Monday, January 23, 2006

Qualia Eg. of Assuming Things are as We Perceive Them

People know for certain that qualia is inexplicable and unexplainable to them.
Thus they feel certain that qualia *is* inexplicable and unexplainable.

But that is not a reasonable conclusion.
We do not know anything about the nature of the phenomenon.
It could be explainable if we had the right concepts for understanding it.

The flawed conclusion arises from a common mistake.
Which is assuming that how things appear to perception is how things actually are.
And assuming that if it appears inexplicable and unexplainable to me, then that must be its nature.

This is a failure to consider that these appearances may just have to do with our own limitations, not the actual nature of the phenomenon.
The phenomenon may be inexplicable only because we don't -- currently, at least -- have the means to understand it.

This is based on an assumption that perception is simply a window, reporting things as they are.

Whereas it is really a construction, seeing the world through a set of concepts that are neither perfect nor complete.

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