I’ve already explained why that’s an anti pattern. If you had rejected the very idea of magnetism when magnetism wasn’t understood, it would not now be understood.
I’m rejecting the idea of ‘qualia’ for the same reason I wouldn’t reject the idea of magnetism – they both seem (or would seem, for magnetism, in your hypothetical).
I’m rejecting ‘mysterious answers’, e.g. “Theres not supposed to be a good explanation of qualia”.
Who said otherwise? You seem to have decided that “qualia are subjective experiences and we don’t understand them” means something like “qualia are entirely and irredeemably subjective and will be a mystery forever”.
Sorry – that’s not what I intended to convey. And maybe we’re writing past each other about this. I suspect that ‘qualia’ is basically equivalent to something far more general, e.g. ‘information processing’, and that our intuitions about what ‘qualia’ are, and the underlying mechanics of them (of which many people seem to insist don’t exist), are based on the limited means we have of currently, e.g. introspecting on them, communicating with each other about them, and weakly generalizing to other entities (e.g. animals) or possible beings (e.g. AIs).
I also suspect that ‘consciousness’ – which I’m currently (loosely/casually) modeling as ‘being capable of telling stories’ – and us having consciousness, makes thinking and discussing ‘qualia’ more difficult than I suspect it will turn out to be.
Maybe we will have qualiometers one day, and maybe we will abandon the very idea of qualia. But maybe we won’t, so we have no reason to treat qualia as poison now.
What I’m (kinda) ‘treating as poison’ is the seemingly common view that ‘qualia’ cannot be explained at all, i.e. that it’s inherently and inescapably ‘subjective’. It sure seems like at least some people – tho maybe not yourself – are either in the process ‘retreating’, or have adopted a ‘posture’ whereby they’re constantly ‘ready to retreat’, from the ‘advances’ of ‘objective investigation’ and then claim that only the ‘leftover’ parts of ‘qualia’ that remain ‘subjective’ are the ‘real qualia’.
I’m rejecting the idea of ‘qualia’ for the same reason I wouldn’t reject the idea of magnetism – they both seem (or would seem, for magnetism, in your hypothetical)
Seem what?
I’m rejecting ‘mysterious answers’, e
The lack of explanation for qualia is not intended as an answer.
I suspect that ‘qualia’ is basically equivalent to something far more general, e.g. ‘information processing’,
If you could show that , that would be an explanation. Staring that an A is, for no particular reason, a B is not explanation.
What I’m (kinda) ‘treating as poison’ is the seemingly common view that ‘qualia’ cannot be explained at all
You say it is common , but no one in this discussion has made it , and you haven’t named anyone who has made it. And inexplicability is not part of the definition of “qualia”.
Winding back:-
I’m not convinced that statements like “qualia clearly exist” are informative. It feels like a ‘poisoned idea’, e.g. because of the connection with ‘p-zombies’.
Theres nothing about inexplicability there , either. But there is something about wrongthought ,.ie.zombies.
I’m rejecting the idea of ‘qualia’ for the same reason I wouldn’t reject the idea of magnetism – they both seem (or would seem, for magnetism, in your hypothetical).
I’m rejecting ‘mysterious answers’, e.g. “Theres not supposed to be a good explanation of qualia”.
Sorry – that’s not what I intended to convey. And maybe we’re writing past each other about this. I suspect that ‘qualia’ is basically equivalent to something far more general, e.g. ‘information processing’, and that our intuitions about what ‘qualia’ are, and the underlying mechanics of them (of which many people seem to insist don’t exist), are based on the limited means we have of currently, e.g. introspecting on them, communicating with each other about them, and weakly generalizing to other entities (e.g. animals) or possible beings (e.g. AIs).
I also suspect that ‘consciousness’ – which I’m currently (loosely/casually) modeling as ‘being capable of telling stories’ – and us having consciousness, makes thinking and discussing ‘qualia’ more difficult than I suspect it will turn out to be.
What I’m (kinda) ‘treating as poison’ is the seemingly common view that ‘qualia’ cannot be explained at all, i.e. that it’s inherently and inescapably ‘subjective’. It sure seems like at least some people – tho maybe not yourself – are either in the process ‘retreating’, or have adopted a ‘posture’ whereby they’re constantly ‘ready to retreat’, from the ‘advances’ of ‘objective investigation’ and then claim that only the ‘leftover’ parts of ‘qualia’ that remain ‘subjective’ are the ‘real qualia’.
Seem what?
The lack of explanation for qualia is not intended as an answer.
If you could show that , that would be an explanation. Staring that an A is, for no particular reason, a B is not explanation.
You say it is common , but no one in this discussion has made it , and you haven’t named anyone who has made it. And inexplicability is not part of the definition of “qualia”.
Winding back:-
Theres nothing about inexplicability there , either. But there is something about wrongthought ,.ie.zombies.