Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

CategoryEvolution

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Smart Turtle with Glasses: A Hilarious and Adorable Reptile Portrait

Reptilian Renaissance: How Did Reptiles Develop Intelligence?

Scientists used to think reptiles were dumb but then they looked more closely
Maybe if we are looking for general principles underlying the development of intelligence, we would be wise to leave evolution out of it for a bit. Read More ›
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Highly detailed close up portrait of an adult Raven in Yellowstone National Park, species name Corvus corax

At Quanta: High Bird Intelligence Developed on a Different Path

High intelligence developing on different paths is consistent with convergent evolution. It’s also consistent with design in nature
It is ironic that otherwise intelligent people must play the “we’re just another animal” game while demanding attention for ideas that only humans can give. Read More ›
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Glowing blue and white nebula with stars in deep space.

Is the Human Race Evolving Toward a Final Spiritual Unity? Part 2

Teilhard thought that evolution needed to be seen from the inside, viewing humans not only as observers of evolution but also as its products
Teilhard noted the same weakness in evolution theory as Thomas Nagel does today: Excluding the origin of mind and consciousness makes it at best half a theory. Read More ›
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Omega Centuri the largest star cluster in the Earth's sky

Is the Human Race Evolving Toward a Final Spiritual Unity? Part 1

Philosopher and paleontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin thought so but many other thinkers have found his Omega point too simplistic
His writings caught the imagination of many religiously minded people but they seemed more profound than they really were. Read More ›
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3d rendered illustration of the human brain anatomy

Did the Enlargement of the Human Brain Depend on Two Genes?

The genes, unique to humans, spurred brain growth when introduced in mice and chimpanzee stem cells
While it is quite true that the human brain is very large by animal standards, there is no simple one-on-one relationship between brain size and intelligence. Read More ›
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A post-apocalyptic cityscape devoid of life, with crumbling buildings, overgrown vegetation, and the remnants of civilization scattered throughout the desolate landscape, Generative AI

At a Science Journal: Humanity Is Just So Doomed

Opinions differ as to the details of what will wipe us all out — or maybe not
In one version, the coming human eclipse originated in a sin against Darwinism: destroying the competition. Read More ›
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View on Olduvai gorge in Tanzania

Abstract Reasoning in Human Ancestors: Earlier Than Thought?

Researchers say, bone tools were being mass produced 1.5 million years ago in the in Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania
The question naturally arises, was the normally developed human mind ever incapable of abstract thought? That’s a challenge to accepted evolution theories. Read More ›
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Homo heidelbergensis is an extinct prehistoric man. He used more advanced tools than Homo erectus, such as hand axes and spears, and probably fire

A Catholic Priest Talks About Human Evolution

Fr. Martin Hilbert approaches the topic from the perspective of evidence, reason, and faith — and realism about what is at stake in the discussion
Fr. Hilbert shows that we have not found anything that justifies a Darwinian approach to life as somehow more compatible with science than a Christian one. Read More ›
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Panoramic view of the Earth, sun, star and galaxy. Sunrise over planet Earth, view from space. Elements of this image furnished by NASA

New Book: The Catholic Case for the Design of Nature

Fr. Martin Hilbert notes that the history of life seems more like a separate collection of bushes than a single tree
The great Catholic theologian Aquinas noted that “what happens in the working of nature is either always, or mostly, for the better,” which rules out chance. Read More ›
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female player plays poker and takes chips to raise the bet

Proof of Darwinism Lies in a Book That Was Never Written…

Terry Scambray looks at Robert Shedinger’s Darwin’s Bluff, which tells the tale of the proof that Darwin was always “going to” provide
As Scambray observes, in the end, Darwin did not really need to provide clinching evidence. Intellectuals already *believed in* evolution and that was enough. Read More ›
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cosmic symphony resonating throughout the universe with celestial bodies emitting harmonic frequencies that interweave to create a tapestry of cosmic music echoing through the void of space

Liberal Prof: Intelligent Design Is Not Just for Conservatives

Robert Shedinger’s findings certainly changed his perception of the nature of the controversy over Darwinism
He told colleagues he is planning a new book, tentatively titled “Why Liberals Should Ditch Darwin and Consider Intelligent Design.” Read More ›
Close up of a Chimpanzee-family (mother and her two kids)

Can Chimpanzees Help Us Understand How Human Language Started?

If the capacity for a human mind was present before humans and chimps diverged (if they did), why did no chimpanzee develop one?
Oxford researchers studied chimpanzee tool use for evidence that chimpanzees really do think a lot like humans. If that were true, it would deepen the mystery. Read More ›
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Prehistoric Stone Tools

At SciAm: When did human ancestors start using stone tools?

Setting aside the question of whether the various groups mentioned in the article are in fact our ancestors, stone tool use is not even confined to primates
It’s not stone tool use that is exclusive to humans; vultures can do that. It’s the ability to form abstract ideas — like the study of tool use among animals. 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 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 ›
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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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World Darwin Day representing the evolotuion theory illustration generative ai

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
Perhaps an unwillingness or inability to even see this finding as evidence against Darwinian evolution, plays a vital role in quietly enabling further research. Read More ›
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Daphnia, a genus of small planktonic crustaceans,food for young fish,special for young betta

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
What is the origin of the “complexity and subtlety” the researchers cite? Do they not suggest a mind in or behind the universe? Read More ›
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The combination of playing cards

Darwin’s Bold Bluff: He Never Demonstrated His Evolution Theory

He often promised he would demonstrate it. But, as Robert Shedinger shows, when he didn’t, his supporters decided to just act like he had
Their strategy worked quite well because, by gentleman’s agreement, everyone closed ranks and no one asked hard questions — until quite recently… Read More ›