^CategoryNatural Intelligence

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
November 5, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Artificial intelligence (and communicating with whales), Free Willy (film), Human exceptionalism (vs whales), Keiko (orca), Killer whales, Language (whales), Orcas}

Can AI Help Us Talk to Whales? Maybe. But Then What?

_{In the real world, if we succeed in communicating with whales, it will be much like communicating successfully with dogs, cats, and horses. None of them are furry people.} _{Denyse O'Leary

November 5, 2021

7

Artificial Intelligence, Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind}

A recent article in the Smithsonian Magazine holds out the hope that AI can help enable us to talk with whales: The clicks of sperm whales are ideal candidates for attempting to decode their meanings—not just because, unlike continuous sounds that other whale species produce, they are easy to translate into ones and zeros. The animals dive down into the deepest ocean depths and communicate over great distances, so they cannot use body language and facial expressions, which are important means of communication for other animals. “It is realistic to assume that whale communication is primarily acoustic,” says Bronstein. Sperm whales have the largest brains in the animal kingdom, six times the size of ours. When two of these animals Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
November 3, 2021

Categorized
Natural Intelligence

Tagged
Antonio Damasio, Coronaviruses (intelligence), COVID (virus as intelligent), David Bhella, Feeling & Knowing (book), James Shapiro, Michael Lai, Nigel Brown, Panpsychism (vs. materialism), Panpsychism (vs. theism), SARS-CoV-2 (nonrandom adaptation), Viruses (alive vs not alive debate), Viruses (intelligence), Viruses (survival strategies)}

Neuroscientist: Even Viruses Are Intelligent

_{Antonio Damasio says, in the excerpt from his new book, that — based on the evidence — we cannot deny viruses “some fraction” of intelligence} _{News

November 3, 2021

7

Natural Intelligence}

University of Chicago biochemist James Shapiro’s just-published paper concludes that bacteria, based on their behavior, are cognitive, which means that they are aware in some sense, perhaps some would say, intelligent. What about viruses? Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio says, in an excerpt from his recent book, Feeling & Knowing, that we can also credit some sort of intelligence to viruses: Viruses cannot reproduce on their own, but they can invade living organisms, hijack their life systems, and multiply. In brief, they are not living but can become parasitic of the living and make a “pseudo” living while, in most instances, destroying the life that allows them to continue their ambiguous existence and promoting the manufacture and dissemination of “their” nucleic acids. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
November 2, 2021

Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Science

Tagged
Bacteria (cognition), James Shapiro, Panpsychism (vs. materialism), Quorum sensing, Theism, Theism (vs. materialism)}

University of Chicago Biochemist: All Living Cells Are Cognitive

_{James Shapiro’s recent paper points out, with examples, that bacteria meet the Oxford English Dictionary’s definition of “cognitive”} _{Denyse O'Leary

November 2, 2021

6

Natural Intelligence, Science}

University of Chicago biochemist and evolutionary biologist James Shapiro has a message that those who believe that consciousness is an illusion (as, for example, philosopher Daniel Dennett claims) should heed: If all living things are “cognitive” then, to what extent would life itself have to be an illusion? Something’s wrong there. Let’s follow the thread of what Shapiro is saying. He takes a simple approach: If bacteria and archaea, thought to be the oldest, simplest life forms from at least 2 billion years ago, can be shown to have cognitive processes, then it stands to reason that most (if not all) of the more complex life forms have them too: All living cells sense and respond to changes in external Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
November 2, 2021

Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Antonio Damasio, Consciousness, Consciousness (and nervous systems), Death (avoidance in life forms), Feeling & Knowing (book), Homeostasis, Nervous systems (and consciousness)}

Neuroscientist: Nervous Systems Alone Do Not Cause Consciousness

_{Antonio Damasio, author of Feeling & Knowing (2021), points to the whole body as involved in consciousness} _{News

November 2, 2021

5

Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind}

Prominent neuroscientist Antonio Damasio, considered “a leader in understanding the biological origin of consciousness,” wrote in The Scientist yesterday that “The idea that minds and consciousness might be generated by the nervous system alone is false. In his view, the whole body is involved in consciousness: Attempts to understand consciousness exclusively in terms of neural activity have failed and are, in good part, responsible for the belief held by some scientists and educated laypeople that consciousness is an inexplicable mystery. It is likely true that consciousness only emerges in organisms endowed with nervous systems, but it is just as true that consciousness also requires abundant interactions between those systems and many non-nervous parts of the organism Antonio Damasio, “Opinion: Being, Read More ›

white marble statue of man with beard in detail

^{Type
post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
November 1, 2021

Categorized
Natural Intelligence

Tagged
classical logic, Jonathan Bartlett, Logic}

Coming to the Defense of Classical Logic

_{Classical logic belongs to everyone and can be equally wielded by anyone} _{Jonathan Bartlett

November 1, 2021

4

Natural Intelligence}

It seems odd that classical logic would need defending, but, in modern times, this seems to indeed be the case. Many modern scholars see the need for demoting the place of classical logic and viewing it as an aspect of western cultural imperialism. In reality, classical logic is a gift to civilization. It was created in the classical west, but its benefit is that it belongs to everyone and can be equally wielded by anyone who chooses to do so. Many critics of classical logic, like critics of mathematics, have both problematic and justifiable complaints. It is true that many people use classical logic incorrectly, and then use the authority of classical logic as the justification for problematic statements. In Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
October 11, 2021

Categorized
Mathematics, Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Andreas Nieder, Ben Harvey, Brian Butterworth, Can Fish Count? (book), Catherine Offord, Convergent evolution (number sense), Crows (and number sense), Macaques (and number sense), Number sense (hardwired theory), Numerosity, Pythagorean theorem, Zero (number)}

Are Our Neurons Really Wired for Numbers?

_{Some neuroscientists say they have shown hardwiring in studies of crows and macaques but others say no, these life forms differ too much} _{News

October 11, 2021

6

Mathematics, Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind}

University College London cognitive neuroscientist Brian Butterworth, author of a forthcoming book, Can fish count? (Basic Books, 2022), reckons that, one way or another, in a modern urban society, we process about 16,000 numbers in an average day. Numbers create conceptual relationships between vastly different things. From the publisher’s introduction to his book, we learn, “The philosopher Bertrand Russell once observed that realizing that a pair of apples and the passage of two days could somehow both be represented by the concept we call “two” was one of the most astonishing discoveries anyone had ever made.” At The Scientist, Catherine Offord, discussing his work, offers a critical distinction between estimations of quantity and actual counting: “Our perception of quantity, separate Read More ›

Tomb of bare-knuckle fighter Tom Sayer on Highgate Cemetery

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
October 11, 2021

Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Death (as abstraction), Death (as concept), Death (as undersstood by animals), Death (playing possum), Grief (in animals), Human exceptionalism, Opossum (thanatosis), Susana Monsóis, Thanatosis (feigning death)}

A Philosopher Simply Invents Animals’ Concept of Death

_{She demands that we accept her invention so we can “rethink” human exceptionalism, and the “disrespect for the natural world that comes with it”} _{Denyse O'Leary

October 11, 2021

10

Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind}

Last week I talked about the question of whether primate mothers who carry dead infants around understand the concept of death. The scientists conducting the research sounded commendably cautious in the conclusions they drew. Not everyone follows their lead in this. Susana Monsóis, professor of philosophy at UNED (Madrid) and author of La zarigüeya de Schrödinger (Schrödinger’s Possum), “ a book on how animals experience and understand death,” dispenses with all that. Her subtitle is “Having a concept of death, far from being a uniquely human feat, is a fairly common trait in the animal kingdom.” Yet she falls far short of demonstrating that. Her essay is a classic on what happens when we seek simply to amass support for Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
October 8, 2021

Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Abstraction (death as abstraction), Alecia Carter, Chimpanzees, Death (animals' awareness), Elisa Fernández Fuego, Grief (in animals), Lemurs, Primates (apes)}

Does a Chimp Mom Who Carries a Dead Baby Around Understand Death?

_{In a recent study of primate mothers, researchers imply that their behavior shows a growing awareness of the nature of death} _{Denyse O'Leary

October 8, 2021

7

Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind}

That is a trickier question than it first seems. Researchers looked into the habit some primate moms have of carrying a baby who has died, sometimes for months: Published today in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the researchers compiled data from anecdotes reported in 126 publications on primate behaviour. In the largest study of its kind, researchers undertook the most extensive and rigorous quantitative analysis to date of a behaviour known as “infant corpse carrying” in primate mothers, looking at 409 cases across 50 species. While there is debate among scientists around whether primates are aware of death, this new study suggests that primate mothers may possess an awareness — or be able to learn about death over time. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
October 7, 2021

Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Science

Tagged
Birds (use of quantum magnetosensing), Electrons (entanglement), Eric Warrant, European robin, Henrik Nouritsen, Magnetosensing, Migratin (magnetosensing), Migration (birds), Quantum mechanics (birds)}

Physicist: Migrating Birds’ Mysterious Quantum Sense Is “Spooky”

_{Birds like the European robin pack a $10,000 lock-in amplifier into a 2 micron cell} _{Denyse O'Leary

October 7, 2021

7

Natural Intelligence, Science}

Earlier this year, the night-migratory European robin (Erithacus rubecola) made the headlines. Evidence has emerged that it may be using quantum mechanical effects to sense Earth’s magnetic field in order to migrate. Few expected to find quantum mechanical manipulation in the eye of a bird. Zoologist Eric Warrant, who was not involved in the research, says, that magnetic direction sensing is “the last sense we know, effectually, nothing about.” But this mysterious intelligence appears essential to migration, and hence, to the survival of many birds. So how, exactly, do they do it? Humans perceive the world around them with five senses — vision, hearing, taste, smell and touch. Many other animals are also able to sense the Earth’s magnetic field. Read More ›

Human brain digital illustration. Electrical activity, flashes and lightning on a blue background.

^{Type
post

Author
Eric Holloway
Date
October 4, 2021

Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Intractable Cognition Thesis, NP-Complete domain, Occam's razor, polynomial time algorithm, Tractable Cognition Thesis}

An Alternative to the Tractable Cognition Thesis

_{The Tractable Cognition Thesis presents us with a gap in the logic when it comes to NP-Complete problems. How can we solve for it?} _{Eric Holloway

October 4, 2021

4

Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind}

The Tractable Cognition Thesis is the proposal that all processes in the brain can be modeled by a polynomial time algorithm. This includes situations where the brain solves problems that are within NP-Complete domains. In the latter situation, it is assumed the brain is only solving a subset of the NP-Complete domain where the problems can be solved with a polynomial time algorithm. With these assumptions in place, the overall implication is that there is a specific polynomial time algorithm that can emulate every process in the brain. However, there is a gap in the logic when it comes to NP-Complete problems. It is well known that humans solve many problems that are in the general case NP-Complete. Route planning, Read More ›

Anomalocaris, creature of the Cambrian period, isolated on black background

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
September 30, 2021

Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Science

Tagged
Anna Zeligowski, Cambrian Explosion, Cephalopods, Christof Koch, Convergent evolution, Cuttlefish intelligence, David Chalmers, Eva Jablonka, Minimal consciousness (Ginsberg et al.), MuZero, Octopus intelligence, Simona Ginsberg, Squid intelligence, Tibor Gánti, Unlimited associative learning (UAL)}

Did Minimal Consciousness Drive the Cambrian Explosion?

_{Eva Jablonka’s team makes the daring case, repurposing Hungarian chemist Tibor Gánti’s origin of life studies} _{News

September 30, 2021

7

Natural Intelligence, Science}

Eva Jablonka is “one of the world’s foremost experts in epigenetic inheritance and evolution” but she has also had a longstanding interest in consciousness studies. She was author, with Marion J. Lamb, of Evolution in Four Dimensions: Genetic, Epigenetic, Behavioral, and Symbolic Variation in the History of Life (MIT Press 2006/rev. 2014). She and neurobiologist Simona Ginsburg, along with illustrator Anna Zeligowski, offer a new approach to the origin of consciousness in an essay at IAI.TV — one with an interesting departure from many approaches to consciousness: Taking their inspiration from Hungarian chemist Tibor Gánti (1933–2009), who posited a chemoton — the minimal life form or protocell — as the origin of life, they first attempt to define minimal consciousness, Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
September 1, 2021

Categorized
Environment, Ethics, Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Fungi (intelligence) Nicholas P. Money, Human exceptionalism (vs fungi), Nicholas P. Money}

Mushrooms Have Minds? Well, If You Doubt Humans Are Exceptional…

_{… it is a short step to thinking that mushrooms have minds. A Miami University biologist has taken that step} _{News

September 1, 2021

4

Environment, Ethics, Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind}

It’s pretty daring to claim that mushrooms have minds. But, in the light of what we have learned about plant communications, we should perhaps pause a moment to at least listen. Miami University biologist Nicholas P. Money, argues: Given the magical reputation of the fungi, claiming that they might be conscious is dangerous territory for a credentialled scientist. But in recent years, a body of remarkable experiments have shown that fungi operate as individuals, engage in decision-making, are capable of learning, and possess short-term memory. These findings highlight the spectacular sensitivity of such ‘simple’ organisms, and situate the human version of the mind within a spectrum of consciousness that might well span the entire natural world. Nicholas P. Money, “The Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
August 28, 2021

Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Science

Tagged
Extremophiles, Habitable zone, Hycean planets, Hydrogen (and habitable planets), James Webb Telescope, Ocean planets}

New Class of “Hycean” Exoplanets May Feature Life

_{The new James Webb Telescope will enable much clearer resolution for the composition believed necessary for hosting life} _{News

August 28, 2021

4

Natural Intelligence, Science}

A group of Cambridge astronomers, studying the more than 4000 confirmed exoplanets, think that hydrogen-rich planets may host life. These “Hycean” planets are more numerous than planets similar to Earth and are easier to observe, especially through the new James Webb telescope, to be launched later this year. They are thought to be completely covered by oceans and are termed “mini-Neptune water worlds”: Many of the prime Hycean candidates identified by the researchers are bigger and hotter than Earth, but still have the characteristics to host large oceans that could support microbial life similar to that found in some of Earth’s most extreme aquatic environments. These planets also allow for a far wider habitable zone, or ‘Goldilocks zone’, compared to Read More ›

sad mixed breed dog posing in a cage in animal shelter

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
August 27, 2021

Categorized
Ethics, Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Abstraction, Animals (mourning), suicide, Suicide (animals)}

Are Animals Capable of Committing Suicide?

_{Generally, experts think not. They may, of course, become profoundly depressed and engage in self-harm} _{Denyse O'Leary

August 27, 2021

6

Ethics, Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind}

At Discover Magazine, Richard Pallardy offers an anecdote: In April 1970, Ric O’Barry visited a dolphin named Kathy at the Miami Seaquarium, where she was languishing in “retirement” after three years as the title character on the television show Flipper. O’Barry, who had captured her from the wild and trained her to perform, remembers thinking that she seemed depressed. She was all alone in a concrete tank — not a good thing for a highly social animal like a dolphin. He claims the former cetacean starlet swam into his arms, sank to the bottom of the tank and refused to resurface, drowning herself. Richard Pallardy, “Do Animals Commit Suicide?” at Discover Magazine (August 10, 2021) There is no lack of Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
August 26, 2021

Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience

Tagged
Cephalopods (intelligence), Cuttlefish, Memory, Octopus (and pain), Octopus (and sleep)}

Cuttlefish Have Good Memories, Even in Old Age

_{They are cephalopods and many types of cephalopod show a number of intelligent characteristics which we are only beginning to investigate} _{Denyse O'Leary

August 26, 2021

6

Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience}

Octopuses have been called a “second genesis” of intelligence, that is, they are invertebrates with high intelligence, instead of vertebrates. But their close relatives, squid and cuttlefish (they are all cephalopods), are not far behind, according to recent research. One unusual finding is that cuttlefish have very good memories: Can you remember what you had for dinner last Tuesday? Or on this day last year? It turns out that cuttlefish can, right up to old age – the first animal we’ve found that doesn’t show signs of deterioration in memory function over time. David Nield, “The Incredible Brains of Cuttlefish Hold Memories That Never Seem to Fade” at ScienceAlert (18 August 2021) Of course, cuttlefish live only a couple of Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
August 24, 2021

Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience

Tagged
Brain (horseshoe crab), Brain (stasis), Horseshoe crab (brain), Russell Bicknell, Stasis}

Do Brains Really Evolve? The Horseshoe Crab’s Brain Didn’t

_{It’s very rare to find an intact fossil brain but a rare combination of minerals preserved one from 310 million years ago} _{Denyse O'Leary

August 24, 2021

4

Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience}

Recently, paleontologist Russell Bicknell and colleagues found a fossil horseshoe crab in the Yale Peabody Museum, originally from the Mazon Creek fossil beds near Chicago. That, in itself wasn’t spectacular but, for geological reasons, the creature’s brain was preserved, an extremely rare situation. So how much had the horseshoe crab’s brain changed in 310 million years? Not at all, really: A new beautifully preserved fossil of a horseshoe crab has now revealed that their brains have hardly changed since at least the Carboniferous Period… The brain structure of the ancient crab is almost identical to that of living species. In fact, it is this extraordinary similarity that meant the researchers could be confident that what they were looking at was Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
August 14, 2021

Categorized
Natural Intelligence

Tagged
Lammergeier (dropping bones), Orcas (throwing seals), Polar bear (using stones as tools), Seagulls (using stones as tools), Walruses}

Polar Bears Use Stones to Kill Walruses

_{The unexpected bear behavior was dismissed as folklore in the past although there is certainly evidence of other life forms using rocks as tools} _{News

August 14, 2021

4

Natural Intelligence}

At one time, researchers thought it was a myth that polar bears could use stones to kill walruses. Not any more: Walruses, weighing as much as 1,300 kilograms with huge tusks and nearly impenetrable skulls, are almost impossible for a hungry polar bear to kill. But new research suggests that some polar bears have invented a work-around — bashing walruses on the head with a block of stone or ice. For more than 200 years, Inuit in Greenland and the eastern Canadian Arctic have told stories of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) using such tools to aid in killing walruses. Yet explorers, naturalists and writers often dismissed such accounts, relegating them to myth along with tales about shape-shifting bears. Gloria Dickie, Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
August 4, 2021

Categorized
Education, Mathematics, Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Animals and math, Cardinality principle, Children and math, Mathematics and language, Silke Goebel, Symbol systems (numbers)}

Why Animals Can Count But Can’t Do Math

_{A numerical cognition researcher outlines the differences between recognizing numbers and doing math} _{News

August 4, 2021

4

Education, Mathematics, Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind}

At The Conversation, psychology professor Silke Goebel offers some perspective on the differences between the way animals and small children process numbers and the way adults do. As a researcher in numerical cognition, she tries to focus on how brains process numbers. Her research shows that Humans and animals actually share some remarkable numerical abilities – helping them make smart decisions about where to feed and where to take shelter. But as soon as language enters the picture, humans begin outperforming animals, revealing how words and digits underpin our advanced mathematical world. Silke Goebel, “Why animals recognise numbers but only humans can do maths” at The Conversation (July 28, 2021) Essentially, she says, there are two different types of counting Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
July 23, 2021

Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Abstractions, Language, Parrots}

Do Birds Really Understand What They Are Saying?

_{Remarkable claims are made for some birds} _{Denyse O'Leary

July 23, 2021

4

Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind}

Perhaps because parrots can carefully mimic human voices (and many other sounds), many claims are made for their intelligence For example, that they understand abstractions like currency: After training eight African grey parrots and six blue-headed macaws to barter metal rings for walnuts, the researchers paired the birds up with same-species partners. They then put the parrots in clear chambers joined by a transfer hole, and gave one bird—the donor—ten rings, while the other was left with none. Even without the promise of a reward for themselves, seven out of eight of the African grey parrot donors passed some of their available tokens through the transfer hole to their broke partners, usually shuttling them beak to beak. On average, about Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
July 16, 2021

Categorized
Natural Intelligence

Tagged
Dogs, Domestication, Wolves}

Why Do Dogs Understand People Better Than Wolves?

_{The difference in attitude to humans between dog pups and wolf pups was dramatically demonstrated in a recent study} _{News

July 16, 2021

3

Natural Intelligence}

Some enterprising researchers at Duke University decided to compare 44 dog pups with 37 wolf pups, between 5 and 18 weeks of age. Would the wolf pups behave the same way toward humans as the dog pups or differently? While the wolf pups got a lot of human interaction, including hand-feeding, sleeping in their caretakers’ beds and almost round-the-clock human care, the dog puppies lived mostly with their mothers and littermates. They had little human contact. Researchers hid treats in one of two bowls, then gave the dog or wolf a clue to find the food. Sometimes that included pointing and gazing in the direction where the food could be found. Even with no training, dogs as young as 8 Read More ›