from birth. I have never experienced the crimson red of this necklace, the pastel blue hues of the sky, the luscious greens of the trees and grass in the summertime.” You notice the signs of her condition as the two of you are talking. She has a probing cane resting against her left thigh, and her irises are a cloudy, muted blue. She is looking at you, but her gaze seems to be far away, almost as if it is directed through you to some other realm. You are speechless. As a graphic design major, it is difficult to come to terms with the fact that this woman has and never will experience the beauty of color. Color is something so integral to your life; something that you have simply taken for granted. You try to explain what the color red is like, but falter as you realize it is simply impossible. How would you describe the color red? Would you describe it using an analogy, saying that it is a “warm” color, or that it has a wavelength of 625-740 nm on the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum? Even with a frame of reference, it is impossible to convey the experience of the color red. Color is not the only property humans experience that is indescribable. Suppose the old woman had rheumatoid arthritis in her wrists. How would she describe the sensation of pain to you? Again, the only way she could relay her experience is through analogies. She could use an arbitrary scale to try and rate the level of pain. She could try to describe the location of the pain, or the duration, or the causation, but she would be unable to put into words the sensation itself. Sensations, emotions, and thoughts of experience are called qualia. There are many definitions for qualia, and it is important to understand the components that make up the idea in order to have a more complete understanding of the concept. As mentioned before, they are all ineffable. They are non-physical, private experiences that occur within the confines of human consciousness. Due to this non-physical property, this also means qualia are different from the physical processes that cause them to occur. Qualia are complete experiences that cannot be deconstructed into smaller pieces, similar to the way in which subatomic quark particles cannot be dissociated any further. But perhaps the most abstract property of qualia is that they are experienced directly. Descartes’ proposition, “I think, therefore I am,” perfectly exemplifies this. One does not need to be told they are experiencing qualia, or what it is—they just are. The proof is in the pudding! How then are we able to prove the existence of something as abstract as qualia without using the cop-out answer of “it is because it is?” One interesting argument for the existence of qualia is a thought experiment Page 24
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