At times, I feel like one of the little clay golems under the thumb of the stranger in town in the Twain story.You are to be lauded for thinking these thoughts, jheem, for it is you more than any of the rest of us who could break AWADtalk free of this "Chinese room".
P.S. I assume "Chinese room" is inspired by the term "Chinese wall" used by investment bankers and the like. It is a very useful and insightful turn on that esoteric term, jheem.
Sometimes I think the "Chinese room" you speak of is more like a "Chinese box". [And, I hasten to add that neither you nor I intend any disparagement of the Chinese people, as distinct from the authoritarian ways of their inscrutable, and necessarily paranoid, leaders.]
For any who might be interested in the term "Chinese wall", here is an explanation:
http://www.investopedia.com/articles/analyst/090501.asp
