070 - Experience This

Published: May 30, 2022, 11 a.m.

K Sera asks about how to describe senses to other and Micah agrees. Phil talks about cheese.

 

Shownotes:

Qualia

Phil thinks of this image when he imagines sandalwood 

Sandalwood

 

K Sera's after thoughts:

- Can’t always have a good topic on hand. Thank you, other hosts, for rolling with it.

- It is really too hard to describe personal perceptions. If one day we understood the brain enough to package experiences… wait, no. That’s a horrifying idea. Forget that train of thought. Downloading psychological trauma would be way too easy and you know humanity would hedge their ethics on that sort of thing. 

- Anyway, it’s probably good to be more empathetic and seek to understand other’s experiences and all that, but the older I get, the more effort it takes, and after the last decade of tragedies and low points, I’ve less and less care to give, and barely enough to sustain myself. I feel impoverished of care and I’m not sure if I have the wherewithal to revitalize it.

 

Phil's after thought Responses:

-encouraging shared experiences (Micah's idea) through civil service could be a start. If more people had cultural anchor points, perhaps we can use those experience-landmarks to communicate to others how somethind made us feel. -maybe virtual reality (VR) equipment could help? -a hallmark of conservatism is that they cannot imagine how something feel until it happens to them (discrimination, Healthcare, education, having a loved one or themselves that need reproduction treatment but they voted against it.) I do not believe this is an education or intelligence thing, I think it's just an asshole thing.