Blue Sky Thoughts: Colour, Consciousness and Reality [Paperback]

Jamie Carnie (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0714531243 | ISBN-13: 978-0714531243 | Publication Date: April 1, 2007

For centuries philosophers have disputed whether the sky really is blue or whether this “blueness” is only in the eye of the beholder. But perhaps there is a better way to think about perception . . .
In this controversial and challenging book, Jamie Carnie introduces a radical new perspective on the way our senses operate, setting out to save our instinctive belief that colors, sounds, flavors, textures, and scents are features of the “real” world and not just mental constructs that disappear the moment we look away. A minimal model of the mind as a virtual machine helps us formulate Carnie’s universe.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Is what we perceive objectively real, or only in our minds? Setting out to answer anew this age-old question, philosopher and software engineer Carnie begins with the philosophy of Descartes (who insisted that what we observe are in fact the real properties of the world) and the experiments of Newton (which imply the world is created in our own minds). From there, Carnie investigates the evidence for and logic behind the synthesis of these ideas: that our senses have a complex relationship (across space) with the objects they perceive. Through a consideration of colors and their perception, by humans and other organisms (From what do colors arise? Why do we perceive them at all?), Carnie presents a series of "thought experiments" that lead up to his "Relational Theory of Sensory Qualities." This he examines in relationship to the mind, art, and the way people use and abuse the natural world. His ideas are intriguing and his efforts to incorporate both the physical and social sciences are admirable; unfortunately, his writing style is abstruse and often difficult to follow (his direction isn't clear until Part III, "Colours as Relations"). Still, persistent readers will be rewarded with much exotic food for thought.
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About the Author

Jamie Carnie is a freelance philosopher and software engineer. He has been working in the field of colour, consciousness and reality for the last twenty-five years.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Marion Boyars Publishers Ltd (April 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714531243
• ISBN-13: 978-0714531243
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,794,784 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Really!?, December 27, 2007

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rgb, cmyk (sydney australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blue Sky Thoughts: Colour, Consciousness and Reality (Paperback)

Have you ever noticed that computer geeks can never get a piece of software or hardware to work properly? Then you discover that they have not bothered to read the manual that was included with it. My solution has been to read the manual myself and make it work. This book suffers from the same issue the author has not bothered to read the instruction manual on the subject that he writes (philosophy and colour). On a truly basic level Carnie appears to lack an understanding of additive and subtractive colour if he cannot get his head around that colour concept realism and idealism is a nut he should avoid trying to crack.