[ExI] GPT-4 on the Incommunicability of Qulia

[Dave S]

On Saturday, March 25th, 2023 at 9:18 AM, Brent Allsop via extropy-chat <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

> Instead of using the word 'qualia' which has so many religious connotations like "spiritual qualiat"?
> Can we just instead focus on what is a physical "quality"?

Is that the same as a physical property? If not, what's the difference?

> The only reason qualities are "incommunicable" has to do with the difference between a code for redness, and redness, itself.

I think their incommunicability is fundamental. You can't describe a physical property that someone has never experienced in terms of properties they have experienced. 

> A "code" for redness, is something that is not redness, representing redness. Physical greenness, physical +5 volts, a physical pit on a paper, or an abstract world like 'red' can code for redness.

What does "physical green can code for redness" mean?

> But, since they are not redness, you need a dictionary to get from the thing that is not redness, back to the redness, itself.

The brain maps sensory inputs into their corresponding properties.

-Dave