Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

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Man typing on keyboard background with brain hologram. Concept of big Data.
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post
Author
News
Date
February 23, 2020
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Business and Finance, Work
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Which Career-Limiting Data Mistake Are YOU Most at Risk For?

Award-winning data science author Gary Smith says the odds depend on your relationship to the data
News
February 23, 2020
6
Business and Finance, Work

Dr. Smith thinks that the most dangerous error is putting data before theory. Many data-mining algorithms that are now being used to screen job applicants, price car insurance, approve loan applications, and determine prison sentences have significant errors and biases that are not due to programmer mistakes and biases, but to a misplaced belief in data-mining.

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Double personality long exposure artistic creative portrait. Young handsome man profile. looking side. Ghost. abstract conceptual artistic view. representation of subconscious feelings and thoughts
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post
Author
News
Date
February 21, 2020
Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
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The Mind’s Reality Is Consistent with Neuroscience

A neglected “dualist” theory offers some insights
News
February 21, 2020
9
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Neurosurgeon Michael Egnor thinks that the explanation of the relationship of the mind to the brain that best fits today’s neuroscience is that certain powers, particularly the intellect and will, are not generated by matter but are immaterial. However, other properties of the mind, like perception, memory and imagination are physical, generated by brain matter.

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robot sit down and thinking
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post
Author
Eric Holloway
Date
February 19, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind
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A Philosopher Explains Why Thinking Matter Is Impossible

He’s right but Captain Kirk tumbled to it before him. So did a medieval poet
Eric Holloway
February 19, 2020
6
Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind

According to analytical philosopher Richard Johns, we cannot represent ourselves completely mathematically so we cannot generate fundamentally contradictory thoughts about ourselves. Some part of us lies beyond mathematics. An android would not be so lucky, as Captain Kirk realized in an early Star Trek episode.

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Sagrada Familia
Spandrels within the interior arches of the Sagrada Familia
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post
Author
Michael Egnor
Date
February 11, 2020
Categorized
Philosophy of Mind
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Did Consciousness Evolve?: A Darwinist Responds

Jerry Coyne argues that consciousness is a mere byproduct of useful traits that are naturally selected. But wait…
Michael Egnor
February 11, 2020
6
Philosophy of Mind

The critical problem that consciousness poses for Darwinian evolution is that there is no survival advantage for subjective first-person existence over objective third-person existence.

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An abstract computer generated fractal design. A fractal is a never-ending pattern. Fractals are infinitely complex patterns that are self-similar across different scales.
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post
Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
February 8, 2020
Categorized
Education, Mathematics
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Are Divergent Series Really an “Invention of the Devil”?

The real villain in the piece is horrendously non-specific concepts of infinity. But that can be fixed
Jonathan Bartlett
February 8, 2020
6
Education, Mathematics

It turns out that hyperreal numbers (i.e., infinities that obey algebraic rules) resolve many of the paradoxes that previously plagued conceptions of divergent series. It is now possible to assign specific values to divergent series.

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rest-in-peace-posters-of-dr-li-wenliang-who-warned-authorities-about-the-coronovirus-outbreak-seen-at-hosier-lane-in-melbourne-australia-hosier-lane-is-known-for-its-street-art-stockpack-unsplash.jpg
Rest in Peace Posters of Dr Li Wenliang, who warned authorities about the coronovirus outbreak seen at Hosier Lane in Melbourne, Australia. Hosier Lane is known for its street art.
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post
Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
February 1, 2020
Categorized
Global Technology, Medicine and Health, Social Media, Surveillance
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Censorship? But Coronavirus Doesn’t Care!

Back when SARS was a threat, social media wasn’t the giant it is today. Censorship, secrecy, and detention are less effective tools of control now
Heather Zeiger
February 1, 2020
10
Global Technology, Medicine and Health, Social Media, Surveillance

Coronavirus provides a test. The Chinese Communist Party offers mainland Chinese people security and prosperity in exchange for the sacrifice of personal freedom. But when the government cannot uphold its end of the agreement—security—the people may become less tolerant of the human rights violations. And the age of information makes it much easier to discover them.

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shopping online at home concept.Cartons in a shopping cart on a laptop keyboard
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Author
News
Date
January 30, 2020
Categorized
Business and Finance
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Does the Information Society Need a Free Market?

The Gilder Fellows’ July Seminar will wrestle with why Millennials favor socialism
News
January 30, 2020
7
Business and Finance

Many Millennials yearn for socialism but, according to the Gilder Fellows scholars, socialism is—at best—irrelevant to the challenges of an information society.

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An internet email symbol and a group of people are separated by a red prohibitory symbol No. restrictions on access to the global Internet. Censorship. Information control, society isolation policy
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post
Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
January 18, 2020
Categorized
Global Technology, Social Media, Surveillance
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Can a Totalitarian State Be an Information Society?

Beijing’s clumsy social media campaigns against democracy in Hong Kong and Taiwan have failed but attempts to control local media are ramping up
Heather Zeiger
January 18, 2020
11
Global Technology, Social Media, Surveillance

Xi believes that the Western values of a free press, free speech, and separation of powers contributed to the fall of the Soviet Union and that China must avoid them so as not to succumb to the same fate. But the Soviet Union fell just before the internet became today’s information superhighway.

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Photo by Wherda Arsianto
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post
Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
January 14, 2020
Categorized
Surveillance
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Serious Media In China Have Gone Strangely Silent

With a compulsory new app, the government can potentially access journalists’ phones, both for surveillance and capturing data
Heather Zeiger
January 14, 2020
9
Surveillance

Liu Hu sums up the scene in a few words: “Outside of China, journalists are fired for writing false reports… Inside China, they are fired for telling the truth.”

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black mathematics board with formulas
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post
Author
Daniel Andrés Díaz-Pachón
Date
January 5, 2020
Categorized
Mathematics
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Faith Is the Most Fundamental of the Mathematical Tools

An early twentieth century clash of giants showed that even mathematics depends on some unprovable assumptions
Daniel Andrés Díaz-Pachón
January 5, 2020
13
Mathematics

David Hilbert wanted all mathematics to be proved by logical steps. Kurt Gödel showed that no axiomatic system could be complete and consistent at the same time.

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Group Of Businesspeople Identified By AI System
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Author
News
Date
January 2, 2020
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Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Global Technology, Work
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How To Fool Facial Recognition

Changing a couple of pixels here and there can stump a computer
News
January 2, 2020
8
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Global Technology, Work

Both computers and humans can be fooled by patterns that appear significant but really aren’t. But the bigger the computer, the more random patterns it can find in the vast swathes of data processed.

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Tesla Motors logo sign
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Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
December 30, 2019
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Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Global Technology
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2019 AI Hype Countdown #1: Tesla’s Robotaxis—Tales of a Phantom Fleet

Musk put out a tweet on December 22, saying “Sorry, it's been a bit of a struggle.” At last, a claim we can unreservedly believe
Jonathan Bartlett
December 30, 2019
7
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Global Technology

Because Tesla has yet to make a yearly profit in any of its sixteen years of existence, it depends on capital raises of various forms (equity, debt, etc.) to stay in business. Capital raises require big promises and Tesla’s overstatements about its self-driving cars are always good for a few billion.

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Photo by Daniil Kuželev
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post
Author
News
Date
December 30, 2019
Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
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Researchers: Our Conscious Visual Perception Lies Outside Our Visual Cortex

They concluded that the end step of perceiving where objects are occurs in the frontal lobes, a finding they describe as “radical”
News
December 30, 2019
6
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

A major consequence of the advance of modern neuroscience is that we now “know” so much less than we used to. But what we do know points us in promising research directions.

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Photo by NeONBRAND
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Author
Michael Egnor
Date
December 29, 2019
Categorized
Philosophy of Mind, Religion
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Why Materialism Fails as a Science-Based Philosophy

I don’t believe that either panpsychism or cosmopsychism is true. But I have some sympathy with people who hold those views
Michael Egnor
December 29, 2019
4
Philosophy of Mind, Religion

There is no doubt that consciousness is a fundamental property of animal and human existence. As philosopher Philip Goff notes, a philosophy like materialism that cannot plausibly account for it cannot be correct.

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The-Expanse-Publicity-Still
The Expanse Still Image
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Author
Adam Nieri
Date
December 28, 2019
Categorized
Arts & Culture
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Sci-Fi TV: 2019’s Best and Worst

2019 featured many sci-fi television and movies that were less sci-fi than political narrative
Adam Nieri
December 28, 2019
9
Arts & Culture

In 2019, I fell out with Netflix. I felt bombarded by more and more edgy content, as though Netflix wanted me to know how “adult” it is. Rather than producing a few amazing originals, Netflix started vomiting up a ton of terrible originals.

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The mankind races - ethnic and multi ethnic - scientific model - concept
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Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
December 26, 2019
Categorized
Ethics, Global Technology, Surveillance, Technocracy
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China: DNA Phenotyping Profiles Racial Minorities

In the United States, targeting minorities means political pushback; in China, no such discussion is allowed
Heather Zeiger
December 26, 2019
7
Ethics, Global Technology, Surveillance, Technocracy

While there is some merit to the idea that the population of a particular geographic region will have similar DNA patterns, this science comes with a host of assumptions that, when taken too far, crosses the line into pseudoscience.

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China and Australia puzzles from flags, 3D rendering
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post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
December 11, 2019
Categorized
Global Technology
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Weighing the Costs of China’s High-Tech Power

Western nations like New Zealand, Australia, and Canada must weigh Beijing’s demands carefully
Denyse O'Leary
December 11, 2019
10
Global Technology

Smaller Western countries, dependent on high-tech cooperation and the promise of huge markets in China, have muted their protests over Hong Kong and even accept Chinese government censorship in their own territories. That can put them in conflict with their own stated values.

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One belt one road. New Chinese trade silk road. map infographics
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post
Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
December 3, 2019
Categorized
Global Technology, Surveillance
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Why China Leans Hard on Central Asia

The region is critical to China’s ambitions, hence the generous offers of state-of-the-art surveillance technology
Heather Zeiger
December 3, 2019
11
Global Technology, Surveillance

Where is all of the data going and where is it stored? The short answer is China. The Central Asian countries’ current laws do not adequately protect their citizens’ privacy. In fact, most countries in the world do not have adequate laws to deal with the potential harms of facial recognition technology.

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Robot's body
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Author
News
Date
December 3, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Medicine and Health, Philosophy of Mind
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Would You Want Immortal Life as a Cyborg?

Would you give up your right arm for a robotic device that performs better? Think about it
News
December 3, 2019
8
Artificial Intelligence, Medicine and Health, Philosophy of Mind

Transhumanism can mean uploading one’s mind into cyberspace. But some transhumanists hope to slowly morph into “immortal cyborgs” with endlessly replaceable parts. Five years ago, we were told, we were all turning into cyborgs: Did you recently welcome a child into the world? Congratulations! An upstanding responsible parent such as yourself is surely doing all you can to prepare your little one for all the pitfalls life has in store. However, thanks to technology, children born in 2014 may face a far different set of issues than you ever had to. And we’re not talking about simply learning to master a new generation of digital doohickeys, we’re talking about living in a world in which the very definition of “human” Read More ›

light at the end of the tunnel
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post
Author
News
Date
November 21, 2019
Categorized
Medicine and Health, Philosophy of Mind
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Why Medical Scientists Take Near-Death Experiences Seriously Now

Today, we know much more about what happens to people when they die—and what we are learning does not support materialism
News
November 21, 2019
10
Medicine and Health, Philosophy of Mind

Near-death experiences are generally seen as real, even among hardcore skeptics, and research focuses on how to account for them.

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