Philip Sutton wrote:
Let's tackle qualia from a practical point of view.
Let's start (for argument's sake) with the view that the notion of qualia is a meaningless philosophical curiosity.
Is there any reason why we should not put discussion of qualia in the Yucatan storage facility, in drums that read "WARNING: UNRESOLVABLE PHILOSOPHY Do Not Discuss for at least 30,000 years"?
With regard to creating an AGI, qualia is a virtual non-issue (pun intended.)
With regard to transhumanist thinking, it's an important understanding, because it goes to the heart of subjective versus objective interpretation of the world and human experience (and their respective applicability.)
As our thinking matures beyond the evolved preference for the first-person point of view, we will gain clarity of understanding of the nature of "self", "free-will", individual and group values, and "moral" decision making. I use the scare-quotes because each of these labels refer to concepts that suffer from distortion and paradox as popularly conceived.
- Jef http://www.jefallbright.net
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