I admit my indulgence in thinking about lofty questions such as what it means to be alive, what the nature of the universe is, etc... As an engineer, I have inherited a distaste for theological explanations that stave off nihilism by positing the existence of supernatural beings. Yet, from my own experience, I can't deny the vast wonder and mystery that accompanies life.
So here is a quick argument against materialism, which may not be original or even a good one:
Premises:
1) There are emergent phenomena in the universe that are the consequence of network behavior: provable ones include ant colonies, the internet. I also assert consciousness and language are such phenomena as well.
2) Altering the individual material components (ants, routers, neurons) which comprise these special types of network alter the system in unpredictable ways. The consequences of physical alteration are not ultimately knowable by any being with omniscient knowledge as to the exact, current state of the system. That is, there is a limit in the state of matter in the Universe towards randomness (witnessed in quantum mechanics) and this randomness occurs in nature (such as the entanglement which has been observed in plants).
Conclusion:
3) Therefore there is a separation between the material which creates emergent systems and the systems themselves. The material does not explain the system fully. Consciousness, built on memory and language, as such a system then is not ultimately a material one, even though, paradoxically, it depends critically upon material causes.
Ok, I feel good. Whether this is a good argument or not, (are the premises true?), and criticism arise, at least I thought for myself today which cheers me up. In my mind, we're all emergent behavior, something much more wonderful than a mere collection of cells.
[ASIDE: Do proponents of strong AI assert predictability? If you created the same strongly AI being from the same state, would it act exactly the same given the exact same environment?]
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