Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

CategoryScience

a-sharp-pencil-between-two-erasers-on-a-blue-backgroundunfree-creativity-and-censorship-concept-stockpack-adobe-stock
A sharp pencil between two erasers on a blue background.Unfree creativity and censorship, concept

Science Cancellation Continues: Meet the Latest Victim

Marty Rowland, an editor at the American Journal of Economics and Sociology, has been fired for publishing an article arguing the carbon dioxide and a warming climate are not problems

Nothing great is at stake in what happened to Kimmel. In the domination of science by ideology, by the myth of “settled science,” the stakes couldn’t be more profound. 

Read More ›
dna-strands-in-endless-space-stockpack-adobe-stock-295627144-stockpack-adobestock
DNA strands in endless space

In What Sense Is Origin of Life a Scientific Question?

Recently, a friend recommended a paper on theories of the origin of life. (Yet another one?) But this one proved most interesting…

We’re allowed to consider that intelligent design may have got life going provided we locate it somewhere between Star Wars and Star Trek.

Read More ›
abstract-atom-science-physics-stockpack-adobe-stock-145739242-stockpack-adobestock
Abstract atom, science, physics

Physicist Sabine Hossenfelder Gets Canceled by the Munich Center

Her parting words: “A lot of research [in] the foundations of physics is now pseudocience. It hasn't followed the scientific method for decades.”

It seems unlikely that the only reason that the Munich Center parted ways with Hossenfelder is bad language in her posts. Is she uncomfortably correct?

Read More ›
cognitive-researcher-conducting-perception-experiment-with-v-1664019810-stockpack-adobestock
Cognitive Researcher Conducting Perception Experiment with Visual Stimuli Under Natural Light, Selective Focus and Flat Lay Setup

Materialism in Science: Touching Another Hot Button

With a discussion of the findings of rigorous research into telepathy, the challenge to the presumption of materialism in science is beginning to be sounded loud and clear

What’s changed? The cost of protecting materialism in science has risen gradually, consistent with the rising number of situations on which it sheds little light.

Read More ›
abstract-image-representing-quantum-mechanics-and-the-myster-917689749-stockpack-adobestock
Abstract image representing quantum mechanics and the mysterious world of subatomic particles, quantum, mechanics, physics

Wall Street Journal: A Disappointing Fret About “Conspiracy Physics”

If physicists are starting to “worry about the consequences” of discussing long-term theory failure, it is reasonable to think that there are even more serious problems within the discipline

If the physics establishment is only just now beginning to see that public funding depends on public legitimacy, well… it’s about time.

Read More ›
untouched-remote-craggy-cliff-featuring-a-dramatic-hanging-o-1053285929-stockpack-adobestock
Untouched remote craggy cliff featuring a dramatic hanging overhang against a clear blue sky.

Dawkins Watches as Science Skeeters Off a Cliff, Learns Nothing

The decline is mainly due to the loss of traditional insights gained in large part from religion

It is becoming clear that if we lose our religion, we will lose our science as well.

Read More ›
mountain-peak-in-low-clouds-stockpack-adobe-stock-123063583-stockpack-adobestock
mountain peak in low clouds

Artificial Intelligence, Science and the Limits of Knowledge

In Part 3, I show that AI, like science, has limits. It depends on narrowing a problem: making it specific, discarding most possibilities, sealing it inside a representation and specification

Here’s the problem with artificial general intelligence: asking how to make systems “general” is asking how to remove the very constraints that made them work.

Read More ›
dynamic-energy-fields-illustration-depicting-electromagnetic-1425086109-stockpack-adobestock
Dynamic energy fields illustration depicting electromagnetic waves, representing theoretical physics concepts like Maxwell's equations with intricate detail and vibrant colors

What If Science Tried Doing Without Materialism?

In a thoughtful review of The Immortal Mind, John Zmirak points to the way it currently underlies most popular presentations of science

Without materialism. math still adds up, physics and chemistry are still true, and logic still works. Only forgettable projects would be forgotten.

Read More ›
decorative-scales-of-justice-in-the-courtroom-stockpack-adob-33754667-stockpack-adobestock
Decorative Scales of Justice in the Courtroom

Will “Citation Justice” Be Fair to Science?

Should scientists cite sources for the purposes of social justice or should they cite for information purposes alone?

There is a key difference in nuance between how citation justice is described in the leading science journal and how it may be interpreted in the field.

Read More ›
the-image-is-a-beautiful-depiction-of-a-starry-night-sky-the-1380355670-stockpack-adobestock
The image is a beautiful depiction of a starry night sky. The clouds are soft and fluffy, and the stars are bright and numerous.

Podcast: Mind Before Matter: How an Idealist Looks At the World

Bruce Gordon argues that mind is basic to reality and that materialist views of consciousness do not explain what we know about experience or the world

For example, he points out that electrons are patterns in experience with stable and lawlike behavior. They are not little solid objects that exist in themselves.

Read More ›
close-up-microscopic-view-of-a-sperm-cell-approaching-and-pe-1658255665-stockpack-adobestock
Close up microscopic view of a sperm cell approaching and penetrating a human egg cell during fertilization in the reproductive process

Winds of Change: Skeptic Mag Defends Sex Binary Nature of Humans

It's not Skeptic Magazine that has changed. Rather, a change in our society created a need for a psychologist to come forward there to defend so obvious a proposition

The transgender movement, like the teacher-driven war on math, has embraced the Skeptics’ own approach to reality and now uses it for ITS purposes.

Read More ›
fragmented-earth-puzzle-in-space-environmental-crisis-concep-1406489472-stockpack-adobestock
Fragmented Earth puzzle in space; environmental crisis concept; cosmic background; for climate change awareness

Science Writers Struggle With Reality as Crises Rock Disciplines

A series of recent articles and posts by prominent science and science writing figures leaves me wondering if they know what time it is

It’s curious that so few notice a much more serious threat to science than current politics is: the calls that are coming from inside the house.

Read More ›
illustration-of-basic-physics-and-mathematics-formulas-and-galaxy-in-universe-stockpack-adobe-stock
Illustration of basic physics and mathematics formulas and galaxy in universe

When Physicists Clash Over an Allegedly Pointless Universe…

… we end up finding out how much current research appears to be an elaborate waste of public funds

When Piers Morgan invited Sean Carroll and Eric Weinstein on his show, sparks flew. And Sabine Hossenfelder’s comments are an eye-opener.

Read More ›
a-close-up-view-of-a-bunch-of-blue-pills-showcasing-a-backgr-745129276-stockpack-adobestock
A close-up view of a bunch of blue pills, showcasing a background medicine concept.

A Biologist Struggles to Understand “Unscientific Wokeness”

Truth, for many people now, is based on social, emotional, or political needs. And major science publications are buying in

Science, as both Darwinian Jerry Coyne and his non-materialist opponents know it, is one forlorn casualty of late-stage materialism, the world of private truth.

Read More ›
golden-hand-fist-illustrations-generative-ai-stockpack-adobe-592077793-stockpack-adobestock
Golden hand fist illustrations, generative ai

Dogmatic Materialism Is a Damaging Attitude for Science

Richard Lewontin, a dogmatic materialist geneticist, seemed certain that epigenetics should be definitively rejected

The dogmatic mindset is bad for science and the fact that the dogma is materialism may make it worse. It certainly doesn’t mitigate the damage in any way.

Read More ›
silhouette-of-human-with-universe-and-physical-mathematical-287351146-stockpack-adobestock
Silhouette of human with universe and physical, mathematical formulas

At The Federalist: Science Is “Catching Up” to Philosophy

David Weinberg points out that traditional descriptions of the powers of our souls are remarkably like what modern neuroscience is revealing to us in the twenty-first century

The theme that science is confirming the traditional philosophical understanding of life is also the theme of David Klinghoffer’s Plato’s Revenge.

Read More ›
a-cluster-of-tiny-tea-candles-gently-floating-on-a-dark-rive-1246319212-stockpack-adobestock
A cluster of tiny tea candles gently floating on a dark river illuminating the water with soft golden light

Taking the Side of Science — But How Do We Know Which One It Is?

In writing that science’s materialism is absolute, Richard Lewontin wrote as one who did not grasp the fatal flaw in his absolutism

If the mind is an illusion of the brain, the pursuit of science is illusory too. If the mind is real but immaterial, science is saved — but materialism is dead.

Read More ›
aerial-panoramic-view-of-downtown-mountain-view-california-a-1017556595-stockpack-adobestock
Aerial panoramic view of downtown Mountain View, California, along Castro Street, looking toward San Francisco Bay

Sci Foo Unconference: Horseshoe Crabs, Alchemy and (Of Course) AI

It’s called an “unconference” because attendees do not present papers in pre-organized sessions; they propose topics at the venue and those with most interest are selected

Many Sci Foo attendees were excited by LLMs in education but I fear that — when the way they are used is considered — they will increase social inequality.

Read More ›
the-mathematician-eudoxus-of-cnidus-was-chosen-by-the-gods-t-1320717624-stockpack-adobestock
The mathematician Eudoxus of Cnidus was chosen by the gods to devise a method to measure the stars

Faith and Science Before Modern Science — a Fresh Look

Winston Ewert offers a surprising look at how Christians debated science theories in the ancient and medieval world

What Christians thought about the claims of classical science should be seen in light of the fact that the science, not the faith, was later overturned.

Read More ›
kids-sitting-on-stack-of-firewood-stockpack-adobe-stock-120787402-stockpack-adobestock
Kids sitting on stack of firewood

J.P. Moreland: Which Model of the Mind Best Explains Reality?

Moreland notes that the soul's organizing role in the body sounds a lot like what scientists now call information

The physicalist claims that everything about us can be explained by biology, chemistry, and physics. But as Moreland pointed out, this view leaves out important parts of reality.

Read More ›