^{Monthly Archive}January 2023

^{Type
post

Author
Gary Varner
Date
January 7, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction

Tagged
Bortus (character in the Orville series), Dr. Finn (Orville character), Featured, Gordon Malloy (character in Orville series), Klyden (character in the Orville series), Lysella (character in Orville series), Moclans in Orville sci-fi series, Orville Season 3 Episode 10, Ty (character in Orville series)}

Orville Episode 10: You’ve Heard of Saving the Best for Last?

_{Well, decide for yourself if you think that’s what the writers did. Some of us would describe it in other terms} _{Gary Varner

January 7, 2023

6

Arts & Culture, Science Fiction}

Episode 10 fails for many reasons, but it’s not the kind of terrible where the episode is so bad you can throw your head back and laugh. Not only is it bad; it’s boring. Mixed up scenes, clunky dialog, and pretentious diatribes spread through the story. The story opens with Moclans Bortus and Klyden renewing their vows. Apparently, the all-male Moclans have a ritual where they essentially run naked through the forest until the “dominate male” catches the “submissive male” and . . . I’ll let you use your imagination. This scene is painful to watch. Two overweight men shamble through the woods in G-strings and the viewer is subjected to every horrendous second. I’m sure you’re wondering, “what kind Read More ›

Aerial view of Frankenstein Castle in southern Hesse, Germany

^{Type
post

Author
Peter Biles
Date
January 7, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Transhumanism

Tagged
Andrew Klavan, Arts & Culture, Daily Wire, Featured, Frankenstein, Literature, Machines, Mary Shelley, Materialism, Romanticism, science, Science fiction, transhumanism, Wordsworth}

The Prophecies of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

_{Andrew Klavan explores the world of the Romantics in new book and finds special insight in Shelley’s classic horror story} _{Peter Biles

January 7, 2023

4

Arts & Culture, Transhumanism}

Andrew Klavan, acclaimed novelist and host of the Andrew Klavan Show at the Daily Wire, wrote a book about his profound encounters with the Romantics of the 19th century, called The Truth and Beauty: How the Lives and Works of England’s Greatest Poets Point the Way to a Deeper Understanding of the Words of Jesus. The Romantics include literary figures like Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Wordsworth, and John Keats. While it’s common to highlight the Romantics’ veneration of nature, they were also living in the throes of the Enlightenment, in which atheistic materialism was becoming a minority alternative to theism. Klavan writes, “The wonderful success of science at explaining the material world threatens to create in scientists a bias towards Read More ›

Military bomb defusing robot with shepherd dog in the background.

^{Type
post

Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
January 6, 2023

Categorized
Law, Politics, Robotics

Tagged
Constitutional carry, Dallas, David Brown, Featured, Hoplophobia, Killer robots, Killer robots in law enforcement, San Francisco, Second Amendment}

How San Francisco’s Gun Fears Prevented Lifesaving Innovation

_{Killer robots in law enforcement would reduce the death toll but they are a bridge too far for many politicians} _{Robert J. Marks

January 6, 2023

4

Law, Politics, Robotics}

In November, 2022, San Francisco voted to allow police to deploy killer robots. Less than a month later, the city reversed their decision. Initially, in an 8-3 vote, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors allowed law enforcement to use robots “as a deadly force option when risk of loss of life to members of the public or officers is imminent and outweighs any other force option available to SFPD.” Sounds like reasonable policy, but protestors held up “NO KILLER ROBOTS!” signs at City Hall and the Board of Supervisors caved. This may be a case of hoplophobia, an irrational fear of firearms. So-called “killer robots” can deploy explosives to allow passage through blockaded doors or, in extreme situations, kill those who put innocent Read More ›

Human brain neuronal stimulation or activity with the close-up of a neuron cell 3D rendering illustration. Neuroscience, neurology, medicine, science, cognition, intelligence, psychology concepts.

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
January 6, 2023

Categorized
Medicine and Health, Neuroscience

Tagged
Andrew Knox, Batten disease, Dementia in children, Featured, neuroplasticity, Robert J. Marks, Strokes in children}

What Is Happening When Children Have Strokes or Dementia Signs?

_{Many children who would have died 40 years ago can live a relatively full life today but they are at risk of stroke or dementia} _{News

January 6, 2023

8

Medicine and Health, Neuroscience}

In the podcast released yesterday, Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks interviewed pediatric neurologist Dr. Andrew Knox from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health on “Ways the brain can break” (#220, January 5, 2023). What follows reflects Part 2 of the discussion. Here’s Part 1: How our brains are — and aren’t — like computers. https://mindmatters.ai/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/Mind-Matters-220-Andrew-Knox-Episode-1.mp3 This portion begins at roughly 10:50 min. A partial transcript and notes, and Additional Resources follow. Andrew Knox: If you had a stroke in what we would call a primary motor area, an area with the connections to motor pathways through the rest of the body — all of those patients might lose the ability to move their arm Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
January 6, 2023

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture, Creativity

Tagged
chatbots, Corinne Purtill, humor, Jokes, Ken Francis, News, Wokeness}

Can a Chatbot Tell Jokes. Yes, If They Are Stale

_{As chatbots sort through the vast mass of online information for appropriate responses to questions, jokes were bound to come up} _{News

January 6, 2023

3

Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture, Creativity}

Corinne Purtill reported a year ago at Time Magazine on Jon the Robot, a chatbot that was programmed to learn to tell stand-up comedy jokes: An experiment billed as a comedy act, Jon is the brainchild of Naomi Fitter, an assistant professor in the School of Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at Oregon State University. The tiny android performs when a handler (who must also hold the mic) presses a button, then tells the same jokes in the same order, like a grizzled veteran comic at a down-market Vegas casino. Corinne Purtill, “Artificial Intelligence Can Now Craft Original Jokes—And That’s No Laughing Matter” at Time 2030 (January 4, 2022) But the robot’s act is more human than it might first Read More ›

Neuron cells sending electrical chemical signals. 3d illustration .

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
January 5, 2023

Categorized
Medicine and Health, Neuroscience

Tagged
Andrew Knox, Brain vs. computer, Featured, Neural networks, Neurons, Robert J. Marks, Strokes, Strokes in childhood}

How Our Brains Are — and Aren’t — Like Computers

_{Pediatric neurologist Andrew Knox looks at the topic with computer engineer Robert J. Marks} _{News

January 5, 2023

9

Medicine and Health, Neuroscience}

In the podcast released today, Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks interviewed pediatric neurologist Dr. Andrew Knox from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health on “Ways the brain can break” (#220, January 5, 2023): The brain is a marvelous organ still not understood. Artificial neural networks are supposed to be a simulation of the human brain. But comparing the brain to an artificial neural network is like comparing the human heart to a pump handle. Dr. Andrew Knox and Dr. Robert J. Marks discuss the brain, aging, and neurology. https://mindmatters.ai/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/Mind-Matters-220-Andrew-Knox-Episode-1.mp3 This portion begins at 00:04 min. A partial transcript and Additional Resources follow. Robert J. Marks: I got to ask you kind of a personal Read More ›

An internet email symbol and a group of people are separated by a red prohibitory symbol No. restrictions on access to the global Internet. Censorship. Information control, society isolation policy

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
January 5, 2023

Categorized
Censorship, Social Media

Tagged
Benjamin Weingarten, Facebook, Facebook censorship, Glenn Greenwald, Government management of news, Matt Taibbi, TikTok, Twitter files 11, Twitter files 12}

Big Tech Censorship Goes Well Beyond Twitter

_{Big Tech media is not, in itself, an answer to current legacy mainstream media if we would like to know information that our betters would prefer that we didn't} _{Denyse O'Leary

January 5, 2023

6

Censorship, Social Media}

The big news (if it is even news) is that most Big Tech media are involved in censorship of opinions disapproved by the governing elite. Elon Musk has certainly shone a light by buying Twitter and releasing the house files to independent journalists. Legacy media entities still refuse to cover the story seriously (probably because they cannot take inevitable further blows to their relevance, numbers, or prestige) First, some updates on the Twitter Files via indie journalist Matt Taibbi: Twitter files 11 deals with — among other things — the way Twitter was pressured in 2016 by political friends, then out of power, to discover that there was Russian involvement in the outcome of the U.S. 2016 election. Twitter was Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Peter Biles
Date
January 4, 2023

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence

Tagged
Artificial Intelligence, chatbots, ChatGPT, Creativity, education, essay, higher education, human brain, mind, professor, Technology, Wall Street Journal, Writing}

Students Depend on ChatGPT for Final Exams

_{The new bot will only get better from here, but it won’t help students become better thinkers} _{Peter Biles

January 4, 2023

4

Artificial Intelligence}

ChatGPT, OpenAI’s new artificial intelligence chatbot, has made headlines for over a month now, and for good reason. It’s an advanced bot designed to problem solve. It can “converse” with people on a range of topics. A problem for us to solve now is how to deal with ChatGPT’s invasion into the sphere of education. Students report using ChatGPT on final exams and papers according to a recent write-up from The College Fix. One College of Staten Island student used the bot on both final exams and “got As on both.” He commented that “half the kids in my class used it.” The student also noted that he used the chatbot to complete a multiple-choice exam, on which he got Read More ›

tv studio camera recording male reporter or anchorman. Live broadcasting

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
January 4, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Business and Finance, Politics

Tagged
Alex Weprin, Andy Matrix, Caitlin Huston, Comic books decline, Don Surber, George Winslow, Hollywood decline (2022), Samba TV’s State of Viewership report, Television viewership decline, Woke culture, Woke culture and arts decline}

Trend: Steeper Decline in TV, Hollywood — and Comic Books

_{It’s as if the public has simply lost the sense that the media represent the average watcher or reader — and that’s probably true in many cases} _{News

January 4, 2023

5

Arts & Culture, Business and Finance, Politics}

We’ve already noted the significant decline in circulation and collapse of trust in major newspapers (online or in print). But 2022 reported steep declines in other media as well. From the entertainment industry’s Variety mag, we learn that while there were some winners in TV — ESPN, crime shows, and digi-nets — most TV of all types continued to see losses, many of them double-digit losses. As commentator Don Surber noted, “The drop in viewers came despite an Olympics, a popular war and a federal election.” The drop in viewers is reflected in an overall drop in revenue, projected to continue. A highlight from Samba TV’s State of Viewership report: Gen Z and millennials are driving the shift away from Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
January 4, 2023

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Closer to Truth (video series), Conscious realism, Consciousness, Donald Hoffman, Evolution, Idealism, Objective reality, Robert Lawrence Kuhn}

Brain Scientist: Consciousness Didn’t Evolve. It Creates Evolution

_{With a tremor in his voice, Donald Hoffman tells Robert Lawrence Kuhn that even the Big Bang must be understood in a universe where consciousness is fundamental} _{Denyse O'Leary

January 4, 2023

10

Philosophy of Mind}

In a recent episode of Closer to Truth, Robert Lawrence Kuhn interviewed University of California cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman on a challenging topic, “Why did consciousness emerge? (7:41 min, December 10, 2022): There was a time when there was no consciousness in our universe. Now there is. What caused consciousness to emerge? Did consciousness develop in the same way that, say, the liver or the eye developed, by random mutation and fitness selection during evolution? Inner experience seems to be radically different from anything else. Are we fooling ourselves? Donald Hoffman is the author of Visual Intelligence: How We Create What We See and coauthor of Observer Mechanics: A Formal Theory Of Perception (Norton, 2000) A partial transcript and some Read More ›

intellectual property. light bulb with chain

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
January 3, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Censorship, Education, Science

Tagged
Chicago Principles, College Fix blog, Free Expression Statement at MIT, Hakeem Oluseyi, Kaytlin Reedy-Rogier, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), University students and censorship}

MIT Takes Steps Toward Meaningful Free Expression

_{The most significant line: "We cannot prohibit speech that some experience as offensive or injurious"} _{News

January 3, 2023

6

Arts & Culture, Censorship, Education, Science}

Anyone familiar with the campus scene today knows that many disciplines are dedicated to anything but open inquiry. The academy is full of true stories about Canceled profs and students. Not “failed” students and profs, notice, but Canceled. Massachusetts Institute Of Technology (the famous MIT) appears to be breaking the mold by adopting free speech principles by a faculty senate vote of 98 to 52. A key passage: At the intersection of the ideal of free expression and MIT community values lies the expectation of a collegial and respectful learning and working environment. We cannot prohibit speech that some experience as offensive or injurious. At the same time, MIT deeply values civility, mutual respect, and uninhibited, wide-open debate. In fostering Read More ›

Cat hunter with a caught mouse in her mouth

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
January 3, 2023

Categorized
Ethics, Law, Natural Intelligence

Tagged
Animal moral responsibility claims, Animal rights activism, Ed Simon, Human rights and animal rights movement, Miha Krofel, Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP), Raegan Scharfetter, Steven Wise}

Can Animals Be Held Criminally Responsible for Their Acts?

_{While the idea is handled provocatively in philosophy literature, in practice, animals are envisioned as plaintiffs, not defendants, in animal rights cases} _{Denyse O'Leary

January 3, 2023

7

Ethics, Law, Natural Intelligence}

In an essay at Psyche, Ed Simon, a journalist who investigates the eclectic, looks at the history/mythology of trying animals like pigs and rats for criminal offenses. He sees an opportunity there for animal rights activism: Dismissing animal trials as just another backwards practice of a primitive time is to our intellectual detriment, not only because it imposes a pernicious presentism on the past, but also because it’s worth considering whether or not the broader implications of such a ritual don’t have something to tell us about different ways of understanding nonhuman consciousness, and the rights that our fellow creatures deserve. From our metaphysics, then, can come our ethics, and from our ethics can derive politics and law. There need Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
January 2, 2023

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Psychology, Relationships

Tagged
Chatbots (history), Chatbots (how they work), Eliza effect, Gary Smith, GPT-3 (Gary Smith's tests)}

Let’s Call AI What It Really Is: Faux Intelligence

_{Gary Smith at Salon: While GPT-3 can string words together in convincing ways, it has no idea what the words mean} _{News

January 2, 2023

3

Artificial Intelligence, Psychology, Relationships}

Pomona College business and investments prof Gary Smith warns Salon readers not to be too gullible about what human-sounding chatbots really amount to. He notes that in the 1960s, a pioneer chatbot called ELIZA convinced many psychiatric patients that they were interacting with a real psychiatrist. The machine simply repeated back their statements as questions, a popular psychiatric technique at the time because it generated more and more discussion — from the patient. The patients’ belief that they were interacting with a human being came to be called the Eliza effect. Has much changed? If you play around with GPT-3 (and I encourage you to do so) your initial response is likely to be astonishment — a full-blown Eliza effect. Read More ›

Female doctor does transcranial magnetic stimulation the man with a broken spine. Physiotherapy. Electrotherapeutic treatment of the back.

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
January 1, 2023

Categorized
Neuroscience, Religion

Tagged
Joel Furches, Likert Scale, Neurotheology, p-hacking, P-values, Posterior medial frontal cortex (PmFC), Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), William M. Briggs}

Recalling the Hype Around Magnets That “End Belief in God”…

_{The 2015 claim that transcranial magnetic stimulation reduced religious belief in research subjects received wide publicity via a then-active New Atheist movement} _{News

January 1, 2023

5

Neuroscience, Religion}

Researcher Joel Furches, whose area of specialty is religious deconversion, recalls the 2015 hype around magnets and God: In 2015, religious and atheist forums exploded with news of an experiment performed out at the University of California. Social media feeds were splashed with headlines like “Directing Magnetic Energy Into The Brian Can Reduce Belief In God,” “Scientists reduce belief in God by shutting down the brain’s medial frontal cortex,” and the far more on-the-nose “Scientists Claim Zapping Brains with Magnets Can Treat Belief in God”. Joel Furches, “Magnets, the Human Brain, and God” at Patheos (December 19, 2022) The New Atheist movement was pretty strong at that time (it did not become the godlessness that failed until a few years Read More ›

zen garden meditation stone background with stone and lines in sand for relaxation balance and harmony spirituality or spa wellness

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
January 1, 2023

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind, Science

Tagged
Closer to Truth (video series), Consciousness, Consciousness as immaterial, David Chalmers, David Chalmers on dualism, Dualism, Panpsychism, Robert Lawrence Kuhn, soul, Soul in Chalmers' view}

Philosopher: I Accept Dualism But Don’t Believe in the Soul

_{David Chalmers, whose background is in physics, talks to Robert Lawrence Kuhn at Closer to Truth about his struggle to accept that the mind is immaterial} _{Denyse O'Leary

January 1, 2023

10

Philosophy of Mind, Science}

David Chalmers, the New York University philosopher who coined the term “Hard Problem of Consciousness” was willing to take the risk of openly identifying as a dualist — that is, he believes that, on evidence, the human mind is immaterial. On that view, widely accepted worldwide, the human being has a dual nature: a material body and an immaterial mind. But Chalmers draws the line at believing in the existence of a soul. Here is his discussion at Closer to Truth with Robert Lawrence Kuhn, “Is the ‘Soul’ Immortal?” (May 4, 2021, 9:06 min): The claim that human beings have or are an ‘immortal soul’ goes back to the ancient Greeks, if not further. In a pre-scientific world, it would Read More ›

Hand in a white glove pulling curtain away

^{Type
post

Author
Nathan Jacobson
Date
January 1, 2023

Categorized
Censorship, Social Media

Tagged
bias, censorship, Fact checking, fake news, Google, Google search algorithms (bias), journalism, mob psychology, RankBrain, reliability, search engines, The Anointed, The Trust Project}

Google: Rank Censorship Behind the Scenes

_{We live under a state of highly sophisticated and ubiquitous suppression of disfavored voices} _{Nathan Jacobson

January 1, 2023

10

Censorship, Social Media}

One year ago today (January 1st, 2022) we saw behind the curtain at Google. With vast information scattered across a billion websites, whoever controls the search algorithm largely controls information. And if Google.com were a stage, the spotlight is centered squarely on the first result, with some ambient light spilling onto a few supporting roles. The second page results are essentially extras, unlikely to catch the attention of the audience at all. About 25% of web searchers click that first result. Another 50% follow one of the next half-dozen. A scant 6% will ever make it to the second page.* If your breaking news, breakthrough product, or bold opinion piece isn’t in a starring role on that first page, it will languish Read More ›