TPF : Qualia . . . Illusion?

A place for discussion of ideas presented in the BothAndBlog, or relevant to the Enformationism thesis.
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Gnomon
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TPF : Qualia . . . Illusion?

Post by Gnomon » Mon Feb 08, 2021 8:50 pm

Is Quality An Illusion?
https://thephilosophyforum.com/discussi ... n-illusion

Why do I say that quality, viewed as distinctly non-mathematical could be an illusion? — TheMadFool

I'm a latecomer to this thread, and I haven't read all the other posts. But your question is pertinent to my personal worldview : Enformationism, which assumes that everything in the world is a form of Generic Information, including mathematics, matter, & mind. In that case, "Quanta" are material things that we evaluate in terms of mathematical qualities (values), such as Mass. However, what we call "Qualia" are the mental/mathematical evaluations themselves, which we experience as ineffable Feelings.

When expressed in language, we refer to those values as "Meaning". And, for the observer, meaning is relevance to Self. It's a relationship (in mathematical terms, a Ratio), which we basically Feel emotionally (chemically), but eventually rationalize into words (meta-physically). Which is what we call "Reasoning".

So, Qualia are not mere meaningless or erroneous "illusions". They are instead, emotional mental feelings of significance or relevance (positive or negative). In that sense, they are all we ever know about Material Reality. Qualia are perceptions, that we convert into non-verbal Meaning (ineffable feelings), and then into conventional verbal communication of Information.

This is just a quick sketch of my understanding of Qualia. I may try to develop it further, as I get the time to evaluate the murkiness and misapprehensions of the sketch into communicable information. :nerd:

Generic Information : Information (ability to enform) is Generic in the sense of generating all real forms from a formless pool of possibility : Potential ; the Platonic Forms.
http://bothandblog2.enformationism.info/page29.html

Ratio of Evaluation : Students understand the value of a ratio A:B is A/B. They understand that if two ratios are equivalent, the ratios have the same value. Students use the value of a ratio to solve ratio problems in a real-world context. Students use the value of a ratio in determining whether two ratios are equivalent.
https://www.onlinemathlearning.com/value-of-ratio.html
Note -- In the ratio A : B, "A" can stand for the observer, and "B" for the thing observed.
A" is usually set as "1", and the object as a range from "1 to 0". The numerical expression of that evaluation is the value of that object to me. The value, in turn, can be converted into feelings, or money, or size, or weight, depending on the context.

PS__The Quality we call "red" is a sensory evaluation of the spectrum of light frequencies, which fall into the range of 430 terahertz, relative to the overall speed of light. The brain converts the Quanta of frequency into the Qualia of Red, which is a feeling.

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Gnomon
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Re: TPF : Qualia . . . Illusion?

Post by Gnomon » Mon Feb 08, 2021 8:51 pm

You know, I'm beginning to agree with you. — Wayfarer

Only beginning? I thought you were on board from day one.

“When one person suffers from a delusion, it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called a Religion.”
― Robert M. Pirsig,
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values

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