I think it also has something to do with how distanced most of us are from creation and maintenance of machines, particularly electronics. if you don't quite understand what a transistor is, or how code works, or how a large language model turns inputs into outputs, then "well there must be a little dude in there somewhere" makes as much sense as anything. Plus people tend to personify inanimate objects to begin with.

[–] Saeculum@hexbear.net 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

if you don't quite understand what a transistor is, or how code works, or how a large language model turns inputs into outputs, then "well there must be a little dude in there somewhere" makes as much sense as anything.

In all fairness, this is how people come to believe in a consciousness too.

[–] purpleworm@hexbear.net 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

This is a really goofy argument. There's not a little dude in there, the whole "there" is a normal sized dude who, incidentally, can be disassembled into parts that are not themselves entire dudes. Most people don't believe in a Cartesian Theater sort of hypothesis.

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