If that is really his view, Sam Harris didn’t think things through at all, nor did he think very deeply.
Qualia is created by the brain, not by anything external. Touching a hot stove feels bad because we are more likely to survive when we feel this way. There’s no reason why it can’t feel pleasurable to damage yourself, it just seems like a bad design choice. The brain uses qualia to reward and punish us so that we end up surviving and reproducing. Our defense mechanisms are basically just toying with us because it helps us in the end (it’s merely the means to survival), and our brains somewhat resist our attempts at hacking our own reward mechanisms because those who could do that likely ended up dying more often.
You could use Harris Arguments to imply that objective beauty exists, too. This is of course also not correct.
The argument also implies that all life or all consciousness can feel positive and negative qualia, but that’s not necessarily true. He should have written “made our corner of the universe suck less, for us, according to us. (What if a change feel bad for us but causes great suffering to some alien race?)
Lastly, if these philosophers experienced actual, severe suffering for long periods of time, they would likely realize that suffering isn’t even the issue, but suffering that one feels is meaningless. Meaningful pain is not bothersome at all, and it doesn’t even need to reduce further pain. Has Harris never read “man’s search for meaning” or other works which explain this?
Indeed, people with congenital insensitivity to paindon’t feel pain upon touching hot stoves (or in any other circumstance), and they’re at serious risk of infected injuries and early death because of it.
If that is really his view, Sam Harris didn’t think things through at all, nor did he think very deeply.
Qualia is created by the brain, not by anything external. Touching a hot stove feels bad because we are more likely to survive when we feel this way. There’s no reason why it can’t feel pleasurable to damage yourself, it just seems like a bad design choice. The brain uses qualia to reward and punish us so that we end up surviving and reproducing. Our defense mechanisms are basically just toying with us because it helps us in the end (it’s merely the means to survival), and our brains somewhat resist our attempts at hacking our own reward mechanisms because those who could do that likely ended up dying more often.
You could use Harris Arguments to imply that objective beauty exists, too. This is of course also not correct.
The argument also implies that all life or all consciousness can feel positive and negative qualia, but that’s not necessarily true. He should have written “made our corner of the universe suck less, for us, according to us. (What if a change feel bad for us but causes great suffering to some alien race?)
Lastly, if these philosophers experienced actual, severe suffering for long periods of time, they would likely realize that suffering isn’t even the issue, but suffering that one feels is meaningless. Meaningful pain is not bothersome at all, and it doesn’t even need to reduce further pain. Has Harris never read “man’s search for meaning” or other works which explain this?
Indeed, people with congenital insensitivity to pain don’t feel pain upon touching hot stoves (or in any other circumstance), and they’re at serious risk of infected injuries and early death because of it.