The Fable of Oscar

The Fable of Oscar is a fable proposed by John L. Pollock in his book How to Build a Person (ISBN 9780262161138) to defend the idea of token physicalism, agent materialism, and strong AI.

It has pain sensors and "fight-or-flight" responses build within to help it survive hostile environment.

Oscar III can now sense the operation of its own sensors and form generalization about its reliability, thus acquired a higher degree of self-awareness.

Kittens quickly learn about mirror image and come to ignore them while birds go on attacking their own reflection until they become exhausted.

[1] In the end of the fable Pollock states that while the Engineers are fictional, Oscar is real and we are in fact the Oscarites.