ArchiveArticles
Why Near-Death Experiences Are Taken More Seriously Now
Medical science can attest that a patient was actually dead, by clinical standards, during the time when an NDE is reported
Internal Meta Document Reveals Shockingly Permissive Standards
Advocates call for more safety as AI bots flood the sceneAccording to a report from Reuters, Meta, parent company of Facebook, has allowed its chatbot to flirt and have “sensual” conversations with children. Meta AI is now accessible on various Meta platforms, and age limits are essentially suggestions, not requirements. Anyone can lie about their age and create an account. Jeff Horwitz writes, These and other findings emerge from a Reuters review of the Meta document, which discusses the standards that guide its generative AI assistant, Meta AI, and chatbots available on Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, the company’s social-media platforms. Meta confirmed the document’s authenticity, but said that after receiving questions earlier this month from Reuters, the company removed portions which stated it is permissible for chatbots to flirt and engage Read More ›
Part 3: A Wren Arrives — and Ruffles Many a Feather
Dr. Wren, a cognitive scientist, identifies a problem with assuming that adding another ten thousand pigeons to the project will produce novel designs...
The Time Machine (1960): Two Meetings and One Big Flashback
In Part 1 of my four-part review of this time travel classic, I look at the 19th century novel that started the genre and the movie that followedOver the last several months, I’ve talked about time travel. Originally, I’d planned to discuss the trope in more detail — when and how to use it, when and how not to use it, and whether it was better to rely on fate as a stabilizing force in the narrative. Or is it better to play around with various paradoxes? But then I realized that no in-depth discussion about the trope would be complete without reviewing the novel and subsequent movie that started it all. The Time Machine (1895) by H.G. Wells (1866–1946) can only be described as the most notable work on time travel. In fact, Wells is often thought of as the man who invented science fiction itself. Read More ›
Is AI Truly Creative? Here Is the Ultimate Test
People use the term “creative” in different ways. We need to define it rigorously and use a test based on that agreed definition
Science Site: Is the AI Gold Rush Over? Has AI Just Plateaued?
The GPT-5 chatbot rollout has been so messy that serious questions are beginning to float above the seemingly automated hype
Only Bioethics Can Save the Planet! Really?
Some bioethicists want to include “planetary health” among the disciplines for which they propose ethical rules
Dogmatic Materialism Is a Damaging Attitude for Science
Richard Lewontin, a dogmatic materialist geneticist, seemed certain that epigenetics should be definitively rejected
Jim Acosta Interviews AI Avatar of Dead Man
The AI was a stand-in for Joaquin Oliver, a young man who was tragically killed in the Parkland High School shooting in 2018
At The Federalist: Science Is “Catching Up” to Philosophy
David Weinberg points out that traditional descriptions of the powers of our souls are remarkably like what modern neuroscience is revealing to us in the twenty-first century
Students Beware: AI Copilot Admits Errors But Won’t Correct Them
Parents and teachers must beware when students treat AI research as accurate; I myself was misled while writing this article!
Missing Brains and the “Music Model” of Consciousness
Gazzaniga and Queenan’s new model accounts for missing brain parts but it leaves out the very thing that creates the music
Monday Micro Softy 39: Astounding Sports History
A player you've never heard of played for three major league sports
Taking the Side of Science — But How Do We Know Which One It Is?
In writing that science’s materialism is absolute, Richard Lewontin wrote as one who did not grasp the fatal flaw in his absolutism
Should Caregivers Be Forced to Starve Dementia Patients to Death?
If you did such a thing to a dog, you would go to jail. When will we say, “Enough: This is too much to ask”?
Cold Calls to Touchscreens: Hal Philipp’s Entrepreneurial Journey
Philipp’s remarkable story illustrates seven core entrepreneurial principles
Part 2: Have the Superbirds Arrived? Are They Taking Over?
Dr. Avian now claims that his work with trained birds show that intelligence does not require inner models or internal representations, as formerly thought
Sound of Thunder: The Writers Are Committed to Their Story
In this final part of my review, I look at the way the writers did not flinch from the hard choices that their premise requires, which is a virtue