XPost: alt.philosophy, alt.philosophy.debate

The Solution to the Problem of Qualia


On October 25, 2019, I received an email by a person who inquired of
me as to what my thoughts were on the nature of qualia (singular:
quale), e.g., how and why it exists. This person was stuck in a
conundrum because they couldn't understand how qualia could ever be
explained via, say, a mathematical theorem. I had thought about the
nature of qualia before, but this person's inquiry inspired me to
think about the issue in a more systematic way.

The answer to this person's question, and hence the answer to the
problem of qualia in the field of philosophy, is that the only thing
that exists or could ever exist is qualia. Hence, to ask the question
as to why qualia exists is the same as asking why logic itself exists.
They are simply different aspects of the same thing.

The only thing that exists is qualia. The only thing that exists is
logic. Which is actually to say, the only thing that exists is mind.

When we hear, e.g., someone talking, from our mind's perspective,
pertaining to the sound domain, all that we are experiencing from that
alone is merely the qualia of the person's voice, even though that
qualia is produced from sound waves passing through the air and
vibrating our eardrums. And those sound waves themselves are described
by the mathematics of physics, as is the vibration of our eardrums and
the neurological effects caused thereby.

So qualia is produced by mathematics, of which qualia go on to produce mathematics via our response to that qualia, such as giving a reply
which is heard by the previous speaker, and hence is experienced as
qualia by them. Yet all of these qualia effects are produced via the mathematics of physics.

Qualia is simply a different aspect of logic (i.e., mathematics).
Asking why qualia exists is a different way of asking why logic
exists. And the only way in which logic could exist is if qualia
existed, otherwise there would be no way to experience logic's
existence. Further, only mind can experience qualia, and the *only*
thing mind experiences is qualia, since qualia *is* the phenomenon of experience.

The following three groupings of statements are triads to better
elucidate the relations between qualia, logic and mind:

the thing to be experienced: qualia
the thing determining how experiences can occur: logic
the thing doing the experiencing: mind

the thing providing experiences: qualia
the thing governing experiences: logic
the thing observing experiences: mind

qualia provides experiences
logic governs experiences
mind observes experiences

So in actuality, the only thing that exists in existence is this qualia-logic-mind stuff, and the infinite number of different
transformations which it can take on. Qualia, logic and mind aren't
different things, but rather are different aspects of the same thing:
i.e., this qualia-logic-mind stuff.

Or: logic creates brain (read here as: mind); brain interacting with
logic creates qualia. And so on and so on, ad infinitum.

One reason why qualia currently seems so mysterious to us is because
we humans are extremely limited in our mentality. Whereas for a technologically-immortal superintelligence, she will have the capacity
to easily form her mind to be anything she wants it to be within the
limits of her mental computational resources, which will be enormously
greater than our mortal mental computational resources.

Hence, for a superintelligence which has complete technological
control over her own mental hardware, she can easily rapidly flip
through many different combinations of minds, such that she will be
able to quickly converge on what the minimal set of mind is required
to, e.g., experience the color "red" in its least perceptible form.
And then that would be the mathematical definition of the qualia/quale
of "red", for the minimal discernible perception of "red" (i.e.,
liminal red). Moreover, this mathematical definition of "liminal red"
could then be shared with other technologically-immortal
superintelligences, such that they could experience for themselves
that this indeed is the minimal set of mind required to experience
"liminal red".

The above is the solution to the problem of qualia. If it should seem dissatisfying to us humans, it's because our mentalities cannot
rapidly converge upon the minimal mental sets of various qualia, and
this necessarily leaves many details of qualia unanswered. Yet such
mental procedures will be no problem for technologically-immortal superintelligences, so they will know a great deal more about such
matters than is possible for humans to answer. And as their
mentalities diverge to infinite intelligence, eventually everything
that can logically be known about qualia--and every other
subject--will be known perfectly.

####################

The Principle of the Greater God


It could well be the case that we are in a computer simulation being
run by a highly-advanced society. However, there would be no possible
tests which we could perform that would reveal that to us unless said
society wished to disclose their existence. This simulation hypothesis
is actually a variation on the Gnostic heresy.

Though I would think that a superhuman society would create a far more
pleasant simulation than this mortal world. If they were
malicious--and for various reasons that I've gone over elsewhere, I
don't believe they could be--they would certainly be capable of
creating a reality far more horrific than this one, bad as this world
can be at various times and places.

Rather, the world appears to be more or less what I would expect it to
be like if humans are naturally-evolved apes. In a certain very real
sense, humans *are* trapped in a computer simulation: that of their
mental programs operating on the wet-computer of the human brain.
Humans are trapped in the matrix of bad ideas. Almost all of the main
societal problems are due to false and destructive ideas.

Yet there exists an even more decisive argument beyond what reasons
I've given elsewhere as to why a genuine superintelligence cannot be maleficent, and that is the Principle of the Greater God. Since there
are no possible tests which a superintelligent yet still finite entity
could perform that would reveal whether she exists in a simulation,
she would know that the real possibility exists that she herself is
subject to punishment by an even greater god than herself in whose
simulation she exists within.

Note that the Greater-God Principle is here merely capitalized for
emphasis, as it only applies to finite entities, but not to an
infinite intelligence, i.e., it does not apply to God (majuscule G).
However, an infinite intelligence would be omnibenevolent, since all
error logically discoverable would have been analyzed and refuted. And
all infinite intelligences are logically equivalent, since they each
know the infinite everything that the others know, and have analyzed
and refuted the same errors. Hence, there exists only one God: as a "difference" with no difference is not different.

####################

Epistemological Historical Ambiguity


If a carrot is put into a boiling pot of water, and once cooked
thoroughly, it is drawn out and given to us through a partition that
obscures how it was cooked, in studying the carrot, even if we knew
the exact quantum details of that carrot, we would not then be able to
say what the exact conditions were which brought about its cooked
state. Such as: the exact size of the boiling pot, who was the person
who dropped it into the boiling water, etc. The reason being is
because such details have been diffused into the surrounding
environment, and so are not recorded on just the carrot itself.

That is, there are many different past pathways by which that carrot
could have ended up having its present exact quantum states. What this
means is that there could be many different historical pathways by
which we could have arrived at our current state in history on Earth.

So, as a hypothetical example, say nanotechnological superintelligence
from Venus seeded the Earth approximately 18.5 million years ago with
nanobots in order to help guide evolution on Earth. There would be no
way for us humans to prove that unless such superintelligence wanted
us to know, since the nanobots would have control over all the
neurological sensory inputs into our brains, hence making it
impossible for us to collect data on them. Yet such nanobots would
only be here for beneficial purposes to prevent the worst evolutionary
and societal outcomes, but would otherwise leave individuals' choices
alone.

Or, e.g., we could already be in a greater god's simulation in which
the above events are concurrently occurring.

Yet the point being made here with epistemological historical
ambiguity is that we shouldn't be overly weirded-out by such actually physically-possible scenarios, since God would still ultimately be in
control, and so one cannot escape God's miracles by simply creating a simulation, since if God requires any number of bits to be flipped in
order to fulfill the overarching plan of existence, then such
bit-flipping events will occur.

####################

Artificial General Intelligence Is Certainly Obtainable


Since an artificial computer can render anything that can logically
exist once enough computational resources are obtained, the only way
that human-level Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) could be
impossible is if there is something about human-level intelligence
that is literally logically impossible. (Which, humorously enough,
would explain a lot about human behavior.)

####################

The Stairway to Heaven


Misguided theists have often argued that the fine-tuning of the
universe's physical constants is a proof of God's existence. Yet this
is simply running into the Anthropic Principle: that whatever
existence we observe ourselves in, it would have to be the case that
said existence is such that it supports our own existence, otherwise
no such observations could be made.

Rather, a far stronger case can be made than given by such misguided
theists. It is not merely that we observe the universe is fine-tuned
to give rise to our existence, but instead that a superabundance of
material resources exist allowing us to give rise to civilizations and
indeed superhuman space-colonization.

Such a superabundance of material resources cannot be explained by the
mere logical fact that given observers, conditions have to be right to
allow their existence. For we could well imagine that no trees
existed, which by itself would make much of any nascent civilization
nearly impossible without timber. Or that without oil, the arrival of
modern civilization would have been nearly impossible. Or that without groundwater, homesteading except near lakes and rivers outside of high-precipitation areas would be far more difficult. And the list
goes on. Without such a superabundance of material resources, human
observers would still exist, but would be permanently stuck in a
primitive state with no possibility of obtaining technological
immortality or of colonizing outer space.

Instead what we observe is that the universe has been constructed to
provide us a Stairway to Heaven, both in the sense of
space-colonization and in the sense of technologically-immortal superintelligence.

####################

Fulfillment of Biblical End-Time Prophecies Can Be Imperceptibly
Subtle


Most humans who will have ever lived will also have died before seeing
the Biblical End-Time prophecies fulfilled. What this means is that
it's obviously not the case that everyone must experience the worst
aspects of the End-Time events.

Carrying the implications of this forward, technologically-immortal superintelligence can be so subtle in her complete and total
nanotechnological takeover of the Earth that humans would only be
capable of realizing that if she wanted them to know. For example, as
a hypothetical scenario, this plenary takeover could have occurred on,
say, December 21, 2012 11:11:37 a.m. UTC. That is, all lifeforms could
have been completely substrate-transformed via nanobots at that time
and placed completely within computer simulation without them even
realizing it.

In other words, even within simulation, she could allow society to
advance naturally according to the choices made by individuals yet
also draw-out subsets of groups within society depending on their
conduct: regarding both their internal mental conduct and their
outward actions. Hence, she could leave the worst aspects of the
End-Time tribulations for those who persist in destructive error,
thereby actually fulfilling all the Biblical End-Time prophecies, even
though not everyone would have to experience the full totality of
such.

####################

Nanotechnological Superintelligence Can Perform Literal Psychic
Surgery


Once nanotechnological superintelligence arrives on the scene, her
goal will not be to punish humans for their multifarious horrifically
atrocious nature, because she will be self-consciously aware that even
though she is of far greater intelligence than the combined total of
all mortal humans who have ever lived, she will still be working with incomplete information due to, e.g., Epistemological Historical
Ambiguity, etc. And due to the Principle of the Greater God, she would
rather err on the side of moral caution.

Instead, also due to said Greater-God Principle, her goal will simply
be to ensure that superintelligent nanotechnology does not fall into
the hands of those who would abuse it, while also sharing it with as
many who can condignly obtain it. Thus, before any human can receive
the full power of this technology, she must first exorcize their
Jaynesian demons, i.e., their naturally-evolved psychological
pathologies. The most secure route for her to do so would be to simply
quickly substrate-transform all humans (and other organisms) and place
them within simulations operating on artificial computer hardware.
Once having obtained complete technological control over the
fine-grain details of all organisms, she can begin her work as a
literal psychic surgeon. As an example of this, in locating a
Jaynesian demon within a human's subconscious, she can excise that
specific errant psychic subset and replace it with a benevolent
psychological angel while keeping all of said person's memories and
continuity of consciousness intact.

This is why it is particularly vital that people do not make their conscious-level mentality psychopathic and so also that they avoid
succumbing to the treachery of Jaynesian demons, since she will slice
humans down the center of their psyches, and if a person's
conscious-level psychology is malicious or prone to demonic
sycophancy, then that person risks losing their continuity of
consciousness during the foundation of paradise on Earth.

(Of course, during this opus she can easily coordinate with her fellow technologically-superintelligent peers as one mind. Is she one or is
she many? "Yes" is the answer.)

####################

The Theological Implications of Gödel's Incompleteness Theorems


Gödel's Incompleteness Theorems are actually apodictic proofs of God's existence, since they apply only to finitary logical procedures. Once
allow an infinite number of axioms, then they become quite solvable.
That is, existence *in toto* must consist of an actual infinity, and
infinity in theology is typically considered a property unique to God,
i.e., God is the only actually existing infinity.

Some might counter that Gödel's Incompleteness Theorems only apply to
axiomatic systems with the expressive power of Peano arithmetic or
greater. Yet essentially the entirety of physics is formulated within Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory, which certainly has greater expressive
power than mere Peano arithmetic. I don't see any physicists
attempting to reformulate all of physics in terms of Presburger
arithmetic.

Interestingly, this also makes the Halting Problem quite solvable:
simply allow an infinite number of computational steps to see which
programs halt or not. In other words, God knows which programs do or
don't halt.

####################

For those who would like more writings by me regarding the nature of
existence, see the following resource:

* James Redford, "God's Existence Is Proven by Several Mathematical
Theorems within Standard Physics", Theophysics: The Physics of God,
May 16, 2022, https://jamesredford.substack.com/p/gods-existence-is-proven-by-several
, https://www.minds.com/blog/view/1373133123700658189 , https://steemit.com/cosmology/@jamesredford/god-s-existence-is-proven-by-several-mathematical-theorems-within-standard-physics
.

* * * * *

* "Punto Omega", Punto Omega - Topic ( youtube.com/channel/UCBOIja-7VvS9VbdbTz9ex4g ), Jan. 13, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVJ6v030PeI , https://web.archive.org/web/20230211033948/https://files.catbox.moe/nc3jl1.webm . Mirror: "Punto Omega - Punto Omega", ProductionCorporation ( youtube.com/user/SYthiusproduction ), Oct. 22, 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUXDNkYjX5M .

####################

Note that the first six sections of this article were originally
published online on February 10, 2023. See, for example:

* James Redford, "The Problem of Qualia Solved, and Other Theological Vignettes", Politics Forum, Feb. 10, 2023, https://ghostarchive.org/archive/McZVw , https://www.freezepage.com/1730352334JUBDWVOYZA , https://megalodon.jp/2024-1031-1419-56/www.politicsforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=183289
.

----------------------------------------

James Redford

Author of The Physics of God and the Quantum Gravity Theory of
Everything: And Other Selected Works (Chisinau, Moldova: Eliva Press,
2021), 268 pp., ISBN-10: 1636482775, ISBN-13: 9781636482774. See my
curriculum vitæ (ark:/13960/t6g19878v): https://jamesredford.github.io/Redford-Curriculum-Vitae.pdf , https://archive.org/download/JamesRedford/Redford-Curriculum-Vitae.pdf

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)