Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

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living room interior view and open door, Generated AI

A Materialist Neuroscientist Makes a Case for Free Will

Kevin Mitchell makes a good case though his book is not equally persuasive on every point
Mitchell points out that “there is nothing in the laws of physics that rules out the possibility of agency or free will, a priori.” Read More ›
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AlphaFold Accuracy Visualization on a Tablet Cutting-Edge Biochemical Analysis

AI in Biology: What Difference Did the Rise of the Machines Make?

AI works very well for proteins that lock into a single configuration, as many do. But intrinsically disordered ones don’t play by those rules
The resulting problems aren’t a temporary bug — they’re a basic limitation of training a machine learning model on a dataset where proteins always fold neatly. Read More ›
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A monkey looking at a virus in a close-up shot

PETA Sues NIH: Claims First Amendment Right to Talk to Monkeys

The complaint alleges the animal rights advocates have a right to receive communications from “fellow primates” that are “willing speakers.”
Effective stroke treatment was almost prevented decades ago because animal rights fanatics nearly destroyed the researcher’s career. PETA still brags about it. Read More ›
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Ability.

Consciousness: Reductionism’s Final Hill — the One To Die On?

The reductionist has no more information than anyone else about the origin of human consciousness and isn’t making any better sense of the evidence we do have
Is science about following the evidence or about confirming a materialist ideology about science? This is the big neuroscience question of our century. Read More ›
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the elaborate process of protein folding, essential for proper function within living organisms

AI in Biology: AI Meets Intrinsically Disordered Proteins

Protein folding — the process by which a protein arrives at its functional shape — is one of the most complex unsolved problems in biology
The mystery of protein folding remains unsolved because, as is so often the case with AI narratives, the reality is much more complicated than the hype. Read More ›
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Three fabric gift bags in gray, beige, and red, sitting on a marble surface against a bokeh background of Christmas lights.

Monday Micro Softy 17: Mixed-up Bags of Marbles

The bags-of-marbles puzzle is comparatively simple: How many marbles must you pull from the mislabeled bags in order to relabel them correctly?
There’s a rough solution to the “leaky bucket” problem but an exact solution requires some use of fluid dynamics. And the Moon, surprisingly, changes nothing. Read More ›
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Woman yelling into a bullhorn

Stand Up for (Ideological) Science 2025 Day!

The protestors should have rallied against themselves
Trust in the science sector ebbed precisely because the establishment became intolerant of dissent and pushed ideology in the guise of pursuing knowledge. Read More ›
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A detailed visualization of a human brain with glowing nodes representing neural connections and brain activity, symbolizing neurological science, cognitive function, and advanced biological research

Looking for Consciousness in All the Wrong Places

Reductionism is nonsense, and “consciousness” is not nestled in clusters of neurons
The higher human ability to think abstractly — to reason and will freely — are not physical abilities and do not come from the brain. Read More ›
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A Hispanic male patient receives Chemotherapy from a African-American Nurse through a port that is placed in his chest area. A caucasian female nurse looks on. 2010

The Medical Establishment’s Persistent Zeal for DEI in Education

The article’s authors seem to believe that people can be good doctors only for patients who look like them or have similar sexual or identity preferences.
How can we trust a medical establishment bent on dismantling excellence as the primary goal of medical education and on ignoring data contrary to beliefs? Read More ›
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Terminator Genisys Review Part 2: A Colossal Monster Mash

The writers wanted the recreated scenes to be fond “memory berries” for the audience but they ran into problems setting them up properly
Terminator Genisys is one of those movies where that create a growing sense of unease that viewers can’t quite put a finger on. Read More ›
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Silhouette people helping to connect jigsaw and puzzle to success

AI Entrepreneur Seeks To Empower Others Through Innovation

David Copps came back from split-brain surgery determined to use his entrepreneurial skills to empower others.
Copps flatlined for a moment during the surgery — done to relieve epilepsy — and that experience reinforced his belief that life has a greater purpose. Read More ›
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Man choosing which hamburger to eat from fast food restaurant

A New McDonald’s PlayPlace Doesn’t Look Very Fun

A virtual playground doesn't offer kids genuine play
Hopefully the McDonald’s corporation will realize that the PlayPlace is a big part of what makes its restaurants so appealing. Read More ›
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Person uses laptop interacting with AI virtual assistant. AI head graphic overlay laptop keyboard. Concept of AI prompt engineering, LLM. Person types on keyboard to communicate with virtual

Why LLMs Are Not Boosting Productivity

If LLMs were as reliably useful as economist Tyler Cowen alleges, businesses would be using them to generate profits faster than LLMs generate text. They aren’t.
So far, AI is dragging down economic growth by diverting so much human talent and natural resources away from more productive uses. Read More ›
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Antique Wooden TV Stand with Decorative Frame Cut-Out for Historical Display

Stop Moaning About the ‘Mainstream Media’. You Are the Media Now

Social media have become much more important, relative to traditional news media and we are only beginning to grasp the profound implications
People can now build in their own spare rooms an audience that used to require printing presses or big TV studios. No surprise, governments want control. Read More ›
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Child with measles symptoms

Steep Turn: RFK Jr. Endorses Measles Vaccine

He notes that measles was already in full retreat by 1960 — before the vaccine’s introduction — thanks to improvements in sanitation and nutrition
He also promoted Vitamin A and oft-neglected strategies like a balanced diet for reducing measles mortality. Is he making science matter again? Read More ›
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Front view portrait of cute African-American girl lying on bed with big pet dog and smiling, copy space

Clinical Psychologist Defends Human Exceptionalism

Gregg Henriques is responding to an evolutionary biologist who sees recognition of human uniqueness as “speciesism,” akin to racism and sexism
From a secular humanist perspective, he says roughly what Aristotle (384– 322 BC) and Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) would say about our unique human nature. Read More ›
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A wall filled with various types of televisions. Perfect for illustrating technology, entertainment, or media concepts

A Careful Autopsy on Legacy Mainstream Media

The new digital world is horizontal. You — not just a White House press correspondent — can watch a top-level White House meeting from anywhere in the world
Andrey Mir tells us that legacy media had tried entering the digital world but were captured by online progressives who ruled them but did not subscribe. Read More ›
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Statistical illusion in TV game. Isometric illustration of undecided businessman on stairs with open doors. Modern landing page of making decision.

Intelligence Requires More Than Following Instructions

Post-training improves the accuracy and usefulness of LLMs but does not make them intelligent in any meaningful sense — as the Monty Hall problem shows
The danger is not that computers are smarter than us but that we think they are and thus trust them to make decisions they should not be trusted to make. Read More ›