CategoryPhilosophy of Mind
Unborn Child Learns the Accents, Rhythms of Mom’s Native Language
There is, however, a dark, little-told tale about how we learned much of what we know about unborn children today
Did the Wily Neanderthal Save Time While Preparing Meals?
An enterprising archaeology team tried cooking birds using methods only available to Neanderthals — and learned some things, including how to avoid burned fingers
Do We Need the Right Half of the Human Brain?
Generally, we do. Yet what happened when one woman lost the right half of her brain as an adult was unexpectedA little-reported 2021 case study published in Neurology Clinical Practice shows how resilient the human brain can be. A 29-year-old woman, CB, with no neurological or psychiatric history had a stroke, possibly due to medication issues. The damage was serious enough that a decision was made, with her consent, to remove almost all of the right side of her brain (hemispherectomy). As the study authors put it, “only a small disconnected right occipital pole was retained.” What impact would that have on her mind? The right hemisphere of the brain is thought by neuroscientists to play a specific role in “nonverbal” cognitive abilities. From Simply Psychology, we learn, Left hemisphere function The left hemisphere controls the right-hand side of the Read More ›
Heart attack doctor asks, is death now reversible?
If new findings in resuscitation techniques hold up, says Sam Parnia in his new book, brain conditions now deemed irreversible may be reversibleResuscitation specialist Sam Parnia, reflects in his new book, Lucid Dying (Hachette, August 6, 2024), on the recent discovery that brains can be resuscitated hours after death. From the sample pages offered at the book’s Amazon site, we learn that in 2019, a writer at prominent science journal Nature sent Parnia a copy of the embargoed results of a study of pig brains from a slaughterhouse, kept alive for hours after death. “I was left totally stunned and speechless” he recounts: For at least a decade, I had tried to draw attention to the fact that our concept of life and death should be redefined. Death should no longer be viewed as a specific black-and-white moment. Instead, it should be Read More ›
Heart Attack Doctor: Science Shows That Death Is Not the End
Sam Parnia began by wondering how brain cells can give rise to thoughts. He came to see that the message “from science” was not what he had been led to expect
Tech Hype Watch: Do Chatbots Really Understand Things?
Well-known author Robert Wright believes they do but he misunderstands how computers work
Science Writer: No Way To Tell If AI Is Conscious
Absent a definition of consciousness, it might not be possible to prove extravagant claims wrong
Is Panpsychism Putting Francis Crick’s Pack of Neurons to Flight?
Science writer John Horgan remembers Crick in the ‘90s when reductionism was riding high in neuroscience. What’s happened since?
Can We Really Study the Minds of Ancient Humans?
The design inference helps sort things out in human paleontology
Neuroscientist: The Mind Is Just the Brain
He cites studies using transcranial magnetic stimulation, which caused subjects to see flashing lights
What Is Pseudoscience? A Philosopher Tries To Sort It Out
Finding little to go on, Massimo Pigliucci suggests relying on popular skeptic sites and, er, … himself
New Podcast Asks, Is the World Really Enchanted—or Disenchanted?
At Created Souls and The Banquet of Souls, I want to explore the fact that human consciousness is not about to be made obsolete by AI or explained away by neuroscience
Why AI Will Not and Cannot Think Our Thoughts
How can a robot ever have a spiritual vision of reality? How can it even be emotional?
A Third Big Consciousness Theory: Each Neuron Is a Computer
Dendritic information theory (DIT) may not explain consciousness any better than other theories but it may shed light on how anesthesia produces LOSS of consciousness
Philosopher: Why Brain Science Does Not Eliminate Free Will
Tim Bayne looks at what we can logically deduce from the famous Libet experiments
Is It Sinking In? Chatbots Will *Not* Soon Think Like Humans
Tech writer Gary Marcus: Even futurist Ray Kurzweil, a fount of optimism on the topic, is sounding less sure now
Evolutionary Theorists Stymied by the Human Mind
No one actually knows how our ancestors began to think like humans
Consciousness Wars: Researcher Tries Negotiating a Truce
Witch hunts against leading theories are bad for a discipline’s reputation; Johan Storm thinks that all the prominent theories of consciousness are a little bit right