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None of those arguments claim "LLMs could not possibly be good models of some cognitive capacity"

The "some cognitive capacity" that's relevant to the current discussion is "consciousness".

What about the cognitive capacity of understanding?

The use of the term "understanding" in the quote you mentioned is a claim about metaphysics, not cognitive capacity.

From Merriam-Webster:

cognitive: as in reasonable; of, relating to, or involving conscious mental activities (such as thinking, *understanding*, learning, and remembering)