When you sit alone in an empty room, do you have a sense of your own presence, your own self? Can you be aware, not only of your sensations, but of the sensation of having those sensations? Can you have thoughts, and be aware of having those thoughts? And be aware of having these awarenesses?
My answer to each of these questions is “yes”.
But for you, do these questions fail to point to anything in your experience?
Can you be aware, not only of your sensations, but of the sensation of having those sensations?
I’m not sure. I have sensations, but I don’t know what a sensation of a sensation would be.
Can you have thoughts, and be aware of having those thoughts?
Sure, but that just sounds like metacognition, and that doesn’t strike me as being identical with or indicative of having qualia. I can know that I know things, for instance.
And be aware of having these awarenesses?
I would describe this as third-order metacognition, or recursive cognition, or something like that. And yea, I can do that. I can think that Sam thinks that I think that he lied, for instance. Or I can know that my leg hurts and then think about the fact that I know that my leg hurts.
When you sit alone in an empty room, do you have a sense of your own presence, your own self? Can you be aware, not only of your sensations, but of the sensation of having those sensations? Can you have thoughts, and be aware of having those thoughts? And be aware of having these awarenesses?
My answer to each of these questions is “yes”.
But for you, do these questions fail to point to anything in your experience?
I’m not sure. I have sensations, but I don’t know what a sensation of a sensation would be.
Sure, but that just sounds like metacognition, and that doesn’t strike me as being identical with or indicative of having qualia. I can know that I know things, for instance.
I would describe this as third-order metacognition, or recursive cognition, or something like that. And yea, I can do that. I can think that Sam thinks that I think that he lied, for instance. Or I can know that my leg hurts and then think about the fact that I know that my leg hurts.