And what if the essentially qualia of suffering is just what a loss function feels like, and each time we spin up a deep convolution generative adversarial neural network to make pictures of cats that don't exist yet, we're bringing into existence a spark of consciousness and then rapid-fire torturing it with an unspeakable agony far excruciating than anything our meatsack bodies could even conceive of.

edit: oh god, this actually blew up, I had intended it to be nothing more than a shitpost

  • science_pope [any]
    ·
    4 years ago

    Sorry, you're right. It's not possible to prove. But that's true of people, too, so you're still just left with intersubjectively verifiable qualia, eh?

      • science_pope [any]
        ·
        4 years ago

        I think we're pretty much on the same page, here.

        I’d say, the further away we get from humans, (to other animals, and to non-animals like computer programs) the question is more tricky.

        I agree. But you can ask them.