[ExI] Fwd: Paper on "Detecting Qualia" presentation at 2015 MTA conference

[BillK]

On 28 January 2015 at 18:33, John Clark wrote:
> To a atom or molecule it means that light with a wavelength of 650 NM will
> knock an electron into a higher orbital shell, but light with a wavelength
> of 510 NM will not. This is probably not what you mean by the REDNESS
> property or the GREENNESS property, but I'm not sure what you do mean.
> Forgetting physics, is your experience of seeing red (qualia) the same as
> mine? Absolutely not, we're 2 different people so we're having 2 different
> experiences. So can John Clark ever know what it's like for Brent Allsop to
> experience red?  No. Nanotechnology could change my brain so it was
> identical to yours but then John Clark would still not know because I'd no
> longer be John Clark, I'd be Brent Allsop.
>


More detailed explanation of how colour works.
<http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2015/01/28/4123767.htm>
Quote:
Organic molecules absorb light when a photon of light interacts with
the electrons holding the molecule together, temporarily bumping one
out of place. This takes energy, and because the energy content of a
photon depends on its colour, different electrons can be knocked out
by different colours of light, depending on how tightly those
electrons are bound into the molecule.

Red photons have the least energy, followed by green, then blue, and
finally violet photons, which have the most energy in the visible
light range. Ultraviolet photons have even more energy. X-rays are
photons with so much energy that we don't even call them light
anymore.
---------------

However, as John says, everybody sees colours differently, from
colour-blindness to extra colours. When Brent sees red, John might see
dark pink. Brent's REDNESS exists only in his brain as an artefact of
his brain processing. Like all other senses. Brent's bitter taste is
unique to his brain, and so on.


BillK