[extropy-chat] Qualia Bet

[Jef Allbright]

On 12/25/05, gts <gts_2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> On Sun, 25 Dec 2005 14:07:33 -0500, Jef Allbright <jef at jefallbright.net>
> wrote:
>
> > They're all physical systems reacting to their environment in physical,
> > understandable ways.  What use is the concept of qualia in such a
> > description?
>
> This goes back to David Chalmers' so-called 'hard question', "At the end
> of the day, the same criticism applies to any purely physical account of
> consciousness. For any physical process we specify there will be an
> unanswered question: Why should this process give rise to experience?"
>
> The answer to Chalmers' question is "Nobody knows." I suppose we should
> just leave it at that.

It may indeed be wise to "just leave it at that" with regard to email
discussion, but in the larger context of increasing scientific
knowledge it's a puzzle worth solving because this understanding
creates a new bridge toward greater understanding.

There is a simple and obvious answer to Chalmers' "hard problem", but
it is so non-intuitive, and so lacking support within the culture and
the language that many people just can't widen back enough to resolve
the apparent paradox.

- Jef