Is my favorite color your favorite color?

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Project Duration: 2024/7/17 ~ 2024/7/28

About

This project was done in collaboration with Dr. Angus Leung from Tsuchiya Laboratory of Munich University during the Qualia Structure Summer School 2024. Utilizing the mathematical technique of Gromov-Wasserstein Optimal Transport (GWOT), we studied the relational structure of the human’s color qualia structure

About Qualia Structure Summer School

Qualia Structure Summer School is a 2-weeks long summer school held by Tsuchiya Professor, a prominent figure in consciousness research. The primary focus of the Qualia Structure Summer School is to promote a super interdisciplinary research program that bridges the gap between consciousness and scientific objectivity. This unique summer school leverages mathematics, physics, psychology, philosophy, cognitive science, neuroscience, robotics, artificial intelligence, information theory, linguistics, and more to develop novel approaches to understanding the minds of others. The school advocates for structural approaches to qualia and aspires to lead the next generation of international consciousness research.

In 2024, 26 participants from around the world, primarily targeting graduate students and postdoctoral fellows were chosen out of a selective process. I, however, was selected as one of these member as an irregular exception to be the only high-school participant at the summer school.

Abstract

The qualia structure approach has traditionally characterized subjective experiences by analyzing similarity ratings between pairs of experiences. However, this method may not capture the full range of relational structures among experiences. This study explores preference ratings as an alternative or complementary type of relation, with a focus on color experiences. To compare the relational structures of preferences across individuals, we employ Gromov-Wasserstein Optimal Transport (GWOT), a method used to align and compare the shapes of different relational structures. We hypothesize that individuals exhibit similar preference structures, but these structures are anchored around different preferred colors. Specifically, while the overall pattern of preferences shows low Generalized Weighted Distance (GWD) between individuals, the matching rate of specific color preferences is low. By using GWOT to compare these relational structures, this paper aims to expand the qualia structure approach, offering new insights into how subjective experiences, such as preferences, can be quantified and related across individuals.

Snippet of the final presentation

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