I used to have the same question. What finally convinced me was imagining an apple sitting on a table. When I try to imagine specific parts (e.g. the stem, or the specular shine on its skin, or water beads on its side) I can actually see that part of the apple in my head, and the images change when I change the color, form etc.
why did that convince you? if i imagine an apple on a table i am unable to tell i “see” it or if i “know” it based on all the properties i know it should have. like, is it a mental image or a description mapped into some sort of imagined space?
For me it’s a mental image, which is definitely distinct from a collection of descriptions. I don’t really know how to describe it, but it feels like my head uses circuitry close to other visual circuitry while I’m focusing on this kind of mental image. Almost like the mental image is “injected” into hardware/software used for other visual processing.
yeah I’ve tried the apple thing a few times a year for the past few years, and not once have I felt like I was seeing it. I just think of the outline of an apple, maybe how the light would reflect off it, and of a colour. all separate
I used to have the same question. What finally convinced me was imagining an apple sitting on a table. When I try to imagine specific parts (e.g. the stem, or the specular shine on its skin, or water beads on its side) I can actually see that part of the apple in my head, and the images change when I change the color, form etc.
why did that convince you? if i imagine an apple on a table i am unable to tell i “see” it or if i “know” it based on all the properties i know it should have. like, is it a mental image or a description mapped into some sort of imagined space?
For me it’s a mental image, which is definitely distinct from a collection of descriptions. I don’t really know how to describe it, but it feels like my head uses circuitry close to other visual circuitry while I’m focusing on this kind of mental image. Almost like the mental image is “injected” into hardware/software used for other visual processing.
yeah I’ve tried the apple thing a few times a year for the past few years, and not once have I felt like I was seeing it. I just think of the outline of an apple, maybe how the light would reflect off it, and of a colour. all separate
I just imagine past apples I have seen, and it’s really hard to hold onto one specific apple.