Denyse O'Leary
What Drives the Belief That We Live in a Computer Sim Universe?
The lack of evidence for the sim is admitted — but then we are challenged to prove that it ISN’T true…
The wildly varying intelligence of big, bad, extinct T. Rex
After centuries with the “stupid” label, T. rex was found in one 2023 study to be as smart as a primate. But then…
Panpsychism Going Mainstream in Popular Media?
Significantly, Hawkins does not try to privilege conventional “consciousness is an illusion” over panpsychism (“everything is conscious”). He treats the two views equally
Gaia Reborn? New Climate Book Sees Earth as Living Entity
The Gaia hypothesis, pioneered by Lynn Margulis and James Lovelock was once ridiculed but Ferris Jabr thinks we should take it seriously to fight climate change
Astrophysicist: Electricity Can Account For Human Consciousness
Ethan Siegel set out to show that there is no design in the universe and that included reducing consciousness to electricity, with the details still to be ironed out
Musk vs Australia: Down Under Is Down One For Now
A federal court has refused to extend the demand that Musk’s X platform remove videos showing the stabbing attack on Rev. Mar Mari Emmanuel
Science Team Argues, Consciousness Came Before Life
Can the authors take issue with Darwinian evolution claims while maintaining a materialist stance?
Norway Limits Phone Use in School. Did That Truly Help Students?
A Norwegian study says yes but some psychologists dismiss both the study and the limits for conflicting reasons
Why Did Our Ancestors Start Drawing in Caves and Making Jewelry?
For that matter, why did they choose to develop artworks around fossilized dinosaur footprints?
Orangutan heals wound using leaves — and triggers big media event
The orangutan is not the first or only animal to self-medicate. Birds and elephants do it too
Arts major cracks hard math through practice, practice, practice
She became an engineering prof that way. The war on math is certainly not over but the warriors may be starting to find themselves on the back foot
Researchers: Bonobos Are More, Not Less, Aggressive Than Chimps
Tracking males of both types of ape every waking hour shattered the pop science “hippie ape” illusion
Can an Atheist Believe in Life After Death?
An atheist philosopher makes the case at Closer to Truth
Was Darwinian Philosopher Daniel Dennett the End of an Era?
Dennett’s image of the human mind as a user-illusion was very fashionable but it never made any sense
Are Near-Death Experiences Just Another Branch of Research Now?
We should hope so because there are a number of interesting allied research areas that would be better studied without preexisting prejudice against NDEs
Fine-Tuning of Universe Makes a Top Neuroscientist “Very Hopeful”
Allen Institute’s Christof Koch talks about the assumptions underlying his consciousness theory — which led many other neuroscientists to try to Cancel him
Is Our World, Post-1950, Really a Geological Epoch?
Some earth scientists lobby for calling the past 75 years the Anthropocene epoch, giving it equal importance with the 16-million-year Upper Jurassic
About the claim that chatbot Claude 3 showed self-awareness…
Has anyone noticed the resemblance between the conviction that an AI project thinks like a human and that extraterrestrials are visiting us?