Monday Micro Softy 84: Meet the Followers
What happens when everyone in the swarm is a follower?To solve last week’s puzzle, we should picture what must happen when every bug wants to place itself between two other bugs.
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Mind Matters
Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis
Science Writer Takes Aim at Many Universes Theory
What Makes an Ostensibly Normal Person Evil
Latest Articles
ETs in UFOs Would Not Exist in a Purposeless Universe
Biologist Michael Denton’s work shows that human technology is not an accident of humans simply adapting to our environment
Are We Really “Unconscious” While Under Anesthesia?
Modern medics rely very much on anesthesia but how it works is not quite clear
Disclosure Day Destined to Disappoint
The idea that Spielberg was attempting to destroy Christians’ faith using aliens was overstated
A Mystery of Consciousness — Thinking While in a Coma
Researchers are finding that many unresponsive bran-damaged people have covert consciousness. The question is, how to help them?
Medical Doctors Are Not Simply “Service Providers”
Some physicians’ organizations have noticed the trend to see them that way and are pushing back
what makes a thought start?
When a doctor is taunted for his lack of knowledge of consciousness and the soul
Consciousness in Plants Rebrands an Exploded Materialism
It’s not so much that consciousness in plants is being demonstrated as that what consciousness means is changing so as to include plants
Accelerationists Fingered in White House Drone Attack Plot
There is nothing like a terror plot, foiled or otherwise, to bring an obscure concept like “accelerationism” to public attention
Shermer’s Truth: When “Myside Bias” Becomes the Method
First pass finds easy readability, subpar scholarship, and a polemical agenda
Horizontal Innovation Requires More Than Novel Outputs
Current AI systems excel at producing output novelty, but I do not believe they demonstrate algorithmic novelty
Speculation in Large Language Models: The Worst Sort of Business
Speculators buy an asset because they expect the price to keep rising, not because they want the income generated by the asset
Monday Micro Softy 83: A Swarm of Cowards?
In terms of swarm intelligence, what happens if we have a swarm of cowards instead of peacemakers?
Future? There Is No Human Future, Dude… and That’s Good!
A look at the other face of the claims that we are approaching an AI singularity
YouTubers V The Mandalorian
I can’t remember the last time there have only been two or three seats remaining in a theater
Smartphones Have Contributed to the Declining Fertility Rate, Says New Study
It's easier these days to stay inside and on a screen instead of going outside and trying to meet people
Why Do Smart People Think Their Minds Are an Illusion?
A belief that makes no sense is a cornerstone of much neuroscience and philosophy of mind
Americans of Two Minds About the ‘Moral Acceptability’ of Suicide
A recent Gallup survey found that most considered suicide morally unacceptable — unless doctors are involved
Can We Talk the Hard Problem of Consciousness Out of Existence?
A prominent theoretical physicist thinks it is worth a try
Florida Hails a Surveillance Regime to Corral Renegade AI
Irony: You’ll need to surrender your privacy to government or multi-national AI before you can use AI that tracks you anyway
Monday Micro Softy 82: When Bugs Break Up Fights…
A surprising amount of intelligence of use in the computer industry can be learned from watching insects
Briefs
Michael Egnor: Three atheist scientists walk into a book
Was the Washington Post Jeff Bezos’s worst investment?
AI gen writing: Model collapse in slow motion
A Microsoft exec responds to students booing tech
Bogus AI-gen citations are multiplying rapidly in research
Researchers: Bumblebees can develop creative solutions
If glaciers have rights, why don’t they have responsibilities?
Novels: Did someone stay up late? Or is it just AI?
A moment of sanity: The Leiden Declaration on AI
AI chatbots fronted a fake eye disease and told everyone about it
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
