If my qualia were actually those of a computer chip, then rather than feeling hot I would feel purple (or rather, some quale that no human language can describe), and if you asked me why I went back indoors even though I don’t have any particular objection to purple and the weather is not nearly severe enough to pose any serious threat to my health, I wouldn’t be able to answer you or in any way connect my qualia to my actions.
If a simulation allowed life to evolve within it, and was not just an attempt to replicate something which already exists, would you expect natural selection within the simulation to produce beings with qualia that “match” the functional purpose?
If so, it seems like that would leave much of the simulation argument in tact.
s/are not zombies/have qualia/ and you’ll get a little more accurate. A zombie, supposing such a thing is possible (which I doubt for all the reasons given in http://lesswrong.com/lw/p7/zombies_zombies ), is still a real, physical object. The objects of a simulation don’t even rise to zombie status.
A zombie … is still a real, physical object. The objects of a simulation don’t even rise to zombie status.
It’s really unclear what you mean by ‘zombie’, ‘real, physical object’, and ‘objects of a simulation’. But you’re right that Kevin meant by ‘zombie’ exactly ‘us without qualia’. I thought this was obvious in context.
If a simulation allowed life to evolve within it, and was not just an attempt to replicate something which already exists, would you expect natural selection within the simulation to produce beings with qualia that “match” the functional purpose?
If so, it seems like that would leave much of the simulation argument in tact.
Yes, dfranke’s argument seems to map to “we are not living in a simulation because we are not zombies and people living in a simulation are zombies”.
s/are not zombies/have qualia/ and you’ll get a little more accurate. A zombie, supposing such a thing is possible (which I doubt for all the reasons given in http://lesswrong.com/lw/p7/zombies_zombies ), is still a real, physical object. The objects of a simulation don’t even rise to zombie status.
It’s really unclear what you mean by ‘zombie’, ‘real, physical object’, and ‘objects of a simulation’. But you’re right that Kevin meant by ‘zombie’ exactly ‘us without qualia’. I thought this was obvious in context.
What is a physical object?
If you are not arguing for zombies, I am really confused about what you’re trying to argue for.
...unless you believe in zombies!