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2023-11: Warosu is now out of extended maintenance.

/sci/ - Science & Math

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2571554 No.2571554 [Reply] [Original]

Imagine for a moment that we could take the brain-state of a non-human animal and replicate it in our minds.

If we follow this thought experiment to its logical conclusion, we should 'see' mentally in wavelengths we can't see visually, which in turn would give us a broader mental palette of colors.

Would our minds be capable of processing something as foreign as a 'new color,' something totally outside the visible light spectrum?

>> No.2571567

>imagine this totally impossible thing happened

>would this other impossible thing then also happen?

>> No.2571574

>>2571567
sure, one impossible thing already happened.

>> No.2571577

>>2571554
Too many hypotheticals. Too many unknowns.

>> No.2571596

color perception isn't just "brain state"; there's that whole you-only-have-3-kinds-of-cone-cells-in-your-retina thing

>> No.2571609
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2571609

>>2571554
>Would our minds be capable of processing something as foreign as a 'new color,' something totally outside the visible light spectrum?

Nope

\thread

>> No.2571612

Hey I used to wonder about this when animal planet first came on cable. Apparently you would be able to see infrared light waves like some animals. We have cameras that can capture both ultraviolet and infrared, but of course it can only be displayed in the visible spectrum.
In your hypothetical scenario, if the "mind state" could be transfers to allow us to see the waves why wouldn't it allow us to process them? Our visable spectrum has to do with the physical structure of our retina and almost nothing to do with the way we process the information we take in.
Your thought experiment is petty weak.

>> No.2571690

>>2571612
If this is true, then why can't we imagine colors that we haven't seen?

>> No.2571716

>>2571554
>Imagine for a moment that we could take the brain-state of a non-human animal and replicate it in our minds.
Lets not do this. That's a weird, and more importantly an unnecessary assumption.
>Would our minds be capable of processing something as foreign as a 'new color,' something totally outside the visible light spectrum?
This question can be rephrased as: "is it possible for our neural systems to adapt to other forms of input, leading to different (additional) percepts?".

The answer then would be: probably yes. It's been shown that monkeys which lack a specific cone type can develop new color sensitivity when this cone is inserted artificially by gene therapy*. Necessarily this means they perceive a color they couldn't before.

* http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090916133521.htm

>> No.2571719

>>2571690
I have subjectively dreamt a colour that doesn't exist. The best way to explain it was: imagine seeing white light and purple light at the same time. And then image it being black. It's impossible to convey in words, but I gave it a shot.

>> No.2571723

>>2571719
I can't believe this.

>> No.2571727

>>2571723
Habeeb it.

I doubt it myself, but that's what I think I saw.

>> No.2572061

>>2571554

> Imagine for a moment that we could take the brain-state of a non-human animal and replicate it in our minds.

How do you replicate a non-human brain in a human brain. You can't just force a box into a circle.