Visual Adaptation to a Remapped Spectrum

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Visual Adaptation to a Remapped Spectrum Visual Adaptation to a Remapped Spectrum Lessons for Enactive Theories of Color Perception and Constancy, the Effect of Color on Aesthetic Judgments, and the Memory Color Effect Rick Grush, Li!erty Jas"al, Justin #noepfler $ Amanda %rovold Many forms of visual adaptation have !een studied, including spatial displace& Authors ments 'Heuer $ Hegele 2008(, spatial inversions and rotations 'Heuer $ Rapp 2011(, removing or enhancing various colors in the visual spectrum 'Belmore $ Rick rush Shevell 2011) Kohler 1963(, and even luminance inversion 'Anstis 1992(* %ut rick9 mind*ucsd*edu there have !een no studies that have assessed adaptation to an inverted spectrum, or more generally color rotation* +e present the results of an adaptation protocol :niversity of 4an -iego on t"o su!,ects "ho "ore LCD goggles that "ere driven !y a video camera, !ut 4an -iego, CA, :*4*A. such that the visual scene presented to su!,ects "as color-rotated !y ./01, so that !lue o!,ects appeared green, green o!,ects appeared red, and red o!,ects ap& Li!erty Jaswal peared !lue '"ith non-primary colors !eing analogously remapped(* 2ne su!,ect "ore the apparatus intermittently for several hours per day for a "eek* The Justin #noepfler second su!,ect "ore the apparatus continually for si3 days, meaning that all his visual input for those si3 days "as color rotated* 4everal e3periments "ere run to Amanda %rovold assess the kinds and degrees of adaptation, including Stroop '1935(, the memory a!rovold9miracosta*edu color effect 'Hansen et al. 2006(, and aesthetic ,udgments of food and people* MiraCosta College 4everal additional phenomena "ere assessed and noticed, especially "ith respect 2ceanside, CA, :*4*A. to color constancy and phenomenal adaptation* The results "ere that color con& stancy initially "as not present "hen colors "ere rotated, !ut !oth su!,ects adap& Commentator ted so that color constancy returned* Ho"ever, there "as no evidence of phenom& enal color adaptation* Tomatoes continued to look !lue, su!,ects did not adapt so Aleksandra Mroczko&+<so"icz that they started to look red again* +e found no relia!le 4troop result* %ut there mroczko&"aso"icz9hotmail*com "as an adaptation to the memory color effect* Also, interesting differences "ere revealed in the "ay color affects aesthetic ,udgments of food versus people, and 國立陽明大學 differences in adaptation to those effects. =ational >ang Ming :niversity Taipei, Tai"an Keywords Aesthetic ,udgments 6 Color constancy 6 Color phenomenology 6 Color rotation 6 Editors Enactive perception 6 7nverted spectrum 6 7nverted spectrum thought e3periment 6 Memory color effect 6 Phenomenal adaptation 6 4emantic adaptation 6 4troop 6 Thomas Met;inger 8isual adaptation met;inger9uni-main;*de Johannes uten!erg&:niversit?t Main;, ermany Jennifer M* +indt ,ennifer*"indt9 monash*edu Monash :niversity Mel!ourne, Australia rush, R*, Jaswal, L*, #noepfler, J* $ %rovold, A* '/0.@(* 8isual Adaptation to a Remapped 4pectrum 7n T* Met;inger $ J* M* +indt 'Eds(* Open MIND: .A'T(* Brankfurt am MainC M7=- roup* doiC .0*.@@0/DEFGHE@G@F0/GH 1 | .A """*open&mind*net 1 Introduction he i!ea of a su#$e%t &hose visual e'perien%e is #ut &ith %olor rotation +see "igure 2-. /n a 1209 %olor inverte! has been a philosophi%al mainsta( !egree rotation. greens #e%ome re!s. re!s #e%ome at least sin%e Lo%*e +1975-. an! has "uelle! a #lues. an! #lues #e%ome greens +see "igure 3-. great !eal of philosophi%al &ork on the nature :ne reason to emplo( a rotation rather of perception up to the present !a(. /n ps(%ho0 than an inversion is that in a rotation. all %olors logy. testing the e'tent to &hi%h su#$e%ts1 visual map to !i""erent colors. whereas in a spe%tral in0 s(stems %an adapt to alterations in visual input version. the mi!!le of the spe%trum maps to it0 has li*e&ise #een a "ruit"ul mainsta( "or over a sel". an! so not all %olors !i""er. Also, &ith a %entury +"or %urrent research an! re"eren%es see 120° rotation. primary %olors map to primar( Heuer 2 Hegele 20083 Heuer 2 Rapp 20113 Bel0 %olors. an! this &as %onvenient "or testing pur0 more 2 Shevell 2011-. 4espite these t&o "acts. poses. 8or instan%e. &e &ante! to test semanti% adaptation to an inverte! spe%trum has never adaptation via a Stroop tas*. an! Stroop is !i"0 #een stu!ie!. 5iven that there is adaptation to "i%ult to test i" one is dealing with non0%anoni%al a &i!e range of !istortions to visual input. in0 %olors +sin%e su#$e%ts pause to thin* of &hat %lu!ing spatial manipulations an! spe%tral "il0 seems to #e the #est name "or the %olor: <= um, tering, &e spe%ulate! that it &as %on%eivable peri&in*le6>-. /t &as important that the te't that there might #e a!aptation. in some "orm or &as %olore! in a primary %olor !uring #aseline other, to %olor rotation. hat is. i" visual input testing +#e"ore su#$e%ts1 vision &as %olor- &as re&orke! su%h that tomatoes appeare! altere!-. an! that it %ontinue! to #e presente! #lue. &oul! su#$e%ts over time adapt so that to0 in a primary %olor !uring testing &hile %olors matoes regaine! their normal +re!- phenomenal &ere altere!. appearan%e6 An! even i" su%h a sho%*ing result !i! not o%%ur, might there nevertheless #e a!0 aptation to other %olor-relevant phenomena, su%h as %olor %onstan%(. aestheti% $u!gments. or the memor(0%olor e""e%t6 Figure 2: ?olor rotation. /" %olors on the le"t !is* are Figure 1: An inverte! spe%trum. he "amiliar re!0to-vi0 mappe! to %olors that are 1/3 of a %lo%*&ise rotation olet spe%trum lai! out "rom le"t to right (top- %ompare! (120º), then green (lo&er le"t) maps on to re! (slightl( to an inverte! violet-to-re! spe%trum "rom le"t to right le"t of the top-3 re! maps to #lue (mi!!le right); an! so +#ottom). Note that the %entral %olors map to themselves "orth. he !is* on the right is a 120º %olor0rotate! ver0 or ver( similar %olors. sion of the !is* on the le"t. 7e teste! this as "ollo&s. 8irst. rather than he rotation &as implemente! in the "ol0 an inverte! spe%trum. &e emplo(e! a rotated lo&ing &a(. A small vi!eo %amera &as mounte! spectrum. An inverte! spe%trum is one in &hi%h on a #i*e helmet. as &ere a pair of )?4 goggles one ta*es the usual re!0to0violet spe%trum an! +see "igure B-. he si!es of the goggles &ere $ust reverses it to get a mapping "rom %olors to seale! against the &earer’s "ace so that there %olors. Re! &oul! map to violet. orange to #lue. &as no peripheral visual input3 su#$e%ts %oul! violet to re!. an! so on +see "igure 1-. onl( see &hat &as !ispla(e! on the )?4s. he 8or t&o reasons &e %hose to s(stemati%all( vi!eo %amera output &as run to a laptop %om0 alter %olor input not &ith an inverte! spe%trum. puter. &hi%h ran soft&are that %olor-rotate! the rush, R*, Jaswal, L*, #noepfler, J* $ %rovold, A* '/0.@(* 8isual Adaptation to a Remapped 4pectrum 7n T* Met;inger $ J* M* +indt 'Eds(* Open MIND: .A'T(* Brankfurt am MainC M7=- roup* doiC .0*.@@0/DEFGHE@G@F0/GH 2 | .A """*open&mind*net vi!eo "ee! an! pushe! the result to the )?4 &ere a&are of the proto%ol an! ris*s. an! &ere goggles. he su#$e%t &oul! &ear the #i*e hel0 intimatel( "amiliar &ith the relevant eGuipment met an! %arry a #ag that hel! the laptop an! an! potential problems an! so in a position to #attery pac*s "or the laptop. %amera. an! more ac%uratel( assess %on!itions un!er &hi%h goggles. /n &hat "ollo&s &e &ill re"er to this as the proto%ol shoul! #e aborte!. some of the the rotation gear. or simpl( the gear. Moreover, %on%erns &ere ease!. an! approval &as eventu0 &e &ill use the e'pression under rotation to all( grante!. Moreover, investigators &ere &ill0 re"er to the %on!ition of having one1s visual in0 ing to put themselves through the arduous pro0 put %olor-rotate! #( the gear. /n ad!ition to ro0 to%ol. tating the spe%trum +the intentional e""e%t-. the Su#$e%t 1 +R5- &ore the gear intermit0 gear also eliminate! #ino%ular !isparit( sin%e tentl(. in several multi0hour sessions per !a( "or there &as onl( one %amera +&hi%h pro$e%te! the a &ee*. &o reasons "or an initial intermittent same image to #oth e(es-. an! also impaire! proto%ol &ere. "irst. that it &oul! allo& us to peripheral vision. sin%e the %amera1s "iel! of trou#le-shoot the eGuipment—i" it had to #e vie& &as less than normal vision. As a result. shut !o&n "or a "e& hours "or tin*ering this &hile most normal activities &ere possi#le +i" &oul! not interfere &ith the proto%ol. an! &e %um#ersome-. some. su%h as !riving a motor &ante! to ensure that everything &as "un%tion0 vehi%le. were not possi#le. ing smoothl( #e"ore su#$e%t IK1s %ontinuous proto%ol #egan. An!. se%on!. &e &ante! to %ompare the results o" a su#$e%t &ho &ore the gear intermittentl( &ith the results of one &ho &ore it %ontinuall(.
Recommended publications
  • An Analysis of Qualitative Feel As the Introspectible Subjective Aspect of a Space of Reasons
    An Analysis of Qualitative Feel as the Introspectible Subjective Aspect of a Space of Reasons Michael James Stuart Beaton Submitted for examination in the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Sussex, April, 2009 Declaration I hereby declare that this thesis has not been and will not be submitted, in whole or in part, to this or any other University for the award of any other degree. Signature: ................................................ An Analysis of Qualitative Feel as the Introspectible Subjective Aspect of a Space of Reasons Michael James Stuart Beaton Summary This thesis presents an analysis of qualitative feel (‘qualia’), based on a Sellarsian ‘space of reasons’ account of the mental. The first non-introductory chapter, Chapter 2, argues against an over-strong phenomenal realism (the claim that inverted spectra, zombies, etc., are at least conceptually possible), and against the modern phenomenal concept defence of such claims. Nevertheless, it is agreed with the proponents of these views that we must allow for introspective knowledge of our qualia, if we are to take qualia seriously at all. It is therefore proposed that we allow our search for qualia to be guided by some independently plausible theory of introspection. In Chapter 3, Shoemaker’s account of introspection is presented, extended in certain respects, and defended against some current objections. Chapter 4 is used to argue that Shoemaker’s current account of qualia can only be made compatible with his account of introspection by paying certain very high costs (which Shoemaker is aware of, but seems willing to pay). However, it is also argued that Shoemaker’s account of qualia has some attractive features, which can be preserved.
    [Show full text]
  • The Inverted Spectrum Sydney Shoemaker the Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 79, No. 7. (Jul., 1982), Pp. 357-381
    The Inverted Spectrum Sydney Shoemaker The Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 79, No. 7. (Jul., 1982), pp. 357-381. Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-362X%28198207%2979%3A7%3C357%3ATIS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-F The Journal of Philosophy is currently published by Journal of Philosophy, Inc.. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/about/terms.html. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/journals/jphil.html. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is an independent not-for-profit organization dedicated to and preserving a digital archive of scholarly journals. For more information regarding JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. http://www.jstor.org Wed Apr 4 09:58:34 2007 THE JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY VOLUME LXXIX, NO. 7, JULY 1982 THE INVERTED SPECTRUM* s best I can determine, the idea of spectrum inversion made its first appearance in the philosophical literature when A John Locke, in the Essay, entertained the possibility that "the same Object should flroduce in several Men's Minds different Ideas at the same time; v.g.
    [Show full text]
  • QUALIA: What It Is Like to Have an Experience
    QUALIA: What it is like to have an experience Qualia include the ways things look, sound and smell, the way it feels to have a pain, and more generally, what it's like to have experiential mental states. (‘Qualia’ is the plural of ‘quale’.) Qualia are experiential properties of sensations, feelings, perceptions and, more controversially, thoughts and desires as well. But, so defined, who could deny that qualia exist? Although the existence of subjective experience is not (or anyway should not be) controversial, ‘quale’—which is more clearly a technical term than ‘subjective experience’ is more often used by those who are inclined to reject the common-sense conception of subjective experience. Here is a first approximation to a statement of what is controversial: whether the phenomenology of experience can be exhaustively analyzed in intentional, functional or purely cognitive terms. Opponents of qualia think that the phenomenology of an experience can be exhaustively analyzed in terms of its representational or intentional content (“representationism”); or that the phenomenology of experience can be exhaustively analyzed in terms of its causal role (“functionalism”), or that having a subjective experiential state can be exhaustively analyzed in terms of having a state that is cognitively monitored in a certain way or accompanied by a thought to the effect that I have that state. If we include in the definition of ‘qualia’ the idea that the phenomenology of experience outruns such intentional, functional and cognitive analyses, then it is controversial whether there are qualia. This definition of `qualia' is controversial in a respect that is familiar in philosophy.
    [Show full text]
  • The Logic of Qualia 1 Introduction
    The Logic of Qualia Drew McDermott, 2014-08-14 Draft! Comments welcome! Do not quote! Abstract: Logic is useful as a neutral formalism for expressing the contents of mental representations. It can be used to extract crisp conclusions regarding the higher- order theory of phenomenal consciousness developed in (McDermott, 2001, 2007). A key aspect of conscious perceptions is their connection to the distinction between appearance and reality. Perceptions must often be corrected. To do so requires that the logic of perception be able to represent the logical structure of judgment events, that is, to include the formulas of the logic as objects to be reasoned about. However, there is a limit to how finely humans can examine their own represen- tations. Terms representing primary and secondary qualities seemed to be locked, so that the numbers (or levels of neural activation) that are their essence are not directly accessible. Humans feel a need to invoke “intrinsic,” “nonrelational” prop- erties of many secondary qualities — their qualia — to “explicate” how we compare and discriminate among them, although this is not actually how the comparisons are accomplished. This model of qualia explains several things: It accounts for the difference between “normal” and “introspective” access to a perceptual module in terms of quotation. It dissolves Jackson’s knowledge argument by explaining what Mary learns as a fictional but undoubtable belief structure. It makes spectrum in- version logically impossible by providing a degree of freedom between the physical structure of the brain and the representations it contains that redescribes putative cases of spectrum inversion as alternative but equivalent ways of mapping physical states to representational states.
    [Show full text]
  • Zombies and the Function of Consciousness Owen Flanagan
    © 1 9 9 5 P o l g e r a n d F l a n a g a n Zombies and the Function of Consciousness Owen Flanagan Departments of Philosophy, Psychology, and Neurobiology, Email: [email protected]. and Thomas Polger Department of Philosophy, Email:[email protected], Box 90743 Duke University, Durham, NC, 27707, USA.* Abstract: Todd Moody’s Zombie Earth thought experiment is an attempt to show that ‘conscious inessentialism’ is false or in need of qualification. We defend conscious inessentialism against his criticisms, and argue that zombie thought experiments highlight the need to explain why consciousness evolved and what function(s) it serves. This is the hardest problem in consciousness studies. 1. Conscious Inessentialism Conscious inessentialism is “the view that for any intelligent activity i , performed in any cognitive domain d , even if we do i with conscious accompaniments, i can in principle be done without these conscious accompaniments.”1 Among other things, conscious inessentialism forces questions about the function, and thus the adaptiveness and evolutionary significance, of consciousness. This is because conscious inessentialism just is the claim that consciousness is not metaphysically or logically necessary. It is * The order of authors follows alphabetical convention. Authorship is completely equal. 1 Flanagan, O. Consciousness Reconsidered. (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1992), 5. 1 © 1 9 9 5 P o l g e r a n d F l a n a g a n not necessary in all possible worlds where creatures who are functionally equivalent to us exist. But consciousness did emerge in this actual world—possibly among many species.
    [Show full text]
  • Wittgenstein and Qualia1
    Philosophical Perspectives, 21, Philosophy of Mind, 2007 WITTGENSTEIN AND QUALIA1 Ned Block New York University (Wittgenstein, 1968) endorsed one kind of inverted spectrum hypothesis and rejected another. This paper argues that the kind of inverted spectrum hypothesis that Wittgenstein endorsed (the “innocuous” inverted spectrum hypothesis) is the thin end of the wedge that precludes a Wittgensteinian critique of the kind of inverted spectrum hypothesis he rejected (the “dangerous” kind). The danger of the dangerous kind is that it provides an argument for qualia, where qualia are (for the purposes of this paper) contents of experiential states which cannot be fully captured in natural language. I will pinpoint the difference between the innocuous and dangerous scenarios that matters for the argument for qualia, give arguments in favor of the coherence and possibility of the dangerous scenario, and try to show that some standard arguments against inverted spectra are ineffective against the version of the dangerous scenario I will be advocating. The leading idea of the paper is that an argument for qualia based on spectrum inversion does not require that the inversion be behaviorally indistinguishable. At one crucial point, I will rely on a less controversial version of an argument I gave in Block (1999). Wittgenstein’s views provide a convenient starting point for a paper that is much more about qualia than about Wittgenstein. 1. Introduction The content of an experiential state can often be described in public language partly in terms of qualities of objects that bear some salient relation to the state, for example, “looks red” or “feels like sandpaper” or “smells rotten”, but it is the contention of this paper that public language terms including terms for such properties of objects do not fully capture the contents.
    [Show full text]
  • The Inverted Spectrum
    The Nature of Consciousness Handout [19] Sydney Shoemaker: The Inverted Spectrum JeeLoo Liu § The Goals 1. To argue for the logical possibility of spectrum inversion. 2. To defend functionalism against the arguments from inverted spectrum. 3. To give a functionalistic analysis of qualia. § Qualia and Functionalism "Qualia": ___ The qualitative or phenomenal features of sense-experience, in virtue of which they resemble and differ from each other, qualitatively, in the ways they do. "Functionalism": ___ Mental states are definable in terms of their causal relations to sensory inputs, behavioral outputs, and other mental states. * The Claim (made by others): ___ Qualia are not functionally definable, as seen from the possibility of qualia inversion. But qualia are real; thus, functionalism is insufficient. § Note: Block and Fodor's Arguments against Functionalism: (from Shoemaker, 'Functionalism and Qualia') [A] The Inverted Qualia Argument ___ 1. It is possible that every person does, in fact, have slightly different qualia. ___ 2. If (1), then qualia inversion is also possible. ___ 3. But nothing would be a token of the type 'red sensation' unless it is a quale of red sensation. ___ 4. So in cases of qualia inversion, the two functionally identical states that are felt differently cannot be states of the same type. ___ 5. And yet, under functionalism, those two states would be of the same type. ___ 6. Therefore, functionalism is false. [B] The Absent Qualia Argument 2 ___ 1. Under functionalism, it is possible that two functionally identical states do not share a given qualitative content. ___ 2. If it is possible that two functionally identical states do not share a given qualitative content, then it is also possible that only one of them has a qualitative content.
    [Show full text]
  • A Puzzle About Further Facts∗
    A Puzzle about Further Facts∗ Vincent Conitzer Duke University Abstract In metaphysics, there are a number of distinct but related questions about the existence of “further facts”—facts that are contingent relative to the physical structure of the universe. These include further facts about qualia, personal identity, and time. In this article I provide a se- quence of examples involving computer simulations, ranging from one in which the protagonist can clearly conclude such further facts exist to one that describes our own condition. This raises the question of where along the sequence (if at all) the protagonist stops being able to soundly conclude that further facts exist. Keywords: metaphysics, philosophy of mind, epistemology. Case A. Fonda has just attended an inspiring department colloquium. On her way out, she absent- mindedly takes a wrong turn and wanders into a computer lab. She approaches one of the computers. ∗This paper appears in Erkenntnis (DOI: 10.1007/s10670-018-9979-6) and is also available as arXiv:1802.01161. 1 On it, a simulation of a number of humanoid agents in a virtual universe is being run. The perspective of one of these agents—call it Alpha—is continuously displayed on the monitor. Fonda is enthralled and continues to watch from Alpha’s perspective. Because Alpha takes a large variety of interesting actions in the simulated universe, it does not take Fonda long to learn the laws of physics governing it. Moreover, Fonda—whose undergraduate degree was in computer science—can easily imagine how one would write the code for simulating the environment according to these laws.
    [Show full text]
  • The Content of Consciousness: Do We Need Qualia?
    Kaleidoscope Volume 9 Article 23 November 2011 The onC tent of Consciousness: Do We Need Qualia? Sara Copic Follow this and additional works at: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/kaleidoscope Part of the Philosophy of Mind Commons Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits you. Recommended Citation Copic, Sara (2010) "The onC tent of Consciousness: Do We Need Qualia?," Kaleidoscope: Vol. 9, Article 23. Available at: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/kaleidoscope/vol9/iss1/23 This Summer Research and Creativity Grants is brought to you for free and open access by the The Office of Undergraduate Research at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Kaleidoscope by an authorized editor of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Spotlight On Summer Research and Creativity Grants Sara Copic phenomena) must be accounted for without invoking other The Content of Consciousness: kinds of substances. Thus, while substance dualism (the idea that there are physical and mental substances which have Do We Need Qualia? different and mutually exclusive properties) is out, property Philosophy is the practice of coming dualism is still in the game. Hence, both an intentionalist and a to understand that with which we believe phenomenist could be property dualists, holding the view that we are most intimately familiar – our mental properties (thoughts, beliefs, phenomenal experience) social norms, the golden rule, learning, are fundamentally irreducible to their physical realizers (Heil our consciousness (to name just a few). Of course, there is 177). Since qualia preclude functional, cognitive, or intentional a sense in which we are all familiar with and understand characterization, they must, if they exist, supervene on these consciousness: we experience it in our normal waking life.
    [Show full text]
  • Hoffman's ''Proof'
    Consciousness and Cognition Consciousness and Cognition 15 (2006) 48–50 www.elsevier.com/locate/concog Commentary Hoffman’s ‘‘proof’’ of the possibility of spectrum inversion q Alex Byrne a, David Hilbert b,* a Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, USA b Department of Philosophy, Laboratory of Integrative Neuroscience, University of Illinois at Chicago, 601 S. Morgan Street, Chicago, IL 60607-7114, USA Philosophers have devoted a great deal of discussion to the question of whether an inverted spectrum thought experiment refutes functionalism. (For a review of the inverted spectrum and its many philosophical applications, see Byrne, 2004.) If Hoffman is correct the matter can be swiftly and conclusively settled, without appeal to any empirical data about color vision (or anything else). Assuming only that color experiences and functional relations can be mathematically represented, a simple mathematical result—the Scrambling Theo- rem—shows that color experiences can be permuted while keeping functional relations constant, thus con- tradicting functionalism. It will be helpful to illustrate Hoffman’s argument with a very simple example. Suppose that there are two color experiences—experiences of red (state R) and experiences of green (state G), and that the functionalist identifies R with functional state FR, and G with functional state FG. A person can only be in one of these functional states at any particular time. According to the functionalist, then, it is impossible for R to obtain without FR, and vice versa. First, let us put the functionalist theory into the format of the Scrambling Theorem, using Hoffman’s nota- tion, and ‘R,’ ‘FR’, etc., to stand for mathematical surrogates for the experiences and functional states.
    [Show full text]
  • Wittgenstein Versus Zombies: an Investigation of Our Mental Concepts
    Chapter 22 Wittgenstein versus Zombies: An Investigation of Our Mental Concepts Edward Witherspoon 22.1 Introduction We human beings perceive our environment; we reflect on what we perceive; we have desires; we form intentions and act on them. All this mental activity is accompanied by what philosophers call ‘consciousness’, or the subjective experience of thinking. This is what it’s like to sense, reflect, desire, intend, and act. There is a distinctive inner feeling that goes with craving chocolate ice cream, and another that goes with seeing a purple armchair, and another that goes with wondering whether the weather will clear this afternoon. I can be sure that I have consciousness, and I naturally suppose that the people around me do too. But some philosophers have argued that it is possible for there to be a creature that looks, acts, and talks just like a human being, but that lacks consciousness. They have appropriated the term ‘zombie’ as the name for such a hypothetical being. There is something that it is like to be me—a way my experience feels—and there is something very different that it is like to be a bat, but there is nothing it is like to be a zombie. A zombie is all dark inside. To make this possibility vivid, imagine a twin who is a molecule-for-molecule duplicate of you. It is logically possible, according to these philosophers, that your twin could lack the consciousness that you possess. In similar fashion, we can imagine a ‘zombie world’, viz., a world that is like ours in every physical respect, where every particle of matter is just as it is in our world, but in which there is no consciousness.
    [Show full text]
  • Arxiv:1802.01161V1 [Physics.Hist-Ph] 4 Feb 2018 Aea
    A Puzzle about Further Facts∗ Vincent Conitzer Duke University Abstract In metaphysics, there are a number of distinct but related questions about the existence of “further facts”—facts that are contingent relative to the physical structure of the universe. These include further facts about qualia, personal identity, and time. In this article I provide a se- quence of examples involving computer simulations, ranging from one in which the protagonist can clearly conclude such further facts exist to one that describes our own condition. This raises the question of where along the sequence (if at all) the protagonist stops being able to soundly conclude that further facts exist. Keywords: metaphysics, philosophy of mind, epistemology. arXiv:1802.01161v1 [physics.hist-ph] 4 Feb 2018 Case A. Fonda has just attended an inspiring department colloquium. On her way out, she absent- mindedly takes a wrong turn and wanders into a computer lab. She approaches one of the computers. ∗This paper will appear in Erkenntnis. 1 On it, a simulationof a number of humanoidagentsin a virtual universe is being run. The perspective of one of these agents—call it Alpha—is continuously displayed on the monitor. Fonda is enthralled and continues to watch from Alpha’s perspective. Because Alpha takes a large variety of interesting actions in the simulated universe, it does not take Fonda long to learn the laws of physics governing it. Moreover, Fonda—whose undergraduate degree was in computer science—can easily imagine how one would write the code for simulating the environment according to these laws. Then, she has the following thought.
    [Show full text]