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January 2019

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Subject:
From:
Brent Allsop <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
tree of knowledge system discussion <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Thu, 31 Jan 2019 13:49:56 -0700
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Hello Tokers,

We've been attempting to get a work published about the hard problem of
consciousness.  We've been rejected by the journal of consciousness studies
( https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__philevents.org_event_show_64626-3Fref-3Demail&d=DwIFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=R3T9cx0pkKGNuh6xsu2jeFVPqLb24RgUHqlIWDPzK7w&s=dtJuAZpwaw_Rz9GmtJfTuUwQvT2LQMYX6Fy23VfEePA&e= ), Nature, and others.

Now we are considering an attempt at Science ( https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.sciencemag.org_&d=DwIFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=R3T9cx0pkKGNuh6xsu2jeFVPqLb24RgUHqlIWDPzK7w&s=JYcgy5YwrHMFba0QWMUbj9qJnBc0KoXDLuPKyoFcsMU&e=
).

How do you think they would react, if we asked them to publish the
following 4 paragraph article named: "The word red isn't red".

To understand the core issue to the so called “hard problem of
consciousness”, consider how the word red, is not red.  Since this is an
abstract name, In order to know what this means, you need to be able to
interpret it back to a set of physical qualities.  But which physical
qualities?

Perception is an interpretation process.  If you know something, there must
be something physical that is that knowledge.  We interpret physical
properties, like the properties of the surface of the strawberry, as a
different set of physical qualities, our knowledge of the strawberry.  It
is our physical knowledge of the strawberry that has the redness quality we
are directly aware of.

To understand how abstract science is blind to these qualities, consider
another abstract set of information, like the name “glutamate”, and our
abstract descriptions of how glutamate behaves in synapses.  It is a
hypothetical possibility, that needs to be falsified, that the word red,
the name glutamate, and our descriptions of how glutamate behaves in a
synapse, should all be interpreted as descriptions of a redness physical
quality we can be directly aware of.

Now consider how all the difficult questions about consciousness like: “How
do we bridge the explanatory gap
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__en.wikipedia.org_wiki_Explanatory-5Fgap&d=DwIFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=R3T9cx0pkKGNuh6xsu2jeFVPqLb24RgUHqlIWDPzK7w&s=cUZcZkpVHFyxjJlQvjGIurrROdyXs7r-xjsJGYdj73c&e=>?”, “How do we resolve “Inverted
spectrum <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__en.wikipedia.org_wiki_Inverted-5Fspectrum&d=DwIFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=R3T9cx0pkKGNuh6xsu2jeFVPqLb24RgUHqlIWDPzK7w&s=Krt1GYKBLzEPJ6N-6o7N9Jn6ZVTNeK2qFXWvs28c79M&e=>” issues?”, “What
is it like to be a bat?
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__en.wikipedia.org_wiki_What-5FIs-5Fit-5FLike-5Fto-5FBe-5Fa-5FBat-253F&d=DwIFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=R3T9cx0pkKGNuh6xsu2jeFVPqLb24RgUHqlIWDPzK7w&s=7qdUTBkPlVCZbE7UrE-_xpXCowSEklSJiSwWT4peLDk&e=>”, “What did
abstract Mary learn? <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__en.wikipedia.org_wiki_Knowledge-5Fargument&d=DwIFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=R3T9cx0pkKGNuh6xsu2jeFVPqLb24RgUHqlIWDPzK7w&s=w3SFI07G39uqsdE5jC6vjhw0kLbg1YWgk3ulLFpKgPY&e=>”, “Can
Computers Be Conscious?
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__bigthink.com_going-2Dmental_can-2Dcomputers-2Dbe-2Dconscious&d=DwIFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=R3T9cx0pkKGNuh6xsu2jeFVPqLb24RgUHqlIWDPzK7w&s=AdliDgvkum7yqYzACO6xZJD0f_n1I9wnoDXUG8y_BCo&e=>”,

“How do we eff ineffable qualia
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__en.wikipedia.org_wiki_Qualia-23Definitions&d=DwIFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=R3T9cx0pkKGNuh6xsu2jeFVPqLb24RgUHqlIWDPzK7w&s=axNf9I3t0DABn_KI6aFGVTTpYDzwUkygepYUlAjAzK0&e=>?”… are all now
objectively answerable, given the realization that the word red is not red.

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