Programmed by Society?

For the most part I agree with Searle's theory that computers are not really intelligent, but just simulating intelligence. They are not able to think and understand on their own, but have been programmed to respond to certain commands and actions in a very specific way that makes them seem intelligent. However, an interesting question was posed about whether or not humans have been programmed by society the same way computers are programmed to respond to different commands?

Personally, I would answer no. I can see where this idea is coming from because society and socialization make a huge impact on the way people live their lives and definitely lead people to act a certain way, but I don't think this can be so easily compared to what happens with a computer. With society there are things leading us in a certain direction: developing our beliefs and morals, telling us right from wrong, establishing things like class systems, gender roles, etc, but everyone takes in different parts of it and interprets it in their own way. A computer is not like this. You could set up 50 computers with the same programs and they will all be exactly the same and do the same exact things. But if you raise say 30 girls in the same society, under the same conditions, they will not all do or say the same things in any given situation. They not only interpret and understand the things society is influencing them with differently, but also can use their own free will when making decisions. Computers cannot do this - they're simply given information and commands and are able to make sense of them based on their software and programming.

What goes into speaking a language shows that humans cannot really be programmed. Some people speak a certain language when they're a child and then move to another place and begin speaking that language too. After a while people sometimes completely forget their native language and can no longer speak it when they return to their home country. Even though society "programmed" them to speak the language, they eventually forgot. This would never happen with a computer unless something happened to the hard drive (for humans this would equal brain damage). Clearly, humans are able to adapt to their environment and change their behavior regardless of what they were taught or told before. People are not really being programmed by society, but rather heavily influenced. Even though they're learning things from society, they still have the ability to act on their own and complete any task they choose, whether or not society agrees. Computers do not have this luxury and are entirely controlled by those entering in the information. The human mind cannot be programmed; it is an extremely complex and ever changing thing that, even when given the same command as before, will not always produce the exact same result, as is the case with computers.