The Beautiful Brain - The Mystery of Qualia, with Dr. V.S. Ramachandran

Cool video - ipark at The Beautiful Brain posted this one. Dr. V.S. Ramachandran, Director of the Center for Brain and Cognition at UCSD, discusses consciousness, qualia, and self - talking with Charlie Rose.

The Mystery of Qualia

September 30, 2010 | ipark

One of the largest philosophical mystery of the science of sensation and perception begins with the idea of “qualia.” Qualia is defined as the qualities of a conscious experience. When you see a striking painting, you may notice its vibrant colors, its beautiful brush strokes, or even the smell of aging canvas. These are all qualia. In the following video, Dr. V.S. Ramachandra delves into the idea of qualia and how it relates to consciousness.

The mystery arises when you consider the mechanism of sensation and perception. Do we need an ineffable, subjective experience to sense and to perceive a film, a song, or a painting? If not, why do we have qualia? And even more puzzling, where does it come from? As your grade school teacher might have once said, “there are no right answers.” But as is the nature of science, perhaps the proper adage is “there are no right answers yet.”

Tags: The Beautiful Brain, The Mystery of Qualia, V.S. Ramachandran, consciousness, qualia, self, Charlie Rose, Psychology, brain, mind, self concept, sensation, perception, subjectivity