Mind Matters | Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

_{Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis}

AI agents and smart assistants automate tasks and support human intelligence. Enhance workflows, drive innovation in business, marketing, education, data analysis, and sales with AI-powered tools.

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post

Denyse O'Leary
Date
September 15, 2026

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Education

Tagged
Claude, Daniel Muñoz, Jason Arday, Journal papers, Katherine Mangan, Shea Vance, Simon Goldstein}

As Scholars Use AI To Write Papers, Are They Courting Doom?

_{Questions like, what even IS an author? Why does authorship matter? Why should students learn to write? And who needs scholars?} _{Denyse O'Leary
September 15, 2026

5

Artificial Intelligence, Education}

If academic papers in a discipline can be mostly AI written, why credential scholars anyway? Perhaps the discipline itself is obsolete.

classic statue Socrates

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post

Georgios Mappouras
Date
September 15, 2026}

My Brand-New Tech Idea Turned Out To Be … Socrates!

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post

Georgios Mappouras
Date
September 15, 2026}

Diverse team of engineers in cleanroom suits inspecting a robotic arm. Scientists working with automated machinery in a modern manufacturing facility. High tech production

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post

Wesley J. Smith
Date
September 15, 2026}

Should Scientists Decide Policies About Wealth Inequality?

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post

Wesley J. Smith
Date
September 15, 2026}

Latest Articles

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post

News
Date
September 14, 2026

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Mathematics

Tagged
A Severe Misalignment of AI in Mathematics (2026), Featured, Fields Medal}

Top Mathematicians Issue Letter Warning About a Rush to AI

_{Fields Medalists are concerned that a rush to produce answers could come at the expense of careful explanation and shared understanding} _{News
September 14, 2026

2

Artificial Intelligence, Mathematics}

Cosmic Geometry: A Celestial Blueprint

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post

Gary Smith
Date
September 14, 2026

Categorized
Artificial general intelligence (AGI), Business and Finance

Tagged
Anthropic, Blaise Agüera y Arcas, ChatGPT, ChatGPT5.6 Luna, Dario Amodei, Featured, Herbert A. Simon, Jensen Huang, Marvin Minsky, Nvidia, Okies joke and chatbots, OpenAI, Peter Norvig, Rotational Tic-Tac-Toe, Sam Altman}

Artificial General Intelligence? No, We’re Not There Yet

_{A few days ago, I retested GPT5.6 Luna with three prompts it had struggled with in the past} _{Gary Smith
September 14, 2026

11

Artificial general intelligence (AGI), Business and Finance}

Artificial General Intelligence concept visualized with a human hand presenting a glowing brain icon symbolizing advanced AI

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post

Richard W. Stevens
Date
September 14, 2026

Categorized
Economics, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Diminishing marginal value, Last traded price (economics), Mutual gains (economics), Praxeology, Scale of values (economics)}

Economics: It’s All About the Human Mind

_{What an ice-cold cola teaches about value, choice, and exchange} _{Richard W. Stevens
September 14, 2026

6

Economics, Philosophy of Mind}

Close up hand of man pushing button on vending machine for choosing a snack or drink. Small business and consumption concept.

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post

Robert J. Marks
Date
September 14, 2026

Categorized
Logic

Tagged
Emo Philips, Queens Problem (chess)}

Monday Microsofty 96: The Queens Problem

_{Can you place 8 queens on a standard 8×8 chessboard so that no queen can capture another?} _{Robert J. Marks
September 14, 2026

6

Logic}

gold queen is the leader

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post

Jeffrey Funk
Date
September 14, 2026

Categorized
Technology

Tagged
AI, Doomsday talk, IPOs, Nvidia, Revenue growth, Token prices}

“AI Doomsday” Talk Distracts Us From Lack of Revenue Growth

_{Will the bubble pop soon?} _{Jeffrey Funk
September 14, 2026

5

Technology}

Money inside shimmering bubbles floating in an uncertain financial market Large space for text in center Stock Photo with copy space

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post

News
Date
September 12, 2026

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Paleontology, Science Fiction

Tagged
Bethel McGrew, Carl Sagan (1934–1996), End of Oak Street (2026)}

Dinosaurs, Meet Carl Sagan at the End of Oak Street

_{The film was marketed as a stupid dinosaur movie. In reality, it’s a movie about marriage, cleverly disguised as a stupid dinosaur movie.} _{News
September 12, 2026

6

Arts & Culture, Paleontology, Science Fiction}

dinosaurs running through the water in front of tropical jungle.

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post

Gary Varner
Date
September 12, 2026

Categorized
Philosophy

Tagged
Audience, Philosophy, relationships, Rom-coms, Star Wars}

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review Part 12

_{It’s a philosophical position to assume that a story’s goal should be to portray events as realistic} _{Gary Varner
September 12, 2026

8

Philosophy}

Statue of the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates in Athens, Greece.

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post

Denyse O'Leary
Date
September 11, 2026

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Ethics

Tagged
Demon Core, Geoffrey Simmons, Nuclear attacks, Oppenheimer’s Demon (book 2026)}

Those Demons at the Core – a Novel

_{Dr. Geoffrey Simmons’s taut new thriller, Oppenheimer’s Demon, envisions a nuclear threat aimed at the city} _{Denyse O'Leary
September 11, 2026

5

Arts & Culture, Ethics}

Artwork of a City Hit by Meteorites Chicago disintegrates as a nuclear explosion erupts in the middle of the city Artwork of a nuclear attack, Generative AI

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post

News
Date
September 11, 2026

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Politics, Psychology

Tagged
AI panic, Anderson Cooper, Atomic Doomsday Clock, Bill Gates, Gary Marcus, Jay Richards, Jennifer Mattson, Ro Khanna, Will Knight}

AI Could Kill Us All? Yes, So Could Old Age. Take a Deep Breath…

_{Assessing the current AI hysteria includes asking “Who do all these apocalyptic claims benefit?”} _{News
September 11, 2026

5

Artificial Intelligence, Politics, Psychology}

panic attack in a man

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post

Kenneth Francis
Date
September 11, 2026

Categorized
Arts & Culture

Tagged
art, Beauty and ugly, Buildings, Installations, Materialism}

Anti-Beauty Objects Are an Assault on Our Minds

_{Whatever happened to beautiful architecture, paintings or all things artistic?} _{Kenneth Francis
September 11, 2026

8

Arts & Culture}

EU Office buildings in Brussels, Belgium

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post

Denyse O'Leary
Date
September 10, 2026

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind, Plant Mind

Tagged
4E cognitive science, Amanda Gefter, Minimal Intelligence Lab, Paco Calvo}

Unexpected: Plants Undermine Materialist Consciousness Theory?

_{Plant scientist Calvo’s critique of neuron-based theories appears not to be hippie panpsychism; he is asking hard science questions} _{Denyse O'Leary
September 10, 2026

6

Philosophy of Mind, Plant Mind}

Three pitchers of the green pitcher plant (Sarracenia oreophila) in natural habitat, Alabama, USA

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post

Denyse O'Leary
Date
September 9, 2026

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Environment, Politics

Tagged
Agence-Presse France, Amanda Marcotte, Data centers, Joel Kotkin, Judge Glock, Politicial realignment}

Data Centers Challenge Our Usual Politics — Will They Change It?

_{True, they use a lot of energy. But much of the controversy seems to suggest a shift in the political landscape} _{Denyse O'Leary
September 9, 2026

5

Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Environment, Politics}

Protesters holding yellow angry face signs.

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post

Robert J. Marks
Date
September 9, 2026

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Mathematics

Tagged
Andrew Wiles, Anthropic Claude, Featured, Fermat’s Last Theorem, Levent Alpöge, Navier–Stokes problem, Tristan Buckmaster}

What Exactly Was AI’s Breakthrough in Hard Math?

_{Claude translated an already proven theorem into a detailed computer-related derivation, which is much more difficult than, say, translating it into Cantonese} _{Robert J. Marks
September 9, 2026

5

Artificial Intelligence, Mathematics}

Close-up of computer screen displaying code at night.

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post

Richard W. Stevens
Date
September 7, 2026

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Creativity, Law

Tagged
Copyright, Copyright abolition, Featured, Lysander Spooner, Neural Basis of Creative Thought (2026), Stephan Kinsella}

Who Owns Your Mind’s Creative Work? Who Owned Dolly Parton’s?

_{The unsettling logic driving the movement to abolish copyright — and the counterargument rooted in the mind itself} _{Richard W. Stevens
September 7, 2026

7

Arts & Culture, Creativity, Law}

Composer's Block: A musician sits dejected amidst a chaotic symphony of instruments and sheet music, grappling with creative burnout.

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post

Robert J. Marks
Date
September 7, 2026

Categorized
Language, Logic

Tagged
Featured, Monday Microsofties}

Monday Microsofty 95: I Told You Her Name But …

_{You weren't listening. Getting to the core of a problem doesn’t need to involve math. Here’s one that doesn’t} _{Robert J. Marks
September 7, 2026

5

Language, Logic}

compassionate female doctor in her mid-forties, adorned in a pristine white lab coat, holding a sleek digital tablet with a caring smile gracing her lips

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post

News
Date
September 6, 2026

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Alex O’Connor, Emergence concept, Robert Lawrence Kuhn}

Former Atheist: Materialism Cannot Explain Consciousness

_{"Emergence," the claim that consciousness somehow emerged from matter, faces serious obstacles, he says} _{News
September 6, 2026

4

Philosophy of Mind}

Mind layers human consciousness and identity concept

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post

Denyse O'Leary
Date
September 5, 2026

Categorized
Evolution, Neuroscience

Tagged
Nabil Imam et al. (2026), Reptilian brain}

Not This Again?! The Lizard Brain Is Back? Wait. It’s NOT Back…

_{A useful item from Georgia Tech examines the claim that an ancient lizard brain controls our emotions} _{Denyse O'Leary
September 5, 2026

3

Evolution, Neuroscience}

A reptilians meeting - generative ai

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post

Gary Varner
Date
September 5, 2026

Categorized
Science Fiction

Tagged
Abrams, Light and dark, Maz, Star Wars, The Force}

Star Wars – The Force Awakens: Review Part 11

_{Maz is basically saying that the light and the darkness are always rising up in different forms} _{Gary Varner
September 5, 2026

7

Science Fiction}

blue sunrise, view of earth from space

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post

Peter Biles
Date
September 4, 2026

Categorized
Law, Social Media

Tagged
Andrew Garfield, Featured, Jesse Eisenberg, Jonathan Haidt, Mary Cunningham, Meta settlement (2026), Social Network (film 2010), Social Reckoning (film 2026)}

Meta to Pay Billions to Several States

_{People like Jonathan Haidt have been warning the public of social media's dangerous algorithmic power over young people for years} _{Peter Biles
September 4, 2026

2

Law, Social Media}

Teenager using a smartphone lying in bed late at night, playing games, watching videos online, and scrolling the screen. Children's screen addiction. Screen Addiction in Youth

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post

Denyse O'Leary
Date
September 3, 2026

Categorized
Peer Review, Science

Tagged
Featured, Jason Arday, Jerry Coyne, Michael Shermer, Nature (journal), Plagiarism, Steven Pinker, Wesley J. Smith, X Community Notes}

Trends: Eminent Journal Nature Gets Community-Noted (!) at X

_{The critics of its Jason Arday editorial are the very people who would once have gone to bat for Nature and similar journals} _{Denyse O'Leary
September 3, 2026

5

Peer Review, Science}

Symbol of scales

Podcast

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podcast

Angus Menuge
Date
September 2, 2026}

Angus Menuge: Powers of the Soul That Are Beyond AI

_{Type
podcast

Angus Menuge
Date
September 2, 2026}

Briefs

Fallout from the Cambridge Jason Arday debacle — was anything learned?

Type: brief; News
Date: September 13, 2026
Categorized: Media, Science
Tagged: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), David Keighley, Jason Arday, Jerry Coyne

Which students think shouting down a speaker is okay?

Type: brief; News
Date: September 9, 2026
Categorized: Censorship, Politics, Religion
Tagged: Freedom of speech, Ryan Burge, Universities

Discussion with Michael Egnor elicits wide interest among Spanish speakers

Type: brief; News
Date: September 8, 2026
Categorized: Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
Tagged: Carlos García Hernández, Featured, La mente inmortal (2026), Luján Comas

Why AI companies need to destroy rare books in particular

Type: brief; News
Date: September 8, 2026
Categorized: Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance
Tagged: Anthropic settlement, Destructive scanning, Kathryn James

Upcoming webinar on the new Catholic encyclical on AI

Type: brief; News
Date: September 8, 2026
Categorized: Artificial Intelligence, Religion
Tagged: ITEST Institute, Kevin Vallier, Magnifica Humanitas (encyclical), Pope Leo XIV, Ronald P. Loui

Ancient bacteria have communications structures like human ones

Type: brief; News
Date: September 2, 2026
Categorized: Biology, Evolution, Intelligent Design

Researchers: Cave paintings are much better seen by torchlight

Type: brief; News
Date: September 2, 2026
Categorized: Arts & Culture, Paleontology
Tagged: Ben Crair, Cave paintings, Diego Garate

Changing world: Associated Press accepts cash from interest groups

Type: brief; News
Date: August 26, 2026
Categorized: Business and Finance, Media
Tagged: Associated Press, Casey Luskin, David Bauder, Trust in media

Videos

Empty podcast studio set

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Peter Biles
Date
August 14, 2026}

Douthat Exits New York Times, Final Podcast Hosts Biohacker Bryan Johnson

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Peter Biles
Date
August 14, 2026}

Robot Women 2

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Denyse O'Leary
Date
September 21, 2022}

Science Uprising 10: Asking the Impolite Questions About AI

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post

Denyse O'Leary
Date
September 21, 2022}

Aerial view over Cupertino in Bay Area, California on a sunny day.

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News
Date
February 11, 2022}

Is It Really the End for Silicon Valley or Just a Reboot?

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post

News
Date
February 11, 2022}

Robots dancing in the park. Artificial intelligence industry in China.

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post

Heather Zeiger
Date
November 12, 2021}

COSM 2021: Kai-Fu Lee Tries His Hand at Future Casting

_{Type
post

Heather Zeiger
Date
November 12, 2021}