Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

Denyse O'Leary

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A macro shot reveals a bee's intricate legs clinging to a flower's pollen, nature's delicate dance unfolds.

Possible Breakthrough: Bee Gene Specifies Complex Hive Behavior

The researchers used CRISPR/Cas9 genetic scissors to modify or switch off the dsx gene in selected bees
If the universe is the product of intelligence, in principle, insects could have access to it? But the question is, how, exactly? Read More ›
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Prehistoric hand paintings at the Cave of the Hands (Spanish: Cueva de Las Manos ) in Santa Cruz Province, Patagonia, Argentina. The art in the cave dates from 13,000 to 9,000 years ago.

Do We Need Language To Think? Some Researchers Say No

At one time, it was strictly a philosophical issue but then neuroscientists got involved

A controversy about whether we need language to think pits two MIT scholars against each other: Noam Chomsky (yes) vs. Evelina Fedorenko (no). For a long time, it was only a philosophical issue: Plato saw thinking as a conversation with oneself. If you don’t form concepts into words are you really thinking? Chomsky agreed. But later, neuroscientists like Fedorenko got involved, offering some research findings. Last summer at the New York Times, science writer Carl Zimmer reported, When Dr. Fedorenko began this work in 2009, studies had found that the same brain regions required for language were also active when people reasoned or carried out arithmetic. But Dr. Fedorenko and other researchers discovered that this overlap was a mirage. Part Read More ›

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Two adult young cats black-white and tabby lie together in the green cat's bed

Researchers: Cats can eavesdrop on human conversations — sort of

The researchers were surprised that cats could learn speech sounds without any reward but then knowing what is going on is generally its own reward for the cat. Read More ›
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Flint sparking matchstick for authentic ignition. Concept Fire starting, Survival gear, Camping essentials, Emergency preparedness

Neuroscientist Seeks the First Spark of Human Consciousness

It's a challenge. Human consciousness is very hard to define for the purposes of this kind of research
If we have “prior models of how things ought to be” at birth, aren’t we already conscious? Read More ›
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Two chimpanzees have a fun.

Can Brain Structure Alone Explain Why We Have Language?

How human languages came to exist is an unsolved mystery within science
This recent find in evolution studies is strikingly negative. There is no physical limitation to chimpanzee speech; rather, the limitation is a mental one. Read More ›
bearded-neanderthal-man-sits-by-fire-in-cave-at-night-caveman-and-bonfire-on-dark-background-concept-of-homo-sapiens-prehistoric-era-primitive-ancient-stone-age-stockpack-adobe-stock
Bearded neanderthal man sits by fire in cave at night, caveman and bonfire on dark background. Concept of Homo sapiens, prehistoric era, primitive, ancient, Stone Age

Burials from 120,000 years ago: Was it Neanderthals vs. others?

Did ancient peoples believe that the spirits of the dead were protecting the caves they were buried in? Read More ›
a-captivating-view-of-a-black-hole-in-space-a-dark-center-su-835035920-stockpack-adobe_stock
A captivating view of a black hole in space, a dark center surrounded by a swirling disk of hot, glowing gas and dust, stars and nebulae in the background being bent by its gravity, feeling of the

Did Stephen Hawking End His Career by Giving Up on Truth?

A philosopher argues the case. But has the rejection of truth in physics spread widely into popular culture?
One element of getting to choose our private truths is that we need only notice or understand the significance of the things we want to notice or understand. Read More ›
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Hyper-realistic figure standing at a forked road, with incredible detail in the environment, representing free will in a realistic scene

Free Will: A Materialist Thinks It Might Somehow Be Real

Psychiatrist Ralph Lewis thinks that Darwinian evolution can explain human consciousness but now hesitates to debunk free will

Earlier this year, University of Toronto psychiatrist Ralph Lewis wrote a two-part series at Psychology Today titled “The Strongest Neuroscience Arguments in the Free Will Debate” (here and here). He looked at Mitchell (yes) and Sapolsky (no), both of whom published serious books on the topic in 2023. And he concluded, For now, for practical purposes, given our current level of incomplete understanding of the complexities of the brain’s decision-making processes, and our inability to predict human behaviors in most situations, we might as well regard ourselves as having free will—or rather, degrees of freedom. We do know that our brain has highly evolved systems for self-control—even for those of us who struggle with this relatively more than others, and Read More ›

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newspaper production and printing process

Washington Post owner defends his refusal to endorse Harris

He sees media endorsing a candidate as part of the declining trust problem. That’s likely true but for more trust, the Post also needs to be closer to readers. Read More ›
if-then-logic-statement-written-in-white-chalk-on-a-black-ch-158992790-stockpack-adobe_stock
If Then logic statement written in white chalk on a black chalkboard isolated on white

Billboard Chris Asks a Sharp Question About “Evolution”

On a logical basis, Elston’s critique is unanswerable — but logic no longer has the status that it once did. Nor does evidence.
It may be that the big Whatever You Feel of private truth is here to stay and will slowly devour all forms of knowledge based on public truth. Read More ›
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whole psilocybin mushroom inside a clear medicine capsule.on wood surface; low angle view horizontal

At Big Think: Getting Stoned Shaped the Modern Mind

Cognitive neuroscientist Bobby Azarian sees human civilization forming something like “the brain of Gaia” in a cosmos that is becoming increasingly conscious
We learn nothing specific here about how our remote ancestors thought but we have learned something useful: Big Think sees this as cutting edge science. Read More ›
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Word Сanceled and hashtag sign on wood bloks with lettering on red background. Cancel culture concept. Copy space.

Could Cancel Culture Be Replaced By Something Worse?

Claims that it has "run its course" come too often from those who have abandoned their colleagues and merely hope not to be next themselves
Mahlburg on the open triumph of Cancel Culture: “not only is the emperor naked — he’s self-consciously streaking around the town square.” Read More ›
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Spherical energetic quantum bubble

Will the AI bubble pop louder than the dot-com bubble?

Perhaps the basic problem is that it’s not clear what chatbots and generative AI produce other than private entertainment. Read More ›
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Social media, cancel culture and women online, internet or influencer friends on a studio blue background. Negative, bad and graphic words for banned or fail for public or political opinion or voice

Cancel Culture Dissected by One of Its Victims

Researchers are beginning to study the sociology of Woke mobs demanding the firing or silencing of whoever vexes them — with some interesting results
Canadian lawyer Collin May looked at recent research on Cancel mobs and found that the witnesses in an institution tend to go along with the cancellation. Read More ›
Blurred. Live broadcast blogger or journalist using a mobile phone in the auditorium. Pink background. Vertical photo or video mode. Soft focus. Copy space.

Musk: Don’t hate the media, become the media

I’ve noticed over the last year that X is slowly morphing into a new type of news medium, perhaps best suited to a global internet. Read More ›
robot-hand-typing-on-the-computer-the-concept-of-artificial-intelligence-replacing-a-human-in-dealing-with-another-human-ai-generative-stockpack-adobe-stock
Robot hand typing on the computer. The concept of artificial intelligence replacing a human in dealing with another human. Ai generative

Bill Dembski: When a Chatbot Tried Improving on a Literary Genius

If what matters is computer engineering and a supermassive databank, the chatbot should improve on the masters, right?
Information theorist Dembski thinks that the statistical averages that bots depend on mean they will necessarily regress to the mean and result in mediocrity. Read More ›
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Photo of a gold compass isolated against a dark teal background with starry night elements, copy space. Travel and navigation concept.

Navigating the landscape of consciousness

Many people have watched the short Closer to Truth videos at YouTube, where Robert Lawrence Kuhn has interviewed over two hundred scientists and philosophers on consciousness and related fields. The short format and lively pace are geared to those of us who are generally interested in the ideas and the people but don’t have hours or days to spare. Now Read More ›