Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

CategoryPhilosophy of Mind

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A secret garden back door with a whimsical outdoor retreat.

Do People With Split Brains Have Back Door Communications?

Some neuroscientists think that split brain communications can thus be explained that way. Michael Egnor disagrees

The simpler explanation, he says, is that percepts, perceptions travel through axons. Conceptions don’t travel through axons because they’re not material.

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image illustrates striking representation of human mind, divided into two contrasting halves. One side features blue brain against pink background, while other s orange brain yellow

The Astonishing Fact That Split Brain Patients Reveal

Perception (what we take in from the world around us) can be split but conception (ideas) are not split. And no one has two minds

A misguided article in Popular Mechanics gave neurosurgeon Michael Egnor a chance to shed light on a unique fact about people with split brains here.

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A choice of two ways. Woman at a crossroads.

Another ‘Scientific’ Attack on Free Will

We know free will exists because we each experience it every day.

Accepting that we are merely flesh marionettes dancing to the strings pulled by our various biological processes would doom human decency.

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Domestic parrot in a cage looks at its reflection in the mirror. Beautiful parrot, close-up, selective focus, pet. Parrot and mirror. Colored bird

What Is Consciousness Actually Supposed To Do?

The Royal Society offers sixteen theories of the evolutionary function of consciousness. The trouble is, it's not clear what consciousness even is

Some of the theories of animal mind are interesting but no one really has any idea how consciousness originated.

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Goal to success for level up with person climbing on route slope to mountain peak.human performance limit concepts.growth mindset and motivation.generative ai technology

Understanding the Atheist’s Mind

Naturalism is the belief that everything in the universe is a blind accident, with no ultimate purpose.

In a Godless universe, love, self-sacrifice, friendship, relationships, pro-creation, art and literature are nothing more than relatively subjective illusions to pass the time and avoid boredom with no ultimate purpose or objective meaning.

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Psychology.

How Much Does the Mind Weigh? How Long Is It?

A recent article at Popular Mechanics provides a chance to reflect on mind vs. matter — and materialism

People are entitled to their own definitions of materialism, of course. But once we focus on a standard one, we see that it is false to the reality of the human mind.

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Person uses laptop interacting with AI virtual assistant. AI head graphic overlay laptop keyboard. Concept of AI prompt engineering, LLM. Person types on keyboard to communicate with virtual

Who Expected Richard Dawkins To Blow Up Darwinism?

To the astonishment and dismay of a computer pro who once admired him, Dawkins, who has a materialist view of human consciousness, has convinced himself that a chatbot is conscious

If this is what happens when people think that human consciousness has a purely material evolutionary origin, it is a strong argument for the opposite view.

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Back view of businessman suit standing at office looking at night city through panoramic window. Generative AI

Thoughts on Theology in Science by Kenneth Francis: Berkeley Vs Solipsism

A fascinating book that covers a variety of topics from quantum theory to the dream life of spiders.

Even if reality were an illusion only perceived by spirits, then there is still a source of order for that illusion, a core source of reality.

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Queen bee in bee hive laying eggs

The Colonized Hive Mind

Most thinking people have all seen the hive-mind types staring blankly into their iPhones.

Those with empty lives only believe in things that they like, usually spoken by those in authority who mirror their ideological preferences.

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Boredom Eats the Soul

Are we entering the darkest night in history?

Boredom can also be a proxy for other risk factors, leading to self-destructive behaviours such as drug/alcohol abuse, hardcore pornography addiction, unbridled promiscuity, crime, and, in the worst-case scenario, suicide.

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Brain psychology mind soul and hope concept art, 3d illustration, surreal artwork, imagination painting, conceptual idea

Demons from the Id

One such strange condition of mental turmoil is schizophrenia.

A retired psychotherapist from Arizona who spent some 40 years working in hospitals and prisons with schizophrenic patients, was quite disturbed when his analysis of some patients pointed to the supernatural.

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Charting Consciousness.

Six Theories of Consciousness

Everybody talks about AI becoming conscious, but no one ever defines what consciousness is.

Who gave consciousness and creativity to whoever or whatever is responsible for simulating us, and who simulated our simulator?

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Glass lightbulb with golden gears inside, set against a backdrop of mathematical equations, symbolizing innovation, problem-solving, and the mechanics of ideas

Toward a True — and Also Scientific — Picture of the Human Mind

Alexander Batthyány offers a personal anecdote about Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist Sir John Eccles that might help point the way

Batthyány also expressed concern that a non-material/spiritual understanding of topics like terminal lucidity risks being taken over today by New Age nonsense.

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Stained glass church windows illuminate floor

The Thin Spaces of Our Lives Where Strange Things Do Happen

In the discussion with Batthyány, Egnor suggested that people who inexplicably become more lucid near death are drawing closer to the light of God.

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Businessman looking at a magnifying glass over a network of small people.

Consciousness… a Computer or a Magnifying Glass?

At ID the Future, Egnor and Batthyány offer some further thoughts on the ongoing mystery: How does the human mind clear at the point of death?

Neither shortage of oxygen nor the presence of relatives account for the sudden release from confusion or dementia.

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Cornell University

An Evening With Michael Egnor at Cornell

The linked talk alone was worth coming to hear, but the Q&A truly did not disappoint

Egnor continued to reference the scientific research at the foundation of his talk and repeatedly challenged his questioners.

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A close-up shot of a clear crystal ball with a rainbow spectrum inside casting a shadow

How Sudden Lucidity at Death Became a Science Topic

Psychologist Alexander Batthyány and neurosurgeon Michael Egnor discuss the implications of clear consciousness despite deadly illness

Serious research on terminal lucidity will immensely damage the sort of materialism that Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker champions.

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Conceptual design of quantum mechanics, featuring particles entangled in a network of energy waves, illustrating the interconnectedness and non-locality of quantum particles

Does Quantum Mechanics Help Us Make Sense of the Soul?

Quantum mechanics seems to be the game-changer that Albert Einstein (1879–1955) feared it would be. It is certain to liven up discussions about the soul

Shermer told Mind Matters News after the event that he would bump up his credence in the existence of souls from 1% to 2% out of 99%.

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