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Deep Red Paint
Writer's picturesandipchitale

Does your red feel same as my red?

In many philosophical discussions I see this topic of "Does your red feel same as my red?".


Me You

Note: The different resulting color shown in the figure above is used to make the point visually, that the resulting patterns may be different in each brain. Not to show that one person is seeing orange and other cyan when they see red object.

Honestly, I really never understand the implied profoundness of this question. Of course it is highly likely that your red does not feel to you same as my red does to me. Let me explain...


So, first I will explain how I understand what we mean, when we say, we are seeing a red object. Here is how it works IMO. When we see a red colored object first time, it produces some pattern of electrical signal, that depends on our specific eyes, which is sent to our brain and it creates a specific pattern inside our brain. That pattern is stored as a memory (set of connections between neurons) in our brain. Then someone tells us that that is a red object. So we store the label red for that pattern. When we see a red object next time, it results in a similar electrical signal from our eyes, that is sent to our brain, which results in a pattern of neuronal connections. Our brain searches for the same pattern in memory, once found, our brains looks up if there is any label stored for it. Sure enough it finds label red that was previously stored. And we say I am seeing red object.


Similar but not identical thing happens for another person when they see a red object and are told to call it red.


So far so good and straightforward. Agree? I hope so.


Please note that each person's anatomy and physiology even though similar (being a human), is not identical. Therefore the exact pattern of electrical signals send by respective eyes which results in the specific exact pattern of neuronal connections in their brains is likely to be different. So the inner representation and feeling of red is likely to be qualitatively different. But because first time and subsequent times the same pattern is produced in respective brain, therefore there is agreement between two people that both are seeing red.


If we could do such an experiment, and record the electrical signals resulting from red object from the eyes of one person and replay that signal to another person's brain, the other person may not, most likely, classify and call that signal as red. Why? because that signal may result in a different neuronal pattern in their brain. Ergo, most likely one person's red is not likely to feel same as other person's red to that person.


And as you can see it is not a profound as it initially made to sound. It is almost trivial.


Hope I clarified this conundrum in a simple language which is the idea behind this blog.

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