Mind Matters
Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis
Scientist Sleuths Detect Significant Use of AI in Journal Papers
Science Dilemma: Bucking the Trend and Searching for Truth
Latest Articles
Swiss Death Clinics Celebrated By Suicide Pushers
One Swiss clinic even “prioritizes people who are elderly but not seriously ill”
Researchers: Adult Human Brains Can Grow New Neurons
The Karolinska Institutet-based team found early-stage brain cells in older people in the hippocampus, the memory area of the brain
Journal Article Ignores Medical Objections to Puberty Blockers
Allowing an author to ignorecontrary evidence and increasing doubts about puberty blockers, etc., undermines New England Journal of Medicine’s purpose in being
Slime Mold: Memory and Learning Without Neurons
Can memories be stored outside the brain? Once we have separated memory and learning from neurons — do the traditional assumptions about them still really apply?
Which Way, Modern University? Jennifer Frey’s story
The shakeup at the University of Tulsa’s Honors College is a puzzler
Monday Micro Softy 35: A House With a View
A billionaire, used to getting what he wants, demands a house where all the walls' windows offer a view in the same direction
Skepticism: Four Challenges From Near-Death Experiences
Neurosurgeon Michael Egnor offers these challenges to those who would explain away NDEs as a mere malfunction of the brain
Grok as Hitler II?: What Really Happened and What It Means
The long-postponed reckoning about what chatbots can and can’t really do is sure coming on fast
A Sound of Thunder: Time Travel for Fun and Profit — and Tragedy
In this third part of my review, I look at the adaptations leading up to the climax — the ones that worked and the ones that didn’t
J.P. Moreland: Which Model of the Mind Best Explains Reality?
Moreland notes that the soul's organizing role in the body sounds a lot like what scientists now call information
Do Fungi Demonstrate a Form of Intelligence? What Does That Mean?
Yes, the natural world is full of intelligence and we are only scratching the surface of it. But…
Does Dementia Show That the Mind Is Simply What the Brain Does?
People with dementia have severe memory issues, along with motor, perception and emotional disabilities, and that curtails their powers of reason
Academia Embraces the Unscientific Religion of ‘Nature Rights’
Cambridge University Press’s call for boosting the rights of nature is straight out of Gaia theory that holds that the Earth is a living being. That is not a science-based premise
Burying Stories Is No Way to Advance Science
A story about a man with a severe brain defect who led an apparently normal life has been almost buried in efforts to explain it away
Why Do We Mourn the Deaths of Other People’s Children?
I share P. Z. Myers’s horror but the problem of innocent suffering is much deeper for the atheist than for the Christian
Sports Gambling is a Big, New Problem
Common sense says sports betting isn't worth it. But once you start, it can be hard to stop.
Michael Shermer Disagrees With Me on the Ethics of IVF
He sees a contradiction between my respect for and embrace of children conceived via IVF and my ethical qualms about the process of IVF: “Another example of how religion clouds rationality”
How To Avoid AIM — the AI Moron Effect
The popularity of getting chatbots to produce assignments may be a signal that college doesn't matter as much as it used to
Micro Softy 34: Two Poles and a Wire
Given the measurements, how far apart must the poles be to make sure the power line does not touch the ground?
Piers Morgan Show: Michael Egnor and Michael Shermer Debate!
Near-death experiences headlined the discussion. But Dr. Egnor made clear that there is much other evidence for the reality of the human mind
Briefs
Is the tech media becoming more skeptical of AI boosterism?
Why we think fish must be dumb — even when they aren’t
AI takeover? Maybe not. Sniff the wind…
AI researchers: Bad actors target chatbots with bogus articles
“Bad paper sleuths” worry that the government is misusing science
New NIH director assails Big Six science publishing monopoly
Researchers: Left-handedness is not a golden key to creativity
AI, unemployment, and what Einstein got wrong
Had to happen: Deepfake Marco Rubio calling U.S. officials
Wimbledon AI line judge doesn’t work out as planned…
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
