Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

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Mind layers human consciousness and identity concept

Former Atheist: Materialism Cannot Explain Consciousness

"Emergence," the claim that consciousness somehow emerged from matter, faces serious obstacles, he says

O’Connor “argues that radical emergence may not exist at all. If that’s true, consciousness may not emerge from the brain but instead be fundamental to reality itself.”

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A reptilians meeting - generative ai

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

It’s easy to see why people might latch onto the idea of a reptilian brain as an explainer for complex topics. But the neuroscience underpinning it is just not that persuasive.

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blue sunrise, view of earth from space

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

The Force offers power, and, to maintain that power in a non-destructive manner, one must learn virtues and not give in to temptation.

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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

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

29 states sued Meta, alleging that its platforms were designed to be addictive and users were misled about the risks.

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Symbol of scales

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

Community notes are usually the fate of people who pass on debunked or fake news. But Nature took that risk with its surprising approach to the Jason Arday tragedy/scandal.

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Concrete blocks of modern hi raising residential apartments in China, property market and overpopulation concept

What Can We Learn From the Chinese Housing Bubble?

Anyone can use our theory, which has been confirmed by events in foreign real estate markets, when determining whether to buy a home

Bubbles are created by speculators who don’t care about an asset’s income because they expect the price to keep rising. For most buyers, income is what counts.

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AI enhances social media engagement using intelligent icons, influencer tracking tools, and smart communication platforms for modern digital interaction. Artificial intelligence spline

Data Centers: Is a Chinese Bot Farm Feeding You Your Opinions?

Maybe bots are not influencing you — but you can be sure they are trying

One really interesting feature of the opposition to data centers is that it pits the political left against the tech titans who have generously funded it.

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Scientific Experiment on Plant Growth Laboratory Research Content Controlled Environment Close-Up Agriculture Innovation

Top Science Journal: All Scientists Should Register With the State

The editors think that government control would prevent “misinformation” from filtering down to us

It would be a means of controlling who is allowed to “do” science and the ability to determine what can be communicated to the public.

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Propaganda and brainwashing of the influential mass media concept. Vintage TV set with hypnotic spiral on the screen.

When Language is Corrupted and Weaponised

A corrupted commentary or concept can lead people astray and cause them fear

The language/message from some hi-tech high priests who preach about AI being able to read your thoughts one day, arouses fear in many people, causing some of them sleepless nights and worries of a dystopian future.

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reforestation set of young trees trunks in pots

Monday Microsofty 94:  A Tree Planting Dilemma

This week's puzzle sounds simple but it involves thinking in terms other than squares

The answer to last week’s “count the squares” puzzle can be turned into a formula that can be applied to any number of dimensions.

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A falling apple isolated mid air resembling newton's gravity theory

The Mind–Body “Interaction Problem” Is Desperately Overhyped

Why would our mental states NOT be "causally relevant" to the way we behave?

The universe contradicts the eliminativist point of view. The laws that govern it are not physical things but they are real.

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Screws, bolts and nuts on metal background
Screws, bolts and nuts on metal background

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review Part 10

Flying a ship and fixing a ship are two different skills

Flying a ship and fixing a ship are two different skills. They were able to patch the ship up well enough, but they couldn’t take care of the problem with the hyperdrive by themselves, which is why they went to Lando in the first place.

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Open door to a new home with key and home shaped keychain. Mortgage, investment, real estate, property and new home concept

Might Now Be a Good Time to Buy a House?

I asked ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude and they confidently spewed bucketloads of well-written but barely relevant prose. There is a better way to find out

All real estate is local but, despite bubbles, it is generally better to buy than rent.

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Female warehouse worker scanning a barcode on a package with a scanner. Logistics and inventory management in a modern distribution center

Elite Publisher Pulls Book Due to Fake Quote

The quote, in a New York University Press book, originates in a series of misrepresentations of something a Lehigh University biochemist had written

The challenge, moving on, is that better scholarship means listening to those who challenge conventional ideas instead of serially editing them.

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Diverse friends in movie theater.

How Movies Can Shape Your Mind

One wonders, regarding the Arts, are we better off living in a fallen world?

Even in the world of theatre, from the ancient Greeks to contemporary drama, tragedy plays a profound role in defining Western civilization, while evoking sadness and joy resulting in catharsis in audiences.

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media literacy education, a teacher explains misinformation detection to attentive students in a bright classroom

Prebunking: “Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain”

We know we are living in a changing world, when Europe is striving to be China

At the Brussels Signal, tech analyst Norman Lewis has been discussing a form of indoctrination that is becoming increasingly popular in the European Union, and doubtless elsewhere: prebunking — “a preventative measure that aims to prepare audiences to recognize and resist information risks.” (UNHCR) Prebunking is beloved of bureaucrats and you will hear a great deal about what a good thing it is from many sources — sources that should, under the circumstances, give pause for thought: ● “What Is Prebunking? It’s better to inoculate against disinformation than to debunk later.” (Psychology Today, 2021) ● “False information is everywhere. ‘Pre-bunking’ tries to head it off early” (NPR, 2022) ● “What is Pre-Bunking: The Power of Framing Before the Facts” (Simply Read More ›

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Crop Circle sunset.

UFOs and Crop Circles: Believe It — or Don’t

Alleged evidence of extraterrestrial visits often evolves from local news headlines into a game, an art, and an industry

Even when the pranksters who create the often elaborate crop circles are identified, “croppies” insist that only ET could have done it.

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Weird little plants, a crop of Venus Fly Traps.

How Can We Make Sense of Claims for Plant Consciousness?

Plants are cognitive but consciousness means something rather larger than cognitive

Computers are not conscious simply because they are programmed to make decisions; plants are likely in the same position.

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Young person overwhelmed by constant social media notifications, depicting the anxiety and mental health toll of digital addiction and online pressure

The New Friend Necklace: Isn’t This Really *Anti*-Social Media?

Americans are talking to each other less as technologies consume more and more personal time. This is the latest in the barrage

Andrew McDiarmid has become a prophetic voice warning against developments like this from the tech world.

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