You're being fooled by language, ironically enough.
To talk of an universe absent of qualia is irrational. You don't perceive existence directly, Ham. You process it with your brain. If there was no observer, there'd be no language, no concept of anything. Without concepts you can't experience reality. You can't define it, you can't conceptualize it. It's not there. That's what being there means for us. We can't escape our own minds. You make the mistake of assuming those shadows dancing in the wall of the cave can ever be anything more... They can't.
To talk of an universe absent of qualia is irrational. You don't perceive existence directly, Ham. You process it with your brain. If there was no observer, there'd be no language, no concept of anything. Without concepts you can't experience reality. You can't define it, you can't conceptualize it. It's not there. That's what being there means for us. We can't escape our own minds. You make the mistake of assuming those shadows dancing in the wall of the cave can ever be anything more... They can't.
