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is theoretically interesting is that if you want to describe the set of all thermostats (cf. the set of all purchasers), you have to rise to this intentional level. Any particular purchaser can also be described at the molecular level, but what purchasersâor thermostatsâall have in common is a systemic property that is captured only at a level that invokes belief talk and desire talk (or their less colorful but equally intentional alternativesâsemantic information talk and goal registration talk, for instance) (p. 327). John McCarthy, the inventor of the term artificial intelligence, said: âMy thermostat has three beliefs. My thermostat believes itâs too hot in here, itâs too cold in here, and itâs just right in hereâ (quoted in Searle 1987: 211). Calow (1976) writes: âMechanists do not always understand that they walk on an extremely narrow tightrope between machine theory and animism. Most machines presuppose the existence of an operator or at least a designer, so it is all too easy to lose balance and fall off the high wire into the net of vitalismâ (p. 9). Grand (2001) writes: âIs a thermostat conscious because it is âawareâ of its environment (the temperature in the room)? Those who say that it is are debasing the term so much that it is no longer useful, and we would then need a new term to describe what we have, which seems qualitatively rather differentâ (p. 212).

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P. 141: WE DONâT KNOW HOW MICROORGANISMS PROCESS INFORMATION

The quote in the main text is from Nakagaki (2001a) (p. 767).

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P. 141: COCKROACHES

Rinberg and Davidowitz (2000) write in an article entitled âDo Cockroaches âKnowâ about Fluid Dynamics?â: âAnimals use their senses to extract information from the world around them, so they need to be able to gauge the physical properties of their environment in order to build up an accurate perception of it. For example, a bat needs to âknowâ the velocity of sound to estimate how far away an object is, although input to a sensory system may often exploit more complicated properties than this. Here we measure the response by the wind-sensing system of the American cockroach (Periplaneta Americana) to a complex hydrodynamic flow. We find the insectâs interneurons relay crucial information about the windâs spectral properties, which may warn it of approaching predators. The cockroach senses minute air movements using tiny hairs on two posterior appendages called cerci. It can surmise the direction of an attack and scurry away to avoid being eaten. Neural signals from the hairs converge on the terminal abdominal ganglion where the wind information is processed, and are then conveyed further by giant interneurons. Although this system has many of the properties of more complex systems, it remains simple enough to be tractable for studyâ (p. 756).

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P. 142: JUST BEING INVOLVES KNOWLEDGE

Varela (1999) writes: âThus it seems more and more compelling to look at knowledgeâto understand understandingâin a manner that can only be called post-Cartesian; that is, knowledge appears more and more as being built from small domains composed of microworlds and microidentities. Behavioral repertoires vary throughout the animal kingdom, but what all living cognitive beings seem to have in common is know-how constituted on the basis of the concrete. Thus what we call general and abstract are aggregates of readiness-for-action. In other words, cognitive science is waking up to the simple fact that just being there, immediate coping, is far from simple or reflexive. Immediate coping is, in fact, the real âhard work,â since it took the longest evolutionary time to develop. The ability to make intentional, rational analyses during breakdowns appeared only recently and very rapidly in evolutionary termsâ (p. 18).

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P. 142: BUILDING A MACHINE THAT CAN WALK IS HARD

Brooks (2002) writes: âJudging by the projects chosen in the early days of AI, intelligence was thought to be best characterized as the things that highly educated male scientists found challenging. Projects included having a computer play chess, carry out integration