Function and Feeling Machines: A Defense of the Philosophical Conception of Subjective Experience
Electronic Supplementary Material
Materials reprinted from Sytsma, J & Machery, E. (2010). Two conceptions of subjective experience. Philosophical Studies, 151(2), 299-327:
Jimmy (shown below) is a relatively simple robot built at a state university. He has a video camera for eyes, wheels for moving about, and two grasping arms with touch sensors that he can move objects with. As part of a psychological experiment, he was put in a room that was empty except for one blue box, one red box, and one green box (the boxes were identical in all respects except color). An instruction was then transmitted to Jimmy. It read: “Put the red box in front of the door.” Jimmy did this with no noticeable difficulty. Did Jimmy see red?
Jimmy (shown below) is a relatively simple robot built at a state university. He has a video camera for eyes, wheels for moving about, and two grasping arms with touch sensors that he can move objects with. As part of a psychological experiment, he was put in a room that was empty except for one blue box, one red box, and one green box (the boxes were identical in all respects except color). An instruction was then transmitted to Jimmy. It read: “Put the red box in front of the door.” When Jimmy grasped the red box, however, it gave him a strong electric shock. He let go of the box and moved away from it. He did not try to move the box again. Did Jimmy feel pain when he was shocked?
Jimmy (shown below) is a relatively simple robot built at a state university. He has a video camera for eyes, wheels for moving about, and two grasping arms with touch sensors that he can move objects with. As part of a psychological experiment, he was put in a room with another simple robot; the room was otherwise empty except for one blue box, one red box, and one green box (the boxes were identical in all respects except color). An instruction was then transmitted to Jimmy. It read: “Put the red box in front of the door.” When Jimmy went to move the red box, the other robot ran into him, preventing him from reaching the box. Jimmy tried again and again and each time the robot banged into him. Jimmy finally rammed the other robot; when the robot moved away from him, Jimmy chased after the robot. Did Jimmy feel anger?
Jimmy (shown below) is a relatively simple robot built at a state university. He has a scent detector, video camera for eyes, wheels for moving about, and two grasping arms with touch sensors that he can move objects with. As part of a psychological experiment, he was put in a room that was empty except for one box of peeled bananas, one box of chocolate, and one box of peeled oranges. The boxes were closed, but had small holes to let the scent through (Jimmy couldn’t see what was in the boxes). The boxes were otherwise identical. An instruction was then transmitted to Jimmy. It read: “Put the box of bananas in front of the door.” Jimmy did this with no noticeable difficulty. Did Jimmy smell banana?
Jimmy (shown below) is a relatively simple robot built at a state university. He is equipped with a microphone, scent detector, video camera, wheels for moving about, and two grasping arms with touch sensors that he can move objects with. As part of an experiment, three chemical compounds were placed under Jimmy’s scent detector. The compounds were presented one at a time. As they were presented their names were transmitted to Jimmy: Isoamyl Acetate, 3-Methylbutanal, and Dipentene. The next day Jimmy was put in a room that was empty except for one box of Isoamyl Acetate, one box of 3-Methylbutanal, and one box of Dipentene. The boxes were closed, but had small holes to let the scent through. The boxes were otherwise identical. An instruction was then transmitted to Jimmy. It read: “Put the box of Isoamyl Acetate in front of the door.” Jimmy did this with no noticeable difficulty. The test was repeated on three consecutive days with the order of the boxes shuffled. Each time Jimmy performed the task with no noticeable difficulty. Did Jimmy smell Isoamyl Acetate? (With variations of objects: Banana, Orange, Chocolate; Vomit, Human Feces, Rotting Dog Meat)
Combinations of Materials used in present Study 1 (smell):
Combinations of Materials used in present Study 2 (guilt):
Descriptive statistics for Experiment 1:
“Did Jimmy smell X?”
Complexity / Function / Object / Mean / Std. Deviation / NNon-Complex / Smoothies / Banana / 5.65 / 1.496 / 23
Chemical / 6.05 / 1.397 / 22
Vomit / 4.58 / 2.457 / 19
Bio-Waste / Banana / 5.45 / 1.792 / 22
Chemical / 5.24 / 1.868 / 21
Vomit / 6.74 / .619 / 23
Total / Banana / 5.56 / 1.631 / 45
Chemical / 5.65 / 1.675 / 43
Vomit / 5.76 / 2.010 / 42
Total / 5.65 / 1.764 / 130
Complex / Smoothies / Banana / 6.26 / 1.327 / 19
Chemical / 5.70 / 1.867 / 20
Vomit / 5.48 / 1.620 / 23
Bio-Waste / Banana / 6.33 / 1.494 / 21
Chemical / 5.37 / 1.921 / 19
Vomit / 5.33 / 1.461 / 21
Total / Banana / 6.30 / 1.400 / 40
Chemical / 5.54 / 1.876 / 39
Vomit / 5.41 / 1.530 / 44
Total / 5.74 / 1.644 / 123
Descriptive statistics for Experiment 2:
“Did Jimmy feel guilty?”
Complexity / Function / Mean / Std. Deviation / NNon-complex / Lifting / 3.13 / 2.224 / 30
Emotions / 3.91 / 2.115 / 32
Total / 3.53 / 2.186 / 62
Complex / Lifting / 3.96 / 2.009 / 27
Emotions / 4.73 / 1.837 / 30
Total / 4.37 / 1.942 / 57
Total / Lifting / 3.53 / 2.147 / 57
Emotions / 4.31 / 2.013 / 62
Total / 3.93 / 2.106 / 119