[MD] Direct Experience

[Ham Priday]

Hi Platt --



> A couple of questions for anyone who cares to answer:
> Do direct experience and consciousness mean the same thing?
> To put it another way, is consciousness necessary for
> direct experience?
> My answer to both is "Yes." Anybody agree?

I don't see how anyone can experience anything, directly or indirectly, 
without consciousness.

That said, the difference between consciousness and experience is largely a 
matter of definition.  For example, if you define self-awareness as 
consciousness, then it becomes a tautology: "consciousness of 
consciousness".  Is that experience?

One cannot be conscious of himself "objectively" because we are subjective 
beings.  We may try to "see ourselves as others see us", but such an 
objective perspective is not really knowing yourself as an other.  That's 
why I've used the Knower metaphor for subjective awareness.  I know that I 
am the knower of my world.  (Both "know" and "knower" in that statement 
refer to my subjective self as the locus of awareness.)

I also think a distinction should be made between experience and sensibility 
for epistemological clarity.  I usually reserve "experience" for the 
awareness of external phenomena -- other persons, things, events, knowledge, 
and universal ideas.  Although there's nothing wrong with saying "I'm 
experiencing a pain", since it's assumed that I'm not experiencing someone 
else's pain, technically pain is a proprioceptive sensation.  So is Pirsig's 
"pre-intellectual experience."  Properly speaking, qualitative values like 
joy, sadness, beauty, grossness, magnificence, triteness, goodness, and evil 
are "sensibilities" rather than experiences.

Incidentally, I don't know how you distinguish "direct" experience from 
"indirect", but the essence of self-awareness is value-sensibility. 
Therefore, I would call the former "sensibility" if it falls in the category 
of Pirsig's "hot stove" analogy.  As a general rule, concepts, sentiments, 
preferences, desires, fears, and resentments are all sensibilities. 
Quantitaive knowledge, such as factual information, physical relations, and 
numerical calculations, pertains to experience.

A good basic quesion, Platt.  I expect to see someone challenge me with the 
question: Is Nirvana a mystical "experience" or "sensibility"?

Best regards,
Ham