After completing the Ruler Lab I have come to the conclusion that the results of the experiment do not support the view of humans as machines as discussed in Chapter Two of Gleitman. My data did reveal that I was able to improve my reaction time after several tries and increase efficiency. However, the inconsistent patterns in my improvement led me to believe that this increased efficiency is not entirely similar to the actions of a machine.
Rene Descarte first explored the idea that humans and animals are machines. He argued that every action of an organism is a direct response to some environmental factor. While this is true, I believe that Descartes second realization is most important in comparing humans to machines. This realization is the understanding that unlike machines, humans and animals have flexibility in their actions. When a machine is running properly, its responses to certain stimuli will always consistent. This is not always true in humans because of the flexibility of our responses. I think the inconsistencies in my response times represent some sense of this flexibility. While my scores improved overall, they were always fluctuating and inconsistent.
