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Re: Colors



In philosophical circles, the question you have is known as the problem of
inverted qualia (qualia are the indescribable qualitative aspects of
experience, such as the quality of seeing blue or of experiencing the sound
of a jazz trumpet). There is a related problem as well of absent qualia
(would a computer with artificial intelligence be capable of experiencing
qualia? If not, could it be considered conscious even if it could
out-reason all humans?) If you grab any decent introductory anthology on
philosophy of mind you should find several articles about these
topics. Rosenthal's The Nature of Mind and Lycan's Mind and Cognition are
probably the most widely-read of these anthologies.

At 11:48 AM 1/3/2002 -0700, you wrote:
Is there any data which would indicate that when a group of us look at
the sky that we all have the same sensory experience? Yes we all have
agreed to call the sky "blue" but can it possibly be that when I see "blue"
that I have the same sensory experience as when you see a fig leaf and you
say "green" -- or a Camaro and say "red"?

Jim Green
mailto:JMGreen@sisna.com
http://users.sisna.com/jmgreen

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