Are Colleges Beyond Saving?
They need to rediscover the purpose of higher educationThe impact of AI and tech addiction is obvious everywhere. But is every college student falling prey to the trends?
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A Novelist Posts on the Paranormal
Accounting for experiences of the supernaturalLin notes that scientists and online outlets like Wikipedia, entrenched in a materialistic perspective, tend to simply dismiss them.
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Podcast Guest Claims He Won’t Die, Says We’re Creating God With AI
Got immortality? This man says he has the secret.Johnson’s views on AI sound crazy, but they reflect a burgeoning hope that computerized superintelligence will somehow solve all the enigmas of existence.
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Want to Talk to Jesus? Consult a Bot
Is AI changing the way people pray?Whatever one’s views on Christ, a computer system can’t materialize his essence.
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The Significance of Mirror Neurons: More With Dr. Mihretu Guta
On this episode, host Dr. Robert J. Marks continues his chat with Dr. Mihretu Guta about exploring the philosophical challenges surrounding the neuroscientific research on mirror neurons. What the heck is a mirror neuron you ask? As described in Part 1, it’s a type of brain cell that fires when a person observes an action being performed, as well as Read More ›
Consciousness, Materialism, and the Limits of Reductionism
On this episode, host Pat Flynn concludes a three-part conversation with Dr. Selmer Bringsjord about all things related to AI, consciousness, and rationality. In Part 3, Flynn and Bringsjord summarize their points about integrated information theory and an alternative view, cognitive consciousness. The discussion explores the challenges of explaining consciousness from a materialist or physicalist perspective, noting the apparent qualitative Read More ›
John Stuart Mill: Humans Are Not Automatons
Making rational decisions takes a lot of thought and hard work, says Mill.Mill uses a beautiful contrast in metaphor to show how human nature is qualitatively different from machines.
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Exploring the Capabilities and Limitations of AI with Dr. Selmer Bringsjord
On this episode, host Pat Flynn begins a three-part conversation with Dr. Selmer Bringsjord about all things related to AI, consciousness, and rationality. Dr. Bringsjord has been studying and debating issues related to AI and the nature of consciousness for decades, and he shares his predictions about the capabilities and limitations of AI systems. He believes that while AI systems Read More ›
Hinton and Hopfield Win Nobel Prize in Physics
Hinton warns against neglecting AI safetyGeoffrey E. Hinton, a pioneer in the field of artificial intelligence responsible for helping develop “neural networks,” has been awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize alongside John J. Hopfield. The two scientists won the award for their groundbreaking work in machine intelligence, paving the way for a revolutionary new way to use computers. Hinton attracted attention just last year when he departed from Google and started warning the public about the potential dangers of new AI systems. He likened the AI revolution to the Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century, only this time, it won’t be our physical capacities that get trumped by the machine, but our intellects. The New York Times reports, “It will be comparable with the Industrial Revolution,” Read More ›
The Unique Relationship Between Consciousness and Its Bearer
What kind of being must exist for consciousness to exist? On this episode, hosts Robert J. Marks and Angus Menuge conclude their discussion with Dr. Mihretu Guta about his contribution to the recent volume Minding the Brain. The first half of this conversation centered on the amazing nature of consciousness and how it really doesn’t reduce to anything physical. In Part Read More ›
In What Sense is Consciousness a Property?
On this episode, hosts Robert J. Marks and Angus Menuge welcome Dr. Mihretu Guta to discuss his contribution to the recent volume Minding the Brain. Dr. Guta discusses the nature of consciousness and the challenges in understanding it from a philosophical perspective. He argues that consciousness is a unique property that is deeply subjective and personal, making it difficult to study Read More ›
Sam Altman Was on My Favorite Writing Podcast. His View on Storytelling Surprised Me.
When we read, we want to hear from a human about what it means to be human.Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, has garnered a fair share of criticism from the writing crowd for creating ChatGPT, a tool that on the surface seems to banish the need for human writers at all. However, Altman recently appeared on David Perell’s prominent writing podcast “How I Write” to talk about his own writing process, AI, and what he uses ChatGPT for. Altman and Perell talk about the importance of language for human communication, with Altman noting how he can’t imagine human life without language. AI, Altman says, is supposed to make language and the writing process “better.” In his view, that’s what computers have also sought to do: Create opportunities for humans to expand and deepen their capacities. But Read More ›
Dolphins Quarterback Suffers Another Concussion
Head trauma remains a dark reality in American footballSuffering too many concussions can result in mental health problems, including severe depression, with victims running the risk of dementia or even early death.
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Haidt: Beauty and Awe Help Us Escape the Phone-Based Life
The question is: why are we drawn to beauty?I want the beauty of the forest to actually be beautiful, not just signal a primordial drive to forage and hunt.
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Live Music is Making a Comeback, and So is Bob Dylan
People still want to experience music in person.This past summer, 110,000 people convened for a George Strait concert in College Station, TX, the biggest crowd ever recorded to hear live music. Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” has amassed over a billion dollars in revenue, with the pop star traveling the world to sold-out amphitheaters. Coldplay, another massive musical act, is gearing up for the release of their tenth studio album, Moon Music, set to drop on October 4th. They plan a world tour for the album and are also known to fill up stadiums far and wide. So, whatever plights the world of arts and culture might be facing, and given AI’s incursion into the creator economy, one thing remains evident: people still want to experience music in Read More ›
A Weekend Watch: Paul Kingsnorth and Louise Perry
Who is technology serving?What do we lose when we’re never quiet with our own thoughts, always checking our phones, always listening to Spotify or a podcast in the background?
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AI: The Future of Friendship?
Odd visions of dystopia keep popping up in real life in our current social moment.Odd visions of dystopia keep popping up in real life in our current social moment. An upcoming device simply called “friend” is now being advertised. Per the product description, the “friend” is a Bluetooth disk that hangs around a person’s neck and “listens” to the user. It then has the capacity to make conversation by “texting” you at random times of the day, like a human friend might do. The website includes a “frequently asked questions” portion, which is where you can discover what the product is and what it can do. Here’s a bizarre response to the question: “what does ‘always listening’ mean”: When connected via bluetooth, your friend is always listening and forming their own internal thoughts. We Read More ›
Caring for the Deeply Forgetful: An Interview with Dr. Stephen Post
How can we best compassionately relate to those suffering from Alzheimer’s disease? Is there more to the mind than just the brain? On this episode of Mind Matters News, neurosurgeon Dr. Michael Egnor interviews Dr. Stephen Post. They discuss topics such as memory, consciousness, medical ethics, and the care of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Post emphasizes the importance of Read More ›
Robert Marks & Zoltan Istvan Debate AI and Transhumanism
Are we on the verge of an era of incalculable human progress because of the power of AI, or are we threatened with being made obsolete and perhaps extinguished in an age of intelligent machines? In this episode, Robert J. Marks and author Zoltan Istvan debate secular transhumanism and artificial intelligence (AI). Marks argues that AI can never be creative Read More ›
AI and Common Sense
Large Language Models and paraprosdokian one-linersAn LLM will never write a joke that gives another LLM a good honest belly laugh.
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