[garyrob]

I agree with you. Denying the existence of qualia makes no sense to me, except as the result of psychological processes. When you have to believe something in order to hold on to other cherished beliefs, there is a strong human tendency to do so, whether it's consistent with obvious evidence or not. A lot of mankind's tendency to believe in religions can be explained that way. So can Dennet's denial of qualia. (Ironic, in view of Dennet's view of religion.)

[ppod]

That's a very insulting reduction of Dennett's arguments

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qualia#Daniel_Dennett

[garyrob]

I can hardly believe I wrote what I wrote -- I'm not normally that dismissive, at least of the views of people I know to be smart, particularly when I haven't ingested their arguments. I must have been in a very bad mood. Thanks for the reference to the overview of Dennets arguments, which I look forward to reading.

The basis for my saying what I said was that the existence of qualia seems at least as self-evident as the existence of anything else, particularly if you engage in a practice like zazen, as I do. (I would guess that the people who deny qualia and do that kind of meditation are probably quite few in number.) But that doesn't mean some extremely logical and compelling argument that I can't imagine now couldn't possibly make me see things in some entirely new, transformative light.

If anyone would be discussing that Dennet overview with me after I've read it, please say so...