Rob Cruikshank found out that Sony has a product line called Qualia. He sent me the link, cause I've been using the term in my art lately.
Qualia is basically a technical term from philosophy and neurology defining the "subjective qualities of conscious experience (plural of the Latin singular quale). Examples are the way sugar tastes, the way vermillion looks, the way coffee smells, the way a cat's purr sounds, the way it feels to stub your toe." (Oxford Companion to Philosophy). The term is distinct from sensory perception, or taste or smell, in that it pertains specifically to the function of consciousness. In this regard, qualia has come into question, particularly by Daniel C. Dennett, who does not adhere to the idea of definitive, singular moments of consciouness. Dennett is an influential materialist but some of his colleagues think that in denying qualia he goes too far.
Sony defines qualia as, "phenomena of the heart and mind that can not quite be described in words."
Their website has an eerie dialogue between a guy from Sony's comuputer science lab who is "on a quest to understand qualia" and the chairman of Sony. I've never seen marketing quite like this before.
MOGI : Can you describe some of your qualia experiences?
IDEI : Oh, I have many, although they may sound rather dull when described. Let's see, there are many moments of qualia during a trip, for example. I remember the time I went to the Grand Canyon and rode a mule down to the Colorado River. It took four hours, and when we finally reached the river, I looked up and saw a sky full of stars. That was fantastic. Even now, when I look at starry skies, I remember the qualia of that time. Also, many years ago, I heard Mendelssohn's violin concerto being played by musicians who weren't very skilled. For some reason I can't forget that particular quality of sound. Why is it that we are so moved by things that can't be explained by logic?
[...]
MOGI : The psychologist Daniel Kahneman, one of the winners of the 2002 Nobel Economics Prize, pursues exactly that problem of human behavior defying economic rationality.
For example, it's hard to explain from an economic point of view why some person may want to spend a lot of money on an expensive brand-name bag, but it is the most rational and obvious thing to do from the point of view of the human brain. Sony's QUALIA made me realize, actually, the potential of the concept of qualia.
Thanks Rob, I think. For more interesting and bothersome stuff, see Rob's blog.
I should add that I discovered Sony's Qualia when I turned a corner at work, (I work at a TV station) and ran into a cardboard box big enough for me to live in, with the word "Qualia" printed on the side in huge letters. "Whoa!" I said, "I'd better get a hold of Sally. immediately!".
What a great story! Did you take the box home?
Actually the dialogue that Sally describes above reminded me of a A.I. conference I went to in the early '80's before I ever learned how to turn on a computer. (I thought that maybe I should do a bit of investigation before I actually committed myself to digital technology)
Some of the speakers were linguists, so I remember turning to a friend, who had organized the event, and privately asking him: "what's an idea?". He replied that, perhaps, I should read Wittgenstein. (and so I postponed my computer purchase for a few years, since I really had to get on to that first!)
It's can't be a coincidence that philosophy of consciousness embraced materialism (mind=brain) around the same time that A.I. got hot (R&D $$$!) But I like the idea better than the idea that the mind exists on some special spooky "other" plane. Daniel Dennett is one of those irritatingly cocky bastards with a taste for controversy and a flair for spin, but so far in what I've read I like him a lot. And if I was remotely qualified to have an opinion on this (which I"m not yet) I'd lean towards embracing his denial of qualia too. It's a semantic point, but hey, that's how philosophy works, right? All that said, Dennett's influence has, if I understand things correctly, updated the Turing test to further de-distinguish between human minds and machine functions. That doesn't bother me, in and of itself, I've always been a little cavalier about cyborgization (bring it on) but I find this SONY market blather is really unnerving. Virtualize my identity, stick in the feeding tube, and jack me into the motherboard, but don't try to sell me some piece of shit electronics with a bunch of pseudo scientific hooey about qualia, which are as integral to taking a dump or washing the dishes as they are to looking at stars or listening to music. I know, I know I used the term evocatively myself in an art project. I guess that makes me complicit...as per usual. Love this art gig, really I do.
....sorry about the vague rant. I blame smog.
but...but...Rob says it comes in a really big box.
I was going to say something similar to what Sally just said about Sony's appropriation of the term as just another synonym for high definition. I have very little idea what Q is but it sounds like one of those gestalt-type things that could just as easily be inspired by low tech or no tech phenomena.
I'm thinking they came up with the word first, and then went looking for the meaning. Given the current love in branding circles of words ending in "a" , and the fact that it sounds like "quality", I'm actually amazed that it took this long for someone to use it.
Rob I bet you're right. Now I want some! Gimme a great big box fulla Qualia, please.
Sally said, "a technical term from philosophy and neurology"--that's why I said it was appropriated. Did Sony make it up? That would be good to know.
I went to school with a girl named Frances Qualia. I think she even spelled it the same.
Did she have that special indefinable transcendent yes-or-not-technologoy-based something?
Yes, she did!
Ahh, Qualia, how your hair shone in the moonlight, sending visual stimuli to my neurons which registered the incident as a perception, thereby logging it as a conscious event. Kind of exactly like the next instant when I smelled your fart, and the olfactory stimulus triggered another precious perception moment.
i don't know why, but this reminds me of a terrible standup comedian i saw at the gladstone hotel who did a 15 minute routine on the word "Ouroboros".
Hey I saw that comedian too!
He shouted out the word randomly throughout his routine, to cover for the lack of response and laughter from the audience. Kinda became a mantra by the end.
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Rob Cruikshank found out that Sony has a product line called Qualia. He sent me the link, cause I've been using the term in my art lately.
Qualia is basically a technical term from philosophy and neurology defining the "subjective qualities of conscious experience (plural of the Latin singular quale). Examples are the way sugar tastes, the way vermillion looks, the way coffee smells, the way a cat's purr sounds, the way it feels to stub your toe." (Oxford Companion to Philosophy). The term is distinct from sensory perception, or taste or smell, in that it pertains specifically to the function of consciousness. In this regard, qualia has come into question, particularly by Daniel C. Dennett, who does not adhere to the idea of definitive, singular moments of consciouness. Dennett is an influential materialist but some of his colleagues think that in denying qualia he goes too far.
Sony defines qualia as, "phenomena of the heart and mind that can not quite be described in words."
Their website has an eerie dialogue between a guy from Sony's comuputer science lab who is "on a quest to understand qualia" and the chairman of Sony. I've never seen marketing quite like this before. Thanks Rob, I think. For more interesting and bothersome stuff, see Rob's blog.
- sally mckay 8-03-2005 6:58 pm
I should add that I discovered Sony's Qualia when I turned a corner at work, (I work at a TV station) and ran into a cardboard box big enough for me to live in, with the word "Qualia" printed on the side in huge letters. "Whoa!" I said, "I'd better get a hold of Sally. immediately!".
- rob (guest) 8-04-2005 5:32 pm
What a great story! Did you take the box home?
- L.M. 8-05-2005 1:32 am
Actually the dialogue that Sally describes above reminded me of a A.I. conference I went to in the early '80's before I ever learned how to turn on a computer. (I thought that maybe I should do a bit of investigation before I actually committed myself to digital technology)
Some of the speakers were linguists, so I remember turning to a friend, who had organized the event, and privately asking him: "what's an idea?". He replied that, perhaps, I should read Wittgenstein. (and so I postponed my computer purchase for a few years, since I really had to get on to that first!)
- L.M. 8-05-2005 1:48 am
It's can't be a coincidence that philosophy of consciousness embraced materialism (mind=brain) around the same time that A.I. got hot (R&D $$$!) But I like the idea better than the idea that the mind exists on some special spooky "other" plane. Daniel Dennett is one of those irritatingly cocky bastards with a taste for controversy and a flair for spin, but so far in what I've read I like him a lot. And if I was remotely qualified to have an opinion on this (which I"m not yet) I'd lean towards embracing his denial of qualia too. It's a semantic point, but hey, that's how philosophy works, right? All that said, Dennett's influence has, if I understand things correctly, updated the Turing test to further de-distinguish between human minds and machine functions. That doesn't bother me, in and of itself, I've always been a little cavalier about cyborgization (bring it on) but I find this SONY market blather is really unnerving. Virtualize my identity, stick in the feeding tube, and jack me into the motherboard, but don't try to sell me some piece of shit electronics with a bunch of pseudo scientific hooey about qualia, which are as integral to taking a dump or washing the dishes as they are to looking at stars or listening to music. I know, I know I used the term evocatively myself in an art project. I guess that makes me complicit...as per usual. Love this art gig, really I do.
....sorry about the vague rant. I blame smog.
- sally mckay 8-05-2005 4:01 am
but...but...Rob says it comes in a really big box.
- L.M. 8-05-2005 6:36 am
I was going to say something similar to what Sally just said about Sony's appropriation of the term as just another synonym for high definition. I have very little idea what Q is but it sounds like one of those gestalt-type things that could just as easily be inspired by low tech or no tech phenomena.
- tom moody 8-05-2005 7:53 am
I'm thinking they came up with the word first, and then went looking for the meaning. Given the current love in branding circles of words ending in "a" , and the fact that it sounds like "quality", I'm actually amazed that it took this long for someone to use it.
- rob (guest) 8-05-2005 5:53 pm
Rob I bet you're right. Now I want some! Gimme a great big box fulla Qualia, please.
- sally mckay 8-05-2005 6:03 pm
Sally said, "a technical term from philosophy and neurology"--that's why I said it was appropriated. Did Sony make it up? That would be good to know.
- tom moody 8-05-2005 7:07 pm
I went to school with a girl named Frances Qualia. I think she even spelled it the same.
- tom moody 8-05-2005 7:08 pm
Did she have that special indefinable transcendent yes-or-not-technologoy-based something?
- M.Jean 8-05-2005 8:59 pm
Yes, she did!
- tom moody 8-05-2005 9:31 pm
Ahh, Qualia, how your hair shone in the moonlight, sending visual stimuli to my neurons which registered the incident as a perception, thereby logging it as a conscious event. Kind of exactly like the next instant when I smelled your fart, and the olfactory stimulus triggered another precious perception moment.
- sally mckay 8-05-2005 9:57 pm
i don't know why, but this reminds me of a terrible standup comedian i saw at the gladstone hotel who did a 15 minute routine on the word "Ouroboros".
- rusty_k 8-06-2005 1:35 am
Hey I saw that comedian too!
He shouted out the word randomly throughout his routine, to cover for the lack of response and laughter from the audience. Kinda became a mantra by the end.
- mnobody (guest) 8-09-2005 1:18 am