Some philosophers, including John Searle, say that computers are not really intelligent. Rather, they just simulate intelligence. However, it could be argued that, just as computers are programmed to respond in different ways to different commands, so human beings are 'programmed' by society, and education, to perform certain tasks. For example, we are programmed to do complicated things like speak a language, as well as more simply things like brush our teeth. What are your thoughts on this comparison? Is there any difference between the programming of computers, and the 'programming' of humans by society?

I find this comparison interesting. We as humans can function like computers. Day in and day out we go about our day in a type of robotic way. Wake up, bathe, brush your teeth, eat breakfast, go to school or work, come home and tend to whatever it is you do, bathe brush your teeth sleep. Then we repeat the process the next day. I agree with John Searle though. The thing that makes us different from robots is that we can depict emotions. We can laugh, cry, feel, think, love, hate and all the beautiful things us humans are blessed doing. Yes we are programmed to do certain things but we are not committed to doing just that. Once you program a robot that is its task until programed to do otherwise. We as humans are unreliable, and I don’t mean that in a bad way. By unreliable I mean other things effect our decisions. For example, if someone in the army is programed to follow orders, he must do as his higher up commands. Let’s say his sergeant tells him to shoot a child. The solider may not do it. Why? Because he has emotions, he might feel guilt and sorrow in being asked to do this. Now if he was a robot, It would have been done right away. We may ACT like computers sometimes but we will always be humans.