Brain in a Vat Theory by Hilary Putnam | Analysis

Brain in a Vat Theory by Hilary Putnam AnalysisIn Hilary Putnams Brain-in-a- bathing tub (BIV) example, a humankind exists in which brains, a neuroscientist, a supercomputer running simulations of brains contained in a vat, and the vat itself ar the merely objects. These items have either always existed or appeared completely randomly with each(prenominal) item in the same state (i.e. computers running simulations, brains are in vats, etcetera) Understanding this, imagine the interest scenarioYou are the evil scientist who monitors BIVs and the experiences they receive from the computers. You ensure that wholly the BIVs connected reckon they are living a functional life in Springfield, Illinois. One of your BIVs is code-named The prime minister. After some time passes, the Chancellor virtually utters the language I know I am just a brain-in-a-vat, which he believes to be true, and wherefore continues on with his programmed functions.The BIV scenario Putnam presents is one such argument positing the infidelal possibility. Much wish well the Descartes Evil Genius, the skeptical hypothesis calls into query ones knowledge of the external sphere. While the Evil Genius relies on a supreme deceiving deity, Putnams BIV ponders the effects of a mad scientist using computers to induce illusory perceptions and experiences. Traditional skeptics contend we are unable to discern the BIV hypothesis as false if we were to grant the BIV premises as true, then our experiences would appear just they presently do (Stanford 2009). Consequently, skeptics maintain that we lack the ability to know anything ab turn out the world external to us.Putnam applies his semantic externalism and consequently deems the scenario with the Chancellor impossible. Semantic externalism is a form of externalism where kernels and truth conditions of ones sentences, and the contents of ones intentional mental states, depend upon the character of ones external, causative environment (St anford 2009). to a greater extent precisely, he counseles his concern to the archetypal-person sentence, I am a brain-in-a-vat to demonstrate that an instance in which the Chancellor verbally uttered said phrase is unavoidably false. Consequently, Putnam deduces that we essentialnt be BIVs. I go out take a shit out that Putnam mis use ups the description of vat in his brain-in-a-vat experiment, thereby decreasing his likelihood of disproving the skeptical hypothesis. In this essay, I will define semantic externalism, companioned by Putnams use of it against three different BIV scenarios.If we were to accept semantic externalism, then we would necessarily acknowledge that how we define a term is non the sole factor in deciding what the devise meanspiriteds to us. A common example would be the examination of a familiar substance (e.g. urine) and how its meaning would remain constant even ahead encountering it. More precisely, those who adhere to semantic externalism wou ld view the word water as a term ascribed to a substance with a chemical composition of H2O before scientists had discerned the molecules comprising it however, the composition of this substance we had labeled water did, to some extent, contri barelye to our meaning (DeRose 102). For Putnam, fundamental interaction with things in the world represents the external factor. For example, hit the books two people who have the same mental states and then turn up interacting with substances which are cosmetically similar while quieten composed of different molecules. Perhaps one item-by-item interacts just with Ag (silver), and the former(a) interacts only with ABC, but both learn the word silver to refer to each of their respective substances. As a result, each individual would have the same mental states (desires, beliefs, volitions, etc.), but with differing in what they reference silver would mean Ag for one, and ABC for the other.In lodge for Putnam to connect semantic externali sm to his BIV experiment, he begins by noning that it is necessary to acknowledge that any articulation of the sentence I am a brain-in-a-vat appears to be self-refuting. More precisely, if we were to maintain this sentence to be true, the sentence would still derive a false refinement since we couldnt say I am a brain-in-a-vat and know that I am in such a state. Take for example the statement there is no definite statement. If you view this statement as true, it would have to be false because it is a definite statement. If you posited the statement to be false, then the answer is still false.To demonstrate how this re juveniles to Putnams BIVs, first assume that we existently exist in the tangible world (T) just as commonly held, sort of of in vats (instance T, where T is the real world.) We have the follo deliver the good enoughsg(T1) If I live in a clear world, I am not a Brain-in-a-vat.(T2) In instance T, I live in a tangible world.(TC) I am not a Brain-in-a-vat (True)(T1 , T2)I am not a BIV. (TC)Next, consider we are now the brains in the vats a different instance (instance BIV). In this instance BIV, an intricate reason brass continually feeds us phenomenal experiences. So, we now have the complicated computing formation mastermind us signals for us to construct our experiences. Now we have a different problem in instance BIV(BIV1)If I am an actual BIV, a computer is sending me phenomenal experiences.(BIV2) I am an actual BIV.(BIV3)A computer is sending me phenomenal experiences. (BIV1, BIV2)(BIV4)If I utter I am a BIV, I am a brain-in-a-vat. (False, BIV3)(BIVC) I am not a brain-in-a-vat (True) (BIV1, BIV2, BIV3, BIV4)Thus, I am not a brain-in-a-vat (BIVC)To clarify, semantic externalism implies that the subject will never interact with the Tangible vats in the world. So, when the Chancellor iterates vat, he does not mean tangible-vats, but instead the origin of these electric impulses. More precisely, when he says vat he means artificial-vats because he really interacted with a computer program. If the Chancellor was referring to a brain in the instance BIV, that brain would be referring to the electrical impulses sent from the computer in the form of artificial vats. Therefore, we arrive at the following scenario(BIV1) I am a brain-in-a-vat (False)(BIV1) implies (BIV2) I am not a brain-in-a-vat (True)(BIV1, BIV2) implies we are not brains in vats.Consequently, the supposition that I am a brain-in-a-vat appears to be a self-refuting according to Putnam.After Putnam believes he has established this self-refutation, he must form a generic (i.e. universally applicable) argument (U). Hence, the following instanceIteration of (U1) I am a brain-in-a-vat (false, necessarily)(U2) I am not a brain-in-a-vat (from U1)(true, necessarily)(UC)If I am not a brain-in-a-vat, then we are not brains in vats.We are not brains in vats. (UC)The uttering of I am a brain-in-a-vat must be false since the instance BIV concludes that we are not brains in vats. As a result, we mustnt be brains in vats according to this logic. While on the surface this may seem sound, I intend to build how Putnam may have missed the mark.At first glance, the logic behind the Tangible world instance, the BIV instance, and the linguistic universal instance may seem identical insofar as they each deduce we are not brains in vats however, each stipulation incorporates a different meaning of the word vat. The vat used in the Universal instance represents an obscure term between the first two mentioned instances (i.e. Tangible world and BIV instance) the Tangible vat represents vats from the tangible world just as we would perceive it today and the BIV vat stands for the virtual vat that the super phenomenal computer has created for us with its electric signals. Putnams error occurs when he doesnt universalize the vat interpretation by using the latter understanding of the artificial vat doneout instance BIV. While a bit confusing, it seems P utnam considers the instance (BIV1) since the only time it is true is in the latter sense of vat. Putnam also wants to pull back this definition to the Tangible world. After all, we all live in the tangible world and would want to believe we are not brains in vats while in the tangible world. Unfortunately, using slightly different definitions during an onslaught to prove this conclusion hampers the argument. In other words, his argument is either that (BIV1) implies (BIV2) implies (TC) or that (BIV1) implies (T2) implies (TC) however, these arguments fail to h emeritus true.It is supernumerary to consider both possibilities in depth independently, since they chiffonier both be repudiated on the same criteria. Whether qualifying from (BIV2) to (TC), or from (BIV1) to (T2), Putnam makes an observation about BIV-vats, and then uses that to make a claim about Tangible-vats. The true statement, (BIV2) I am a not a brain in a virtual-vat fails to imply Not be brains in tangible-vat s. Likewise, (T2) I am not a brain in a tangible-vat cosmos true, fails to follow from (BIV1) I am a brain in an artificial-vat being false. The lack of a constant definition of vat poses one significant stumbling block for Putnam however, if you maintain a certain degree of what constitutes vat, the argument still remains invalid and runs into other problems which I will not address here.I have act to argue that one cannot get to (TC) from (BIV1) however, anyone who subscribes to Putnams argument against brains-in-vats might argue the verso. It is important to recognize the conditions surrounding the argument. More precisely, Putnam presupposes we live in the natural world. The skeptics main argument is that we lack the knowledge to discern whether or not we exist as brains in vats. We would only be able to differentiate between the instances and the vat role if we new definitively which instances were being referenced.Semantic externalism lacks the ability to liberate us from a skeptical hypothesis. Putnam fails to show that we can not be Brains in Vats, but he does show that if we were a BIV and uttered the phrase I am a BIV, we would not know it. He fails to cinch a logical loop and all he really shows is that the brain in the vat couldnt know it was a brain-in-a-vat. If Putnams version of semantic externalism is correct, but we are brains in vats, then we lack the ability to discuss the tangible-world. For example, if we assume that we are brains in vats, when I said the worlds tangible-world in the previous sentence, I was actually referring to the artificial world because that is what I have been interacting with. Therefore, provided that the skeptic is correct that we would not know if we were brains in a vat, and also assuming that Putnams semantic externalism is similarly correct, then we simply do lack the knowledge of the meaning of the words in our vocabulary. More precisely, assuming that interaction remains critical to gaining chthonianstan ding and meaning, then it becomes a necessity to know precisely with what we must interact. Hilary Putnam seek to embrace semantic externalism in hopes of freeing us from skeptics however, Putnam did illustrate that BIVs wouldnt be able to say or even think they were BIVs, thereby demonstrating a quandary for semantic externalism.Works CitedDeRose, Keith. Responding to Skepticism. Skepticism A coeval Reader. New York Oxford UP, USA, 1999. Print.Putnam, Hilary. Brains in a Vat. Putnam on Brains in a Vat. 2 Mar. 2005. Drexel University. 10 Oct. 2009 .Unknown. Brains in a Vat. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 29 Oct. 2004. SEP. 10 Oct. 2009 . tubing upright SWOT and solicitude AnalysisSubway Franchise SWOT and Management AnalysisAnalyze the goals and objectives using the bursting charge statement as the basis.1.1 Mission financial statement of the selected organizationTo provide the tools and knowledge to allow entrepreneurs to successfully compete in the QSR industry worldw ide by consistently fling value to consumers through providing great-tasting nutriment for thought that is good for them and made the way they like it.Goals of the mission statementSUBWAY restaurants goal is to be ranked the sum one restaurant by consumers and number one in restaurant country in ein truth market that they serve.Environmental factors which affect the participation2.1 Political effectsMonitoring, understanding and adapting to the political environment is absolutely essential for any patronage, because it significantly affects e actually business, some of the factors areConstancy of the g overnmentType of Government (democratic, dictatorship, monarchy, etc)The government have Economic polityAvailable Trade policyDiplomatic actions in nearby countriesFurthermore, political context can swap for the foreseeable future.2.2 Economic affectsWhen walking down the Subway restaurant, its impossible to overlook the ever-changing price of food. harmonise to the Food Timel ine, in early part of 1990s one Italian herb and cheese plunder follow 1pound and 50pence, by 1998, that same Italian herb and cheese bread cost 3 pounds, on average. The entire site of food economics transformed greatly throughout the periods, absent from the agricultural miserliness of the 1930s to the technological, consumer-driven market. Also this alteration, there are many number of other issues that opposition food economics.2.3 resultion and SupplyAs improvement of technology came to farms, the landlords able to produced more food and transported it to marketplace spare successfully. merely still, quick production does not for all time signify good prices. The industrial market is brutal, and maintaining cost of the farms are important. To build up for this, some countries like the United States offer farm subsidies in take on to steady farm manufacture and the food marketplace. in addition, studies continues searching for ways to get better food give ways in the fa ce of an ever-rising population.2.4 Consumer DemandThe tastes of people all over the world flip over from time to time, mostly when showing to new civilizations or facts.For example, in the 1980s America began acceptance sushi and other Asian-fusion foods. According to Food Wine Magazine, from 1988-1998 the amount of sushi bars quintupled in the United States. Likewise, with the focus on unanimous eating, as of 2010 the market for organic foods grew to $14 billion.2.5 Global warming (ecological)When the crops damage by weather, the price of that vent will amplification the prices consumers commitment. Scientists development the matter of global warming for it are predictable lasting impact on food financial side. Spectacular climate changes crash give ways, and hence the food supply. To make up for this, farms on the going ingestion in technological process that help reduce loss. This extra cost for promote also figures into the last price of food.2.6 Preparation TimeTime is money. Another touch economic factor is food lies in the hands of the cook. In formative range, many cooks must be acquainted with how long it takes to locate and prepare exact items. This particular propensity made degenerate food and instant mixes more and more popular, particularly in Subway or anywhere people cypher outside the house.Critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses, taking into consideration all the environmental factors.SWOT analysis(S)trengthsSubway Restaurants is the famous submarine sandwich franchise based in the United States and all over the world having companies in more than seventy two countries enclose over 20,532 restaurants in this planet.The business has been using a number of nontraditional channels for creation of its system physically powerful and the expansion rate of the beau monde has also been rising.Subway has well well-known itself as a brand name in the fast food manufacturing world and having brand respect all over the world. Becaus e of gravid to its great strategies the company has turn out to be the most important franchise in the world in a very small phase of time. The company has still situated itself in places like hospitals, schools, churches, and famous retail supplies. This creates the start up price of franchises low.Subway is recognized to be companies that provide subs sandwich healthy and that are favor and to a great extent as evaluated to food items exist by other fast-food chains like Sonic Drive and McDonalds. The company has attached with the American Heart Association to add to its figure. The food fare of the Subway repeats the high persist of healthy and fresh food which is quick too.The new decoration of the intimacy is an additional issue that provides a fresh feeling pinnacles the nodes. Some of the newly introduced products imitate the healthy offering of the company.The marketing and promotional strategies adopted by the company are an example of the positive focus on demand, cons umer preferences, trends, modernism and manufactured goods leveraging. These additional add to the potential to the company.The market share and the profits of the company that was outstanding to sandwiches greater than before greatly as a result to the reduced interest of the guest towards the chips and hamburgers due(p) to raise consciousness about healthy foods.(W)eaknessesThe adornment and give the impression of being of the franchises is said to be old an outdated. Another crisis with franchises is that the liking intensity of the customers is not the similar across franchises and also some franchises execute very poor.Service obligation is not reliable from store to store. This can supposed to be connected to absorbees as there is not much incentive and the revenue rate of the mental facultys is very high.(O)pportunitiesThe company can run extra money to expand its industry in the international bazaar and also make developments in its adornment and look to give confidence dine-in. By civilizing the customer proceeds satisfaction for the customer can be greater than before, and also the faithful customer base will maturation.The company can recover the similarity inside and outside the organization by altering its strategys a bit.(T)hreatsThe company may face skillful threats from some of the big fast food connection in the world which comprise brands like Wendys, KFC, and McDonalds etc. These restaurants are extremely older and have huge industrial trustworthy customer base over the years.The present financial recession is an additional threat for the business as it straightly affects the use and expenditure business office of the consumers.The data requirements at each of the levels in the managementA large level our workers are circumstances our Supervisors who are fortune our Middle Managers who are serving our Vice Presidents, who are serving the CEO, who is presumably serving the Board and the shareholders/investors. The extraordinary pa rt is, by plan, also everybody has back to their customer or the client is actually supposed to serve the companyIf customers are truly our focus, or as a effect, if we must focus on serving our workers so that they will serve our customers,A present fashion in gross sales organization stick out is to be buyer centric. The buyer centric sales mock-up puts the buyer at the nitty-gritty of the sales procedure in an attempt to bring into line customers wants and buying first choices with the regularity we intend our sales tools and produce value.Adjoin this to our excellence customer service initiatives, the customer is always right announcements, and customer service surveys that were once rare, but now seem to have attached themselves via webpage to the bottom of every major grocer, retailer and restaurant chains receipts in fresh memory.Strategic levelsChief finale maker OfficerManagement levelMarketing ManagersFinance ManagersProduction ManagerKnowledge levelSupervisors pract icable levelEmployees instruction systems at each of them to support the major business functions of the organization and strategize its operations well-favoured it the required competitive edge. Examine and advocate IS to facilitate a healthy The cultivation systems need to be reliable, sophisticated and user-friendly for Nestle.IS Information System application of effectiveness to focus on goals. An IS collects process stores analysis and disseminates information for a specific purposeMajor 6 types of systemsexecutive support systems (ESS) conclusion support system (DSS)management information system (MIS)knowledge work system (KWS)office automation systems (OAS)transaction bear upon systems (TPS)ESS / EISStrategic levelInputs aggregate data (with drill down)processing -Interactivefunction-Monitoring key performance indicatorsE.g. sales, costs, profits, growth, share prices, readiness utilizationusers- Senior managersCharacteristic of ESS / EISexpensive to developexecutive information system provide seasonable concise information about organization to top managersprovide internal as well as external informationeconomic indicesstock and commodity pricesindustry trendsDecision support system (DSS)Management levelInputs low volume dataProcessing interactiveOutput decision analysisUsers professionals staffExample contract cost analysis, outsourcing decision, pricing, decisions etc ..Key elements for DSSModels baseData baseUser Interface craft orientationWhat-if analysisEnd user makes changes to variables or transactionhips among variables and observe the resulting changes in the values of others variablesManagement information system (MIS)Management levelInputs high volume of dataProcessing simple modelsOutputs summary reportsUsers middle managersExample annual budgeting, quarterly sales reports, annual production reportsCharacteristic of MISStructured and semi -structured decisionReport control orientedPast and present dataInternal orientatio nLengthy target processKnowledge work system (KWS)Knowledge levelInputs- deign spacesProcessing modellingOutputs design graphicsUsers technical staffExample engineering work stationTransaction processing system (TPS)Basic business systems that serve the operational levelA computerized system that perform and records the daily habitude transaction necessary to the conduct of the businessPoint of sales system administrator information systems (EIS) modus operandi monitoring key performance indicatorsUsers senior managerExpensive to developb) How information systems can be used to facilitate Customer Relations Management aspects of Nestle.Providing customer feedback forms, so customer can send feedback through URL also that will help to improve the organizationAsking about customer requirements in general when customers call for problems automated record system can help to find out a solution in futureTake action straight to customer feedbackdemonstrating how the company pay atte ntions to its customersheartening a service culture all the way through the associationCompanies also employ a wide change of tactics to directly give confidence customer faithfulness through encouragements or special treatment. Some examples areCreating a point system that offers rewards once a customer accumulates a certain number of pointssupply discount or free-product couponsRunning competitions in which regulars may win prizes by towards the inside a drawingEnormous customer service enlarges customer loyalty, deposits income and decreases in force charge by using Information System. But, usual customer service applications frequently include only a portion of the information agents need to give great service. Because important information about customers, products and go sits in a huge amount of systems both inside and outside the business firewall, and in some(prenominal) forms such as database records, SaaS applications, text (letters, forms, email and chat messages, IVR scripts, blogs) and even voice recordings (call records). as long as inclusive, combined data access has to date just been too expensive and too complex. In addition, traditionalist customer service applications are too frequently hard to use, and operate with intolerable data rotational latency rates and response dispensation times.FOCUS ON CUSTOMER LOYALTYThe purpose of most well-developed customer relations programs is to turn one-time or occasional customers into loyal buyers. Customer relations specialists distinguish loyalty from satisfaction, noting that its possible for customers to be satisfied but have no particular loyalty. Indeed, one mid-1990s study found that three-quarters of the customers who reported being satisfied with one companys products still bought competitors products as well.The emphasis on loyalty is mostly driven by the bottom line. Keeping existing customers is cheaper than finding new ones, and having a base of loyal customers for one product or serv ice improves sales for the companys other offerings. By some estimates, the amount a company must spend to attract a new customer is five or six times that necessitate to keep bringing back loyal customers. Repeat customers are also more likely to recommend the company to others and to try out the companys latest products. The financial results are that a small percentage increase in customer loyalty can translate into a significant rise in profits.The opposite of loyalty-customer turnover-can deplete a companys marketing resources and can signal weakness in the firms brand image or competitive position. However, high turnover does not necessarily mean that the companys underlying product or service is at fault. Rather, it may be the customers negative (or simply neutral) experiences and impressions that stand in the way of loyalty. In the late 1990s one executive went so far to suggest that happy customers would even buy cock-a-hoop products from a company they liked, whereas unh appy or indifferent customers might ignore a really good product.TOOLS FOR BUILDING STRONG RELATIONSHIPSStrategies for getting better customer relations and developing customer loyalty variety from just opening up communications channels to implementing elaborate point systems that reward loyalty. In order to be efficient, such programs and schemes must be tailored to customer requests and interests. For example, if a company devastates its would-be loyal customers with frequent mailings (or broadcast faxes or e-mail) consisting of unimportant or unappealing offers, it may be turning itself into a irritation instead of hopeful loyalty.3) Ethical Issues Examine the ethical issues of Information Systems for this organization.Specific DSS benefitsImproving individual effectivenessExpediting solving problemMake easy interpersonal statementPromoting training or learninggrowing managerial controlEIS issuesEIS CostEmployee Resistance to the EISManagement Resistance to the EISWho is the us er?sponsor for EISInformation Technology (IT) and modern management accountingInformation technology has had a dramatic and far-reaching impact on the structure and conduct of business. IT has also been frequently poorly employed at great cost to companies.When apply well, IT has made it possible for companies to exploit the benefits ofABC systemsE-commercePOS (point-of-sales) information to management and suppliersIn many cases, the benefits of IT have been an increase in the accuracy of information and faster decision-making.A review of key IT with reference to business applicationsExecutive Information Systems (EIS/ESS)Designed to provide senior management with easy-to-use information pulled out from internal and external sourcesFeatures flexible, sophisticated, real-time responsivenessManagement Information Systems (MIS)Designed to provide summarised information files used for management accounting and coverage purposes (i.e. reporting enabling management to make timely struc tured decisions for planning, controlling and directing activities)Structured decisions repeated and relatively simple decisions addressing repetitive situations in a deterministic environmentFeatures relatively inflexible, focused on internal processesEnterprise-Wide Resource Planning (ERP)Decision Support Systems (DSS)Individuals may reproduce this material if it is for their own surreptitious study use only. Reproduction by any means for anyother purpose is prohibited. These assembly line materials are for educational purposes only and so are necessarily simplified and summarised. Alwaysobtain able advice on any specific issue. Refer to our full terms and conditions of use. No liability for damage arising from use of these noteswill be accepted by the ExP Group.Combine data and analytical models to support management decision making on issues which are exposed to significant uncertaintyProvide the decision maker with alternatives, evaluating them under a range of possible cond itionsExpert Systems (ES)A form of DSS consisting of a specialised database and a castigate of rules on how input data should be correlated and interpreted in order to indicate the crush course of actionExample loan application ESEthical IssuesAn ethical approach to doing business is not just a matter of personal virtue, but needs to be addressed by policy (and action) at the company level as well. Ethical frameworks are not merely straitlaced to have, but are considered crucial to building long-term professionalism. Their absence can undermine motivation and the sense of purpose a company must have in order to succeed.