That’s a really clear description! Thanks for summarizing it.
I suspect it’s highly relevant that if someone were to actually grow up in a grayscale environment, they wouldn’t be capable of experiencing blue. Even if the optic nerve had somehow retained the ability to transmit data from cones, the brain simply would not be wired for blue-processing. I’m pretty sure her brain would interpret a colored world the way a black-and-white television would. (This is my understanding of neuroscience, by the way, not my stab at philosophy.)
I haven’t taken the time to think carefully about the implications of this. It just seems suspicious to me that one of the clearest descriptions of qualia I’ve encountered involves a process that’s neurologically implausible to enact.
That’s a really clear description! Thanks for summarizing it.
I suspect it’s highly relevant that if someone were to actually grow up in a grayscale environment, they wouldn’t be capable of experiencing blue. Even if the optic nerve had somehow retained the ability to transmit data from cones, the brain simply would not be wired for blue-processing. I’m pretty sure her brain would interpret a colored world the way a black-and-white television would. (This is my understanding of neuroscience, by the way, not my stab at philosophy.)
I haven’t taken the time to think carefully about the implications of this. It just seems suspicious to me that one of the clearest descriptions of qualia I’ve encountered involves a process that’s neurologically implausible to enact.
Results of gene therapy for color blindness suggest otherwise. Maybe those monkeys and mice cannot experience colors, but they react as if they can.
I’m really want to try this myself. Infrared sensitive opsin in a retina, isn’t it wonderful?