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BrigadierTitanium8616
CAT: WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT “QUALIA”? (SUBSTANTIVE RESPONSES TO…
CAT: WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT “QUALIA”? (SUBSTANTIVE RESPONSES TO THE QUESTION WILL COUNT FOR PARTICIPATION POINTS!)
This Classroom Assessment Technique (CAT) asks for your personal opinion. You can, however, do a little research on the topic, if you choose.
Look at the definition of the word quale:
quale, noun, qua·?le ‘kwä-le -?la; plural qualia ‘kwä-le-?
a property as it is experienced as distinct from any source it might have in a physical object.
A quale is your perception of something that can’t be explained by its physical qualities. It is a person’s “internal and subjective component of sense perceptions, arising from stimulation of the senses by phenomena” (Sandoval, 2022). The idea of qualia comes out of philosophy relating to the concept of the mind and consciousness. Yet how does this concept work for those with a materialist worldview who argue that we are our brains, that we are merely “gene machines” meant to pass DNA into the next generation, and that free will is an illusion? Those who have a biblical worldview argue instead that we have a brain and body, but we are our soul/spirit, which is why we experience qualia. For example:
“We have a brain, but we also have a mind. There is something that it is to be us that neurons alone can’t completely explain. There is one question that science really isn’t able to answer: Why can we think in the first place? We have experiences all the time that are difficult to explain in terms of physical interactions and physical descriptions. One example would be coffee … to describe the smell of coffee … purely in terms of physical descriptions. We might describe the chemical structure of caffeine … or we might describe what’s happening physiologically as it goes into our body and we digest it … but that doesn’t get you any closer to the smell of coffee. If you want to understand the smell of coffee, you need to smell it. This is an example of a quale … or qualia, in its plural. Life is full of qualia, and they cannot be described in physical terms. They are in a category of their own. And, ultimately, there is the qualia of what it is like to be you, the first-person experience of being a human being. If physical descriptions aren’t enough, maybe the ultimate reason for that lies beyond the physical. Maybe we have a mind because God does … to live out what it is to be made in the image of God.” (Sandoval, 2022)
Please write a paragraph answering the following question: If true, how would the idea of “qualia” impact the idea of perception as taught in this course?
Dr. Jackson
Reference:
Sandoval, M. (Director). (2022). The case for heaven [Film]. Sandoval Studios, K-LOVE Films, Fairtrade Films.
