints.ispublished" />
<meta content="320700" name="eprints.subjects" />
<meta content="380301" name="eprints.subjects" />
<meta content="280200" name="eprints.subjects" />
<meta content="public" name="eprints.full_text_status" />
<meta content="cognitive science, neuroscience, consciousness, artificial intelligence" name="eprints.keywords" />
<meta content="This essay has been more formally published as essay 1.5 under the title "Having a Mind to Computing" in the author's book "Computers and People" (Wiley, 2006). This material is presented to ensure timely dissemination of scholarly and technical work. Copyright and all rights therein are retained by authors or by other copyright holders. All persons copying this information are expected to adhere to the terms and constraints invoked by each author's copyright. In most cases, these works may not be reposted without the explicit permission of the copyright holder.
Copyright 2002 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the IEEE." name="eprints.note" />
<meta content="This essay examines arguments that a digital computer could be programmed to be conscious, asserts that the idea is preposterous as the human brain is not only far more complex than any prospective digital computer but different in kind, and brings out the fundamental distinction that the mind is a process carried out by the brain." name="eprints.abstract" />
<meta content="2002-05" name="eprints.date" />
<meta content="published" name="eprints.date_type" />
<meta content="Computer" name="eprints.publication" />
<meta content="35" name="eprints.volume" />
<meta content="5" name="eprints.number" />
<meta content="112, 110-111" name="eprints.pagerange" />
<meta content="10.1109/MC.2002.1009512" name="eprints.id_number" />
<meta content="UNSPECIFIED" name="eprints.thesis_type" />
<meta content="FALSE" name="eprints.refereed" />
<meta content="0018-9162" name="eprints.issn" />
<meta content="http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/MC.2002.1009512" name="eprints.official_url" />
<meta content="See http://www.comp.utas.edu.au/users/nholmes/prfsn/2002.htm#2My" name="eprints.referencetext" />
<meta content="Holmes, Neville (2002) Would a digital brain have a mind? Computer, 35 (5). 112, 110-111. ISSN 0018-9162" name="eprints.citation" />
<meta content="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/1673/1/tp2My.pdf" name="eprints.document_url" />
<link rel="schema.DC" href="http://purl.org/DC/elements/1.0/" />
<meta content="Would a digital brain have a mind?" name="DC.title" />
<meta content="Holmes, Neville" name="DC.creator" />
<meta content="320700 Neurosciences" name="DC.subject" />
<meta content="380301 Philosophy of Cognition" name="DC.subject" />
<meta content="280200 Artificial Intelligence and Signal and Image Processing" name="DC.subject" />
<meta content="This essay examines arguments that a digital computer could be programmed to be conscious, asserts that the idea is preposterous as the human brain is not only far more complex than any prospective digital computer but different in kind, and brings out the fundamental distinction that the mind is a process carried out by the brain." name="DC.description" />
<meta content="2002-05" name="DC.date" />
<meta content="Article" name="DC.type" />
<meta content="NonPeerReviewed" name="DC.type" />
<meta content="application/pdf" name="DC.format" />
<meta content="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/1673/1/tp2My.pdf" name="DC.identifier" />
<meta content="http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/MC.2002.1009512" name="DC.relation" />
<meta content="Holmes, Neville (2002) Would a digital brain have a mind? Computer, 35 (5). 112, 110-111. ISSN 0018-9162" name="DC.identifier" />
<meta content="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/1673/" name="DC.relation" />
<link rel="alternate" href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/cgi/export/1673/BibTeX/epprod-eprint-1673.bib" title="BibTeX" type="text/plain" />
<link rel="alternate" href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/cgi/export/1673/ContextObject/epprod-eprint-1673.xml" title="OpenURL ContextObject" type="text/xml" />
<link rel="alternate" href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/cgi/export/1673/ContextObject::Dissertation/epprod-eprint-1673.xml" title="OpenURL Dissertation" type="text/xml" />
<link rel="alternate" href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/cgi/export/1673/ContextObject::Journal/epprod-eprint-1673.xml" title="OpenURL Journal" type="text/xml" />
<link rel="alternate" href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/cgi/export/1673/DC/epprod-eprint-1673.txt" title="Dublin Core" type="text/plain" />
<link rel="alternate" href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/cgi/export/1673/DIDL/epprod-eprint-1673.xml" title="DIDL" type="text/xml" />
<link rel="alternate" href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/cgi/export/1673/EndNote/epprod-eprint-1673.enw" title="EndNote" type="text/plain" />
<link rel="alternate" href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/cgi/export/1673/HTML/epprod-eprint-1673.html" title="HTML Citation" type="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
<link rel="alternate" href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/cgi/export/1673/METS/epprod-eprint-1673.xml" title="METS" type="text/xml" />
<link rel="alternate" href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/cgi/export/1673/MODS/epprod-eprint-1673.xml" title="MODS" type="text/xml" />
<link rel="alternate" href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/cgi/export/1673/RIS/epprod-eprint-1673.ris" title="Reference Manager" type="text/plain" />
<link rel="alternate" href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/cgi/export/1673/Refer/epprod-eprint-1673.refer" title="Refer" type="text/plain" />
<link rel="alternate" href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/cgi/export/1673/Simple/epprod-eprint-1673text" title="Simple Metadata" type="text/plain" />
<link rel="alternate" href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/cgi/export/1673/Text/epprod-eprint-1673.txt" title="ASCII Citation" type="text/plain; charset=utf-8" />
<link rel="alternate" href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/cgi/export/1673/XML/epprod-eprint-1673.xml" title="EP3 XML" type="text/xml" />
</head>
<body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000" onLoad="loadRoutine(); MM_preloadImages('images/eprints/ePrints_banner_r5_c5_f2.gif','images/eprints/ePrints_banner_r5_c7_f2.gif','images/eprints/ePrints_banner_r5_c8_f2.gif','images/eprints/ePrints_banner_r5_c9_f2.gif','images/eprints/ePrints_banner_r5_c10_f2.gif','images/eprints/ePrints_banner_r5_c11_f2.gif','images/eprints/ePrints_banner_r6_c4_f2.gif')">
<div class="ep_noprint"><noscript><style type="text/css">@import url(http://eprints.utas.edu.au/style/nojs.css);</style></noscript></div>
<table width="795" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tr>
<td><script language="JavaScript1.2">mmLoadMenus();</script>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="795">
<!-- fwtable fwsrc="eprints_banner_final2.png" fwbase="ePrints_banner.gif" fwstyle="Dreamweaver" fwdocid = "1249563342" fwnested="0" -->
<tr>
<td><img src="/images/eprints/spacer.gif" width="32" height="1" border="0" alt="" /></td>
<td><img src="/images/eprints/spacer.gif" width="104" height="1" border="0" alt="" /></td>
<td><img src="/images/eprints/spacer.gif" width="44" height="1" border="0" alt="" /></td>
<td><img src="/images/eprints/spacer.gif" width="105" height="1" border="0" alt="" /></td>
<td><img src="/images/eprints/spacer.gif" width="41" height="1" border="0" alt="" /></td>
<td><img src="/images/eprints/spacer.gif" width="16" height="1" border="0" alt="" /></td>
<td><img src="/images/eprints/spacer.gif" width="68" height="1" border="0" alt="" /></td>
<td><img src="/images/eprints/spacer.gif" width="68" height="1" border="0" alt="" /></td>
<td><img src="/images/eprints/spacer.gif" width="68" height="1" border="0" alt="" /></td>
<td><img src="/images/eprints/spacer.gif" width="82" height="1" border="0" alt="" /></td>
<td><img src="/images/eprints/spacer.gif" width="69" height="1" border="0" alt="" /></td>
<td><img src="/images/eprints/spacer.gif" width="98" height="1" border="0" alt="" /></td>
<td><img src="/images/eprints/spacer.gif" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="12"><img name="ePrints_banner_r1_c1" src="/images/eprints/ePrints_banner_r1_c1.gif" width="795" height="10" border="0" alt="" /></td>
<td><img src="/images/eprints/spacer.gif" width="1" height="10" border="0" alt="" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td rowspan="6"><img name="ePrints_banner_r2_c1" src="/images/eprints/ePrints_banner_r2_c1.gif" width="32" height="118" border="0" alt="" /></td>
<td rowspan="5"><a href="http://www.utas.edu.au/"><img name="ePrints_banner_r2_c2" src="/images/eprints/ePrints_banner_r2_c2.gif" width="104" height="103" border="0" alt="" /></a></td>
<td colspan="10"><img name="ePrints_banner_r2_c3" src="/images/eprints/ePrints_banner_r2_c3.gif" width="659" height="41" border="0" alt="" /></td>
<td><img src="/images/eprints/spacer.gif" width="1" height="41" border="0" alt="" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="3"><a href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/"><img name="ePrints_banner_r3_c3" src="/images/eprints/ePrints_banner_r3_c3.gif" width="190" height="31" border="0" alt="" /></a></td>
<td rowspan="2" colspan="7"><img name="ePrints_banner_r3_c6" src="/images/eprints/ePrints_banner_r3_c6.gif" width="469" height="37" border="0" alt="" /></td>
<td><img src="/images/eprints/spacer.gif" width="1" height="31" border="0" alt="" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="3"><img name="ePrints_banner_r4_c3" src="/images/eprints/ePrints_banner_r4_c3.gif" width="190" height="6" border="0" alt="" /></td>
<td><img src="/images/eprints/spacer.gif" width="1" height="6" border="0" alt="" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2"><img name="ePrints_banner_r5_c3" src="/images/eprints/ePrints_banner_r5_c3.gif" width="149" height="1" border="0" alt="" /></td>
<td rowspan="2" colspan="2"><a href="/information.html" onMouseOut="MM_swapImgRestore();MM_startTimeout()" onMouseOver="MM_showMenu(window.mm_menu_0821132634_0,0,25,null,'ePrints_banner_r5_c5');MM_swapImage('ePrints_banner_r5_c5','','/images/eprints/ePrints_banner_r5_c5_f2.gif',1);"><img name="ePrints_banner_r5_c5" src="/images/eprints/ePrints_banner_r5_c5.gif" width="57" height="25" border="0" alt="About" /></a></td>
<td rowspan="2"><a href="/view/" onMouseOut="MM_swapImgRestore();MM_startTimeout()" onMouseOver="MM_showMenu(window.mm_menu_0821133021_1,0,25,null,'ePrints_banner_r5_c7');MM_swapImage('ePrints_banner_r5_c7','','/images/eprints/ePrints_banner_r5_c7_f2.gif',1);"><img name="ePrints_banner_r5_c7" src="/images/eprints/ePrints_banner_r5_c7.gif" width="68" height="25" border="0" alt="Browse" /></a></td>
<td rowspan="2"><a href="/perl/search/simple" onMouseOut="MM_swapImgRestore();MM_startTimeout()" onMouseOver="MM_showMenu(window.mm_menu_0821133201_2,0,25,null,'ePrints_banner_r5_c8');MM_swapImage('ePrints_banner_r5_c8','','/images/eprints/ePrints_banner_r5_c8_f2.gif',1);"><img name="ePrints_banner_r5_c8" src="/images/eprints/ePrints_banner_r5_c8.gif" width="68" height="25" border="0" alt="Search" /></a></td>
<td rowspan="2"><a href="/perl/register" onMouseOut="MM_swapImgRestore();MM_startTimeout();" onMouseOver="MM_showMenu(window.mm_menu_1018171924_3,0,25,null,'ePrints_banner_r5_c9');MM_swapImage('ePrints_banner_r5_c9','','/images/eprints/ePrints_banner_r5_c9_f2.gif',1);"><img name="ePrints_banner_r5_c9" src="/images/eprints/ePrints_banner_r5_c9.gif" width="68" height="25" border="0" alt="register" /></a></td>
<td rowspan="2"><a href="/perl/users/home" onMouseOut="MM_swapImgRestore();MM_startTimeout()" onMouseOver="MM_showMenu(window.mm_menu_0821133422_4,0,25,null,'ePrints_banner_r5_c10');MM_swapImage('ePrints_banner_r5_c10','','/images/eprints/ePrints_banner_r5_c10_f2.gif',1);"><img name="ePrints_banner_r5_c10" src="/images/eprints/ePrints_banner_r5_c10.gif" width="82" height="25" border="0" alt="user area" /></a></td>
<td rowspan="2"><a href="/help/" onMouseOut="MM_swapImgRestore();MM_startTimeout()" onMouseOver="MM_showMenu(window.mm_menu_0821133514_5,0,25,null,'ePrints_banner_r5_c11');MM_swapImage('ePrints_banner_r5_c11','','/images/eprints/ePrints_banner_r5_c11_f2.gif',1);"><img name="ePrints_banner_r5_c11" src="/images/eprints/ePrints_banner_r5_c11.gif" width="69" height="25" border="0" alt="Help" /></a></td>
<td rowspan="3" colspan="4"><img name="ePrints_banner_r5_c12" src="/images/eprints/ePrints_banner_r5_c12.gif" width="98" height="40" border="0" alt="" /></td>
<td><img src="/images/eprints/spacer.gif" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td rowspan="2"><img name="ePrints_banner_r6_c3" src="/images/eprints/ePrints_banner_r6_c3.gif" width="44" height="39" border="0" alt="ePrints home" /></td>
<td><a href="/" onMouseOut="MM_swapImgRestore()" onMouseOver="MM_swapImage('ePrints_banner_r6_c4','','/images/eprints/ePrints_banner_r6_c4_f2.gif',1);"><img name="ePrints_banner_r6_c4" src="/images/eprints/ePrints_banner_r6_c4.gif" width="105" height="24" border="0" alt="ePrints home" /></a></td>
<td><img src="/images/eprints/spacer.gif" width="1" height="24" border="0" alt="" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><img name="ePrints_banner_r7_c2" src="/images/eprints/ePrints_banner_r7_c2.gif" width="104" height="15" border="0" alt="" /></td>
<td colspan="8"><img name="ePrints_banner_r7_c4" src="/images/eprints/ePrints_banner_r7_c4.gif" width="517" height="15" border="0" alt="" /></td>
<td><img src="/images/eprints/spacer.gif" width="1" height="15" border="0" alt="" /></td>
</tr>
</table></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><table width="100%" style="font-size: 90%; border: solid 1px #ccc; padding: 3px"><tr>
<td align="left"><a href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/cgi/users/home">Login</a> | <a href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/cgi/register">Create Account</a></td>
<td align="right" style="white-space: nowrap">
<form method="get" accept-charset="utf-8" action="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/cgi/search" style="display:inline">
<input class="ep_tm_searchbarbox" size="20" type="text" name="q" />
<input class="ep_tm_searchbarbutton" value="Search" type="submit" name="_action_search" />
<input type="hidden" name="_order" value="bytitle" />
<input type="hidden" name="basic_srchtype" value="ALL" />
<input type="hidden" name="_satisfyall" value="ALL" />
</form>
</td>
</tr></table></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="toplinks"><!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="content" -->
<div align="center">
<table width="720" class="ep_tm_main"><tr><td align="left">
<h1 class="ep_tm_pagetitle">Would a digital brain have a mind?</h1>
<p style="margin-bottom: 1em" class="not_ep_block"><span class="person_name">Holmes, Neville</span> (2002) <xhtml:em>Would a digital brain have a mind?</xhtml:em> Computer, 35 (5). 112, 110-111. ISSN 0018-9162</p><p style="margin-bottom: 1em" class="not_ep_block"></p><table style="margin-bottom: 1em" class="not_ep_block"><tr><td valign="top" style="text-align:center"><a onmouseover="EPJS_ShowPreview( event, 'doc_preview_2163' );" href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/1673/1/tp2My.pdf" onmouseout="EPJS_HidePreview( event, 'doc_preview_2163' );"><img alt="[img]" src="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/style/images/fileicons/application_pdf.png" class="ep_doc_icon" border="0" /></a><div class="ep_preview" id="doc_preview_2163"><table><tr><td><img alt="" src="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/1673/thumbnails/1/preview.png" class="ep_preview_image" border="0" /><div class="ep_preview_title">Preview</div></td></tr></table></div></td><td valign="top"><a href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/1673/1/tp2My.pdf"><span class="ep_document_citation">PDF</span></a> - Requires a PDF viewer<br />197Kb</td></tr></table><p style="margin-bottom: 1em" class="not_ep_block">Official URL: <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/MC.2002.1009512">http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/MC.2002.1009512</a></p><div class="not_ep_block"><h2>Abstract</h2><p style="padding-bottom: 16px; text-align: left; margin: 1em auto 0em auto">This essay examines arguments that a digital computer could be programmed to be conscious, asserts that the idea is preposterous as the human brain is not only far more complex than any prospective digital computer but different in kind, and brings out the fundamental distinction that the mind is a process carried out by the brain.</p></div><table style="margin-bottom: 1em" cellpadding="3" class="not_ep_block" border="0"><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">Item Type:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row">Article</td></tr><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">Additional Information:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row">This essay has been more formally published as essay 1.5 under the title "Having a Mind to Computing" in the author's book "Computers and People" (Wiley, 2006). This material is presented to ensure timely dissemination of scholarly and technical work. Copyright and all rights therein are retained by authors or by other copyright holders. All persons copying this information are expected to adhere to the terms and constraints invoked by each author's copyright. In most cases, these works may not be reposted without the explicit permission of the copyright holder.
Copyright 2002 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the IEEE.</td></tr><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">Keywords:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row">cognitive science, neuroscience, consciousness, artificial intelligence</td></tr><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">Subjects:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row"><a href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/view/subjects/320700.html">320000 Medical and Health Sciences > 320700 Neurosciences</a><br /><a href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/view/subjects/380301.html">380000 Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences > 380300 Cognitive Science > 380301 Philosophy of Cognition</a><br /><a href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/view/subjects/280200.html">280000 Information, Computing and Communication Sciences > 280200 Artificial Intelligence and Signal and Image Processing</a></td></tr><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">ID Code:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row">1673</td></tr><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">Deposited By:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row"><span class="ep_name_citation"><span class="person_name">Mr Neville Holmes</span></span></td></tr><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">Deposited On:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row">24 Aug 2007</td></tr><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">Last Modified:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row">09 Jan 2008 02:30</td></tr><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">ePrint Statistics:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row"><a target="ePrintStats" href="/es/index.php?action=show_detail_eprint;id=1673;">View statistics for this ePrint</a></td></tr></table><p align="right">Repository Staff Only: <a href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/cgi/users/home?screen=EPrint::View&eprintid=1673">item control page</a></p>
</td></tr></table>
</div>
<!-- InstanceEndEditable --></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!-- #BeginLibraryItem "/Library/footer_eprints.lbi" -->
<table width="795" border="0" align="left" cellpadding="0" class="footer">
<tr valign="top">
<td colspan="2"><div align="center"><a href="http://www.utas.edu.au">UTAS home</a> | <a href="http://www.utas.edu.au/library/">Library home</a> | <a href="/">ePrints home</a> | <a href="/contact.html">contact</a> | <a href="/information.html">about</a> | <a href="/view/">browse</a> | <a href="/perl/search/simple">search</a> | <a href="/perl/register">register</a> | <a href="/perl/users/home">user area</a> | <a href="/help/">help</a></div><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"><p><img src="/images/eprints/footerline.gif" width="100%" height="4" /></p></td></tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td width="68%" class="footer">Authorised by the University Librarian<br />
© University of Tasmania ABN 30 764 374 782<br />
<a href="http://www.utas.edu.au/cricos/">CRICOS Provider Code 00586B</a> | <a href="http://www.utas.edu.au/copyright/copyright_disclaimers.html">Copyright & Disclaimers</a> | <a href="http://www.utas.edu.au/accessibility/index.html">Accessibility</a> | <a href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/feedback/">Site Feedback</a> </td>
<td width="32%"><div align="right">
<p align="right" class="NoPrint"><a href="http://www.utas.edu.au/"><img src="http://www.utas.edu.au/shared/logos/unioftasstrip.gif" alt="University of Tasmania Home Page" width="260" height="16" border="0" align="right" /></a></p>
<p align="right" class="NoPrint"><a href="http://www.utas.edu.au/"><br />
</a></p>
</div></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td><p> </p></td>
<td><div align="right"><span class="NoPrint"><a href="http://www.eprints.org/software/"><img src="/images/eprintslogo.gif" alt="ePrints logo" width="77" height="29" border="0" align="bottom" /></a></span></div></td>
</tr>
</table>
<!-- #EndLibraryItem -->
<div align="center"></div></td>
</tr>
</table>
</body>
</html>
