Can a mind be “just” a computer? In this episode, we unpack John Searle’s Chinese Room and the debate it ignited about understanding, meaning, and consciousness. We lay out Searle’s thought experiment in plain language, explore why it challenges the idea that syntax alone yields semantics, and walk through some leading replies.
All content for The Thursday Thought Experiment. is the property of Trust Me I'm A Philosopher and is served directly from their servers
with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
Can a mind be “just” a computer? In this episode, we unpack John Searle’s Chinese Room and the debate it ignited about understanding, meaning, and consciousness. We lay out Searle’s thought experiment in plain language, explore why it challenges the idea that syntax alone yields semantics, and walk through some leading replies.
We think we know the difference between science and pseudoscience—biology versus astrology, chemistry versus clairvoyance. But once you look closer, the boundary isn’t so clear. In this episode, we explore the demarcation problem: how to tell genuine science from its imitations. From Karl Popper’s falsifiability test to real-world cases of fraud and pseudoscience, and from astrology to creation science, we’ll unpack why this debate matters for everything from education policy to public health...
The Thursday Thought Experiment.
Can a mind be “just” a computer? In this episode, we unpack John Searle’s Chinese Room and the debate it ignited about understanding, meaning, and consciousness. We lay out Searle’s thought experiment in plain language, explore why it challenges the idea that syntax alone yields semantics, and walk through some leading replies.
