Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

CategoryScience

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Evangelist Hello Name Tag Sticker Supporter Preacher 3d Illustration

Richard Dawkins as an Unlikely Evangelist

As a recent book of essays demonstrates, the once much-vaunted new atheism spurred many thinking people to become Christians
Leading atheist philosophers have found Dawkins’s arguments superficial, many find his “warfare” thesis against religion shallow and his certitude unjustified. Read More ›
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flags of Palestine and Israel painted on cracked wall

Top Journal Nature Promotes Views of Anti-Israel Demonstrator

What any of this has to do with promoting science is beyond me. It’s politics and ideology, pure and simple. Perhaps that’s why the interview is not behind a paywall
The editors of Nature are destroying a once venerable and important science journal. That’s bad for science, which is bad for the world. Shame. Read More ›
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High-tech American election coverage in a futuristic studio

Presidential Pundits—a P-Hacking Parable

In politics, as elsewhere, too many studies flop when other researchers attempt to replicate them with fresh data
Some prediction models were developed by well-intentioned researchers before the perils of p-hacking were clearly understood, hence the failures. Read More ›
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After Dawkins Is Canceled, What Comes Next? Not Better Science!

As the National Academies of Science try to blend traditional lore into science findings, the concept of truth that atheists and theists clash over is irrelevant
For many today, truth is whatever benefits Woke causes. Claims for truth that offer them no political benefit are seen as a threat, meriting a hostile response. Read More ›
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robot reading book and solving math data analytics, concept of future mathematics artificial intelligence

Is True Artificial Intelligence Possible? A Science Perspective

Many will conclude that true AI — AI that thinks like humans — must be possible because we hear so much about it from so many sources
Experiments like ARC–AGI have finally made true computer intelligence into a scientifically respectable theory, because AI can now be falsified. Read More ›
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Politician during election campaign

Science Writer Tells Top Science Mag: Quit Endorsing Politicians!

Scientific American's display of political partisanship comes at an awkward time. Trust in science is in steady, ongoing decline
When scientists engage in political partisanship, they abandon accuracy, regarding their choice a form of righteousness as long as the Good party wins. Read More ›
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A political rally with protest signs

The Science Establishment Continues to Politicize “Science”

And that ain’t good for science
Increasingly, those who claim to be science’s greatest defenders do the sector wrong by becoming highly ideological and progressively partisan. Read More ›
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a group of sheep on a pasture stand next to each other and look into the camera

Engineer Explains Why AI Bots Always Lean Left

ChatGPT kept insisting on scientific consensus as the most important factor in what to believe regarding global warming and similar issues
If AI systems such as ChatGPT cannot engage in conceptual thought, then they can only promote consensus, which is what we see. Read More ›
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Laboratory technician checking CDC specimen submitting form, laboratory testing for SARS-CoV-2 COVID-19 Coronavirus disease infection,global pandemic crisis,swab collection patient specimen procedure

COVID: A Lab Leak — the Most Likely Cause — Is Not Discussible

Although COVID killed approximately 28 million people, the Chinese government makes discussion of its origin very difficult, says Matt Ridley
The science world has come to depend on China a great deal — for money, among other things — and dare not risk giving offense by unwanted discussion. Read More ›
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Old Egyptian hieroglyphs with UFO Aliens on ancient background. Concept humanoid Flying saucer history of Earth. Generation AI

Are Beliefs in Space Aliens Really Spiraling Out of Control?

A British philosophy prof sees such views as a “widespread societal problem,” comparing them to the J6 riot
On the whole, Milligan’s worries are not so much unreasonable as they are perennial. People will NOT easily accept that we might be alone in the universe. Read More ›
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The combination of playing cards

Darwin’s Bold Bluff: He Never Demonstrated His Evolution Theory

He often promised he would demonstrate it. But, as Robert Shedinger shows, when he didn’t, his supporters decided to just act like he had
Their strategy worked quite well because, by gentleman’s agreement, everyone closed ranks and no one asked hard questions — until quite recently… Read More ›
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large language model AI machine learning concept brain business

A Sloppy “AI Scientist” Could Make the Science Crisis Much Worse

A research team claims to have developed the AI Scientist that “generates novel research ideas, writes code, executes experiments ...” Really?
It continues to astonish us how easily people can be persuaded that LLMs (chatbots) can do our thinking for us Read More ›
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Y chromosome on dark background. Blue color. 3d illustration.

Biologist Kicked Out of National Institutes of Health Event

Colin Wright and Tomas Bogardus, also ejected, deny being disruptive but both think that humans are sex binary. That may have been enough
In a world of private truth that owes nothing to either faith or science, dissenting opinion is an invasion from an alien universe. Stay safe by not hearing. Read More ›
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Stylish composition of home garden interior filled a lot of beautiful plants, cacti, succulents, air plant in different design pots. Home gardening concept Home jungle. Copy spcae. Template

Philosopher Hollers Whoa! Are Plants Really Conscious?

Pigliucci worries about the claim. But if human consciousness 1) exists and 2) is fully natural, some scientists would of course argue that plants share it
Darwinism’s failure to simply *eliminate* the human mind, as promised, enabled a Pandora’s box of materialist claims for consciousness in all life forms. Read More ›
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Dystopian metropolis. Film noir gothic style industrial architecture landscape image

If Materialism Is Failing, What Replaces It Might Not Be Better

If panpsychism prevails, we may need to get used to the politics of Insect Rights and of Rocks' Lives Matter. Also, panpsychists may have little of consequence to say about freedom of thought
The concern Michael Egnor expresses, that materialism, while barren, may be replaced by something worse, may be prescient, depending on how panpsychism unfolds. Read More ›
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Pharmaceutical Team Conducting Quality Control in Sterile Environment. A group of scientists in protective gear meticulously conducting tests in a pharmaceutical production line.

Intellectual Property Is ‘Colonialist,’ Says Science Journal

A recent article penned by two public-health professors disdains intellectual-property rights as “colonialist” and advocates dismantling capitalism in the realm of medical research
Aiding poorer areas of the world to develop scientific infrastructure is a terrific idea but, alas, that’s not what the authors have in mind. Read More ›
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Old computers from the 80s in an abandoned computing center

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
Paulson’s Penrose profile is written as if materialism is going to prevail but that seems much less likely now than it perhaps did in 2017. Read More ›
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A bunch of pink and purple scheme with a DNA strand in the background. concept XX, XY chromosome.

Olympics: The Woke Have a Message for Science: Scram

Science no longer has a seat at the High Table. I hope readers will think through the implications of that and what it portends for all of us
Science — when it gets in the way of Woke culture — is beginning to get the same treatment as religion: ignored, mocked, rewritten, and eventually attacked. Read More ›
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Anonymous crowd of people walking street wearing masks during covid 19 coronavirus pandemic

Let Him Who Would “Represent” Science Beware…

James B. Meigs looks at Anthony Fauci’s new book, On Call, asking what happened? What turned the highly esteemed doctor into a scheming authoritarian?
Fauci’s early career was brilliant; he gained the trust of angry opponents during the AIDS years. But the art of listening seemed to desert him later. Read More ›
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tunnel of light

Scientific American: Near-Death Experiences Compared To Drug Trip

Now that NDEs are accepted as a clinical fact, more effort is underway to account for them as part of physical nature, like hallucinogenic chemicals
There are significant differences between NDEs and drug trips, as psychologist Steve Taylor notes. Read More ›