Mind Matters | Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

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Gary Varner
Date
June 6, 2026

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence

Tagged
AI, god, Love, Objective values, Reality, Robot}

AI: Artificial Intelligence Review Part 13: What is Value?

_{Ducks do not debate the existence of God, nor do they build skyscrapers} _{Gary Varner
June 6, 2026

9

Artificial Intelligence}

A humanoid robot philosopher contemplating the nature of consciousness in a virtual reality chamber, abstract digital environment with neural networks and philosophical texts, Innovative style

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Wesley J. Smith
Date
June 5, 2026

Categorized
Ethics, Medicine and Health

Tagged
Biotechnology, CRISPR, Designer babies, He Jiankui, Kathie Tie}

Do We Have the Will (or Desire) to Prevent Biotechnological Anarchy?

_{A long piece in The Guardian illustrates the stakes we face} _{Wesley J. Smith
June 5, 2026

6

Ethics, Medicine and Health}

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News
Date
June 4, 2026

Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Localization theory, Memory, Michael Egnor, On the Memory of the Soul (2026), Paradoxical lucidity, Terminal lucidity, Victoria Trumbull}

Philosopher: Memories Are Not “Stored” in the Brain

_{Memory is a function of time, not place, says Oxford's Victoria Trumbull} _{News
June 4, 2026

6

Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind}

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post

Don Barger
Date
June 3, 2026

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Religion

Tagged
Don Barger, Featured, Innnovation, Leo XIV (Pope), Magnifica Humanitas}

Most Christian Innovators Have Not Read the Pope’s Letter

_{Don Barger
June 3, 2026

12

Artificial Intelligence, Religion}

Young entrepreneur man working with a laptop isolated holding hands in pray near mouth, feels confident.

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Denyse O'Leary
Date
June 3, 2026

Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Hydranencephaly, Hydrocephalus, Immortal Mind (Worthy 2025), Michael Egnor, Neuroplasticity (in children), Popular Mechanics, Steven Novella}

What Do People Who Are Conscious But Lack a Cortex Demonstrate?

_{Consciousness does not necessarily reside in the cortex, as is commonly assumed} _{Denyse O'Leary
June 3, 2026

8

Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind}

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post

Peter Biles
Date
June 2, 2026

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture}

AI-Generated Stories, Books, and More

_{Instances of AI-generated fiction are now all too common.} _{Peter Biles
June 2, 2026

4

Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture}

Woman reading book at evening at home close up

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post

Don Barger
Date
June 2, 2026

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind, Religion

Tagged
Chris Olah, Don Barger, Leo XIV (Pope), Magnifica Humanitas, Rerum Novarum (1891), Southern Baptist Convention (on AI)}

The Pope Just Weighed In On AI

_{If your religious organization doesn’t yet have a theology of AI, start building one because the conversation is already happening without you} _{Don Barger
June 2, 2026

9

Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind, Religion}

Businessman using virtual metaverse and future digital technology , Virtual Global Internet connection network with AI Artificial Intelligence digital

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post

Jeffrey Funk
Date
June 2, 2026

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence

Tagged
AI, Bubble burst?, CEOs, Companies, Govt ministers, Workforce}

AI and the extraordinary claims made without extraordinary evidence

_{Nobody should be using AI tools just for the sake of using them} _{Jeffrey Funk
June 2, 2026

6

Artificial Intelligence}

Soap bubble in front of stock market screen representing fragility of financial markets, economic speculation, risk, and market trend forecasting

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post

Gary Smith
Date
June 1, 2026

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Psychology

Tagged
Alberto Burneko, Ben Horowitz, Charles Goodhart, ELIZA (chatbot), Eliza effect, Geoffrey Hinton, Goodhart's Law, Jeff Hammerbacher, Marc Andreessen, Tokenmaxxing}

Are AI Developers As Smart As They Are Made Out To Be?

_{My confidence in the intelligence of AI developers was shaken by two recent events} _{Gary Smith
June 1, 2026

6

Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Psychology}

A hand is typing on a laptop keyboard with colorful lines and numbers. Concept of creativity and innovation, as the hand is using the keyboard to input data or code

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post

Robert J. Marks
Date
June 1, 2026

Categorized
Animal mind, Logic, Mathematics

Tagged
Emergent behavior, Featured, Pheromones, Swarm intelligence, Termites}

Monday Micro Softy 81: Termites Are Surprisingly Smart

_{Provided we agree to count swarm intelligence, which we also use in computer science} _{Robert J. Marks
June 1, 2026

7

Animal mind, Logic, Mathematics}

Group of the small termite on decaying timber. The termite on the ground is searching for food to feed the larvae in the cavity.

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post

Robert J. Marks
Date
May 30, 2026

Categorized
Self-Driving Cars

Tagged
Featured, Tesla Y}

My Tesla Y Does What Felt Like Sci-Fi 10 Years Ago

_{Its supervised self-driving is the most impressively engineered consumer product since the smartphone} _{Robert J. Marks
May 30, 2026

5

Self-Driving Cars}

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post

Gary Varner
Date
May 30, 2026

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence

Tagged
AI, Human exceptionalism, Love, Reality, Spielberg, Turing Test}

AI: Artificial Intelligence Review Part 12

_{The story is not talking about how to determine reality as a whole, it’s really attacking human exceptionalism} _{Gary Varner
May 30, 2026

8

Artificial Intelligence}

Man is using virtual reality headset. Image with glitch effect.

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Denyse O'Leary
Date
May 29, 2026

Categorized
Paleontology, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Hand stencils, Homo Erectus, Tools}

Ancient Humans Have Been Getting Smarter, It Seems

_{That’s the conclusion I drew from reading about recent research in paleontology} _{Denyse O'Leary
May 29, 2026

4

Paleontology, Philosophy of Mind}

Portrait d'un Homo erectus assis et regardant le coucher du soleil

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post

Kenneth Francis
Date
May 28, 2026

Categorized
Language

Tagged
Communication, Language, Lying, Metaphors, Remarks}

Things We Say But Do Not Mean

_{By telling white lies or mangling the English language, we’re often economical with the truth} _{Kenneth Francis
May 28, 2026

10

Language}

A man puts wooden blocks with the words Fact and fake. Concept of news and false information. Yellow press.

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Robert J. Marks
Date
May 27, 2026

Categorized
Artificial general intelligence (AGI), Artificial Intelligence, Mathematics

Tagged
Andrew Sutherland, Erdős number, Featured, Flash of Genius (2008 film), Friedrich Gauss (1777‒1855), Nikola Tesla (1856–1943), OpenAI math proofs, Pascaline, Paul Erdős (1913–1996), Richard Feynman (1918–1988), Robert Kearns (1927‒2005), Roger Penrose, Terrence Tao, Unit distance problem}

What AI Has and Hasn’t Solved Recently in Math

_{We need to look at the distinction between horizontal and vertical innovation} _{Robert J. Marks
May 27, 2026

10

Artificial general intelligence (AGI), Artificial Intelligence, Mathematics}

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post

Denyse O'Leary
Date
May 26, 2026

Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Bill Newsome, Featured, Michael Egnor, Wilder Penfield (on abstract thought and epilepsy)}

Why Egnor Finds Neuroscientists’ Lack of Curiosity “Unbelievable”

_{It seems as if they simply do not want to know about findings that challenge materialism} _{Denyse O'Leary
May 26, 2026

4

Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind}

A photorealistic view of an abstract puzzle with a magnifying glass highlighting a missing piece shaped like a question mark, symbolizing problem-solving and critical thinking.

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post

Robert J. Marks
Date
May 25, 2026

Categorized
Mathematics

Tagged
Monday Microsofties, Number theory}

Monday Micro Softy 80: The Digits of Least Significance

_{The patterns found in numbers can be useful as well as fascinating} _{Robert J. Marks
May 25, 2026

8

Mathematics}

A dynamic representation of numbers and symbols in a digital space.

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Denyse O'Leary
Date
May 24, 2026

Categorized
Paleontology, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Joseph Campbell (1904-1987), Kiona N. Smith, Margaret Boone Rappaport, Neanderthal brain, Neanderthal dentistry, Neanderthal religion, Neanderthal tools, Neanderthals and modern humans, Owen Jarus, Patrick McNamara, Sophie Berdugo, Villaescusa Fernández}

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