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Re:A Short Rebuttal to Searle (1984) [pdf] by Gormisdomai on Saturday January 19, 2019 @03:21PM (#18948965)
The chinese room thought experiment is more like Searle's attempt to get you on board with his intuitions about the philosophy of mind - but taken on its own as an argument it's pretty unsound.

His real argument exists in a bunch of stuff he wrote about intentionality (the real argument probably still fails - but it's more nuanced than the Chinese room stuff everyone talks about).

If you want a really good paper about the problems around machines and minds check out "Troubles with Functionalism" by Ned Block

Re:A Short Rebuttal to Searle (1984) [pdf] by sethev on Sunday January 20, 2019 @11:23AM (#18953726)
Thought experiment is the right term for it. It applies equally to a brain if you think that the chemical and electrical processes in the brain are identical to understanding. Searle believes that consciousness is a fundamental fact.