Consider the fact that there's nothing unnatural about the fact that there exist fictional narratives with fictional characters - so yes, these DO exist in the real world (as fictions). Fictions exist in our minds, just as redness exists in our minds.Humans are part of the physical universe, so this suggests redness (that thing we perceive and contemplate) is part of the physical world. — Relativist
This is like saying that Harry Potter and Sherlock Holmes exist in the real world, because the books and films that represent their adventures exist in the real world. I don't think this argument holds water. — Pattern-chaser
OK, but this is because of the nature of "redness." I'll relate a philosophical thought-experiment.The definition you use for "red" is unusual, and does not include many or most of the shades of meaning used by humans when they say "red"....My view is broader, and tries to embrace all of the meanings that humans conventionally use "red" for. — Pattern-chaser
She becomes the world's foremost expert on redness... — Relativist
Why say that we experience either? The story you are telling (and incidently it is just a story, not an argument) is a familiar one to me, it's just a more detailed account of the story that the blog page I linked to in an earlier post claims is ultimately incoherent.So all we can really say is that we experience Neural Activity not Physical Light.
There is Physical Red Light out there in the Physical World and there is Conscious Red Light that we actually experience in our Conscious Minds. The Conscious Red Light is a different thing than the Physical Red Light. The Conscious Red light is created by the Brain to be a Surrogate for the Physical Red Light. You have only ever Seen the Conscious Red Light. You have never Seen the Physical Red Light. The Redness that you have always known is not a Property of the Physical Red Light. The Physical Red Light has Wavelength as a Property. The Redness is only in the Conscious Red Light. We are so used to Seeing the Surrogate that we think the Physical Red Light looks like the Surrogate. The Physical Red Light does not and cannot look like anything. That's why the Brain creates the Surrogate. So you can move around in the Physical World and not crash into things.↪SteveKlinko
So all we can really say is that we experience Neural Activity not Physical Light.
Why say that we experience either? The story you are telling (and incidently it is just a story, not an argument) is a familiar one to me, it's just a more detailed account of the story that the blog page I linked to in an earlier post claims is ultimately incoherent. — jkg20
Get involved in philosophical discussions about knowledge, truth, language, consciousness, science, politics, religion, logic and mathematics, art, history, and lots more. No ads, no clutter, and very little agreement — just fascinating conversations.