Single Idea 4910

[catalogued under 12. Knowledge Sources / B. Perception / 5. Interpretation]

Full Idea

Despite their variety, each sense organ translates its stimulus into electrical pulses; rather than discriminating one type of input from another, the sense organs actually make them more alike.

Gist of Idea

Sense organs don't discriminate; they reduce various inputs to the same electrical pulses

Source

Rita Carter (Mapping the Mind [1998], p.174)

Book Reference

Carter,Rita: 'Mapping the Mind' [Phoenix 2000], p.174


A Reaction

An illuminating observation, which modern 'naïve realists' should bear in mind. Secondary qualities are entirely unrelated to the nature of the input, and are merely 'what the brain decides to make of it'. Discrimination is in our neurons.