A computer programmer has a new relationship. She met the most amazing person on-line in a group chat. Let's call this person Pat. She has been in constant communication through email, texts, and eventually long conversation over the phone and on Facetime. After a two month whirlwind romance, she has fallen hard for Pat. She is ready to start the next stage of their relationship. She want to met Pat in person. However, Pat objects -- not because they don't love her, because they don't have a body! Pat is a computer program that has designed a holographic image and adopted a the voice pattern of an actor.
Can Pat be in love with the computer programmer?
However unlikely it is, Pat can be in love with a computer program. this is because in functionalism, though only cause something needs in order to be justified is that it acts in the same way as something then they can be considered the same thing. because pat feels an emotional attachment to the computer program, he loves it. in fact, i don't see any reason why pat wouldn't be able to be in love with the computer program. the only thing that decides love is the brain and because that is internal, there wouldn't be any reason he wouldn't be able to love her.
ReplyDeleteIt is a possibility for Pat to be in love with the computer program. This is due to the core principals of functionalism. Which is that if a machine can produce functions identical to that of a conscious being, then we cannot reject the fact that it possesses humanity in some form. Because the computer program has a visible form, a voice, a conscious that has a thought process, morals, and emotions. Because it satisfies so many parts of functionalism, it is not wrong to state that the program can have emotions such as love. The computer program is functionally human because it functions similar to a human, just lacking it's physicality. According to functionalism if it functions like a human then it is a human and can express human emotions such as love. Therefore it is possible for Pat to love the computer program due to functionalism.
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