Nice try, imo. I would say I agree with you except I don't follow your
precise math at all.
Your old/young lady analogy is rather weak and could be misleading,
also.
Then you should avoid saying Scientists believe that the universe is
one giant computer.
Not only many scientist disagree, but actually this is in contradiction
with the comp. hyp. (the computationalist hypothesis which asserts that
I am simulable by a computer). I know it is often confuse but I have
propose an argument according to which if I am a computer then whatever
the physical universe can be it cannot be a computer (perhaps even it
cannot be, at all).
(But of course the comp hyp could be false.)
But I like very much the fact that you see that different thing like
matter and qualia can be the same things viewed differently. Modal
logic is very well suited for making statements like that utterly
precise (but then not so many people can play modal logic alas ...).
Don't hesitate to develop (perhaps on some web page).
Bruno
Le 27-juil.-05, à 07:57, Marc Geddes a écrit :
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Qualia and Matter
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The riddle of the relationship between Qualia (which I
define as raw experience) and the Physical World
(which I'll call 'Matter' and define as geometrical
relations) seems to be one that ties people in mental
knots. The solution is amazingly simple and dazzling
in its beauty. I do think I have the solution. And
yes, I think it's the answer to FAI, life, the
universe and everything as well ;) I shall try one
last time to carefully explain why I think I really do
understand everything (in the sense of basic
conceptual principles at least). I don't hold out
much hope that people will grok , but you never know.
So what is the relation between Matter and Qualia?
Before explaining my solution, I shall begin with an
analogy. People really seem to tie themselves in
horrible mental knots over this and my explanations
just don't seem to be getting through, so I'll try
starting with an analogy first.
Take a look at the picture at the URL given below. My
question: What scene is it? You have two choices:
(1) The scene is that of a Young Woman
(2) The scene is that of an Old Lady
Here's the picture:
http://www.killsometime.com/illusions/Optical-Illusion.asp?Illusion-
ID=33
The entertaining feature about this picture of course,
is that the scene you see depends on the way your
brain interprets the picture. The key point is that
the scene you see depends not just on the actual
nature of the picture, but also on the cognitive
interpretation your mind gives to it. So the scene is
an *interaction* between (1) The nature of the picture
and (2) The Mental interpretation in your mind. Call
this mental interpretation a 'Cognitive Lens'. If you
interpret the picture through one Cognitive Lens
you'll see an Old Lady. If you interpret the picture
through another Cognitive Lens, you'll see a Young
Woman. Let the multiplication sign (x) simply mean
'an interaction between'. So:
Young Woman = Picture x Cognitive Lens 1
Old Lady = Picture x Cognitive Lens 2
Two points to bear in mind. There is only *one*
actual picture, but there are *two* equally valid but
different ways to interpret it as a coherent scene.
Neither 'Old Lady' nor 'Young Woman' is separate from
each other. They are both referring to the same
picture. The key point is the idea that the scene you
see is an interaction between the picture and a
'Cognitive Lens', which I defined to be a mental
interpretation, or the way your brain goes about
coding the *meaning* of the raw visual data its
receiving. Make sure you understand this before
proceeding. Are you all with me so far?
Now my actual solution to the Qualia/Matter puzzle.
Here it is:
Qualia = Reality x Cognitive Lens a
Matter = Reality x Cognitive Lens b
I'm suggesting that Reality itself is neither Matter
NOR Qualia. In order for Matter or Qualia to appear,
Reality has to be *interpreted* through a *mental
process*. It's analogous to the picture example I
just gave. Think of Reality as like the picture,
Qualia as like the 'Young Woman' and Matter as like
'The Old Lady'. There's only *one* reality, but
whether you see it as Matter or whether you see it as
Qualia depends on the way your brain interprets the
raw data it's receiving. Both 'Matter' and 'Qualia'
are equally valid interpretations of some part of
reality. Neither is more fundamental than the other.
See how elegant this solution is? Qualia and Matter
are both real and Qualia is not Matter. But there is
nothing mystical going on. Qualia are not separate
from matter either. There is only one reality, but
whether you see it as 'Qualia' or 'Matter' depends on
the cognitive lens through which your brain chooses to
interpret reality. Qualia and Matter are simply
different 'modes of cognition'. At first it seems
dangerously like solipsism, but I'll show you how to
avoid solipsism in a moment, by adding a big
