My first response to functionalism is that the mere possibility of intelligence supported by physical systems other than brains is not sufficient to undercut the mind-brain identity hypothesis. Despite decades of search for extraterrestrial intelligence, we have no evidence that there are minds
anywhere in the universe except on our meager planet. If such evidence arises and we can discern anything at all about the nature of intelligent beings other than humans, I will be eager to see what can be learned about their thinking processes. If their intelligence derives from physical systems very different from our brains, I will be happy to retreat to the more modest hypothesis that human minds are brains.