Denyse O'Leary
How science is changing on the subject of consciousness
In 2023, dualist philosopher David Chalmers unexpectedly won an important 25-year science wager with Allen Institute neuroscientist Christof Koch. Chalmers took the view that no physical “consciousness spot” would be found in the brain by 2023 — and it wasn’t. Last month, Robert Lawrence Kuhn asked Chalmers at Closer to Truth, Kuhn: David, you are a great proponent of consciousness Read More ›
California law against political deepfakes results in — deepfakes
Responding to California’s new legislation forbidding deepfakes in political advertising, championed by governor Gavin Newsom — and promptly challenged by a parody writer — economist Robert Graboyes offers at his Substack, Bastiat’s Window, his own parodies … of Newsom: Apparently, a sizable number of California voters share a genetic trait stunting their capacity to recognize political satire and parody—a disability Read More ›
Three Recent Books Argue for Consciousness in Plants
The award-winning environment journalist who reviews the books tackles the question, “If so, is it right to eat even plants?”
After Dawkins Is Canceled, What Comes Next? Not Better Science!
As the National Academies of Science try to blend traditional lore into science findings, the concept of truth that atheists and theists clash over is irrelevant
RNA: The Text Message System Between Cells?
RNA is a very old way that cells encode information so cells across the domains of life can read messages encoded by other cells in RNA — for good or ill
New Atheism Is Shrinking and It’s Not Entirely Clear Why
Now, there is an eerie unfashionable silence that fashionable media are beginning to notice. For one thing, it is affecting Richard Dawkins
Does Science Show That the Soul Persists After Death?
Gradually, medical findings about what happens to the mind around the time of death are undermining the assumption that the soul dies with the body
Canada’s Residential Schools: A Saga of Journalistic Wrongdoing
Even as the story is collapsing for lack of evidence, there is a move afoot to criminalize doubt about what happened (denialism).
Octopus Organizes Packs of Fish to Help It Hunt
Unlike the fish, the octopus can work with stones where prey fish shelter. The fish get whatever the octopus drops — unless they are cheaters
How Will Media Address Growing Doubts About Darwin?
In the water flea study, the doubts sound as if they are coming from inside the house. One news story sheds light on a reporting strategy
Decade-Long Study: No Evidence Found for Darwinian Evolution
After many generations, water fleas showed no evidence of changing genetically to adapt to their environment, as the theory would predict
Can Plants See? A Shape-Shifting Plant Raises the Question
If it can’t see, how does it copy the leaves of any one of a number of plants growing nearby?
When the Computer Tried Being a Mind, It Almost…
Philosopher Andy Clark offered to explain the popular computational theory of mind to Robert Lawrence Kuhn — but then a gap appeared
Why Was the Telegram CEO — 900 Million Users — Arrested?
Governments worldwide want a backdoor into social media, to target users where we spend so much time. But Durov said: nyet
Do all of us really have two minds inside our brains?
The truth is even more remarkable. When the brain is split in half, the mind remains a unity
Media war: Journalists vs. content creators—Taylor Lorenz explains
A revealing skirmish erupted around the DNC Convention. Your ability to get real news may depend on who wins
Neurology Prof Robert Sapolsky Insists There Is No Free Will
We are controlled by our genes, by our prefrontal cortexes, and we can’t choose to change anything. Or can we?
Are Beliefs in Space Aliens Really Spiraling Out of Control?
A British philosophy prof sees such views as a “widespread societal problem,” comparing them to the J6 riot