tilthat: TIL a philosophy riddle from 1688 was recently solved. If a man born blind can feel the differences between shapes such as spheres and cubes, could he, if given the ability, distinguish those objects by sight alone? In 2003 five people had their sight restored though surgery, and, no they could not.

nentuaby: I love when apparently Deep questions turn out to have clear empirical answers.

  • NatanaelEnglish
    4•1 year ago

    Looking at it with the concept of mathematical equivalence in mind, the behavior can be almost the same yet internal representation can still be wildly different

    • @afraid_of_zombiesEnglish
      1•1 year ago

      You are just making a statement that has no connection to what I wrote. Human beings have preferred color combinations. Address this first.

      • NatanaelEnglish
        4•1 year ago

        1+1 = 2

        2/2+2/2 = 2

        Sqrt(2+2) = 2

        The internal experience can be very different despite having outwards similar expressions like shared preferences.

        Why the differences would cancel out wouldn’t necessarily be easy to explain, and sure it implies big differences are rare, but it’s not impossible. Especially because we already know of many existing biological differences which still produce similar outcomes (in part due to redundancies) like in chemical balances and protein expressions, very commonly seen in differences in the gastric system