Hi Jamie,
Valence has a phenomenal component to it, like colors do. For example, redness is an intrinsic phenomenal quality of knowledge we can be directly aware of, in our brain. Abstract words which computers use to represent information with, like the word ‘red’ can be interpreted and quantified as if they were red (and thereby behave identically, if you have the dictionary), but words like 'red' aren’t intrinsically like anything. Like preschool teachers, someone needs to point to an intrinsic quality, like a red crayon (resulting in our knowledge of such that has a redness quality), and say: “THAT is red.”
While computers need dictionaries to know how to behave for different words, we do not. this is because we represent valence information directly on physical qualities in our brain. The intrinsic redness quality of our knowledge of red things is the definition of red. With computer ‘valence’, it’s just all interpretations of interpretations. Computers are qualia blind, since nothing is ever intrinsically defined, and none of it is like anything.
So, a computer can representing pain with words like: “level 5 sharp pain” so it can be thought of as having a quantitatively equal amount of ‘valence’, and it can be programmed with a dictionary to behave the same. But such is qualitatively very different than intrinsic physical pain valence.
So, in order to “quantify suffering”, you must do it both quantitatively, and qualitatively. You must point to an intrinsic quality that is the definition of words like ‘sharp’ and 'red'. This will give you the required dictionary so you can know what ‘sharp’ or ‘red’ is phenomenally and intrinsically like.
############################The more I learn about consciousness, the brain etc, the more it seems we already know how we work.One of my dreams has been to quantify suffering and wellbeing, in order to “correct” our common justification frames, where people too-often assume they know what other is going through, or that there isn’t anything more to know.For instance, about a decade ago, I had a brief opiate addiction. My father, a police chief, expressed contempt at my claim that I was in so much pain. I wasn’t a dying cancer patient.What pain could I claim to have had?It was a dark time that I’m now many years past. But as an adoptee, separated from my mother as an infant, and having extreme, lifelong relational distress, that seems so natural for others to look upon with contempt, ...As weak as I might appear in one frame, (having chosen to use opiates) there are many others where I’m regarded as brutally vigilant in my acceptance of being disconnected, going alone, or just accepting reality in ways others aren’t comfortable with...because it wasn’t a choice.Anyway, what I meant to ask in this email was this:Why can’t we measure valence and affect by measuring physiology? I read an article on suffering in the wild, which claimed the natural world is full of suffering because many animals have higher cortisol levels than domestic counterparts.What would it take to measure a persons overall wellbeing? Could we one day refine our language as to normalize high empathetic intelligence? What better could direct our ethics?--############################-JamieTo unsubscribe from the TOK-SOCIETY-L list: write to: mailto:[log in to unmask] or click the following link: http://listserv.jmu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=TOK-SOCIETY-L&A=1
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