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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology

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Sat, 30 Jul 2022 13:32:49 +0000
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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
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Richard Cryberg <[log in to unmask]>
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"we can experimentally ascertain that bees see this UV
reflectance and we* [humans] *do not, but how bees actually perceive it,
how it looks to a bee subjectively is fundamentally unknowable."

Can we not say exactly the same thing about human observations?  When I look at something that is red I see a distinctly different color from my left eye than my right eye.  This is not some form of color blindness.  I can take all those color blindness tests with each eye and am rated perfectly normal.  Further, I can see a red tint in many things where my wife sees no red at all.  Yet, she also tests perfectly normal on colorblindness tests.  So, how do I tell what color red the next person sees?  I can't.
How about differences in taste?  People generally either detest or love golden rod honey.  Many who detest it say GR smells like old wet socks.  I had one person tell me it smells like cat pee.  To me it smells nothing at all like old socks or cat pee.
Some people like one kind of music and others hate that kind of music.  Somehow it seems obvious that all human brains do not process music the same.  Some people have a horrid time learning to read or do basic arithmetic.  My ex wife (deceased) could not balance a check book if she spent all day and used a calculator.    Even the IRS could not figure out her business records and simply gave up deciding it was a waste of their time I guess.  So, for quite a few years after we split she simply paid what she thought she might owe and did not even file a return.  Obviously we do not all have the same wiring to do these tasks.

The obvious conclusion is if you can not put a number on it and measure it objectively with some sort of measuring device we have exactly zero idea what the next person perceives.  But, we all accept that all humans are conscious and can think.  So, just because a honey bee or my dog does not process information exactly as I do why would I imply they are somehow deficient and can not reason, or feel emotions or feel pain?  That strikes me as simply arrogant ignorance.
Dick 

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