"Searle asserts that there is no essential difference between the roles of the computer and himself in the experiment.. 'I don't speak a word of Chinese,' he points out."
This seems to be confusing multiple concepts. In the experiment, he is clearly just one component of the room, other components being the rules, the filing cabinets, etc. Of course, none of the single components of the room speak Chinese, but the room clearly does because it is doing just that. None of the individual neurons in our brains "understand" English but the system as a whole does.
The crux of it is, what is really meant by the word "understanding".
This seems to be confusing multiple concepts. In the experiment, he is clearly just one component of the room, other components being the rules, the filing cabinets, etc. Of course, none of the single components of the room speak Chinese, but the room clearly does because it is doing just that. None of the individual neurons in our brains "understand" English but the system as a whole does.
The crux of it is, what is really meant by the word "understanding".