Dak
mentat
I see. But what's the point of Damasio invoking our fragility? It seemed that he was saying our fragility is what sets us apart from computers, but I don't see the point in that if what is durable about computers isn't their functionality. Yes, a computer's materials last; landfills are a testament to that. But the landfill is also a testament to the limited functionality these durable materials have for us. The plastic and copper of a computer might last for centuries, but the purpose we design them for typically lasts less than a human life (and in the case of laptops, usually not longer than five years). It's true that plastic sticks in the earth longer than biodegradable matter, but so what if it doesn't work?
I'm not sure why this is part of an argument against treating the brain as a computer. If anything, he should be saying that what makes a human brain different than a computer is the brain's durability.
I think there's some presentism here. Individual cells are vulnerable to any number of issues, and the human body is vulnerable to a plethora of things. It is only through the explosion of technology providing adequate food, sanitation, and healthcare for most that the world absent 3rd world countries that we don't have to have 12 kids so that 4 live to see grandchildren, or some such ratio. Cells are at risk even from themselves. Computers generally have 2 points of failure: Old spinning disc hard drives, and power supplies. Power supplies last 5-10 years generally, and can be replaced easily. Increasingly used SSD hard drives do not have moving parts and can be expected to far outlast the old style hard drives. Even still HDs are an easy swap out. We typically don't replace PCs because they don't work per se, we replace them because the technology has made them obsolete. I have a an old tablet that still turns on and whatnot just fine. It's just so old it doesn't run current app versions for shit. Laptops get chucked for similar reasons, or because replacement batteries are expensive enough that we'd rather just get a faster model.