Green Christopher D
York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Hist Psychol. 2005 Feb;8(1):35-45. doi: 10.1037/1093-4510.8.1.35.
In the 1830s, Charles Babbage worked on a mechanical computer he dubbed the Analytical Engine. Although some people around Babbage described his invention as though it had authentic mental powers, Babbage refrained from making such claims. He does not, however, seem to have discouraged those he worked with from mooting the idea publicly. This article investigates whether (1) the Analytical Engine was the focus of a covert research program into the mechanism of mentality; (2) Babbage opposed the idea that the Analytical Engine had mental powers but allowed his colleagues to speculate as they saw fit; or (3) Babbage believed such claims to be fanciful, but cleverly used the publicity they engendered to draw public and political attention to his project.
19世纪30年代，查尔斯·巴贝奇致力于研发一台他称之为分析机的机械计算机。尽管巴贝奇身边的一些人将他的发明描述得仿佛具有真正的智能，但巴贝奇并未提出此类主张。然而，他似乎并未阻止与他共事的人公开讨论这一想法。本文将探究：（1）分析机是否是一个关于思维机制的秘密研究项目的核心；（2）巴贝奇反对分析机具有智能的观点，但允许他的同事随意猜测；或者（3）巴贝奇认为此类说法是异想天开，但巧妙地利用由此产生的宣传来吸引公众和政治对他的项目的关注。
