Mind Matters
Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis
Latest Articles
What Qualifies as a Book Ban?
If a novel has sold millions of copies and can be easily bought in almost any bookstore, how is it "banned"?
Geneticist James D. Watson (1928–2025): His Contradictory Legacy
Watson and Crick set the stage for what philosopher Stephen Meyer calls the God Hypothesis and yet Watson was a bigoted atheist and champion of pseudoscientific racism
A Neuroscientist on the Limits of the “Cutting Edge” of His Field
As Dr. Joseph Green tells his podcast hosts, although scientists can observe all 302 nematode worm neurons, they cannot fully explain how the worm moves or finds food
A War Between Evolutionary Biologists May Be Looming
Nathan Lents says it doesn’t make a lot of sense” to think of sex in humans as binary. Colin Wright says, “Stop misleading the public”
China Jumps on the Transhumanism Train
It is said to be is devoting much energy and many resources to the life-extension project
Case Study: How Not to Sue AI for Libel
Monday Micro Softy 52: Elon Musk Parody Asks: Are You a Genius?
The puzzle comes from a parody X account but it is a genuine stumper
Science on Near-Death Experiences: Explaining vs Explaining Away
The first rule of a scientific approach to near-death experiences should be to take seriously what is happening before rushing in with a “science can explain this” hypothesis
Should Christians Harness AI Chatbots As a Force For Good? Part 2
The claims being made for what these bots can do for ministry would lead us into dangerous territory
Extraterrestrial Life: The Discipline Without a Subject
It’s fascinating but several rhetorical tricks help keep it in the forefront of news
Time Travel: The Threat of Escalation in the Terminator Series
Part 3: The Terminator series writers never new whether there would be a sequel, and that had implications for how they plotted time travel
What We Can Learn About Schooling From Baseball
In Part 3, drawing on my experience as a baseball coach, I offer a somewhat different approach to using AI in education
When the Big Bang Cost Physicists Their Lives
A new book from France tells the astonishing story of how governments murdered or drove out scientists to hush up the reality that our universe has a beginning
How AI Could Create Vast Increases in Learning Efficiency
Part 2: Artificial intelligence is promising to fundamentally transform education, leading to vast increases in efficiency of learning
Denial? Science seeks trust but avoids the need for inner reform
Current science seems to be going full steam ahead to Cancel the means by which it formerly advanced knowledge of the world
Tech Addiction is Reaching a Frightening New Level
Young people are spending endless time online seeking drug-like states of mind
Human Tools Found From a Tumultuous Period 2.7 Million Years Ago
The authors talk much about “evolutionary” and “evolution.” But actually, it doesn’t sound as if there was much evolution at all. It sounds more like one enduring insight
A Non-Transhumanist Vision for AI in Education
Bill Dembski describes this new approach as amounting to edification rather than enhancement
This Is New: Top Thinkers Debate Terminal Lucidity
Steven Pinker tells Charles Murray at the Wall Street Journal that people are merely imagining a sudden gain in awareness before dying
Monday Micro Softy 51: A Tale of Two Auto Mechanics
I recognized the two mechanics when I went to the garage…
Briefs
Tech industry layoffs continue; AI’s role remains unclear
Researchers sometimes “add” copy just to get published
Why are there 350 different theories of consciousness?
Neuroscience: Brain genes behave differently in men vs. women
At Fast Company: AI is not the cause of current job loss
Today in science journals: “Accuracy” in data takes a back seat
Could Neanderthals create art or were they not evolved enough?
At tech mag: Silicon Valley’s belief in AGI is conspiracy theory
The death spiral of trust in legacy media
Researchers: There can be memory outside the brain
Videos
Science Uprising 10: Asking the Impolite Questions About AI
Is It Really the End for Silicon Valley or Just a Reboot?
COSM 2021: Kai-Fu Lee Tries His Hand at Future Casting
