CategoryPhilosophy of Mind
What Brain Surgery for Epilepsy Taught Us About the Human Mind
Michael Egnor continues his discussion with Pat Flynn, noting that neither seizures nor Penfield’s brain stimulation provoked abstract thought
Is Materialism Slowly Losing Its Death Grip on Science?
If it is, neuroscience discoveries will play a key role, neurosurgeon Michael Egnor tells podcaster Pat Flynn, in a recent interview
When an Advanced AI Faces Off Against a Five-Year-Old…
Many problems don't turn on complex reasoning but on knowing how the world works
Researcher: AI Can’t Be Conscious Because It Is Not Alive
Consciousness is not computation. Without the ability to experience events from one phase to the next (sentience), we could not really be conscious
When materialist assumptions about the mind begin to sound dated…
A 2017 profile of Roger Penrose and his consciousness theory was penned before slow changes and major tumults rocked the discipline — and it shows
Computer Science Prof: The Turing Test Was Not About Intelligence
The aim was to pretend intelligence, to fool people. That makes a big difference when we ask whether computers can become intelligent
Not Suffering But Fighting: Dementia as a New Beginning
Writers, artists, and many others who must fight the late-life disorder are finding new resources to do so
How Believing You’ll Get Better May Affect Your Brain
A placebo effect experiment in mice pinpointed a change in an area of the brain not previously known to be involved in pain control
Programmer: Chatbots Are a Dead End. Time for a New Contest!
François Chollet is offering $1.1m in prize money for the next step on the road to computers that think like people
The Mind Is Not Annihilated at Death, Emergency Room Doctor Says
ER specialist Sam Parnia is making waves with his challenge, based on his clinical experience and research, to the claim that the human mind is annihilated at death
“Plant Philosophy” Denigrates Human Uniqueness
Much contemporary advocacy is obsessed with deconstructing human exceptionalism
A Status Report From the War on Late Life Dementia
Almost half of dementia cases could be prevented or delayed, researchers believe
Dementia: New insights in caring for deeply forgetful people
Dr. Stephen Post, an expert in memory disorders, talks to neurosurgeon Michael Egnor about when and how people suddenly remember again
Programmer: AI could certainly become conscious
From Casper Wilstrup's perspective, we can't demonstrate that anything is NOT conscious so creating conscious AI is simply a matter of using the scientific method
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 ›
