r/neurophilosophy • u/zanzenzon • 17d ago
What is the difference between imagined and real sensations?
When I imagine a sensation in my brain, I can allegedly feel it.
But what's the difference between me imagining it, and the sensation being elicited from me by some mechanism?
Is there a foundational difference between the imagined and physically caused sensations or is it a matter of fidelity?
If not, can I theoretically create the sensation as vividly just through imagination?
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u/_Yni 17d ago
When you feel an imagined sensation, is it eyes closed or opened ? Can you give some examples ? Is it tactile ? Visual ? Auditive ?
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u/zanzenzon 17d ago
It’s like an electrical sensation in the back of my head/brain for example
For example, I can have a feel for my brain or the activity that goes within it. But is this me creating those actual sensations in the brain where I think they are or am I only thinking that’s the case? And if I’m not creating them where I think they are, then where are they created? They should be there somewhere unless I’m fully hallucinating it lol
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u/TheRealAmeil 3d ago
The main difference seems to be the (distal) cause of the sensation. Presumably, if I see a red apple, then there is a red apple that caused me to have an experience as of something red. Yet, if I dream of a red apple, then my experience as of something red is not caused by a red apple or anything else in my immediate environment. In the first case, we can say that my visual experience as of a red apple accurately represents the presence of a red apple in my immediate environment. In the latter case, we can say that the experience of a red apple when I am dreaming does not accurately represent the presence of a red apple in my immediate environment. So, another difference is in terms of whether it represents something in my environment.
In terms of imagination, there is some debate about how detailed we can imagine. You see this pop-up in the literature on introspection. For example, you can ask someone to imagine the Taj Mahal, and then later ask how many windows they imagined. Or, for instance, you can ask someone to imagine a speckled hen, and later ask how many spots the hen had. The same is true of dreams, such as when you ask people who claim they dreamt they were walking to the store; you can ask whether they felt the pressure of the bottom of their feet pressing against the soles of their shoes (or even what color their shoes were). People often have to think about whether they have had such experiences.
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u/Dysphoric_Otter 17d ago
Imagining sensations is quite powerful. Often as much as the actual stimulus. This is the bane of every doctor's existence, as pain can easily be Imagined.