alt Hacker NewsBut the core of the original argument is that programs only manipulate symbols and consciousness can never arise just through symbol manipulation - which here then becomes 'we have not discovered the algorithms' for consciousness yet.
It's just a contradiction.
When you say something that contradicts his statements, it doesn’t mean he’s wrong, it most likely means you haven’t understood or interpreted his argument correctly. The Wikipedia page you linked to doesn’t use the word “algorithm”, so the source of the contradiction you imagine might be you. Searle says he thinks humans are biological machines, so your argument should withstand that hypothesis rather than dismiss it.