Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

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The Likely Reason the Human Mind Has No History

Our efforts to explain the origin of the human mind fall flat because we are looking for an origin that probably doesn’t exist
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Mind labyrinth and business success psychology concept with back view walking businessman to the light spot in corridor with walls in form of human head
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New Book Looks at Design in Nature From a Catholic Viewpoint

Catholic thinkers who reject Darwinism don’t focus so much on its claims about universal common descent as on its utter inability to account coherently for the human mind
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If Science Were Just Bookkeeping, Fine-Tuning Wouldn’t Matter

Astrophysicist Marcelo Gleiser wishes we would just quit asking questions about why the universe is fine-tuned — as if we could…
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open eye in space
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The Explicitly Human Experience of Growing Up as a Twin

A philosopher muses on growing up as one of a set of two people
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Generative ai black men twins brothers posing outdoors city street
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Attempt To Tackle Censorship in Science Begins Well, Falls Flat

Scientists, we are told, censor “for the greater good.” Well yes, but ALL censors say that. Has anyone ever censored explicitly “for the greater harm”?
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A sharp pencil between two erasers on a blue background.Unfree creativity and censorship, concept
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Everyday Evidence of the Mind’s Reality: the Placebo Effect

The placebo effect — you get better because you think you will — may be getting stronger, as researchers manipulate it more effectively
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Heart shaped pill between rows of standard pills
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What Mission Impossible Tells Us About AI Mythology

If you’re looking for an intelligent take on existential risk and superintelligent AI, the latest Mission Impossible movie is not for you.
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Fuse burning on black background isolated
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Is Science Slipping Away on Us by Degrees?

Science writers weigh in on misrepresentation of science history, reasons for loss of trust, and whether physics is ripe for a revolution
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Genetic research and Biotech science Concept. Human Biology and pharmaceutical technology on laboratory background.
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What Do Bees’ Joy and Pain Really Tell Us About Insect Minds?

If sentience, like intelligence, can be independent of phylogeny (place in Darwin’s tree of life), the conventional picture of evolution might need rethinking
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Bumblebee on a flower
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The Multiverse: Better in Fiction Than in Real Life?

The multiverse may be “unscientific nonsense” or a “religious” belief, as some physicists assert but the rules of storytelling are not the laws of nature
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AI generated view of the multiverse
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Once a Supporter, Science Writer Airs Doubts About Free Will

ChatGPT has set John Horgan thinking about whether he is just "ChatGPT-Me" himself
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AI chatbot robot assistant sitting at desk using computer as artificial intelligence. Business concept
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Pew: Post-COVID, Trust in Science Dropped Significantly

Most other institutions have taken a hit in trust as well. But what would it take for science in particular to pull out?
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Broadcast your vision. Make thoughts public. Communication and announcements. Activity in social networks. Poll. Brainstorming, new ideas. Feedback. Criticism. Reviews and comments.
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