graham smetham
Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 9:34 am
Physicalists such as Dennett and Dawkins would allow for the possibility for the possibility for humans to build a computer so complicated that it would mimic the consciousness of a human. Their position is that consciousness is a property of matter.
Yet, on the other hand they will not allow for the possibility that the universe has constructed itself in such a way that over time it has become intelligent. As mentioned in the link, this type of philosophy is evident in religions that do not require an omnipotent being to be the intelligent driving force. It seems to me that is the position of physicists such as David Bohm ( also mentioned in the link). In fact I don't think they can avoid this position.
The interesting part from my point of view is that one would think that Dennett and Dawkins would be happy to accept the possibility of a universe that has created itself in an intelligent fashion. I guess another way of putting it would that the some total of its parts results in intelligence. One would think this would be appealing to them because it doesn't require a deity to be the intelligent designer.
I guess this is because they are always of the opinion that a universe is built using a crane, not a skyhook. In other words, the intelligence we see has come about from the ground up- not form the top down.