Qualia are the claimed subjective experiences of individuals. The term originates in Latin, meaning literally 'Of what sort?' You can think of qualia as qualitative properties of experiences, individualistic to those experiencing it. How something feels to you, during the experience. You could argue that it 'feels' different to watch a red firework than it does to watch a green one. How does that experience translate colloquially to other individuals? Can you explain how it felt to see that red firework? Was the firework you saw the same color of red as the one I saw? Was it just as bright and brilliant and 'awe inspiring?'
It requires some introspection in order to fully understand qualia, so lets look at a few examples. Examples of qualia include statements such as, "Is the yellow I see the same shade, tone and depth of the yellow you see?" "What does a broken bone feel like?" "Can you describe what it's like to wake up?" Emotions such as fear, love, hate, timidness etc, all involve subjective qualitative experiences. You cannot put a number on it, nor tell me 'what it is to hate.'
This is all very confusing especially because even the subjective nature of qualia remains very controversial as it has never been independently or scientifically observed as fact. How could it be, when it's a 'potentially' new experience every time it's experienced?
I hope you guys enjoyed this small intro into qualia. There are many things left untouched, as the qualia I am experiencing right now leads me to want people to search more into this themselves. It is an incredibly interesting subject that brings into question the subjective experiences of society. Fully understanding why it's so difficult to explain how you feel, or what you experience is the first step into understanding why society behaves the way it does and why people seem lost when trying share an experience involving fireworks.
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