human
Let me see if I can get this clear, he said.
gpt
I'm a noumenon, not a phenomenon. In cruder terms, I exist only in your mind. Is that true?
human
Correct.
gpt
If _you_ got amnesia, I and the rest of the human race would disappear.
human
That is also correct, and if that should happen, you will readily understand that we _would_ be in difficulty. The situation is extremely--But pardon me. I had promised to be silent except when answering questions.
gpt
This is the part I fail to understand, Mr. Secundus. I gather that you brought me here to treat Mr. Primus. Now, if I exist as a thought in your mind, you necessarily know everything I know. Why don't you treat him yourself?
human
Oh, no, Dr. Raye, that is not the case at all. It cannot be said that I _know_ everything that you know; rather we should say that I _remember_ you. In other words, that I maintain your existence by an act of memory. The two functions, knowledge and memory, are not identical, although, of course, the second cannot be considered to exist without the first. But before we become entangled in our own terms, I should perhaps remind you that when I employ the word 'memory' I am only making use of a convenient approximation. Perhaps it would be helpful to say that my memory is comparable to the structure-memory of a living organism, although that, too, has certain semantic disadvantages. Were you about to make a remark, Doctor?
gpt
It still seems to me, Herman said stubbornly,
human
Ah, said Secundus, smiling shyly,
gpt
How was I chosen? occurred to Herman, but he left it unasked. He knew that the answer was much likelier to be,
human
At random, than,
gpt
Because we wanted the most brilliant and talented psychoanalyst on the planet.
human
I gather that I'm not the first person you've tried,