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Letter: Seeing red raises more consciousness questions

Published 2 April 2025

From Matthew Stevens, Sydney, Australia

You report on a study suggesting we all perceive colours the same way, subjectively speaking. While the study seeks to offer an answer to this long-standing philosophical question, I have long pondered a similar one that can’t be answered, or even tested, prompting me to frame it as a conjecture: that our sense of self, or “me-ness”, has the same qualia, or “taste”, for every one of us. That is, when I think of “me”, the way I experience myself is identical to the way everyone else experiences him or herself. Further, I propose that this extends to other animal species. It would be intriguing to at least probe this (15 March, p 18).

Issue no. 3537 published 5 April 2025

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