I remember you and I also discussed what it means to understand something, and I definitely sympathize and largely agree with your standard for what counts as “understanding”. (I’ll find the link to that discussion when I get a chance.)
My standard is that you understand something if and to the extent that:
1) You have a mathematical model that generates the observations with good success. (Not necessary here what labels you use—this part can be “Chinese room”-ish.)
2) That model is deeply connected (via the entities it shares, quantities it uses, mutual interaction, etc.) to your model for everything else, and thus connected, ultimately, to your intuitive (raw, qualia-laden) model of the world.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think this is where you are: for light, you understand it in the sense of meeting 1), but don’t meet it with respect to 2). Would you say that is accurate?
I remember you and I also discussed what it means to understand something, and I definitely sympathize and largely agree with your standard for what counts as “understanding”. (I’ll find the link to that discussion when I get a chance.)
My standard is that you understand something if and to the extent that:
1) You have a mathematical model that generates the observations with good success. (Not necessary here what labels you use—this part can be “Chinese room”-ish.)
2) That model is deeply connected (via the entities it shares, quantities it uses, mutual interaction, etc.) to your model for everything else, and thus connected, ultimately, to your intuitive (raw, qualia-laden) model of the world.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think this is where you are: for light, you understand it in the sense of meeting 1), but don’t meet it with respect to 2). Would you say that is accurate?