<p>How a series of physical and chemical events leads to a very non physical/ intangible perception? For example, let's say a certain wavelength of light falls on the retina of my eyes, then the sensory cells convert that into electrical signals that go to the brain through optic nerves and there it leads to a series of chemical activities that makes us perceive a  certain colour, say red. But there is no such thing as red or blue or green or yellow or anything else outside of our brains. These perception of colours or perceptions in general aren't absolute, they don't exist without us. Heck, we can't even know that how i perceive red is same as how others perceive red. <strong>So, how do we perceive a sensation?</strong> <strong>What are our perceptions?</strong>  Can it be even explained by science? </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-12T12:14:19.483Z
This is called the "hard problem" - there are other questions about it here already.
Bryan Krause
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-12T14:07:52.830Z
Can you please share the link?
Ankit Kumar
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-12T14:34:30.637Z
Use the search and type "hard problem" with quotes - there are multiple. Often the phrase shows up in the answer rather than the question, because the asker is not familiar with it. Wikipedia also has an extensive article on the hard problem.
Bryan Krause
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-12T17:47:28.080Z
This is an almost exact duplicate of [Is consciousness a sub product of the brain or is there a duality?](https://psychology.stackexchange.com/q/10072/7001), which itself is a duplicate.  Some of my other favorites: [How does the physical brain know about qualia?](https://psychology.stackexchange.com/q/10364/7001), [The mind as a state of matter or physical system?](https://psychology.stackexchange.com/q/9839/7001), [How can machine possibly possess consciousness if computation is a human idea?](https://psychology.stackexchange.com/q/5275/7001).
Arnon Weinberg
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-14T09:16:01.367Z
In addition to references that were cited in the previous answers (in the posts that asked similar questions to yours, pointed out above), newer theories that attempt to answer your questions are [The Basic Theory of the Mind](https://mindtheory.net) and [Mind-Body Identity Theory](http://www.informationphilosopher.com/knowledge/identity_theory.html). Although their answers are not standard or widely accepted yet, they may give you some useful ideas regarding this matter.
user287279
<cognitive-neuroscience><perception><consciousness><philosophy-of-mind><sensory-perception>
How a living being (a huge collection of atoms) perceive things?
Ankit Kumar
# How a living being (a huge collection of atoms) perceive things?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-03-12)

How a series of physical and chemical events leads to a very non physical/ intangible perception? For example, let's say a certain wavelength of light falls on the retina of my eyes, then the sensory cells convert that into electrical signals that go to the brain through optic nerves and there it leads to a series of chemical activities that makes us perceive a certain colour, say red. But there is no such thing as red or blue or green or yellow or anything else outside of our brains. These perception of colours or perceptions in general aren't absolute, they don't exist without us. Heck, we can't even know that how i perceive red is same as how others perceive red. **So, how do we perceive a sensation?** **What are our perceptions?** Can it be even explained by science?

**Tags:** cognitive-neuroscience, perception, consciousness, philosophy-of-mind, sensory-perception

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: This is called the "hard problem" - there are other questions about it here already.  
> **username_0**: Can you please share the link?  
> **username_1**: Use the search and type "hard problem" with quotes - there are multiple. Often the phrase shows up in the answer rather than the question, because the asker is not familiar with it. Wikipedia also has an extensive article on the hard problem.  
> **username_2**: This is an almost exact duplicate of [Is consciousness a sub product of the brain or is there a duality?](https://psychology.stackexchange.com/q/10072/7001), which itself is a duplicate.  Some of my other favorites: [How does the physical brain know about qualia?](https://psychology.stackexchange.com/q/10364/7001), [The mind as a state of matter or physical system?](https://psychology.stackexchange.com/q/9839/7001), [How can machine possibly possess consciousness if computation is a human idea?](https://psychology.stackexchange.com/q/5275/7001).  
> **username_3**: In addition to references that were cited in the previous answers (in the posts that asked similar questions to yours, pointed out above), newer theories that attempt to answer your questions are [The Basic Theory of the Mind](https://mindtheory.net) and [Mind-Body Identity Theory](http://www.informationphilosopher.com/knowledge/identity_theory.html). Although their answers are not standard or widely accepted yet, they may give you some useful ideas regarding this matter.  

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