IRREDUCIBLE MIND (Part 2): What Consciousness and Colors Like Yellow Have in Common
If that headline makes no sense to you at first glance, that is precisely the point. If you had to describe for a blind person the color Yellow in such vivid terms that they would immediately recognize it if they regained sight, what would you say?
See what I mean? You can relate your experience of a color, but there simply aren’t words that convey the inherent nature of it. Yet we all have seen colors and know instantly in our minds what is meant when we hear the word “Yellow” or “Blue” or “Green.”
That’s how it is with our minds. We can talk about what it does, but it has no physical characteristics that we know of that can be expressed in words. And that is partially why Inspiring Philosophy’s Michael Jones contends in Part 2 of his video series “Irreducible Mind” that our minds are correlated with our brains, but not caused by them.
Another illustration from Jones is the Message and the pen and paper on which it is written. The Message can only be understood in our consciousness, the pen and paper only convey it, they are not the same as.
Yes, this is deep stuff, but here’s a good place to start thinking about this: Why and how do we have minds in the first place?
PREVIOUSLY ON HILLFAITH:
IRREDUCIBLE MIND (Part 1): How Do We Get Consciousness if We’re Just Material Objects?
WHAT WOULD YOU SAY: About the Historical Evidence That Jesus is Alive?
SCIENCE AND FAITH: Chameleons Are Wonders of Creation