300 | 27 THE TURING TEST—fROm EVERy ANGlE
Suppose that, as Turing believed, some computing machine can simulate the cognitive capaci-
ties of the human brain. Whether it can is an open question (see Chapter 41). Suppose, too, that
every time this machine acquires a capacity previously thought unique to humans, we say ‘I
used to think that this ability required thought, but now I realize it doesn’t’. Proceeding like this,
there would be nothing left to be the ‘real’ mind. We might just have to extract our heads from
the sand and agree that such a machine thinks.