Originally posted by Daf Fernandez
"First of all I think she would experience euphoria based on the neurological overload. After this initial shock is over, then her mind would start re-evaluating everything she knows and experience it a different way. This sort of thing happens a lot, ask anyone if they ever had an epiphany.

The problem is that you are talking about physicalism but not allowing Mary to interact physically with the world. She is getting the experience second hand with an omitted physical characteristic and saying she "seems" to know all there is to know. If there is more that can be introduced to her then by definition she didn't know it all. It's totally perspective.

That's about as scientific as the sugar experiment that determined that high amounts of sugar do not affect children's behavior. The experiment had a control group and a variable group. One group of studied children ate a diet that had a high amount of sugar. The other group of studied children ate a diet that had a highER amount of sugar. When the children were compared the behavior of both groups were similar in nature and the only variable was the amount of sugar.

She doesn't relearn an old fact so much as finds out more facts on a subject already known. It's like saying there are only 4 basic elements that can be broken down no further. Earth water air and fire. Oh but wait light and dark are elements. Ok so there are only 6 elements that can be broken down no further. Oh but wait there is a seventh element, the void, but is that an element or an anti element? The introduction of the periodic table of elements didn't change anything on earth simply by being introduced. Physicalism isn't about whether or not we understand the physics, but knowing that all things are physical can help us find out more about the things around us.

On the surface it seems like Frank Jackson is trying to show focus on a concept (physicalism) by cutting away the rest of the world but in his focus is cutting off half of the concept and asks you to find the rest. It's like he's trying to stuff a concept into a frame that doesn't fit, but I think his intent is a much broader perspective. I take this story as more of a "chicken soup for the learning." It makes one think and open up to the possibility that there is more to learn. To me it's kind of a "empty your cup" so it can be filled with knowledge again kind of story."

Originally posted by Stephen Tibbles

"This is just another version of the cave theory. Yes, if you negate certain aspects of reality for a long time and then present them, you will blow somebodies mind. Say tomorrow you woke up and you saw time as something other than linear. Even though you have a basic understanding of times place in reality, when you introduce a new aspect or point of view, you change everything."

If Mary lived in a black and white world for say, 10 years, (to the extent that this is theoretically possible -- and it isn't very theoretically possible --) she might not even be able to see color. If there were no exposure to color for the first 10 years, the color perceiving cells in the eye might atrophy.

I do not know, for a fact, whether such a thing would be the result. I do know (for a fact) the retinas of children do not develop normally if the child's lens are defective at birth and obscure light falling on the retina.

She almost certainly would find the sudden spectrum of color overwhelming, to the extent she could perceive it. (She would recover from this, however.)

MRJ, this is a biological and anatomical point. This is not, however, a philosophical one. If Mary could was stripped of her ability to see color, upon reclaiming said ability, she would have that ability. Would it overwhelm her? Sure. Would she be unable to use it? If she was unable to use it, we could not say she reclaimed it.

i do think that a evolutionary change could occur, but this would take much longer than the life span of a human.

Mary knew everything she was capable of knowing at the time. Did Red exist in reality? Could Mary of been informed verbally about the color red without witnessing it herself and have a true understanding?