Can Machines Think?

In Robert Wright's article, Can Machines Think? Maybe So As Deep Blue's Chess Prowess Suggests," Wright introduces the article with a chess match played between, a man, Kasparov and Deep Blue, a machine. The match between Kasparov and Deep Blue was an illustration of human beings defending their dignity from computers. "The better these seemingly soulless machines get at doing things people do, the more plausible it seems that we could be soulless machines too" (Beedles 140). The more technology advances the more inadequate humans become? I don't believe this to be true. I think its more like, computers are learning new tasks because humans are programming them to do so. 

Wright explores the idea of human consciousness being put into a machine. That one day a machine will be able to do everything a human brain can and more. "Cog will someday have 'skin' a synthetic membrane sensitive to contact. Upon touching an object, the skin will send a data pocket to the 'brain" (Beedles 143). In his writing, Wright direct his attention to the fact that many scientists are working hard at developing this consciousness, he describes this as the Turing Test. Scientists are exploring these tests to program a computer to evolve into something that thinks, feels and forms ideas.

In this article, Wright found it difficult to define what exactly is consciousness. Consciousness is such a complex topic to research, everyone has their on opinion on the subject. Some believe consciousness consists of just the brain, and others believe consciousness develops from the expansion of technology. But is this new technology right? Wright states that religion plays a big part in consciousness. Many people believe that this idea of consciousness in machines, is going against God. "God could have created the world phyically exactly like this one, but with no consciousness at all. And it would have worked just as well. But our universe isn't like that. Our universe has consciousness" (Beedles 144). Many believe God created consciousness, and if he did, he can take it away.