[mckirk]

I concur, which is why I find it funny that you brought religion into this in the first place. By asserting that "people entertaining the thought that this neural network could be sentient/conscious must be misguided, and the only explanation for their opinion is blind faith", I'd argue you've left the grounds of scientific debate.

You made a claim ("a model based purely on such simple math surely can't develop sentience/consciousness") without any proof, and while doing so ridiculed people that might believe otherwise.