CategoryPhilosophy of Mind
Consciousness: Reductionism’s Final Hill — the One To Die On?
The reductionist has no more information than anyone else about the origin of human consciousness and isn’t making any better sense of the evidence we do have
Looking for Consciousness in All the Wrong Places
Reductionism is nonsense, and “consciousness” is not nestled in clusters of neurons
Beyond Materialism: Exploring the Mind-Brain Relationship
Neurosurgeon Michael Egnor and philosopher Angus Menuge probe the relationship through philosophy, neuroscience, and information theory
How Can We Know If Patients With Split Brains Have a Single Mind?
Just ask themReaders 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 ›
AGI, the Halting Problem and the Human Mind
Pat Flynn continues the conversation with Dr. Winston Ewert
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
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
The Human Mind’s Sophisticated Algorithm and Its Implications
Winston Ewert argues that if some human cognition is algorithmic, that fact does not necessarily support a purely naturalistic view of intelligence
A Novelist Posts on the Paranormal
Accounting for experiences of the supernatural
Joe McDonald: How AI Can Complement Human Capabilities
Despite its limitations, AI excels in areas where humans struggle, such as analyzing large datasets, identifying patterns, and automating repetitive tasks
Beyond the Physical: Exploring the Nature of the Mind
A recent podcast panel challenged the prevailing materialist assumptions about the mind and explored better accounts of the richness of human consciousness
AI Specialist Explains Why AI Can’t Replicate Human Experience
A profound recent experience crystallized the difference for him between brain and machine
Scientists Wrestling With Human Consciousness Are In For the Win
Yet they can’t win because what they are doing amounts to a form of shadow boxing
Daniel Dennett Made Atheism Easy to Understand
In the process, he somehow also made it less believable
Is Science in Our Frame of Reality Inevitably Incomplete?
It’s becoming increasingly obvious that human consciousness isn’t a material phenomenon like any other; it has one foot in time and another in eternity
Mind Matters News: Top Ten Stories of 2024
... with some brief comments on their significance
Consciousness Blurs the Line Between Philosophy and Science
In contrast to the New Age emphasis on self-realization as an end in itself, the theistic approach sees self-awareness as a gateway to understanding our dependence on the divine
In Machines We Trust
In an age of AI, who stands up for humans?If you believe the media, AI has made both of us obsolete. We need to resign ourselves to an age of “thinking machines” in which human guidance and creativity are superfluous. This kind of thinking is false — and dangerous. AI will never become conscious. It will never truly be autonomous. It will always require human input and control. But if we treat AI as if it can be autonomous, we will open the door to the kind of manipulation and tyranny warned about by C.S. Lewis in his classic book The Abolition of Man. Unfortunately, there are few voices in the public square right now offering a sane assessment of both the capabilities and limits of AI. As a Read More ›
