Mind Matters | Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

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News
Date
October 17, 2021

Categorized
Ethics, Philosophy, Science

Tagged
Arjuna Das, Featured, Matt Dillahunty, Michael Egnor, Nominalism, Realism, Theology Unleashed}

10: Christian Egnor and Atheist Dillahunty Now Take Questions…

_{For example, “ What is Mr. Egnor’s best evidence of any god that would make me believe?”} _{News
October 17, 2021

14

Ethics, Philosophy, Science}

In the “Does God exist?” debate between theist neurosurgeon Michael Egnor and atheist broadcaster Matt Dillahunty (September 17, 2021), the debaters get questions from the audience. Readers may recall that the debate opened with Egnor explaining why, as former atheist, he became a theist. Then Dillahunty explained why, as a former theist, he became an atheist. Michael Egnor then made his opening argument, offering ten proofs for the existence of God. Matt Dillahunty responded in his own opening argument that the propositions were all unfalsifiable. When, in Section 4, it was Egnor’s turn to rebut Dillahunty, Dillahunty was not easily able to recall Aquinas’s First Way (the first logical argument for the existence of God). Then, turning to the origin Read More ›

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News
Date
October 16, 2021

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science

Tagged
Science fiction, Stephen King}

What if the Rescue is the Worst Part? — Sci-Fi Saturday

_{Crashed spaceship crew members find themselves on a desert planet with some very strange features} _{News
October 16, 2021

22

Arts & Culture, Science}

“Beachworld” at DUST by Jackie Perez (September 20, 2021, 14:00 min) Beachworld is an adaptation of a Stephen King’s short story as part of his Dollar Baby program. Lieutenant Shapiro’s ship is destroyed in a crash on a deserted desert planet covered in sand dunes. As she begins to understand the severity of her situation, she sets out to discover other survivors and formulate a rescue plan. Her crewmate Rand is alive, but spellbound by his new surroundings. It’s up to her alone to figure out how to get back home. She finds their ship’s emergency beacon, and an unsavory salvage crew answers their distress call. Ultimately, their rescue comes too late as Shapiro has succumbed to the planet’s hypnotizing Read More ›

collection of alien planets in front of the Milky Way galaxy, nearby exoplanets

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News
Date
October 16, 2021

Categorized
Philosophy, Science

Tagged
Copernican Principle, Exoplanets, James Webb Telescope, Marcelo Gleiser}

Physicist: Copernican Principle Doesn’t Make Earth Insignificant

_{That, Marcelo Gleiser says, is a philosophical attitude, unrelated to the science} _{News
October 16, 2021

4

Philosophy, Science}

Theoretical physicist Marcelo Gleiser, author of The Island of Knowledge (2014) offers some thoughts on what the Copernican Principle means and doesn’t mean about Earth’s status as a planet — whether Earth is a special place or a pale blue dot. He has no objection to the Copernican Principle (“a cornerstone of astronomy”) as such. The problem, he points out, is what happened next: Copernicus famously proposed that Earth was not the center of the universe; the sun was. The Earth, he suggested, was just another planet orbiting the sun like Mars or Jupiter… The principle, as understood today, is usually stated as, “Earth is an ordinary planet, and we, human observers, are ordinary too.” There is nothing special about Read More ›

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News
Date
October 16, 2021

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Philosophy

Tagged
Chukwudi Iwuji, Extent (film), Kaitlyn Raymond, Marcus Henderson, Science fiction}

An Inventor Discovers the Curse of Immortality – Sci-Fi Saturday

_{What happens when he makes others immortal in this world but not himself?} _{News
October 16, 2021

22

Arts & Culture, Philosophy}

“Extent” at DUST by Paul Draper (August 9, 2021, 12:43 min) Time stands still as two old friends attempt to grapple with a question that defines their very existence. If you could live forever, would you? Review: The film uses chess as a metaphor that deepens as the story progresses. Edward (Marcus Henderson), a famous inventor, became involved with a woman who sounds unpleasant from the get-go (Ann, played by Kaitlyn Raymond). I t all ends badly, of course: “I love how diabolical you are.” – Edward. Checkmate. Edward seeks comfort afterward from alcohol and secondly from his friend Alexander (Chukwudi Iwuji) and the two get to talking about life, death, and all that. Then we discover an astonishing fact Read More ›

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News
Date
October 16, 2021

Categorized
Science}

Just Announced: Strange Signals From the Galaxy’s Center

_{Astronomers: “The brightness of the object also varies dramatically, by a factor of 100, and the signal switches on and off apparently at random. We’ve never seen anything like it.”} _{News
October 16, 2021

4

Science}

“Strange radio waves emerge from direction of the galactic centre”? Yes, it sounds like the opening of a trailer for a sci-fi film. But it is actually a media release from last week from the University of Sydney in Australia: Astronomers have discovered unusual signals coming from the direction of the Milky Way’s centre. The radio waves fit no currently understood pattern of variable radio source and could suggest a new class of stellar object. “The strangest property of this new signal is that it is has a very high polarisation. This means its light oscillates in only one direction, but that direction rotates with time,” said Ziteng Wang, lead author of the new study and a PhD student in Read More ›

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News
Date
October 15, 2021

Categorized
Ethics, Philosophy, Religion

Tagged
Atheism, Atheism (and ethics), Dalai Lama, Featured, Matt Dillahunty, Michael Egnor, Theology Unleashed}

9. Michael Egnor Explains Why Matt Dillahunty Is Not an Atheist

_{Not really, anyway, Egnor insists, because he keeps invoking a moral standard that can’t exist if materialist atheism is true} _{News
October 15, 2021

13

Ethics, Philosophy, Religion}

In the “Does God exist?” debate between theist neurosurgeon Michael Egnor and atheist broadcaster Matt Dillahunty (September 17, 2021), we find Egnor questioning Dillahunty’s atheism. Readers may recall that the debate opened with Egnor explaining why, as former atheist, he became a theist. Then Dillahunty explained why, as a former theist, he became an atheist. Michael Egnor then made his opening argument, offering ten proofs for the existence of God. Matt Dillahunty responded in his own opening argument that the propositions were all unfalsifiable. When, in Section 4, it was Egnor’s turn to rebut Dillahunty, Dillahunty was not easily able to recall Aquinas’s First Way (the first logical argument for the existence of God). Then, turning to the origin of Read More ›

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News
Date
October 15, 2021

Categorized
Information Theory, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Global Workspace Theory (GWT), Integrated Information Theory (IIT and panpsychism), Integrated Information Theory (IIT)}

GWT: A Leading Consciousness Theory Depends on Information Theory

_{Not mechanism. If Global Workspace Theory (GWT) is a good approach to consciousness, there is no “consciousness spot” in the brain.} _{News
October 15, 2021

8

Information Theory, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind}

Recently, we have looked at the Integrated Information Theory (IIT) of human consciousness, as set out by well-known Allen Institute neuroscientist Christof Koch. Another leading contender (and rival) is Global Workspace Theory (GWT) — it pictures the brain as an orchestra with many conductors. IIT is panpsychist in orientation (the universe participates in consciousness; human consciousness is the most highly developed instance) whereas GWT uses information theory to capture an image of consciousness via observations of the brain at work. A recent essay in Psyche by two GWT proponents, Morten L. Kringelbach and Gustav Deco, introduces us to GWT: … given the distributed nature of the brain hierarchy, there is unlikely to be just a single ‘conductor’. Instead, in 1988 Read More ›

creative idea.Concept of idea and innovation

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News
Date
October 14, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Events, Philosophy

Tagged
COSM 2021, Discovery Institute (mission), Featured}

Meet Your Host for COSM 2021, Steve Buri

_{Buri, President of Discovery Institute, has been active in Washington public life for decades and looks forward to hosting thoughtful high tech pioneers} _{News
October 14, 2021

5

Artificial Intelligence, Events, Philosophy}

Attendees of COSM 2021 (November 10–11), where Big Tech pioneers will sit down together to think and talk about where AI is going, will have as their hos, Steve Buri. Buri, President of Discovery Institute since 2011, will be emceeing and moderating throughout, with the goal of sharing the mission of Discovery Institute as it relates to an understanding of natural and artificial intelligence. A couple of things about Steve: He was born and raised in the small farming community of Colfax, Washington, and graduated from Washington State University with a double major in political science and criminal justice in 1994. After graduation, he was active in local politics, serving as senior staff member to U.S. Senator Slade Gorton (R-WA) Read More ›

Group of demonstrators on road, young people from different culture and race fight for climate change - Global warming and enviroment concept - Focus on banners

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Caitlin Cory
Date
October 14, 2021

Categorized
Censorship, Environment, Social Media

Tagged
Climate change, Google, Joe Biden, Mark Zuckerberg, Section 230, YouTube}

Google and YouTube Demonetize Climate Change Skeptics

_{But how did Google acquire the authority to declare what is "misinformation" or "scientific consensus"?} _{Caitlin Cory
October 14, 2021

4

Censorship, Environment, Social Media}

The Google Ads team announced a new policy last week banning the monetization of content critical of a current consensus around climate change. Beginning in November, both Google and YouTube will: …prohibit ads for, and monetization of, content that contradicts well-established scientific consensus around the existence and causes of climate change. This includes content referring to climate change as a hoax or a scam, claims denying that long-term trends show the global climate is warming, and claims denying that greenhouse gas emissions or human activity contribute to climate change. Google Ads team, “Updating our ads and monetization policies on climate change,” posted October 7, 2021 This does not mean that Google and YouTube will block any and all content that denies Read More ›

Two chess knights facing away from each other

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News
Date
October 13, 2021

Categorized
Ethics, Philosophy

Tagged
Abolition of Man (book), Featured, Matt Dillahunty, Michael Egnor, Theology Unleashed}

8. Does Morality Really Exist? If So, Does It Come From God?

_{Matt Dillahunty now challenges Michael Egnor: There is no way to know whether a moral doctrine represents any reality apart from belief} _{News
October 13, 2021

16

Ethics, Philosophy}

In the “Does God exist?” debate between theist neurosurgeon Michael Egnor and atheist broadcaster Matt Dillahunty (September 17, 2021), the debaters are now talking about where moral precepts come from. Readers may recall that the debate opened with Egnor explaining why, as former atheist, he became a theist. Then Dillahunty explained why, as a former theist, he became an atheist. Michael Egnor then made his opening argument, offering ten proofs for the existence of God. Matt Dillahunty responded in his own opening argument that the propositions were all unfalsifiable. When, in Section 4, it was Egnor’s turn to rebut Dillahunty, Dillahunty was not easily able to recall Aquinas’s First Way (the first logical argument for the existence of God). Then, Read More ›

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News
Date
October 13, 2021

Categorized
Medicine and Health, Neuroscience}

Nobel Prize Medicine Win Solves a Mystery in Hot, Cold Sensing

_{Researchers discovered the exact path by which chili peppers feel “hot” and mints feel “cold” when the signals reach our brains.} _{News
October 13, 2021

7

Medicine and Health, Neuroscience}

The 2021 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine was awarded to David Julius of the University of California, San Francisco, and Ardem Patapoutian of Scripps Research in La Jolla, California, for “for their discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch.” It’s been a longstanding mystery why chili peppers feel hot to the taste: In order to truly appreciate Dr. Julius’ discovery, a bit of context may be in order. Unless you build up tolerance, eating spicy foods is painful. Peppers and wasabi give off a strange sensation that your mouth is on fire, and for the longest time researchers simply couldn’t figure out why this was the case. Failing to pinpoint any immediate benefits of this response, they speculated it Read More ›

workplace of lawyer business in office. wooden gavel , contact papers ,justice and law ,attorney, court judge,burden of proof.

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Michael Egnor
Date
October 12, 2021

Categorized
Philosophy, Science

Tagged
Featured, Matt Dillahunty}

Theists vs. Atheists: Which Group Has the Burden of Proof?

_{Because Dillahunty refuses to debate me again, I’ll address his claim that atheists have no burden of proof in the debate over God’s existence in this post} _{Michael Egnor
October 12, 2021

7

Philosophy, Science}

A common refrain from those atheists who are willing to debate theists is that theists, not atheists, have the burden of proof in the debate over God’s existence. Internet atheist Matt Dillahunty made this claim in our recent debate. Regrettably, it looks doubtful that Dillahunty and I will debate again. He didn’t fare well—he had no real understanding of any of the ten classical proofs of God’s existence— and in the wake of his confused and rambling attempts at exculpation he refuses to debate me again. His reluctance is understandable—he was clearly shaken by the revelation that his rejection of the proofs of God’s existence isn’t based on any actual understanding on his part of the arguments. Like all other Read More ›

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Eric Holloway
Date
October 12, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Relationships

Tagged
Featured, Language learning}

Is GPT-3 the “Reborn Doll” of Artificial Intelligence?

_{Unlike the reality doll collectors, GPT-3 engineers truly believe that scaling up the model size will suddenly cause GPT-3 to think and talk like a real human} _{Eric Holloway
October 12, 2021

5

Artificial Intelligence, Relationships}

There is a worldwide community that collects “reborn dolls.” These dolls look almost like real babies. Look again, closely, at the featured photo above… They help some collectors cope with the loss of a child. For others, it fulfills their sense of self image. And yet others just see them as a quirky hobby. Regardless of how much the baby dolls mimic the appearance of real dolls, the dolls will forever remain copies because the external appearances are not generated by biological processes. For the collectors, this is a feature, not a bug. They enjoy the appearance of a baby without the real life difficulties of raising a real person. As one collector comments, her doll “doesn’t turn into a Read More ›

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Heather Zeiger
Date
October 12, 2021

Categorized
Business and Finance, Global Technology

Tagged
China, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), common prosperity, Jack Ma, Kai Strittmatter, Marxism, Massimo Introvigne, Soviet Union, We Have Been Harmonized (book), Xi Jinping}

Xi Jinping’s Ruthless March Toward “Common Prosperity”

_{Part II: The roots of Xi Jinping's "common prosperity" vision and why he's making changes to China's technology sector now} _{Heather Zeiger
October 12, 2021

7

Business and Finance, Global Technology}

In my previous article we looked at the sweeping crackdown of China’s technology sector, beginning with Jack Ma and Ant Financial, and how this is part of Xi Jinping’s goal of “common prosperity.” While corruption and debt excesses needed to be reined in and people wanted better data privacy protections, Xi’s common prosperity initiative is also about concentrating power, redistributing wealth, and controlling the unpredictable market. In this article we’ll look at the roots of common prosperity and why analysts believe Xi is making these changes now. Appealing to the Working Class In his speech celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party in China, Xi said that the Party will make “notable and substantive progress toward achieving well-rounded human Read More ›

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News
Date
October 11, 2021

Categorized
Mathematics, Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Andreas Nieder, Brian Butterworth, Pythagorean theorem}

Are Our Neurons Really Wired for Numbers?

_{Some neuroscientists say they have shown hardwiring in studies of crows and macaques but others say no, these life forms differ too much} _{News
October 11, 2021

6

Mathematics, Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind}

University College London cognitive neuroscientist Brian Butterworth, author of a forthcoming book, Can fish count? (Basic Books, 2022), reckons that, one way or another, in a modern urban society, we process about 16,000 numbers in an average day. Numbers create conceptual relationships between vastly different things. From the publisher’s introduction to his book, we learn, “The philosopher Bertrand Russell once observed that realizing that a pair of apples and the passage of two days could somehow both be represented by the concept we call “two” was one of the most astonishing discoveries anyone had ever made.” At The Scientist, Catherine Offord, discussing his work, offers a critical distinction between estimations of quantity and actual counting: “Our perception of quantity, separate Read More ›

Tomb of bare-knuckle fighter Tom Sayer on Highgate Cemetery

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Denyse O'Leary
Date
October 11, 2021

Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Death (as abstraction), Death (playing possum), Grief (in animals), Human exceptionalism}

A Philosopher Simply Invents Animals’ Concept of Death

_{She demands that we accept her invention so we can “rethink” human exceptionalism, and the “disrespect for the natural world that comes with it”} _{Denyse O'Leary
October 11, 2021

10

Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind}

Last week I talked about the question of whether primate mothers who carry dead infants around understand the concept of death. The scientists conducting the research sounded commendably cautious in the conclusions they drew. Not everyone follows their lead in this. Susana Monsó, professor of philosophy at UNED (Madrid) is the author of La zarigüeya de Schrödinger (Schrödinger’s Possum), “ a book on how animals experience and understand death,” and she dispenses with such caution. Her subtitle is “Having a concept of death, far from being a uniquely human feat, is a fairly common trait in the animal kingdom.” Yet she falls far short of demonstrating that. Her essay is a classic on what happens when we seek simply to Read More ›

Bright light Developer programming and coding technology. Website design Safety of tahe social world Cyberspace concept.

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Jonathan Bartlett
Date
October 11, 2021

Categorized
Programming}

Code Debt is not Real Debt

_{Equating code debt with monetary debt can lead to strategic technology mistakes} _{Jonathan Bartlett
October 11, 2021

5

Programming}

The term “code debt” in computer programming refers to the idea that certain decisions in writing computer code will lead to future consequences which have to be dealt with. By saving time now, the programmer is setting himself up for the need to take more time later. In other words, he is “borrowing” from the future. While this metaphor is helpful to use in many situations, there are some significant differences between code debt and real debt, and those differences need to be included more often in software development discussions. First, for those who are not familiar with the concept of code debt, let me give a simplified example. Let’s say that I need to deliver a project next week, Read More ›

Starfield in deep space many light years far from the Earth. Elements of this image furnished by NASA

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News
Date
October 10, 2021

Categorized
Philosophy, Religion, Science

Tagged
Antony Flew, Featured, Fine tuning (universe), Ola Hössjer, Robert J. Marks, There is a God (book)}

If Extraterrestrials Didn’t Fine Tune Earth, Maybe There Is a God

_{In the face of a grab bag of ideas like creation by ETs or countless universes (some run by cats), why does the idea of a Creator seem far out?} _{News
October 10, 2021

14

Philosophy, Religion, Science}

Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks has been doing a series of podcasts with Swedish mathematician Ola Hössjer, and Colombian biostatistician Daniel Díaz in connection with a recent co-authored paper on the fine-tuning of the universe for life in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics. In the first portion of this episode, podcast 153, “Why is there fine-tuning everywhere?” they look at whether life was seeded in our universe by advanced life forms (directed panspermia), as advocated by some prominent scientists. In the second portion, they discuss the view — again, held by prominent science figures — that our universe is an advanced computer sim. In the third segment, they tackle the idea that there is nothing to Read More ›

Giraffe looking through a plane's window

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post

Michael Egnor
Date
October 10, 2021

Categorized
Philosophy

Tagged
Abduction, Argument from personal incredulity (re God), Featured, Matt Dillahunty, Theology Unleashed}

Atheist Claims About Logical Fallacies Often Just Mean: Shut Up!

_{In the recent debate, Matt Dillahunty accuses theists of “the fallacy of the argument from personal incredulity” because we examine his claims and find them incredible} _{Michael Egnor
October 10, 2021

8

Philosophy}

What does atheist Matt Dillahunty mean when he accuses theists of “the fallacy of the argument from personal incredulity”? Atheist rhetoric is a mish mash of ignorance, denial and pretense, often mingled with explicit or implicit efforts at censorship. Atheists travel in herds—contrary to their own inflated sense of their ‘freethought’ and ‘skepticism’, they are the most gullible idealogues. In debate with atheists, specific themes show up again and again, and atheist accusation of ‘the fallacy of the argument from personal incredulity’ is among the most common, usually aimed at Christians who challenge atheist arguments. Matt Dillahunty invoked ‘the fallacy of the argument from personal incredulity’ in our recent debate. It’s worthwhile examining what this ‘fallacy’ is and why atheists Read More ›

Sheep Cloning. Two identical sheep standing in a field. Photoshopped Dolly the Sheep.

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post

News
Date
October 9, 2021

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science

Tagged
Cloning, Science fiction}

What If Cloning Were As Easy As Shopping? – Sci-fi Saturday

_{A couple stumbles on a means of cloning life forms and they get, shall we say, far more than they bargained for…} _{News
October 9, 2021

22

Arts & Culture, Science}

“Burnt Grass” (2014) at DUST by Ray Wong (October 1, 2021, 9:57 min) A couple’s relationship takes an unexpected turn when a strange phenomenon in their backyard allows cloning to take place. Review: Dolly the Sheep was cloned in 1996 and that really put cloning on the map for most people. So, nearly twenty years later (2014), how did we understand it?: Not well, it would seem. In actual cloning, according to the Roslin Centre that cloned the sheep, “Dolly was cloned from a cell taken from the mammary gland of a six-year-old Finn Dorset sheep and an egg cell taken from a Scottish Blackface sheep. She was born to her Scottish Blackface surrogate mother on 5th July 1996. Dolly’s Read More ›