Qualia is the Latin plural for the singular “quale” (quality). Often known as the subjective, conscious experience, or phenomenal properties.

Examples of qualia include the perceived sensation of pain of a headache, the taste of wine, as well as the redness of an evening sky

Traditionally have second-order properties

  • Ineffable (indescribable)
  • Intrinsic (atomic, unanalyzable, cannot be split into constituent observations)
  • Private (no interpersonal comparisons)
  • Directly apprehended (not mediated by thought, inference)

Vibes

Source: Nameless Feeling in Real Life Mag

Neural networks just assess vibes, they are the literal technical implementation of “no thoughts, just vibes”.

Vibes are very similar to the approximations machine learning systems use. Both suffer from Goodhart’s Law

On context-less data: Like vibes, these metrics carry no context or narrative; they can tell you nothing about how or why something might be desirable

Is intentionality derivative with vibes/qualia too?