RE: why do we enjoy poetry From the perspective of neuroscience?
January 13, 2019 at 9:37 pm
(This post was last modified: January 13, 2019 at 10:57 pm by bennyboy.)
I don't mean to be rude to Thoreauvian, and I've actually read some of the books he's talking about. Broca's Brain was fascinating, as is neuroscience in general.
However, I think it's easy once a world view has been fully subscribed to to just consider it a done deal, and to make statements by fiat from that point forward. Everything needs to be kept in its context, and if you want it to transcend that context, you need to build a bridge. That's what science hasn't done yet-- built a bridge between computational models (including biological ones) and the ability to experience qualia. And my reason for thinking that won't happen is simple-- qualia cannot be observed unless you define them in objective terms that makes the term meaningless: "Qualia are those brain functions which involve activity X in brain regions Y and Z."
However, I think it's easy once a world view has been fully subscribed to to just consider it a done deal, and to make statements by fiat from that point forward. Everything needs to be kept in its context, and if you want it to transcend that context, you need to build a bridge. That's what science hasn't done yet-- built a bridge between computational models (including biological ones) and the ability to experience qualia. And my reason for thinking that won't happen is simple-- qualia cannot be observed unless you define them in objective terms that makes the term meaningless: "Qualia are those brain functions which involve activity X in brain regions Y and Z."
