[extropy-chat] Qualia should be blatantly obvious, very simple, and crystal clear.

[Jack Parkinson]

> From: Marc Geddes <marc.geddes at gmail.com>

> I believe that I am the only person on Earth who  understands qualia at 
> this
> time. -But if I'm deluded then I'm in good company - all the other
> scientists and philosophers failed too- ;)

The above 'if' is not representative of a diminishingly small possibility I 
suspect.

But moving on...

When I Googled, 'Qualia bullshit' I only got 396 hits, 'Qualia bollocks' got 
215, ' Qualia crap' gets way too many hits - over 17,000 - so to be fair you 
really must add 'philosophy' to narrow the field to a little over 500 hits. 
Then you get:

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze7rlxx/bt03/id8.html

(extract) ...   'If you had to choose, would you rather eat 
poo-flavored-chocolate or chocolate-flavored-poo?'
'First, I had to clarify some of the background conditions. Would the poo 
make me sick?
No.
Would it be human poo?
Yes.
Would the poo really taste like chocolate, and have the consistency and 
texture thereof?
Yes.
Would the real chocolate taste just like real poo, and look like real poo?
Yes.
Would the real chocolate make me sick?
No (except for possible attendant nausea of course).
Would the poo be yours?
Maybe.
Would the poo be like dark or milk chocolate?
Just answer the question!
The answer is obvious, and goes down easy. I'd eat the poo.
Why?
Because it tastes like chocolate, and it won't make me sick, whereas the 
chocolate would taste like poo...'

This the trouble with qualia discussions. You need to digest some pretty 
awful things. You may well choose gross over sanity and normality and call 
it logical - and yet all the time you know it's only a psychological 
construct standing between you and a shitty reality...

Jack Parkinson