To be clear about what I mean with "sensorial experiences", let's take for example our visual experiences. Certainly, physics (and other sciences) explains a whole process which involves light arriving to our eyes, a transformation into electric signals that go into out brain, where it is further processed and then, kind of magically, we experience colours, shapes and stuff that obviously are much more meaningful to us than mere lightwaves and electricity. So, has physics (or science, in general) ever tried to explain how this is achieved? Although I took the visual experience example, similar examples obviously exist for the other senses.
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1$\begingroup$ One would think neuroscience and biology would be responsible for this, not physics. $\endgroup$– JavierCommented Jun 1, 2020 at 2:25
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1$\begingroup$ The "magic" part is usually covered by some combination of neuroscience and cognitive science. $\endgroup$– probably_someoneCommented Jun 1, 2020 at 2:33
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$\begingroup$ see this for your example en.wikipedia.org/wiki/… $\endgroup$– anna vCommented Jun 1, 2020 at 4:09
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3$\begingroup$ I’m voting to close this question because this is more of a biology question than a physics question. $\endgroup$– user258881Commented Jun 1, 2020 at 5:19
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1 Answer
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This question may be in threat of being closed as not being physics related and being related, rather, to neuroscience, biology, or philosophy.
I'll give what I see as the physics answer to the question:
Has physics ever tried to explain how do we get “sensorial experiences”?
It seems you are asking about the the hard problem of consciousness and if physics posits any of sort of solution to it.
The answer is no.
Subjective experience (consciousness) is outside of the scope of physics. As you correctly identify, physics does posit laws for how the matter, electromagnetic fields, etc. in our bodies and brains will react (in a physical sense) to various stimuli, but it makes no claim onto how these physical processes relate to what you call our sensorial experiences.
Warning: Speculation ahead
I might even hazard to say that science itself has never really made progress on the hard problem of consciousness either. It is tricky for science to access because science typically deals with things that are observable for many people whiles ones own sensorial experience is limited to one person. Note that neuroscience and other fields have much to say about the soft problem of consciousness.
All of that said, a solution to the hard problem of consciousness will probably come from a nexus of hard sciences, social sciences, and philosophy.
answered Jun 1, 2020 at 2:49