CGSC 1001 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Visual Cortex, Hemispatial Neglect, David Chalmers
28 Feb 2017
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Hard problems vs. easy problems of consciousness (chalmers 1995, 1996) Those that can be solved by cognitive science via standard explanations in terms of computational or neural mechanisms. The hard problem, in contrast, is the question of how physical processes in the brain give rise to subjective experience. This puzzle involves the inner aspect of thought and perception: the way things feel for the subject. When we see, for example, we experience visual sensations, such as that of vivid blue. Or think of the ineffable sound of a distant oboe, the agony of an intense pain, the sparkle of happiness or the meditative quality of a moment lost in thought. All are part of what i call consciousness. It is these phenomena that pose the real mystery of the mind. The easy problems of consciousness seem readily scientifically explainable in the same way that some other physical facts do.
