Qualia and Red.

Qualia : The Definition Marrium Webster

The term "qualia" refers to instances of subjective, conscious experience. It is derived from the Latin word "quālis," meaning "of what kind" or "of what sort." Examples of qualia include sensations like the taste of food or the color of an object.

The word fascinated me for a good couple of days. So, here I am writing about it. In fact, many articles I have written in the past, was about this phenomenon called Qualia. Yet, I did not understand that there is a single word defining it. As an example here in this article I have written about tastes how they differ from person to person. Even though two persons eat same mango, we can never know whether they feel the same mango taste or not. In fact, it is likely that the tastes they feel are different. Although we can make exact same chemical composition of the food, we cannot remove the subjective nature from the experience.

Shades of Red

This is not limited to taste. Consider pain. The same kind of disease condition can cause marked variation of perception of pain. Touch smell and even colors are the same. Two people will never experience two colors the same. Although the physical component is measured and assured to be the same, (In the case of red, the wavelength of the light) the perception is subjective.

What is the importance of knowing the Qualia exists? and Big Questions

I would say, it makes me realize how stuck we are in this world. No matter what we do, we will not be able to reach some outside wisdom, as we are stuck within our own reality. Imagine someone of the universe stumble upon the truth. Although he/she understood this because of the Qualia, he/she would not be able to give it to me. They might try to write it down or make a video about it. But whenever I hear or read about that wisdom, I will just make my own understanding.

Secondly, it makes me listen more to the other people and even empathize them. When someone say, they are depressed, I would believe them. When someone say they are having a hard time, I would listen to them. As I know, I have never been in their domain. I do not know what it is like to be in their mind, in their circumstances. In their soup of universal reasons. Whatever boils in there comes out as that specific action, speech or the deed. Yet, I can see they are bounded by the same laws and limitations as myself. Just a pocket of Qualia in otherwise limitless universe.

Yellow Color Bricks

It makes me humble when I realize, I have been stuck in my own world of interpretations and information sphere. There is no way out of this. I used to believe scientists have solutions or will find solutions to all our problems. But the faith in the scientific method is lost. And I can see they themselves struggle in life as they haven't taken time to investigate their own boundaries. So, I invite you to be mindful next time when you take a mouthful of an ice-cream and ask big questions of life. Why on earth, this isolated experience of tasting an ice-cream is necessary? To whom? For what purpose?