Solidarity!

Well said. I wish I could be half that eloquent when discussing things in real time.

Science is built upon repeatable experiments that can be used to test hypotheses. It is not built on axioms and logical extrapolation- those are used to form new hypotheses but they are insufficient by themselves. We don’t decide something exists, we hypothesize that it exists and make predictions based on that hypothesis. If experimental results line up with our predictions then we call that a theory. If new data contradicts the theory or hypothesis then we revise and try again.

So how do you measure qualia? What is it made of? How is it actually defined? How do you detect if qualia is present in something other than your own head?

I stand by my statement that qualia is simply an artifact of our cognitive architecture. You are welcome to disagree but the arguments you are presenting fail to convince me in the slightest.

So our subjective experience must “exist” because we experience it? This seems rather circular. My personal take, consciousness is an artifact of how our brains work. It’s not a thing that exists in any physical sense, it is simply part of the model our brain structures the stimulation it receives throughout the course of our lives.

Your opening statement is incorrect. Observation in the quantum mechanics sense does not have anything to do with consciousness. Observation is really just a form of interaction.

I think the real issue is with the fact that consciousness is not particularly well defined. Something can be more or less conscious than something else but what precisely does that mean? Has there ever been a means of measuring or detecting consciousness in anything?

Interesting but I struggle to see how this hypothesis could ever be proven or disproven. If it can’t actually be tested then I don’t see how it presents more scientific value any other religious or superstitious belief.

Either point break or bad boys 2.

And if you’re male.

Edit: FFS does no one realize that women experience sex differently from men? Bad sex with an oblivious partner can be downright painful for a woman. The same is typically not true for men. My point was not that women don’t have sex or that they don’t enjoy sex. My point is that they don’t experience it the same way as men.

More than one, actually.

My personal take is that intelligence is much like muscular strength. Genetics probably play a role but the more important factor is how you use and train your cognitive strength. A cognitively sedentary person will almost always be less intelligent than a cognitively active person, I doubt genetics play a large role unless we’re talking about people who put similar levels of effort into their development and upkeep.

A healthy office culture and team members to collaborate with. I go to the office because interacting with my coworkers in person is enjoyable and I learn new things faster through those interactions. It helps that we also have free coffee and snacks and the commute is less than 10 minutes but I primarily go in because of the people I work with.

Atropine? My cat had keratitis right after we adopted her and we gave her that with a cocktail of antibiotics and steroids. The atropine caused her eye to dilate so she looked like a Bond villain while her eye was healing.

X

No such thing as too far.

Xixex

Understatement of the year.