Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

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People with TV screens on the brain, addicted to social media, manipulation and mind control, by media, teenager disconnected to reality

Australia’s Social Media Ban: The Law of Forbidden Fruit

Where minors are concerned, restrict and talk — but don’t ban
Outright banning alone does not work and will not have the outcome its Aussie supporters believe it will. Give kids reasons for limits and rules. Read More ›
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Northern woodland scenery, viewed from above, with green pine forest and dark spruce trees on mountain hills.

Monday Micro Softy 3: The Wolverton Mountain Puzzle

Here’s the answer to Dead President’s Club as well — and smart STEM people often DON'T get that one right

Mind Matters News is pleased to offer a new series, “Monday Micro Softies,” from our director, Robert J. Marks, a series of puzzles that illustrate the ways of thinking needed in the computer industry today. – Eds. Here’s today’s puzzle, in honor of Claude King, followed by the solution to last Monday’s puzzle, The Dead Presidents Club. In 1962, King recorded the song Wolverton Mountain. It’s the story of Claude’s love of Clifton Clowers’ daughter — we’ll call her Chloe — who lives on the top of Wolverton Mountain. (Listen here.) It’s a catchy tune. Here’s a puzzle augmenting the song’s story: Claude starts climbing to the top of Wolverton Mountain at 6 AM. There is only one road, and Read More ›

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Businessman working on a laptop in an office, with a transparent overlay showing a modern cityscape of buildings and skyscrapers. Ideal for themes of technology, business, and urban life. Ai Generate.

AI Adoption is Slowing Amidst the “Biggest Gamble in Business History”

Workers and companies aren't buying the AI hype
In the case of AI, knowledge workers are trying to tell us something. They don’t like AI as much the top managers do, and their excitement is falling. Read More ›
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Brain psychology mind soul and hope concept art, 3d illustration, surreal artwork, imagination painting, conceptual idea

Can the Soul Be Defined Out of Existence?

Berkeley cognitive linguist George Lakoff argues that the soul could not really amount to much without a physical brain
The physicalist wants to assert that the mind (soul) is simply what the brain does while escaping the contradictions that follow if we think about it seriously. Read More ›
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scary corridor of an old mental hospital

Terminator 2, Part 3: John Meets the Robots

At this point, John is on his own because his mother has been placed in a mental institution
The film shows John teaching the Terminator to become more human via the tactic of mimicry, which works as long as it doesn't go too far. Read More ›
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ATM machine in a dimly lit area with ambient lights and signage.

Debanking May Be More Common Than We Realize

Sometimes the motive seems political — unrelated to concerns about creditworthiness or suspicion about illegal activities
Last March, it came out that the US Treasury Department had sent a list of “hate groups” to major US banks; more recently, a number of crypto firms were hit. Read More ›
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Futuristic bionic arm prosthesis with robotic technology, AI generated

Can Neuralink’s Brain Implant Control a Robotic Arm?

Controlling a robotic arm via thoughts might help people with quadriplegia to do daily tasks
This is a step forward, in terms of complexity, from Roland Arbaugh's ability to control a cursor with his thoughts via an implant. Read More ›
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Two chimpanzees on a large rock in the zoo.

Study: Great Apes Point to How Human Language May Have Evolved

What’s revealing in these types of studies is not what the researchers find but what the science media choose to make of them
In reality, where language is concerned, there is a vast gulf fixed. It is not between primates and other mammals but between humans and all other life forms. Read More ›
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The Spread of Misinformation on Social Media, Examining the role of social media in the dissemination of false information and its consequences on society

Why Laws Against “Misinformation” Just Can’t Work

Australia has had to back down from fining social media companies for users' alleged misinformation
Government experts may not be better informed than non-government ones. Banning alternative information multiplies the effect of government misinformation. Read More ›
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Brain mind way soul and hope concept art, illustration, surreal mystery artwork, imagination painting, conceptual idea of success

Is Physicalism Dead? And Is Psychology Today Here to Bury It?

Physicalism argues that the mind is simply the activities of neurons in the brain and consciousness is an illusion that they generate
A sense is growing that no matter what stunning neuroscience discoveries we make, we cannot in principle explain E = MC^2 by what Einstein had for breakfast. Read More ›
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A doctor examines a brain scan on a monitor in a hospital setting.

The Media Still Can’t Get Facts about Terri Schiavo Right

The Terri Schiavo case tipped this country’s morality. Before her death, people couldn’t believe we dehydrate cognitively disabled people to death. Afterward, a majority supported it
The Washington Post has now edited an article to correct a key misstatement I criticized, without admitting it. Journalism dies in darkness. Read More ›
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USA flag with firework background design for USA 4 july independence day

Monday Micro Softy 2: The Dead Presidents’ Club

The answer to Monday Micro Softy 1: The Round Trip is here too
Today’s puzzle: How would a girl who knew nothing of American history immediately know the name of at least one of three early Presidents who died on July 4? Read More ›
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close up portrait of a neanderthal child caveman child

Researchers: Did Neanderthal Children Collect “Stuff”?

The items that raise the question are small marine shells found in caves. They were carefully preserved but have no known function. A baby tooth was found in the same area
The study, along with recent studies of Neanderthal tools and stone circles, is making the idea that they were intellectually inferior increasingly untenable. Read More ›
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Medical and puberty blockers symbol. Words 'puberty blockers' on white card. Doctor hand in blue glove. Beautiful white background. Copy space. Medical and puberty blockers concept.

New Zealand Study: ‘Dearth’ of Evidence for Puberty Blockers

Studies claiming that puberty blockers helped ease depression were found to be of very poor quality
Shame on the states that passed laws allowing courts to deny custody to parents who won’t allow their children to be subjected to this medical experimentation. Read More ›
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Colonisation of Mars. Mars base colony in open space. Digitally generated AI image

Why Do Science and Tech Writers Hate Elon Musk?

It's partly because he encourages bottom-up media but also he encourages a sort of vision that is now largely lost
Musk's philosophy of the future: I believe it should be curiosity about the Universe – expand humanity to become a multiplanet, then interstellar, species. Read More ›
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A dumpster is sitting on the sidewalk in front of a building

Terminator 2: The Terminator Becomes the Protector

The transition is uneven and there are hints that James Cameron was subtly mocking his 1984 film
Some plot development choices may have been driven by a sense of the need to tone down the violence a bit. Read More ›
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Concept of artificial general intelligence achieving human-level understanding

Machine Intelligence and Reasoning: We Are Not on a Path to AGI

AI guru François Chollet’s Abstraction and Reasoning Corpus (ARC) proves we’re not on a path to AGI
A reality check for LLMs is inevitable, and with OpenAI, “Project Strawberry,” and the new hype cycle — thanks to Chollet and others — it’s already here. Read More ›
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sunset over city of Oxford

In Memoriam: Two Prophets and a President Died This Day

The prophetic artists of the past still speak
November 22nd, 1963 marks the day that three influential men of the twentieth century died: C.S. Lewis, Aldous Huxley, and President John F. Kennedy. Read More ›