[extropy-chat] Qualia Bet.

[Brent Allsop]

At 05:46 PM 11/24/2005, gts wrote:
>On Thu, 24 Nov 2005 18:29:12 -0500, Emlyn <emlynoregan at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>But given the shakiness of the concept when examined in detail, and the
>>basic fact that the human brain seems to be architected on the basis
>>of bullshitting itself at every possible turn, I view that subjective
>>experience with suspicion, to put it mildly.
>
>Yet you acknowlege the experience. That experience *is* qualia, no matter
>how we choose to think about it.
>
>If the human brain is a machine then it should be possible to build a
>machine that experiences qualia. Some would say this is the essence of
>strong AI. This is what Brent envisions also. The question is how do we
>build that machine. I think it would be helpful if we understood what the
>hell we're talking about when we talk about qualia. :)
>
>Whatever it is, it's staring us right in the face.


Absolutely!  Unlike the usage of "god" to explain something we don't 
understand or can't yet experience - we all experience qualia every 
day.  What red and green are like is staring every one of us in the 
face.  It should be blatantly obvious that purely causal observation 
is not enough to explain or detect what red and green are like.

Brent Allsop