On Computers

Comments:

http://chriskam436.blogspot.com/2011/01/on-computers.html

http://aaronkirkes-chi.blogspot.com/2011/01/on-computers_20.html

Reference:

Title: The Complete Works of Aristotle
Author: Aristotle

Editor: Jonathan Barnes

Summary:

Aristotle is contrasting animals and plants.  He states that he believes that whatever takes in food, desires food, thus plants have a sensation and pleasure for food.  Also, plants differ in that their shape in indefinite when compared to an animal.  A plant can take the shape which best produces survival, while an animal has innate traits which it cannot change.  Later Aristotle disputes that plants do have conventional gender, the same as animals, because male and female characteristics are not present in a single plant.  He uses this to justify that there must be a combining of male and female plants in some way to produce offspring, or fruit.  Also similar to animals, Aristotle argues that the tree sap or gummy substance is analogous to blood in animals.  The veins in the plants are like veins in an animal, the root is the mouth of the plant, and so on.  Essentially, Aristotle is making the case that plants indeed have souls, as animals do, because plants have a great number of similar traits as animals, although in different fashions.

Discussion:

If plants do indeed have souls, do computers have souls as well? The veins in a plant or animal are similar to the wires in a computer.  Electricity is both the lifeblood and food of a computer.  A computer has a great deal of cognitive thinking as well.  The plug for the computer is the mouth.  The computer has homogeneous parts, as Aristotle argues plants do as well.  The one area a computer may fail is in reproductive ability.  A computer cannot pop out other computers no matter how many other similar computers it may be connected with.  However, certain computers and software are what are used to design the computers we have at home today, so in a way they a computer can indeed "create" another computer.  A computer can have its software or hardware updated, thus it can "adapt" to prolong its survival.  Aristotle makes a very concise and thoughtful argument on the notion that plants have souls.  However, I don't think plants or computers have souls, but similar arguments can be made for each depending on the level of abstractness used.