Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

Denyse O'Leary

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Censored book

View: Universities Should Not Speak Up Against Dissenting Profs!

Jay Bhattacharya and Wesley J. Smith respond to an article in a medical journal arguing that universities SHOULD censure dissenters on the faculty
How much good science would have seen the light in the last 600 years if “Institutional Voices” had been heard from even more often than they were? Read More ›
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white mouse

Sleeping Mice Show How the Brain Lays Down Memories

Studies of mice running mazes have shed light on the sharp waves of neurons that assist in forming memories
As we learn more about memory, it takes a while to even process what we are learning but the research may help treat memory-related disorders. Read More ›
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Fiery Apocalyptic Planet Earth Engulfed in Scorching Flames and Devastating Destruction

When Darwinism becomes a fashionable doomsday cult…

Like all cults, it can make otherwise intelligent people begin to sound rather strange, even precarious
One thing the dialogue makes quite clear is that Darwinism can underlie a classic fashionable cult that does not reflect well on its adherents' intelligence. Read More ›
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Dystopian wasteland with decaying machinery and industrial structures under a stormy sky. Concept art for science fiction, post-apocalyptic, and cyberpunk themes.

Hypothesis: Yes, ET Existed — But Mainly in the Past

A recent paper introduces the idea of cryptoterrestrials, technologically advanced civilizations on Earth, perhaps from earlier geological eras, as the source of the UAPs/UFOs
What never grows old is the belief that They are out there — one foot in faith, one in science, and a great future in the world of the imagination. Read More ›
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Three friendly happy playing dogs in summer park. German shepherd, american staffordshire terrier and french bulldog holding one stick. Different dog breeds have fun together.

Will AI Soon Help Animals Talk To Us?

Many animals have a natural tendency to hide their problems for self-protection. AI trained on massive animal datasets might suss them out
That doesn’t mean we can “talk to the animals.” AI can do a lot of things but it won’t give animals rational faculties that it does not have itself. Read More ›
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Ultra macro ant portrait shot, detailed close-up image of ant's face and trunk.

Why Panpsychism (Everything Is Conscious) Is Gaining Ground

Many life forms do unexpectedly remarkable things. It is simpler to broaden the circle of consciousness than to keep on trying to prove that human consciousness is just an illusion
Panpsychism will face a setback, however, when it tries to show that human consciousness is merely on a continuum with animal consciousness. It isn’t. Read More ›
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Empty cave looking out

Can We Really Study the Minds of Ancient Humans?

The design inference helps sort things out in human paleontology
It’s progress, perhaps, that researchers are defending the role of parsimonious inference. It’s possible to see too much in scattered beads — or too little. Read More ›
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Colorful wooden puzzle brain model. Neurodiversity concept, human mind complexity. Creativity, brainstorming and emotional intelligence.

Neuroscientist: The Mind Is Just the Brain

He cites studies using transcranial magnetic stimulation, which caused subjects to see flashing lights
The fatal flaw in identity theory, as his view is called, is that there is no point of contact between the laws of logic and those of electrochemistry. Read More ›
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Goldenrod plant

Evolutionary Biologist Defines Goldenrod Plant as “Intelligent”

The media release for the journal paper, sponsored by Cornell University, illustrates the growing comfort of science with panpsychist (everything is conscious) ideas
Andre Kessler is influenced by the idea that plant cells are like bees and the plant is like a colony, where the members think collectively. Read More ›
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AI generated view of the multiverse

What Is Pseudoscience? A Philosopher Tries To Sort It Out

Finding little to go on, Massimo Pigliucci suggests relying on popular skeptic sites and, er, … himself
Speaking of Skeptical Inquirers, perhaps we should be much more skeptical of the very concept of pseudoscience, at least as it plays out. Read More ›
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Bees in the meadow and apiary. Selective focus.

A Darwinian Biologist Winces at Bees That Have Feelings

The problem Jerry Coyne has with Lars Chittka’s evidence for emotions among bees points to a growing conflict between naturalism and panpsychism in science
For a naturalist, the problem with accepting consciousness as real is that it is also immaterial, even in an animal like a dog that has a minimal self. Read More ›
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Biology Manual

Wanted: A Theory of Everything Based Only on Science Findings

The philosopher who expressed that wish is probably still looking… he could not find a naturalist theory that worked that way
When science media sound like naturalist (materialist) sermons, that’s what they are. And that is a philosophical choice, not a necessity. Read More ›
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Diving, Wrecks, Caribbean, Windward Islands, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Martinique

Why Does a Brainless Sponge Have a Toolkit for a Nervous System?

A neuroscientist wrestles with the question of where the kit arose? From the one-celled life forms that preceded the sponge?
Kenneth Kosik, perhaps unwittingly, describes evolution as if it were an engineer. But then, the situation looks rather more like design than Darwinism. Read More ›
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Inside the brain. Concept of neurons and nervous system.

A Third Big Consciousness Theory: Each Neuron Is a Computer

Dendritic information theory (DIT) may not explain consciousness any better than other theories but it may shed light on how anesthesia produces LOSS of consciousness
What we are really learning is that even the individual cells that mediate consciousness are very complex — even in the lab rats used in the experiments. Read More ›
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man standing in front of various paths, needing to make a decision to move forward in life. Generative Ai.

Philosopher: Why Brain Science Does Not Eliminate Free Will

Tim Bayne looks at what we can logically deduce from the famous Libet experiments
The logical argument for free will coincides with recent neuroscience research findings. Read More ›
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3D rendering of a dark cell at night

New Pre-Crime Laws: Real-Life “Minority Report” Coming to Canada?

Americans should NOT assume that “It can’t happen here.” The First Amendment is a constitutional tool, not a magic talisman. It can be undermined
Canadian media that accept Trudeau’s handouts must please the regime more than inform the public. Indies are under heavy fire. Read More ›
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Human brain and Active receptor

Consciousness Wars: Researcher Tries Negotiating a Truce

Witch hunts against leading theories are bad for a discipline’s reputation; Johan Storm thinks that all the prominent theories of consciousness are a little bit right
The fate of the discipline may depend on how committed researchers are to finding out the facts vs. protecting a materialist view of consciousness. Read More ›
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Canceled word on a red enter key of the black pc keyboard. Concepts of cancel culture, ostracism and call-out culture social media and in the Internet. Computer enter key with message.

The Cancel Culture Mob Comes for the Psychologists

The response “It’s complicated,” chosen by nearly half of psychology profs, is a roundabout confession of cowardice in the face of mobs threatened by findings they hope to stifle
Cancel Culture at universities aims to protect a set of core beliefs from challenge by new evidence. If a discipline is to thrive, it must defeat the Cancel mob Read More ›
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Stunning rain forest in a jar with self ecosystem

If We Doubt That Plants Have Minds, Are We “Soul-Blind”?

The concept of “plant mind” as a trend in science — a trend consistent with growing panpsychism— has begun to worry some researchers
If panpsychism continues to gain ground, the human mind can at last be acknowledged to exist — along with the cabbage mind and possibly the electron mind. Read More ›
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Text written with a vintage typewriter -  That's my story

How Do Writers Get Paid in an Age When Chatbots “Write” Things?

Are lawsuits against Big Tech really the answer? Much of the territory is uncharted
A few Big Tech players control the chatbot market. Could bargaining with them for something like Public Lending Right resolve the writers' issues? Read More ›