CategoryScience
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
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
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
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
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?
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
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
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
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
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
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
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?
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
How Science Can Slowly Morph Into Junk. Or not.
Science can become entangled in many things — politics and the self-interest of funding sources, for example — and chatbots will likely make things worse
View: Universities Should Not Speak Up Against Dissenting Profs!
Jay Bhattacharya and Wesley J. Smith respond to an article in a medical journal arguing that universities SHOULD censure dissenters on the faculty
Dembski Asks the Chatbot: Is Intelligent Design Testable?
ChatGPT4o’s tour through the internet on the topic suggests that there may be some improvement in rational discussion out there
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
Bill Dembski: Einstein’s Advice to Bright Young University Grads
His advice, bellowed in parting, may seem obvious but it is challenging in a world that often protects sacred cows over evidence