Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

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mental mind sport motivation concept of young handsome strong man with beard wearing black jersey concentration relaxation in sport gym
Type
post
Author
Michael Egnor
Date
March 5, 2020
Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
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The Mind Is the Opposite of a Computer

Matthew Cobb, a materialist, only scratches the surface when he explains why your brain is not a computer
Michael Egnor
March 5, 2020
7
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Mental activity always has meaning—every thought is about something. Computation, by contrast, always lacks meaning in itself. A word processing program doesn’t care about the opinion that you’re expressing when you use it. In fact, what makes computation so useful is that it doesn’t have its own meaning. Because the mind always has meaning and computation never does, the mind is the opposite of computation.

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New York City skyline
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post
Author
News
Date
March 4, 2020
Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
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Can We Understand the Brain the Way We “Understand” New York City?

The “connectome” (a complete “wiring diagram” of the brain) is giving neuroscientists pause for thought
News
March 4, 2020
7
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

If the brain is immensely complex, it may elude complete understanding in detail. Deep Learning may survey it but that won’t convey understanding to us. We may need to look at more comprehensive ways of knowing.

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The concept of rational and irrational thinking of two people. Heads of two people with colourful shapes of abstract brain for concept of idea and teamwork. Two people with different thinking.
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post
Author
News
Date
March 4, 2020
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We Will Never “Solve” the Brain

A science historian offers a look at some of the difficulties we face in understanding the brain
News
March 4, 2020
4

In a forthcoming book, science historian Matthew Cobb suggests that we may need to be content with different explanations for different brain parts. And that the image of the brain as a computer is definitely on the way out.

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Concept of brain recording for parkinson surgery
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post
Author
News
Date
February 29, 2020
Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
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Why Pioneer Neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield Said the Mind Is More Than the Brain

He gave three lines of reasoning, based on brain surgery on over a thousand patients
News
February 29, 2020
6
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Michael Egnor points out that Penfield offered three lines of evidence: His inability to stimulate intellectual thought during brain operations, the inability of seizures to cause intellectual thought, and his inability to stimulate the will. … So he concluded that the intellect and the will are not from the brain. Which is precisely what Aristotle said.

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Glowing human brain with nerve cells. 3d illustration
Glowing human brain with nerve cells. 3d illustration
Type
podcast
Author
Robert J. Marks and Michael Egnor
Date
February 20, 2020
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Michael Egnor: Is There Evidence for a Soul?

Robert J. Marks and Michael Egnor
February 20, 2020
1
From the perspective of a brain surgeon, is there evidence for a soul? Is there evidence for a spirit? Robert J. Marks discusses neuroscience, brain surgery, the soul, and the spirit with Dr. Michael Egnor. Read More ›
water-hands
Photo by mrjn Photography
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post
Author
News
Date
February 17, 2020
Categorized
Philosophy of Mind
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Why the Mind Cannot Just Emerge from the Brain

The mind cannot emerge from the brain if the two have no qualities in common
News
February 17, 2020
5
Philosophy of Mind

In his continuing discussion with Robert J. Marks, Michael Egnor argues that emergence of the mind from the brain is not possible because no properties of the mind have any overlap with the properties of brain. Thought and matter are not similar in any way. Matter has extension in space and mass; thoughts have no extension in space and no mass.

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umut-yilman-e_2oEGHWXbw-unsplash
Type
podcast
Author
JP Moreland and Michael Newton Keas
Date
January 30, 2020
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Bingecast: JP Moreland on Changing the Pathways of Your Brain

JP Moreland and Michael Newton Keas
January 30, 2020
3

Philosopher JP Moreland shares how twice he was incapacitated for months by panic attacks and anxiety. His new book, Finding Quiet, seeks to make the most of his suffering, condensing the crucial lessons learned from his research. He and guest host Mike Keas address the relative evidence for the soul and the brain, the integration of faith with knowledge from Read More ›

Empty plate with parsley leaf
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post
Author
News
Date
January 27, 2020
Categorized
Medicine and Health
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What Your Brain Wishes You Knew About Fasting…

But you'd have to give it a try in order to find out
News
January 27, 2020
6
Medicine and Health

Why does fasting clarify the mind, instead of making us dizzy and anxious for food? Jay Richards, author of Eat, Fast, Feast (2020), says researchers now think that ketosis (burning stored fat for energy instead of blood sugar) naturally produces clearer thinking.

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Photo by Bret Kavanaugh
Type
post
Author
Michael Egnor
Date
January 17, 2020
Categorized
Medicine and Health, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
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Yes, Split Brains Are Weird, But Not the Way You Think

Scientists who dismiss consciousness and free will ignore the fact that the higher faculties of the mind cannot be split even by splitting the brain in half
Michael Egnor
January 17, 2020
5
Medicine and Health, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Patients after split-brain surgery are not split people. They feel the same, act the same, and think the same, for all intents and purposes. Materialists like Jerry Coyne focus on subtle differences and distort the big picture.

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Photo by Daniil Kuželev
Type
post
Author
News
Date
December 30, 2019
Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
Tagged
, ,

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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super brain
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post
Author
News
Date
July 10, 2019
Categorized
Philosophy of Mind
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Are Lab-Grown Human Brains the Next Big Thing?

Neurosurgeon Michael Egnor thinks the hopes for humanly conscious lab-grown brains are faint indeed
News
July 10, 2019
4
Philosophy of Mind

“Neural tissue grown in a lab cannot have intentionality unless it has sense organs,” Egnor says, “But such manufactured intentionality can only be about concrete things, not abstract things.”

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tyler-lastovich-720384-unsplash
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post
Author
News
Date
July 4, 2019
Categorized
Education, Social Media
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The Smartest Phone Is Silent in Class

While academics debate smartphones’ effect on teens, some hard facts begin to emerge
News
July 4, 2019
6
Education, Social Media
What if we focus on something more easily measurable than emotional well-being?: grades. There seems to be a growing consensus that students get better grades when separated from smartphones in learning environments. Read More ›
sharp ct scan of the human brain
Type
podcast
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
June 6, 2019
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How Tongue Stimulation Accelerates Brain Healing

The Amazing Clinical Results from Neurostimulation
Robert J. Marks
June 6, 2019
1

The human brain can both adapt and heal itself. Can this healing be accelerated without brain surgery? Using stimulation, of all places, to the tongue can result in incredible changes to brain functions. Can this technology help rewire the brain of those with disorders like Multiple Sclerosis and Cerebral Palsy? That’s the topic today on Mind Matters. Show Notes 00:50 Read More ›

MRI or magnetic resonance image of head and brain scan. Close up view
Type
podcast
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
May 23, 2019
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How the Injured Brain Heals Itself

Our Amazing Neuroplasticity
Robert J. Marks
May 23, 2019
1

You get a paper cut and over time your body heals it. The brain can also both adapt and heal itself. How can we facilitate this healing in patients with brain challenges? We address that question today on Mind Matters. Show Notes 01:15 | Introduction 02:25 | Brain Healing and Repair 04:50 | Neuroplasticity 06:00 | Nature of Addiction 07:45 Read More ›

hal-gatewood-405338-unsplash
Plasma Ball
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post
Author
News
Date
February 19, 2019
Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience
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Researchers Identify a New Form of Brain Communication

Mouse studies find brain waves that can bypass synapses and gaps, even communicate with severed nerves
News
February 19, 2019
4
Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience

Such surprising new findings show that comparisons between a human brain and a computer greatly underestimate the complexity of the brain.

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human-embryo-week-9
Human Fetus Week Nine
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post
Author
Michael Egnor
Date
January 28, 2019
Categorized
Ethics, Medicine and Health, Neuroscience
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The Junk Science of the Abortion Lobby

Fetuses not only experience pain but experience it more intensely than do adults
Michael Egnor
January 28, 2019
5
Ethics, Medicine and Health, Neuroscience
Much of pro-abortion advocacy is science denial—the deliberate misrepresentation of science to advance an ideological agenda. Mary Ziegler, a law professor at Florida State University, wrote a misleading essay on that theme in the New York Times, “Science won’t end this debate” (January 22, 2019). Read More ›
Afraid man in tinfoil helmet watches TV
Afraid man in tinfoil helmet watches TV, paranoia concept. UFO, conspiracy theory, brain theft protection, phobia
Type
post
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
December 28, 2018
Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience
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3: With Mind-Reading AI, You Will Never Have Secrets Again!

AI help, not hype, with Robert J. Marks: Did you read about the flap they had to cut out of a volunteer’s skull?
Robert J. Marks
December 28, 2018
5
Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience

The Daily Mail is the United Kingdom’s second largest circulation daily. A headline from the webpage screams: No more secrets! New mind-reading machine can translate your thoughts and display them as text INSTANTLY! Not a lot of nuance there. The story continues on a tidal wave of hyperbole, • Researchers say they have developed a machine that can translate our thoughts •  The astonishing machine will analyse what you are thinking and display it as text ending with a charitable hope: •  Scientists hope that the machine can be used by people who are unable to speak The reality is that AI can read your mind for a few words repeated often if you have a flap cut out of your skull and Read More ›

Brain Disease Therapy
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
November 8, 2018
Categorized
Medicine and Health, Neuroscience, Social Factors
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Researchers find loneliness is hard on the brain

What we think about our lives really does affect our health.
Denyse O'Leary
November 8, 2018
3
Medicine and Health, Neuroscience, Social Factors
What’s less often recognized is that loneliness could cause be a cause of brain damage as well, at least if we go by rodent studies. Read More ›
Personal communication
Type
post
Author
Mind Matters
Date
October 23, 2018
Categorized
Philosophy of Mind, Social Factors
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Brain hacks

Do we understand the brain better if we see it as a computer?
Mind Matters
October 23, 2018
6
Philosophy of Mind, Social Factors
Seeing the brain as a computer doesn’t tell us as much as we might think. When human beings build computers, we design them in a way that we can understand and use. So we think our brains must be like that too. Sure enough, in the vast complexity of our brains, we can surely find some elements that remind us of a computer. Others won’t.   Read More ›
Image result for plato
Type
post
Author
Michael Egnor
Date
October 12, 2018
Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
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Does brain stimulation research challenge free will?

If we can be forced to want something, is the will still free?
Michael Egnor
October 12, 2018
8
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
The materialist interpretation of Reilly’s work is a misunderstanding of what the research actually shows. The stimulations did not evoke complex abstract intentions and acts—the patients didn’t reflexively decide to do integral calculus or donate to Amnesty International. Read More ›