Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis
Dr. Michael Egnor of Stony Brook Medicine

Michael Egnor

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Cityscape of the Flatiron Building (New York City)

How Can We Conceive of Perfection When We Never Experience It?

Here's a challenge to the materialist theory that every mental state is a brain state: How can a perfect thought be an imperfect brain state? Read More ›
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Abstract numbers background - big data concept.

Human Mind: Logic Shows Abstract Thought Is an Immaterial Power

Neuroscience evidence helps us see the spiritual nature of our minds but we can use the power of our reason to demonstrate that too
A question for materialists: How can infinite states of my intellect be generated by finite states of my brain? Read More ›
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Adorable toddlers playing around lots of toys at kindergarten

Why Behaviorism Failed as a Leading Theory in Psychology

The human mind, like the origin and development of life itself is not reducible to merely physical processes
In our minds, as in our cells, we can see the clear signature of a Mind beyond this universe. Read More ›
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Plenty of air bubbles in blue water

The Boy Who Proved Most Theories of Consciousness Wrong

He was unequivocally conscious — without a cerebral cortex and even without brain hemispheres
I believe that children with hydranencephaly are conscious because all human beings have a spiritual soul and it is by virtue of our soul that we are conscious. Read More ›
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Epilepsy Concept An illustration represents epilepsy with brain wave patterns

Brain vs. Mind: A Very Revealing Fact About Epileptic Seizures

I have treated thousands of patients with epilepsy. Seizures can result in a variety of unexpected behaviors and emotions. But let me tell you what they DON’T do…
The fact that seizures never result in abstract reasoning implies our reason is not a material power of the body but an immaterial power of the spiritual soul. Read More ›
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A 3D rendering of a human brain with a missing puzzle piece, symbolizing mental health, memory loss, or a search for solutions.

Why Much Current Consciousness Research Is a Fool’s Errand

The inability to even define consciousness with clarity is emblematic of the conceptual mess that modern neuroscience has become
Consciousness is like contact lenses. It is the means by which we experience, not what we experience. Thus we can’t “find” it in the brain. Read More ›
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Portrait of young man embracing his small dog. Small puppy terrier with owner, spending time together. Pet adoption, mental health, cute moments, friendship with animals

How Logic Can Show That Your Mind Is Not Just Your Brain

A principle of physics — the indeterminacy of matter — precludes brain states from forming the basis of abstract thought
In addition to the massive evidence from neuroscience that the intellect is an immaterial power of the mind, simple logic points to the same truth. Read More ›
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view form medical partition taiwanese female in vegetative state resting alone on bed in bright hospital.

Are People in a Persistent Vegetative State Mindless? Maybe Not

They often can and do think. Research in the area helps us understand the relationship between the mind and the brain better
While none of this research is decisive, the materialist paradigm is challenged by awareness in PVS. The dualist perspective better fits the evidence. Read More ›
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Thoughtful female blogger looking away and feeling pondering on ideas for new article at own web page, pensive woman sitting in cafeteria with textbook in hand and thinking about plan for future trip

How a Neurosurgeon Showed That Abstract Thought Is Immaterial

Wilder Penfield, one of the first neurosurgeons to split human brains in half to relieve epilepsy, found much more than a treatment
Of his 55,000 brain stimulations that “activated complex networks,” not one generated abstract thought — implying that it is not a “product” of the brain. Read More ›
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An abstract representation of the human brain with sound waves, symbolizing mind and sound interaction.

What Damaged Brains Tell Us About the Mind

They often provide mute evidence that the human mind is not simply the output of the brain
A recent research paper looks at the way minds work with what’s available, something I often encounter in my practice as a neurosurgeon. Read More ›
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A detailed visualization of a human brain with glowing nodes representing neural connections and brain activity, symbolizing neurological science, cognitive function, and advanced biological research

Looking for Consciousness in All the Wrong Places

Reductionism is nonsense, and “consciousness” is not nestled in clusters of neurons
The higher human ability to think abstractly — to reason and will freely — are not physical abilities and do not come from the brain. Read More ›
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Hemispheres of the brain front view

How Can We Know If Patients With Split Brains Have a Single Mind?

Just ask them

Readers have brought to my attention a review article on the effect of split-brain surgery on consciousness. “Split-Brain: What We Know Now and Why This is Important for Understanding Consciousness” (2020) by Yair Pinto and his colleagues is an interesting open-access article, well worth reading for anyone interested in the topic. From the abstract: [Split-brain surgery] leads to a broad breakdown of functional integration ranging from perception to attention. However, the breakdown is not absolute as several processes, such as action control, seem to remain unified. Disagreement exists about the responsible mechanisms for this remaining unity. The main issue concerns the first-person perspective of a split-brain patient. Does a split-brain harbor a split consciousness or is consciousness unified? The current 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.

Does Brain Surgery Prove That Free Will Isn’t Real?

My fellow neurosurgeon Theodore Schwartz is mistaken in thinking that free will is an illusion. It is quite real
I offer four reasons that we can know that free will is real, drawn from human behavior, law, ethics, and physics. Read More ›
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A team of surgeons performing brain surgery to remove a tumor.

Does Surgically Splitting the Brain Make One Person Into Two?

A prominent neurosurgeon writes of his “amazement” at discovering that the patient with a split brain is still a single individual
Unity of self after brain splitting is not surprising. Each of us is a physical creature with a single spiritual soul. It is immaterial and can’t be severed. Read More ›
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A human head with glowing neurons in the brain. Generative AI

What, Exactly, Does Your Brain Do? What Can’t It Do?

A surprising result of pioneering neurosurgery was the discovery that some mental processes could be stimulated in the brain but others could not be
Brain stimulation could cause movement or memories but no part of the brain, when stimulated, caused patients to think abstractly or exercise free will. Read More ›
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Alien hand syndrome. Mature man trying to control his hand.

Alien Hand Syndrome? Relax. There Is No Alien Mind

The syndrome has been used to argue for the idea that split brain patients really have two separate minds and maybe wills afterward
Split minds doesn't make sense as a concept. To simultaneously pursue two abstract thought processes or moral choices is not a meaningful idea. Read More ›
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Human fetus with internal organs, 3d illustration

Confronting IVF: Human Embryos Are Persons With a Right to Life

We humans are persons even when we are non-sentient and dependent on others
IVF is the industrial manufacture of human beings. The right to life of the embryo is a bulwark against dehumanization for all. Read More ›
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Vitro Fertilization. IVF with DNA strand. 3d illustration.

Are IVF Human Embryos “Children”? A Recent Court Decision

Neurologist Steven Novella claims that the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that they are “children” under the law “essentially referenced god”
The ruling not only did not reference God, it was meticulously based on precedent. So those who seek to remove protection from IVF embryos must lobby for that. Read More ›
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Senior man looking at empty bench and remembering his friend, loss, memories

Why Can’t Our Memories Be “Stored” in the Brain?

The image of storing and erasing memories is popular due to computer technology but it is not relevant to how the human mind works
When we talk about memory, we often use word pictures that make it seem as though memories behave like material things but they don’t. Read More ›
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Receding concrete decaying arches

Why Doesn’t God Just Do Something Dramatic to Prove He Exists?

The Divine Hiddenness argument for atheism, espoused by Matt Dillahunty, is that, if a perfectly loving God existed, reasonable unbelief would be impossible
Philosopher Blaise Pascal argued that God gives enough evidence for faith and leaves room for doubt because he wants our heart first — and reason follows. Read More ›