Qualia, the delicate pleasure of subjectivity in conscious experiences

The rain on the face on a summer afternoon. The sensation that vermilion red produces in a Renaissance painting. Seeing a person on the street who reminds us of someone from our past… Each of us experiences the experience of “qualia” in our daily lives without knowing it.because they are experiences that are difficult to understand and, above all, to express in words.

Hence, without a doubt, the value of philosophy, which, often combined with psychology, can describe situations that we experience firsthand, but that are difficult to put out loud. A qualia is a singular quality of a conscious experience. It is a term unknown to many, but it describes very common sensations and perceptions.

To understand it better we will give an example. We are watching a sunrise with our partner and, however, each one experiences different sensations in the same scenario. They are subjective experiences that come from one’s own consciousness, unique sensations that each person feels in a particular way and that cannot always be described.

Qualia: definition and origins

We were talking at the beginning about the color red. Something particular that often happens to us when looking at this shade is feeling hot. That’s a qualia. As can also be, walking through a forest and suddenly experiencing an unusual sensation halfway between balance, spirituality and freedom. Qualia are experiences of consciousness that go beyond the rules of physics or mere perception.

Often, It is said that a robot could never achieve this type of experience with qualia. When coming into contact with a stimulus, such as rain, it could only process its temperature, intensity or direction. But I wouldn’t have an emotional experience. This conscious experience would not reflect an unconscious sensation, automatic and sensitive at the same time.

Thus, research work, such as those carried out at the University of Helsinki, shows us something very illustrative in this regard. Everything about the world of human consciousness cannot be understood through traditional empirical techniques.

Physics can tell us, for example, in which spectrum and at what wavelength each color falls. Neuroscience can explain to us, for its part, how the human brain processes colors.

However, what happens every time we come into contact with a specific stimulus awakens unique and unrepeatable sensations in us. And this cannot be measured in a laboratory. Qualia are the essence of consciousness itself and nothing is so complex to understand.

Characteristics of qualia experience

One of the figures who has studied the phenomenon of qualia the most is the philosopher and cognitive psychologist Daniel Dennett. His studies on the philosophy of mind and books such as Quining Qualia, The Nature of Consciousnesss, are a reflection of his attempt to delimit, shed light on and explain this concept.

It should be noted that The term qualia was already a topic discussed by Galileo and Descartes. It was they who distinguished, for example, primary qualia from secondary qualia. The former refer to what we objectively perceive as shape, size or extension. Meanwhile, secondary qualia are those that generate subjective sensations.

For his part, Dr. Dennett points out that qualia are characterized by a series of dimensions:

They do not start from learning, Qualias are the result of direct experience with stimuli.They do not always arise from our experience. Suddenly we can have a certain feeling and not really know why. Dr. Dennet calls it “raw sensations,” sudden experiences without a specific origin.Qualia are also very personal experiences. We cannot compare them with those of others, often it is even difficult for us to even describe them.

The controversy surrounding an experience that cannot be scientifically proven

The qualia They are purely subjective experiences. We all feel them daily and they often remain in that private chest of the purely personal that we do not always share with others. These sudden sensations sometimes manifest themselves in shivers of pleasure or fear, in perceptions, in concerns, admirations, strange feelings, sudden and meaningless cognitions…

The complicated thing about this entire subjective universe that comes from our interaction with the conscious world is that It cannot be proven scientifically. The American philosopher Thomas Nagel wrote an interesting article entitled What is it like to be a bat? in which he reflects on this topic. To begin with, any organism that has what we define as “consciousness” will experience qualia.

People and animals will feel and process each stimulus in a concrete and unique way. These subjectivities also build who we are, they are part of us. When someone sees the color blue, someone may feel peace, others inspiration, and some restlessness. Maybe today when we have our morning coffee we have remembered (without knowing why) a moment from our childhood and then, when we get dressed, that red sweater makes us feel warm just by looking at it.

The mind is an entity as complex as it is challenging. and even more so is the entity that sustains it, that gives it meaning: consciousness. Everything we are and the way we perceive, integrate and interpret what happens to us resides in that mysterious entity…

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