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Tallness is a physical property of the thing itself. Light also has its own physical properties, e.g. a wavelength of 700nm. But the qualia of red is the exper

Tallness is a physical property of the thing itself. Light also has its own physical properties, e.g. a wavelength of 700nm. But the qualia of red is the experience you have when that 700nm light hits your retina. It's conceivable that when 700nm light hits my retina, I have an experience which you would call "blue." That's why the qualia and the physical property of the light are two different things.

xvedejas 6y ago
We have a lot of evidence of how people perceive color, and the differences of perception. There are tests that measure the ability to distinguish color. Some people are only colorblind in one eye, and report perceptual differences that are predictable by phenotype. I would expect any meaningful difference in qualia would have some conceivable (if not performable) test. Otherwise we're calling two equivalent things different for no reason at all. I personally tend to believe that non-falsifiable statements are necessarily non-physical.
- DennisP 6y ago
  I challenge you to devise a test able to detect that I perceive the color spectrum in reverse.
  - bawolff 6y ago
    Is that a meaningful difference in qualia? Does a relabeling of what are arbitrary labelings change my subjective experience. Is precieving the colour spectrum in reverse even a meaningful statement? Or is it more like saying you can't prove i added 2+1 instead of 1+2.
  - xvedejas 6y ago
    Well, that's my point. If you can't detect it, it's not a difference.
bawolff 6y ago
But you dont experience tallness as an objective property of the object. You view it relative to the scene, people who intimidate you appear taller, etc. The tallness might cause us different emotional experience too - maybe im intimidated, maybe it makes me feel safe, maybe it makes me feel trusting, etc Its entirely possible that when the exact same light hits our eyes to form a scene, you and i would experience the tallness of the person in the scene differently.
- joubert 6y ago
  “ Another way of defining qualia is as "raw feels". A raw feel is a perception in and of itself, considered entirely in isolation from any effect it might have on behavior and behavioral disposition. In contrast, a cooked feel is that perception seen as existing in terms of its effects. For example, the perception of the taste of wine is an ineffable, raw feel, while the experience of warmth or bitterness caused by that taste of wine would be a cooked feel. Cooked feels are not qualia.” — Wikipedia

xvedejas 6y ago

We have a lot of evidence of how people perceive color, and the differences of perception. There are tests that measure the ability to distinguish color. Some people are only colorblind in one eye, and report perceptual differences that are predictable by phenotype. I would expect any meaningful difference in qualia would have some conceivable (if not performable) test. Otherwise we're calling two equivalent things different for no reason at all. I personally tend to believe that non-falsifiable statements are necessarily non-physical.

DennisP 6y ago
I challenge you to devise a test able to detect that I perceive the color spectrum in reverse.
- bawolff 6y ago
  Is that a meaningful difference in qualia? Does a relabeling of what are arbitrary labelings change my subjective experience. Is precieving the colour spectrum in reverse even a meaningful statement? Or is it more like saying you can't prove i added 2+1 instead of 1+2.
- xvedejas 6y ago
  Well, that's my point. If you can't detect it, it's not a difference.

bawolff 6y ago

But you dont experience tallness as an objective property of the object. You view it relative to the scene, people who intimidate you appear taller, etc. The tallness might cause us different emotional experience too - maybe im intimidated, maybe it makes me feel safe, maybe it makes me feel trusting, etc Its entirely possible that when the exact same light hits our eyes to form a scene, you and i would experience the tallness of the person in the scene differently.

joubert 6y ago
“ Another way of defining qualia is as "raw feels". A raw feel is a perception in and of itself, considered entirely in isolation from any effect it might have on behavior and behavioral disposition. In contrast, a cooked feel is that perception seen as existing in terms of its effects. For example, the perception of the taste of wine is an ineffable, raw feel, while the experience of warmth or bitterness caused by that taste of wine would be a cooked feel. Cooked feels are not qualia.” — Wikipedia