Denyse O'Leary

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
February 28, 2022

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Philosophy, Religion

Tagged
Apophatic theology, Art (as religion substitute), Darwinism (and ethics), Dover Beach (poem), E. O. Wilson, Ed Simon, existentialism(as religion substitute), Friedrich Nietzsche (influence), God Beat (book), God Is Dead concept, God-is-dead theology, Matthew Arnold, Michael Egnor (on faith and reason), New Religion Journalism, Theodicy (Ed Simon's view), Thomas Henry Huxley}

Religion Journalism After God Is Declared Dead

_{Writer and editor Ed Simon examines and makes a case for the New Religion Journalism, offering us help with praying to a dead god} _{Denyse O'Leary

February 28, 2022

10

Arts & Culture, Philosophy, Religion}

Ed Simon is one of the editors of a recent anthology, The God Beat: What Journalism Says about Faith and Why It Matters (2021). According to the publisher, Broadleaf Books (an imprint of 1517 Media, formerly Augsburg Fortress), the book highlights “personal, subjective, voice-driven New Religion Journalism” by young writers “characterized by their brash, innovative, daring, and stylistically sophisticated writing and an unprecedented willingness to detail their own interaction with faith (or their lack thereof).” Simon offers his own thoughts on religion, sympathetic to that perspective, in a recent article at Aeon: He starts with reflections on the view that mid-nineteenth-century British poet Matthew Arnold (1822–1888) expressed in his poem “Dover Beach,” that religious faith was receding in his world: Read More ›

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
February 23, 2022

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
After (book), Bruce Greyson, Near-death experiences (Greyson's perspective)}

Agnostic Psychiatrist Says Near-Death Experiences Are Real

_{They change lives but he is unsure what they mean} _{Denyse O'Leary

February 23, 2022

8

Philosophy of Mind}

Psychiatrist Bruce Greyson, emeritus at the University of Virginia, tells us that he first started thinking about near-death experiences many decades ago when a young woman, rescued from suicide, asserted that she had seen a spaghetti stain on his tie during an out-of-body experience. She could not have known that he had gone to considerable pains to conceal the embarrassing mark from colleagues. Nothing in his background had prepared him, as a young psychiatrist, for taking seriously the possibility that the mind could be detached from the brain. He grew up with a chemist father who had a great love for science but no metaphysical convictions. But he just could not forget the spaghetti stain episode and that background prompted Read More ›

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
February 18, 2022

Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience

Tagged
Animal Algorithms (book), Brain (insect brain), Gnat ogre, Natural algorithms (insect brains)}

When a Tiny Brain Is Actually an Advantage

_{Small size — which includes having a small brain — hones the gnat ogre’s remarkable neurological abilities} _{Denyse O'Leary

February 18, 2022

5

Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience}

The University of Minnesota, pointing to a just-published research paper, asks us to contemplate a remarkable piece of flight engineering on the part of a rather frightening fly: For those of us who occasionally trip over a curb or bump into a door frame, it’s hard to imagine an organism with a brain smaller than the period at the end of this sentence deftly maneuvering around obstacles while chasing fast-moving prey on the wing… The research, carried out by Paloma Gonzalez-Bellido, Mary Sumner, and Trevor Wardill of the University of Minnesota’s College of Biological Sciences, and Sam Fabian of the Imperial College London Department of Bioengineering, focuses on the aerial feats of a miniature robber fly known as a gnat Read More ›

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
February 15, 2022

Categorized
Natural Intelligence

Tagged
African grey parrots (sharing tokens), Andreas Nieder, Animals (concept of zero), birds (intelligence), cockatoos (intelligence), crows (concept of zero), Jordana Cepelewicz, Zero (as concept)}

The Remarkable Things We’re Learning About Bird Intelligence

_{These findings are only among birds that have actually been studied; most birds have not been studied for intelligence} _{Denyse O'Leary

February 15, 2022

5

Natural Intelligence}

At one time, there was an assumption — not really a theory — that vertebrates would be more intelligent than invertebrates and mammals would be more intelligent than birds. Well along came the octopus, which turns out to be as intelligent as a typical mammal. And the New Zealand crow, which can be as smart as an ape. These life forms have significantly different brains from each other so intelligence does not appear to reside in a specific organization of the brain. While researchers puzzle that out, let’s look at some recent findings as to what the bird (avian) brain can do. We are looking at behaviors that probably require some individual intelligence, not just an inherited program: ● Cockatoos Read More ›

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
February 14, 2022

Categorized
Religion, Science

Tagged
COVID-19 (and acceptance of nonsense), Einstein effect, Guru effect, New Age Bullshit Generator, Nonsense (computer-generated), Research (on science nonsense)}

We Trust Nonsense From Lab Coats More Than From Gurus

_{This shocking study is relevant to how we decide what to believe from science sources about COVID-19} _{Denyse O'Leary

February 14, 2022

6

Religion, Science}

An international team of researchers staged a revealing experiment on who we believe when they are talking nonsense. The test of 10,195 participants from 24 countries asked questions about the credibility of the statements and about their personal degree of religiosity. How could the researchers be sure that the statements were nonsense? They were produced by the New Age Bullshit Generator, an algorithm that generates impressive sounding elements of sentences that make rough grammatical sense even if they make no other sense. Two statements were selected: The 10,195 participants in the experiment were presented with two meaningless but profound-sounding statements: “We are called to explore the cosmos itself as an interface between faith and empathy. We must learn how to Read More ›

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
February 3, 2022

Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience

Tagged
Andrew Barron, Anthropomorphism (and bees), Bees (consciousness), Brain stem (and mind), Catherine WIlson, Colin Klein, Hive mind (and intelligence), Insects (consciousness), Lars Chittka, Martin Lindauer, Midbrain (and consciousness), Neocortex (and consciousness)}

Can Insects Be Conscious? Let’s Look At Bees First

_{Consciousness does not seem to reside in the neocortex so complex behavior in bees has raised the question for biologists and philosophers alike} _{Denyse O'Leary

February 3, 2022

7

Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience}

Honeybee scientist Andrew Barron and philosopher Colin Klein, both then at Macquarie University in Australia, argue that bees have some form of consciousness. Let’s look at what they have to say: According to an article in Smithsonian Magazine, Barron broached the question of bee consciousness with Klein, who was highly skeptical at first. But Barron pointed out that at least one key theory holds that …the core of human consciousness is not our impressive neocortex, but our much more primitive midbrain. This simple structure synthesizes sensory data into a unified, egocentric point of view that lets us navigate our world. Insects, Barron and Klein now argue, have midbrain-like structures, including a “central complex,” that seem to allow bugs to similarly Read More ›

Newspapers and Laptop. Different Concepts for News - Network or Traditional Tabloid Journals. Data Sources - Electronic Screen of Computer or Paper Pages of Magazines, Internet or Papers

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
February 2, 2022

Categorized
Media, Social Media

Tagged
Erasmus Klaus Nielsen, Felix Salmon, Knight Foundation (on trust in media), Media (trust in media), Poynter (on trust in media), Reuters Institute (on trust in media), Social media (as personal news channels)}

The Cultural Changes That Destroyed Trust in Media

_{The critical question isn’t whether traditional media are trusted but whether their model can even survive the tsunami of the internet} _{Denyse O'Leary

February 2, 2022

6

Media, Social Media}

Felix Salmon, chief financial correspondent at Axios, shares the gloomy news: For the first time ever, fewer than half of all Americans have trust in traditional media, according to data from Edelman’s annual trust barometer shared exclusively with Axios. Trust in social media has hit an all-time low of 27%. Felix Salmon, “Media trust hits new low” at Axios (January 1, 2021) But the trust issue is highly polarized: When Edelman re-polled Americans after the election, the figures had deteriorated even further, with 57% of Democrats trusting the media and only 18% of Republicans. Felix Salmon, “Media trust hits new low” at Axios (January 1, 2021) But even if media are willing to just write off Republicans, it can’t be Read More ›

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
February 2, 2022

Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience

Tagged
Ants (parasitic ants), Deborah M. Gordon, Dragonflies (specialized neurons), Flies (specialized neuron systems), Insects (hive memory), Insects (neurons and adaptation)}

How Do Insects Use Their Very Small Brains To Think Clearly?

_{How do they engage in complex behaviour with only 100.000 to a million neurons?} _{Denyse O'Leary

February 2, 2022

6

Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience}

If we had a skeleton that was outside, not inside, our body — and six legs — we might find it easier to understand how insects think. But only a bit easier. Despite complex behavior, insects are working with 100,000 to maybe a million neurons, compared to our, maybe, 86 billion — but insects make the most of what they have. Consider, for example, the dragonfly. How does it manage to deal with all the issues that a fighter pilot must address, while catching prey? One adaptation is specialized neurons: Dragonflies (order Odonata) and hoverflies (order Diptera) are among insect flyers equipped with special neurons for targeting with optic flow. “The ability of insects to successfully pursue targets in clutter Read More ›

Puppy pressing his paw against a Girl hand

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
January 27, 2022

Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Relationships

Tagged
Clive Wynne, Dogs (recognizing emotions), Dogs (recognizing words), Natalia Albuquerque, Sophie Jacques}

Dogs Understand Many More Words Than We Think

_{They also pick up very readily on human emotions, researchers have found} _{Denyse O'Leary

January 27, 2022

5

Natural Intelligence, Relationships}

Sophie Jacques, Associate Professor, Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, came up with some interesting figures on dogs recognizing words. Starting in 2015, she and a colleague developed a list of 172 words organized in different categories (for example, toys, food, commands, outdoor places) and gave it to an online sample of 165 owners of family and professional dogs. We asked them to select words that their dogs responded to consistently. We found that, on average, service dogs respond to about 120 words, whereas family pets respond to about 80 words, ranging between 15 to 215 words across all dogs. We also found that certain breed groups, such as herding dogs like border collies and toy dogs like chihuahuas, respond to Read More ›

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
January 26, 2022

Categorized
Natural Intelligence

Tagged
Chimpanzees (tool use), Human exceptionalism (vs. chimpanzees)}

Chimps Who Can’t Crack Nuts Prove They Are More Like Humans? Huh?

_{The lengths to which some researchers will go to attempt to discredit human exceptionalism are an assault on reason and common sense} _{Denyse O'Leary

January 26, 2022

2

Natural Intelligence}

In a recent experiment, researchers determined that chimpanzees need to be taught how to use stones to crack nuts; individuals don’t grasp the idea for themselves. In a series of four experiments, 35 parties of chimps were given oil palm nuts and stones but “on no occasion did the chimpanzees crack or eat either oil palm or Coula nuts,” presumably because they did not know how. Then the primatologists go on to draw an amazing conclusion: Their culture is therefore more similar to human culture than often assumed… “Our findings suggest that chimpanzees acquire cultural behaviors more like humans and do not simply invent a complex tool use behavior like nut cracking on their own,” says Koops. The presence of Read More ›

Portrait of guy on blue neon light digital interface background. Young man with beard. Censored concept.

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
January 25, 2022

Categorized
Censorship, Media, Medicine and Health, Social Media

Tagged
Anthony Fauci (flipflops), COVID-19 (misinformation issue), COVID-19 (Wuhan origin controversy), National Public Radio (judges' face masks controversy), Nicholas Wade (on COVID origin), Nina Totenberg, Royal Society, Trust (in media), Trust (in science)}

Royal Society: Don’t Censor Misinformation; It Makes Things Worse

_{While others demand crackdowns on “fake news,” the Society reminds us that the history of science is one of error correction} _{Denyse O'Leary

January 25, 2022

8

Censorship, Media, Medicine and Health, Social Media}

A leading science organization, the Royal Society (Britain’s equivalent of the National Academy of Sciences), has put out a report discouraging social media censorship, with special reference to the COVID-19 pandemic: The Royal Society, the U.K.’s academy of sciences, published a study of online scientific and health misinformation Wednesday, investigating its root causes and brainstorming possible solutions. The scientists concluded that censoring content deemed to be misinformation is often harmful and antithetical to the principles of scientific inquiry… The report found that online censorship risked pushing misinformation underground and off of major social media platforms, where it is less likely to be exposed to countervailing opinions. Censorship also risks removing or suppressing content that may be true or helpful to Read More ›

coconut octopus underwater macro portrait on sand

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
January 17, 2022

Categorized
Natural Intelligence

Tagged
Death (as abstraction), octopus}

Loving Goodbye… From an Octopus?

_{Did the octopus really know she was dying? Was she trying to say goodbye?} _{Denyse O'Leary

January 17, 2022

4

Natural Intelligence}

The film My Octopus Teacher (2020) paved the way for studying the intelligence of the remarkable eight-armed creature. One outcome has been more attention paid to other remarkable stories of human–octopus friendships. At Hakai Magazine, we learn about a part-time science teacher who befriended an octopus and learned a sad truth about her eight-armed companion: One of the first octopuses Nitz raised was an algae octopus (Abdopus aculeatus) she named the Once-ler after the narrator of The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. She and her daughters would stand in front of the Once-ler’s tank and wave their whole arms as though they were undulating blades of kelp. Eventually, the Once-ler started waving back, imitating their movements with a single arm while Read More ›

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.

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
December 2, 2021

Categorized
Biology, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Casey Luskin, Denyse O'Leary (on evolutionary psychology), Evolutionary psychology, Human evolution (and psychology), ID the Future (on evolutionary psychology), Psychology (and human evolution), Subrena E. Smith}

Evolutionary Psychology: When We Looked In, No One Was There…

_{Evo psych likely got started when psychologists wanted to get in on illuminating findings in evolution, like the Cambrian Explosion} _{Denyse O'Leary

December 2, 2021

3

Biology, Philosophy of Mind}

In a recent episode of ID: The Future, Casey Luskin and I discussed my chapter on evolutionary psychology in The Comprehensive Guide to Science and Faith: Exploring the Ultimate Questions About Life and the Cosmos (2021). Evolutionary psychologists claim to find the basis of human psychology in what enabled our remote ancestors to survive — that is, in prehuman or prehistoric behavior. A conceptual problem has always bothered me. Reading University of New Hampshire philosopher Subrena Smith helped clarify my thoughts: There is no such thing as a fossil mind. If our behavior is said to stem from our prehistoric or prehuman past, not from our known human circumstances, evolutionary psychology is a discipline without a subject. Also, any human Read More ›

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
November 30, 2021

Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Bacteria (cognition), Charles Darwin, Cognition (in simple life forms), Cogntion (evolution of cognition), Daniel Dennett, Humberto Maturana, Jakob von Uexküll, Pamela Lyon, Panpsychism (vs. materialism), Panpsychism (vs. naturalism), Spontaneous oscillations (and cognition)}

Would Cognition in Bacteria “Dethrone” Humans?

_{A cognition researcher’s approach to the question helps account for the growing popularity of panpsychism — as an alternative} _{Denyse O'Leary

November 30, 2021

10

Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind}

Adelaide University cognition researcher Pamela Lyon offered an interesting thesis at Aeon last month: “Cognition did not appear out of nowhere in ‘higher’ animals but goes back millions, perhaps billions, of years.” Given that several scientists have recently made claims for cognition in single-celled entities, her contention is not all that surprising. But her approach to the topic prompts some thought: Lyon, who has little time for doubters, invokes Charles Darwin in calling for a “Copernican” shift in thinking on the subject: In On the Origin of Species (1859), Charles Darwin draws a picture of the long sweep of evolution, from the beginning of life, playing out along two fundamental axes: physical and mental. Body and mind. All living beings, Read More ›

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
November 29, 2021

Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind, Science

Tagged
Panpsychism (why a growing trend)}

Why Panpsychism Is Starting To Push Out Naturalism

_{A key goal of naturalism/materialism has been to explain human consciousness away as “nothing but a pack of neurons.” That can’t work} _{Denyse O'Leary

November 29, 2021

5

Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind, Science}

Naturalism, often called “materialism,” posits that nature is all there is. Panpsychism doesn’t dispute that. But the panpsychist also thinks that consciousness is real — present in all nature (or all living nature) but especially developed in humans. Last Monday, writing about a classical atheist naturalist who was attacking panpsychism, I reflected on the difficulties the trend to panpsychism presents him. The naturalist is hostile to the panpsychist because he assumes that human consciousness will, in due course, be explained away. It is either an illusion, or an aid to survival that evolved among early humans. Or perhaps it is a spandrel (in evolution theory, a useless accompaniment of useful traits). In short, what we thought was our means of Read More ›

Black female student in front of chalkboard

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
November 24, 2021

Categorized
Education, Mathematics

Tagged
California Math Framework, Cicadas (and prime numbers), Iron Ring (Canadian engineers), Math education (accelerated classes), Mathematics (unsolved problems), Mathematics (war on math), Pythagoras (world as mathematical), Sam Baron, War on math}

If Reality Is Fundamentally Mathematical, Why the War on Math?

_{Just as physicists are recognizing the mathematical nature of reality more clearly, the basic idea of getting math right is under fire in our schools} _{Denyse O'Leary

November 24, 2021

7

Education, Mathematics}

Sam Baron, a philosophy prof at Australian Catholic University, whose specialty is the philosophy of mathematics, argues in a new paper that mathematics is not a human invention. It gives structure to the world we live in. We simply observe it. So do many life forms, it seems. He offers an example: There are two subspecies of North American periodical cicadas that live most of their lives in the ground. Then, every 13 or 17 years (depending on the subspecies), the cicadas emerge in great swarms for a period of around two weeks. Why is it 13 and 17 years? Why not 12 and 14? Or 16 and 18? One explanation appeals to the fact that 13 and 17 are Read More ›

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
November 23, 2021

Categorized
Law, Natural Intelligence

Tagged
Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill (UK), Cephalopods, Crabs (intelligence), Cuttlefish (intelligence), Decapods, Invertebrates (intelligence), Invertebrates (sentience), Jonathan Birch, Lobsters (intelligence), Octopuses (intelligence)}

British Government Moves To Protect Octopuses From Cruelty

_{The move to protect cephalopods and crabs/lobsters follows from research showing their intelligence and awareness of pain} _{Denyse O'Leary

November 23, 2021

6

Law, Natural Intelligence}

Following a report from the London School of Economics and Political Science, the British government has decided to extend animal protection laws to include “cephalopods (including octopuses, squid and cuttlefish) and decapods (including crabs, lobsters and crayfish).” No, this is not just another nut moment along the lines of “Salad is plant murder!” There’s a background: Researchers have discovered in recent decades that some invertebrates, especially those with complex central nervous systems, are much more intelligent and capable of experiencing pain (sentient) than we used to think. As George Dvorsky explains at Gizmodo, the British government introduced the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill in May. The bill defined sentient animals as animals with backbones (vertebrates). However, scientists have known for some Read More ›

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
November 22, 2021

Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Jerry Coyne (on panpsychism), Keith Frankish, Mind (as illusion), Mind (as spandrel), MindChat, Panpsychism (Jerry Coyne's view), Philip Goff, Promissory materialism, Sean Carroll}

A Darwinian Biologist Resists Learning To Live With Panpsychism

_{Jerry Coyne makes two things quite clear: He scorns panpsychism and he doesn’t understand why some scientists accept it} _{Denyse O'Leary

November 22, 2021

8

Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind}

Jerry Coyne, a traditional Darwinian evolutionary biologist and author of Why Evolution Is True, is having a hard time understanding why anyone would even consider taking panpsychism seriously. His bafflement over the growing acceptance of the idea that every living thing (or everything) is conscious to some extent may shed light on some new features of the changing science landscape. His jumping off point is a recent three-way debate/discussion, sponsored by MindChat, between panpsychist philosopher Philip Goff, naturalist theoretical physicist Sean Carroll, and physicalist philosopher Keith Frankish, who views the mind as an illusion created by the brain — or, as Coyne puts it, “a trick of the biological mind.” Coyne, as a metaphysical naturalist (nature is all there is), Read More ›

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
November 18, 2021

Categorized
Censorship, Social Media

Tagged
Chris Pavlovski, Ghost (subscription service), Locals.com, Narya Capital, Peter Thiel, Rumble, Steven Malanga, Substack, YouTube (and Rumble)}

Indie Social Medium Now Shows Big Gain Due to Big Tech Censorship

_{Rumble recently received backing from venture capitalist Peter Thiel, PayPal and Facebook co-founder} _{Denyse O'Leary

November 18, 2021

3

Censorship, Social Media}

In the current issue of City Journal, Steven Malanga looks at the traffic Silicon Valley is losing. Not much was expected of Rumble, an alternative YouTube founded in 2013 by Canadian entrepreneur Chris Pavlovski. But it hung on until 2020, when YouTube stepped up its efforts to remove content inconsistent with its public-spirited values or with its parent company Google’s political alliances — depending on who you talk to. At any rate, high-profile commentators were looking fora new home. And they found one: In just ten months, Rumble’s online viewership has increased 25-fold. The company has attracted funding from prominent venture capitalists and recently completed a series of deals to bring such outspoken voices as Greenwald, Gabbard, and Joe Rogan Read More ›

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
November 16, 2021

Categorized
Neuroscience

Tagged
Human exceptionalism, Ion channels, Junk DNA (human vs. chimp), Neurons (human vs other mammals)}

Human Neurons, Brains, Much More Efficient Than Animal Ones

_{What was formerly thought to be “junk DNA” differs between humans and chimpanzees and plays a role in brain development} _{Denyse O'Leary

November 16, 2021

4

Neuroscience}

What makes humans different should be straightforward, right? We should, for example, have more complex neurons than ferrets and macaques. But we don’t. We have simpler ones: Neurons communicate with each other via electrical impulses, which are produced by ion channels that control the flow of ions such as potassium and sodium. In a surprising new finding, MIT neuroscientists have shown that human neurons have a much smaller number of these channels than expected, compared to the neurons of other mammals. MIT, “A Striking Difference Between Neurons of Humans and Other Mammals” at Neuroscience News (November 10, 2021) The paper requires a subscription. In the most extensive study of its kind, nine other mammals were studied. Larger mammals have larger Read More ›