Abstract
I offer an alternative to Searle’s original Chinese Room argument which I call the Sanskrit Room argument (SRA). SRA distinguishes between syntactic token and semantic symbol manipulations and shows that both are involved in human language understanding. Within classical mechanics, which gives an adequate scientific account of token manipulation, a symbol remains a subjective construct. I describe how an objective, quantitative theory of semantic symbols could be developed by applying the Schrodinger equation directly to macroscopic objects independent of Born’s rule and hence independent of current statistical quantum mechanics. Such a macroscopic quantum mechanics opens the possibility for developing a new theory of computing wherein the Universal Turing Machine (UTM) performs semantic symbol manipulation and models macroscopic quantum computing.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Searle, J.R.: Minds, Brains, and Programs. Behavorial and Brain Sciences 3, 417–424 (1980)
Kiparsky, P.: On the architecture of Panini grammar. Lectures delivered at the Hyderabad Conference on the Architecture of Grammar (2002), http://www.stanford.edu/~kiparsky/Papers/hyderabad.pdf
Ladyman, J.: Understanding Philosophy of Science. Routledge, London (2002)
Koch, C., Hepp, K.: Quantum Mechanics in the Brain. Nature 440, 611–612 (2006)
Gomatam, R.: Quantum Realism and Haecceity. In: Ghose, P. (ed.) Materialism and Immaterialism in India and the West: Varying Vistas. CSC, New Delhi (2008), http://bvinst.edu/gomatam/pub-2008.pdf
von Neumann, J.: Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics. Princeton University Press, Princeton (1955)
Fuchs, C., Peres, A.: Quantum Theory Needs No Interpretation. Physics Today, 70–71 (March 2000)
Gomatam, R.: Niels Bohr’s Interpretation and the Copenhagen Interpretation – Are the Two Incompatible? Philosophy of Science 74(5), 736–748 (2007), http://www.bvinst.edu/gomatam/pub-2007-01.pdf
Gomatam, R.: Physics and Commonsense - Relearning the connections in the light of quantum theory. In: Chattopadhyaya, D.P., Sengupta, A.K. (eds.) Philosophical Consciousness and Scientific Knowedge. CSC, Indian Council of Philosophical Research, New Delhi (2004), http://www.bvinst.edu/gomatam/pub-2004-01.pdf
Gomatam, R.: Quantum Theory and the Observation Problem. Journal of Consciousness Studies 6(11-12), 173–190 (1999), http://www.bvinst.edu/gomatam/pub-1999-01.pdf
Asselmeyer-Maluga, T., Brans, C.H.: Exotic Smoothness and Physics: Differential Topology and Spacetime Models. World Scientific, Singapore (2007)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Gomatam, R.V. (2009). Quantum Theory, the Chinese Room Argument and the Symbol Grounding Problem. In: Bruza, P., Sofge, D., Lawless, W., van Rijsbergen, K., Klusch, M. (eds) Quantum Interaction. QI 2009. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 5494. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-00834-4_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-00834-4_15
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-00833-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-00834-4
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)