[ExI] Subjective/Objective

[John Clark]

On Mon, Jul 13, 2026 at 6:42 PM Brent Allsop via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

*> First off, what happens in the retina is causally far upstream from the
> rendered subjective experience,*
>

*The retina is considered to be part of the brain because they both contain
the same sort of cells and they both developed from the embryonic
forebrain; it's not just a light sensing organ, it performs extensive
visual processing. The retina is especially interesting because it is the
only part of a living brain that can be accessed without opening the
skull. *

*Harvard brain science initiative*
<https://brain.harvard.edu/hbi_news/the-eyes-have-it/>


*> Tetrachromat humans are mostly female,*


*That's because the gene for it is rare, you need 2 of them, and it's on
the X chromosome, and women have 2 X chromosomes but men, being XY, only
have one.*

*> I guess it is possible this is all purely 'functional', but either way,
> whatever is responsible for this 4th quality would surely be objectively
> observable and distinguishable from the other qualities, right?  And IF
> there is some 'function' from which redness 'arises,' that would still be
> a, what John refers to as a "brute physical fact," right?*
>

*Maybe maybe not. A tetrachromat Human can objectively detect more subtle
differences between hues, shades, and gradations than normal trichromats
can, whether that means they can experience an entirely new color qualia I
will never know. But as far as I know Concetta Antico is the
only Tetrachromat who is also a professional artist and, for whatever it's
worth, her paintings are certainly very colorful. Take a look
at them on Google image search:*

*Concetta Antico*
<https://www.google.com/search?q=Painting++%22Concetta+Antico%22&sca_esv=b3fbd9fc0a9dd966&as_st=y&udm=2&sxsrf=APpeQnvtrlLEQ_SchhB33PEBFCVv7Z0zbA:1784057392416&source=lnt&tbs=isz:l&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwia1IjZ89KVAxXIjIkEHaCcKLIQpwV6BAgIEAY&biw=1463&bih=739&dpr=3.5>

*John K Clark*





>
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