^CategoryScience

Abstract 3d render, geometric composition, yellow background design with cubes

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
September 30, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Science

Tagged
AI algorithms, Big Data, Carmen Reinhart, Featured, Gary Smith, Jay Cordes, Ken Rogoff, Meaningless patterns, Patterns, Phantom Pattern Problem (book), Science Journals}

Interview: New Book Outlines the Perils of Big (Meaningless) Data

_{Gary Smith, co-author with Jay Cordes of Phantom Patterns, shows why human wisdom and common sense are more important than ever now} _{News

September 30, 2020

5

Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Science}

Economist Gary Smith and statistician Jay Cordes have a new book out, The Phantom Pattern Problem: The mirage of big data, on why we should not trust Big Data over common sense. In their view, it’s a dangerous mix: Humans naturally assume that all patterns are significant. But AI cannot grasp the meaning of any pattern, significant or not. Thus, from massive number crunches, we may “learn” (if that’s the right word) that Stock prices can be predicted from Google searches for the word debt. Stock prices can be predicted from the number of Twitter tweets that use “calm” words. An unborn baby’s sex can be predicted by the amount of breakfast cereal the mother eats. Bitcoin prices can be Read More ›

Entrance gate to Persepolis Persia Iran Gate of All Nations

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
September 24, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture, Machine Learning, Religion, Science

Tagged
Achaemenid Empire, Ancient history, Archeology, Book of Proverbs, Cuneiform tablets, Cyrus the Great, Featured, Mesopotamia, Neural networks, Predictive text, recurrent neural network, Rob Sheldon}

How Much Can New AI Tell Us About Ancient Times?

_{An ambitious new project hopes to use the predictive text that cell phones use to unlock their stories} _{News

September 24, 2020

9

Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture, Machine Learning, Religion, Science}

Many researchers hope that AI will leading to a“golden age” of discovery for lost languages, hard to decipher writings, and badly damaged Biblical scrolls. Algorithms can chug through vast numbers of possibilities of interpretation, presenting the scholar with probabilities to choose from. But even powerful algorithms have their work cut out for them. For example, of the hundreds of thousands of clay (cuneiform) tablets that survive from an ancient part of the Near East called Mesopotamia, many are damaged. We may know the language but we don’t know what’s missing from the text and what difference the missing part makes to what is being said. Experts try to fill in the missing parts but guessing at all the possibilities is Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
September 23, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Natural Intelligence, Science

Tagged
Algorithms, Bacteria as living computers, Ben Medlock, Computers, James Shapiro, Self-organization, Stephen Hawking}

SwiftKey Co-founder: Computers Can’t Just “Evolve” Intelligence

_{Can vain hopes for AI spring from a wrong understanding of evolution?} _{News

September 23, 2020

5

Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Natural Intelligence, Science}

Ben Medlock asks us to look at self-organization as a principle of life, lacking in computers. Read More ›

Astronaut and robot or artificial intelligence handshake on alien planet.

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
September 17, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Medicine and Health, Philosophy of Mind, Science

Tagged
Are We Here to Re-Create Ourselves? (book), cosmic rays, Featured, Geoffrey Simmons, Guillermo Gonzalez, Robert J. Marks, Robot counselors, Robots, Science fiction, space brain, Space travel, Space travel health issues}

Should Robots, Instead of Humans, Go Into Space?

_{They might be better at life in space than humans. But could they be counselors too?} _{News

September 17, 2020

9

Artificial Intelligence, Medicine and Health, Philosophy of Mind, Science}

Are we here to re-create ourselves as robotic humanoids? In a recent podcast, Robert J. Marks discusses what robots can do for us with retired internist and author Geoffrey Simmons. In his most recent book, Are We Here to Re-Create Ourselves?: The Convergence of Designs (2019), Simmons argues that in creating artificially intelligent robots, we are trying to recreate the human being. But can we really recreate everything about ourselves? For example, they discussed, can robots be counselors? Should robots go into space instead of humans? As a writer, Simmons has found audiences for both fiction and non-fiction. For example, he wrote Z-papers (1976), a medically based crime thriller in which “In a Chicago hospital, the U.S. Vice Presidential candidate Read More ›

Worried doctors and medical researchers on conference meeting, discussing possible solutions for resolving a world health crisis. Health and medical care concept. Selective focus.

^{Type
post

Author
Gary Smith
Date
September 14, 2020

Categorized
Medicine and Health, Peer Review, Science

Tagged
Aleh Tsyvinski, bitcoin, Featured, James Tobin, Meaningless correlations, replication crisis, Reproducibility, Reproducibility crisis, Ronald Fisher, Statistical significance, Yukun Liu}

Computers Excel at Finding Temporary Patterns

_{Which contributes to the replication crisis in science} _{Gary Smith

September 14, 2020

7

Medicine and Health, Peer Review, Science}

The scientific method calls for the rigorous testing of plausible theories, ideally through randomized controlled trials. For example, a study of a COVID-19 vaccine might give the vaccine to 10,000 randomly selected people and a placebo to another 10,000, and compare the infection rates for the two groups. If the difference in the infection rates is too improbable to be explained by chance, then the difference is deemed statistically significant. How improbable? In the 1920s, the great British statistician, Sir Ronald Fisher , said that he favored a 5 percent threshold. So 5 percent became the Holy Grail. Unfortunately, the establishment of a 5 percent hurdle for statistical significance has had the perverse effect of encouraging researchers to do whatever Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Eric Holloway
Date
August 31, 2020

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind, Science

Tagged
Complex Specified Information, David Deutsch, Erwin Schrödinger, Featured, Multiverse, Specified Complexity}

Here Is a Way We Can Be Sure If We Are Living in a Multiverse

_{An experiment can test the idea that there is an infinite number of universes} _{Eric Holloway

August 31, 2020

5

Philosophy of Mind, Science}

For our experiment, we need a quantum coin flipper, a disintegration gun, and observers who are sure that there is an infinite array of universes out there. Read More ›

Glorious Sky - Elements of this Image Furnished by NASA

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
August 20, 2020

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind, Science

Tagged
___longform, Bernardo Kastrup, Consciousness, cosmopsychism, Dissociation, Featured, Michael Egnor, Panpsychism, Sabine Hossenfelder, Universal consciousness}

Bernardo Kastrup Argues for a Universal Mind as a Reasonable Idea

_{The challenge, he says, is not why there is consciousness but why there are so many separate instances of consciousnesses} _{News

August 20, 2020

9

Philosophy of Mind, Science}

In a recent podcast, Michael Egnor continued his discussion with philosopher and computer programmer Bernardo Kastrup; This week, the topic was panpsychism and cosmopsychism. (Last week, the topic was why consciousness couldn’t just evolve from the mud.) https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-096-Bernardo-Kastrup.mp3 A partial transcript follows: (The complete transcript is here. The Show Notes and Resources are below.) Dr. Kastrup made clear that he is not a panpsychism but rather a cosmopsychist. He explains the difference, defining panpsychism as follows: Bernardo Kastrup (pictured): Panpsychism, well, to be more accurately called constitutive panpsychism, it’s the notion that at least some of the elementary particles that constitutes the universe, at least some of them, are fundamentally conscious. In other words, they have experiential states, fundamental experiential Read More ›

Cat and robotic vacuum cleaner in the room. Fluffy british shorthair cat is playing with a robotic vacuum.

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
August 18, 2020

Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Science

Tagged
Acro-Cats, Berit Brogaard, Cats, Dogs, intelligence, Leslie Darling}

In What Ways Are Cats Intelligent?

_{Cats have nearly twice as many neurons as dogs and a bigger and more complex cerebral cortex} _{Denyse O'Leary

August 18, 2020

7

Natural Intelligence, Science}

It’s hard to come up with an interspecies IQ test. We live in a world where dogs are smarter than wolves in some ways but wolves are smarter than dogs in others. So much depends on what we want to measure. So let’s look at cats in relation to dogs because dogs have been studied so much more. Dogs are often seen as smarter than cats because they can do more jobs for humans. But humans bred dogs for millennia to do those very jobs. Cats have also made themselves useful to humans by killing pest rodents. But we best help the cat kill rodents just by getting out of his way. Thus, to assess cat intelligence vs. dog intelligence, Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
August 13, 2020

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind, Science

Tagged
___longform, Bernardo Kastrup, Consciousness, Darwinism, Evolution, Featured, god, Intelligent design theory, Jerry Coyne, Jerry Fodor, Materialism, Michael Egnor, Natural selection, Panpsychism, Philosophy, What Darwin Got Wrong (book)}

Why Consciousness Couldn’t Just Evolve from the Mud

_{Kastrup, a panpsychist, is sympathetic to the basic intuitions behind the idea that there is design in nature (intelligent design theory)} _{News

August 13, 2020

10

Philosophy of Mind, Science}

In a recent podcast, “Does the Moon Exist if No One is Looking at It?”, neurosurgeon Michael Egnor interviewed philosopher and computer programmer Bernardo Kastrup. Dr. Kastrup has been, in Dr. Egnor’s words, “leading a modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism”—that is, reality is essentially mental rather than physical. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Eric Holloway
Date
August 4, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind, Science

Tagged
Biology, economics, Engineering, Featured, Fine-tuning, Physics}

Why Engineering Can’t Be Reduced to the Laws of Physics

_{When we reduce the engineer’s mind to a computer, the source of innovation disappears} _{Eric Holloway

August 4, 2020

3

Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind, Science}

The fundamental problem of modern science is the problem of innovation. Where does novelty come from? This problem shows up in physics, biology, artificial intelligence, and economics. Within physics, the problem is how to account for the fundamental constants of reality. They are all precisely tuned to make sentient and intelligent life—life that can learn about itself and the universe—possible through science. Within biology, the problem is accounting for the source of highly complex genetic sequences that express finely tuned biological functions. In artificial intelligence, the challenge is identifying solutions that are relevant to a given scenario. In economics the problem is identifying the right products for the market. What do all these situations have in common? In each case, Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Gary Smith
Date
August 3, 2020

Categorized
Business and Finance, Science

Tagged
2001 Recession, COVID-19 Recession, data, employment, Featured, General Theory (book), Great Depression, Great Recession (2007-2009), John Maynard Keynes, Macroeconomics, New Classical Economists, Theory, Unemployment}

Beware of Geeks Bearing Formulas—It’s Often Pseudoscience

_{Pseudoscience based on data without theory and theory without data undermine the credibility of real science, which is the key to human progress} _{Gary Smith

August 3, 2020

6

Business and Finance, Science}

Elsewhere I have warned of the perils of making decisions based on data without theory. For example, the patterns discovered by data-mining computer algorithms are often nothing more than meaningless coincidences. It is also perilous to go to the opposite extreme—to make decisions based on theory without data. Once upon a time, for example, economists were fond of sketching labor demand and supply curves and assuming that the economy was at their intersection. That is, labor demand is equal to supply, so that everyone who wants to work is working. The unemployed have chosen to be unemployed because they value leisure more than income. True believers were fond of this theory and little troubled by reality. Between 1929 and 1933, Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
August 2, 2020

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind, Religion, Science

Tagged
___longform, Dualism, Featured, Imagine Heaven (book), John Burke, Life after Life (book), Monism, Near-death experiences, Robert J. Marks, Walter Bradley}

Why Reasonable People Think Near-Death Experiences Are Real

_{Distinguished engineers Walter Bradley and Robert J.Marks sift through the evidence} _{News

August 2, 2020

16

Philosophy of Mind, Religion, Science}

In a recent podcast, “Walter Bradley on Near-Death Experiences,” Center director Robert J. Marks discusses these experiences with Walter Bradley, after whom the Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence is named. Dr. Bradley is an emeritus distinguished professor at Baylor University, formerly professor and mechanical engineering head at Texas A&M University. https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-093-Walter-Bradley.mp3 Here are some selections from the transcript: (You can download the entire transcript here.) Marks and Bradley started with first principles: Is it reasonable to believe that there is anything out beyond the material world? Many people assume that science exists to defend materialism. But Walter Bradley has defended the idea that there is also an immaterial world, of which we are a part, in a Read More ›

pregnant woman holding her tummy while standing near garden shed

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
July 26, 2020

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind, Science

Tagged
Arianne Shavisi, Evolutionary psychology, Lynn Hankinson Nelson, Nesting behavior, Pregnancy, Subrena E. Smith}

Ethics Prof Slams Claims About Why Pregnant Women “Nest”

_{Evolutionary psychology is among the “scienciest” of the sciences; implicit belief does not require serious evidence} _{News

July 26, 2020

6

Philosophy of Mind, Science}

Evolutionary psychology continues to take a beating, as more people reflect on its central claim: Aspects of our psychology, which we think are the products of reason and emotion applied to personal and historical experience, really stem from the survival and reproduction mechanisms of human and other ancestors of whom we have no historical record. Arianne Shahvisi (above right), senior lecturer in ethics at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, joins philosopher Subrena E. Smith in critiquing of such vast claims. Her focus in a recent article at Psyche is claims about why expectant mothers “nest,” that is, spend a lot of time housecleaning and stocking up. Now, if you are not an evolutionary psychologist, you might hazard a guess that Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
July 19, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Religion, Science

Tagged
___longform, 2084 (book), AI Church, Anthony Levandowski, Christianity, Featured, Homo Deus (book), John Lennox, Max Tegmark, Robert J. Marks, Yuval Noah Harari}

Can AI Replace the Need for Belief in God?

_{Oxford mathematician contends that science should increase our respect for what God has created and allowed us to do} _{News

July 19, 2020

13

Artificial Intelligence, Religion, Science}

John Lennox. author of 2084: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity (2020), is not only an Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at Oxford University but also pastoral advisor to Green Templeton College at Oxford. In a podcast, “Does Revelation Talk About Artificial Intelligence?”, he discusses with Robert J. Marks, director of the Walter Bradley Institute, the title question: “Can AI replace the need for belief in God?” https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-091-John-Lennox.mp3 Selections from the transcript are provided below: (The complete downloadable transcript may be found following the Show Notes and Resources) Robert J. Marks (right): Let’s talk about the theological implications of AI. You have a reputation, not only as a mathematician, but a Christian apologist. And I wanted to go into some Read More ›

Robot with Artificial Intelligence observing human skull in Evolved Cybernetic organism world. 3d rendered image

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
July 18, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Science

Tagged
___longform, Ben Dickson, Borna Jalšenjak, Definition of life, Plants, Purpose, Singularity, Superintelligent AI, Trees}

Could Super Artificial Intelligence Be, in Some Sense, Alive?

_{An AI theorist makes the case to a technical writer…} _{News

July 18, 2020

11

Artificial Intelligence, Science}

Tech writer Ben Dickson poses the question: Should you feel bad about pulling the plug on a robot or switch off an artificial intelligence algorithm? Not for the moment. But how about when our computers become as smart—or smarter—than us? Ben Dickson, “What will happen when we reach the AI singularity?” at TheNextWeb, July 7, 2020 Philosopher Borna Jalšenjak (above right) of the Luxembourg School of Business has been thinking about that. He has a chapter, “The Artificial Intelligence Singularity: What It Is and What It Is Not,” in Guide to Deep Learning Basics: Logical, Historical and Philosophical Perspectives, in which he explores the case for “thinking machines” being alive, even if they are machines. The book as a whole Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
July 16, 2020

Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind, Science

Tagged
___longform, Bernardo Kastrup, Christof Koch, Consciousness, David Papineau, Electrons, Featured, Giulio Tononi, Johannes Kleiner, Michael Egnor, Sabine Hossenfelder, Tam Hunt}

At Nautilus: Electrons DO have a “rudimentary mind”

_{Panpsychists in science believe that nature is all there is but, they say, it includes consciousness as a fundamental fact of nature} _{News

July 16, 2020

7

Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind, Science}

A leading theory of consciousness, Integrated Information Theory (IIT) proposed by University of Wisconsin neuroscientist Giulio Tononi and championed by by another leading neuroscientist, Christof Koch, has clear panpsychist affiliations. It is favored by proponents of the idea that electrons are conscious. Whoa!, you say. How can electrons be conscious? Wouldn’t they at least need a brain to be conscious? Let’s hear an explanation from proponent Tam Hunt (right) at Nautilus: You might see the rise of panpsychism as part of a Copernican trend—the idea that we’re not special. The Earth is not the center of the universe. Humans are not a treasured creation, or even the pinnacle of evolution. So why should we think that creatures with brains, like Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
July 12, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Religion, Science

Tagged
2084 (book), Dan Brown, Featured, god, John Lennox, Origin (novel), Robert J. Marks}

In Dan Brown’s AI Hype Novel, the Hero Stumbles Onto God

_{Not clear that was supposed to happen but stories do get away on their authors at times…} _{News

July 12, 2020

6

Artificial Intelligence, Religion, Science}

In a recent podcast, “John Lennox: False Assumptions in the hype over AI,” Oxford mathematician John Lennox, author of 2084: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity (2020) discussed common mistaken assumptions with Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks. One of them seems to be that AI might prove there is no God, replace God, or become God. Things get interesting when these science fictions meet the world of fact. https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-090-John-Lennox.mp3 From the transcript: Robert J. Marks: In your book, you discussed Dan Brown’s novel entitled Origin. Now Dan Brown is famous for writing many, I don’t know, kind of strange books. One was the Da Vinci Code, but his recent one deals with artificial intelligence and you discuss Read More ›

The concept of planet Earth similar to the COVID-19 virus

^{Type
post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
June 7, 2020

Categorized
Medicine and Health, Peer Review, Science

Tagged
censorship, COVID-19, Donald Trump, Drake Equation, Featured, Hydroxychloroquine, Iraq War, Jair Bolsonaro, Michael Crichton, Nuclear winter, The Lancet}

Twenty Years on, Aliens Still Cause Global Warming

_{Over the years, the Jurassic Park creator observed, science has drifted from its foundation as an objective search for truth toward political power games} _{Jonathan Bartlett

June 7, 2020

5

Medicine and Health, Peer Review, Science}

In 2003, author and filmmaker Michael Crichton (1942–2008), best known for Jurassic Park, made a now-famous speech at Caltech, titled “Aliens Cause Global Warming.” The title was humorous but the content was serious. He was not addressing some strange theory of global warming; he was warning about the politicization of science. Crichton (left, in 2002, courtesy Jon Chase, Harvard CC 3.0), noted that, over the years, science has drifted away from its foundation as an objective search for truth and given itself over to political power games. The first time that he witnessed that was with the famous Drake Equation, used to turn SETI speculations about space aliens into a science. The Drake equation was a series of probabilities multiplied Read More ›

Sad wife holding wedding ring on coronavirus confinement

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
June 3, 2020

Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind, Science

Tagged
COVID-19, David Papineau, Evolutionary psychology, Gorillas, Infidelity, Martin Graff, Stone Age, Subpersonal, Subrena E. Smith}

Does COVID-19 Lead Women to Cheat?

_{The “subpersonal” approach to human psychology is popular but is it valid?} _{Denyse O'Leary

June 3, 2020

7

Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind, Science}

It's an open question whether the mind evolved at all and therefore whether evolutionary psychology is any help in understanding it.