Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

TagMichael Egnor

hands-of-a-man-tearing-a-piece-of-paper-with-inscription-free-will-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Hands of a man tearing a piece of paper with inscription free will
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
June 25, 2023
Categorized
Free will, Psychology
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Free Will: What Are the Real Reasons to Believe in It?

Some say that free will might be a useful delusion but neuroscience provides sound reasons to believe that it is real.
Denyse O'Leary
June 25, 2023
5
Free will, Psychology

University of Missouri psychology professor Kennon Sheldon’s message is neatly summed up in an opening statement: “Regardless of whether humans do or don’t have free will, psychological research shows it’s beneficial to act as if you do”. The author of Freely Determined: What the New Psychology of the Self Teaches Us About How to Live (Basic Books, 2022) responds to philosophers who say that we do not have free will: All my life, I’ve struggled with the question of whether humans have ‘free will’. It catalysed my decision to become a psychologist and continues to inspire my research to this day, especially as it relates to the kinds of goals people set for themselves, and the effects of goal-striving on Read More ›

old-man-painting-stockpack-adobe-stock
old man painting
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post
Author
News
Date
May 29, 2023
Categorized
Psychology
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Sparks and Flashes of Remembrance

An expert in memory-loss treatment recalls some tender stories about memory in the midst of forgetfulness
News
May 29, 2023
6
Psychology

In a recent Mind Matters podcast episode, neurosurgeon Michael Egnor (Mike), a frequent contributor to the site, interviewed friend and colleague Stephen Post, an expert in memory-loss-related disorders. Here’s a snippet of their conversation, which you can enjoy in full by following this link. Mike Egnor: So to begin, your new book, Dignity for Deeply Forgetful People, why did you use that title and what do you mean by deeply forgetful people? Stephen Post: Well, that’s a fabulous question to begin with because the title doesn’t quite say it all, but it’s close. I’ve been working with deeply forgetful people and their caregivers since I went out to Case Medical School in 1988, and I have never felt comfortable with Read More ›

friendly-smiling-nurse-caregiver-in-geriatric-clinic-or-retirement-home-helps-senior-man-with-alzheimers-disease-happy-old-man-plays-puzzles-while-sitting-at-table-in-cozy-interior-dementia-concept-stockpack-adobe-stock
Friendly smiling nurse caregiver in geriatric clinic or retirement home helps senior man with Alzheimer's disease. Happy old man plays puzzles while sitting at table in cozy interior. Dementia concept
Type
podcast
Author
Michael Egnor
Date
May 18, 2023
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Caring for the Deeply Forgetful

Michael Egnor
May 18, 2023
1

How can we compassionately relate to those suffering from Alzheimer’s disease? Is the mind more than the brain? Dr. Stephen Post, an expert in the field and author of Dignity for Deeply Forgetful People, speaks with neurosurgeon Michael Egnor on memory, consciousness, and whether the mind could have arisen from matter. Additional Resources

brain-psychology-mind-soul-and-hope-concept-art-3d-illustration-surreal-artwork-imagination-painting-conceptual-idea-stockpack-adobe-stock
Brain psychology mind soul and hope concept art, 3d illustration, surreal artwork, imagination painting, conceptual idea
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post
Author
News
Date
March 9, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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Blake Lemoine and Robert J. Marks on the Mind Matters Podcast

Marks and Lemoine discuss sentience in AI and the question of the soul
News
March 9, 2023
1
Artificial Intelligence
Lemoine thinks AI can be sentient but Marks firmly rejects such a notion. While disagreeing, they maintained a respectful dialogue. Well worth listening to. Read More ›
conceptual-art-concept-of-problem-mind-psychology-freedom-and-solution-surreal-painting-jigsaw-puzzle-on-human-head-stockpack-adobe-stock
Conceptual art, concept of problem mind psychology freedom and solution, surreal painting, jigsaw puzzle on human head.
Type
post
Author
Michael Egnor
Date
March 8, 2023
Categorized
Philosophy of Mind
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Kenneth Miller on Consciousness and Evolution

Despite Miller's claims, neither human reason nor free will evolved because neither are generated by material processes
Michael Egnor
March 8, 2023
8
Philosophy of Mind

Kenneth Miller is a biologist at Brown University who has been very active in his written and vocal support for Darwin’s theory of evolution. He’s neither a materialist nor an atheist – he is a Catholic, and in being one of the rare Darwinists who doesn’t subscribe wholeheartedly to the materialist/atheist paradigm, he allows himself to be used as a token theist by the Darwinists. It helps his career, no doubt, but doesn’t advance the truth. Not an admirable place to be. Miller’s New Book and What it Misses In his 2018 book The Human Instinct: How We Evolved To Have Reason, Consciousness, and Free Will, Miller manages a feat uncommon even for Darwinists – even the title of the Read More ›

hindu-elephant-wall-unsplash
Type
podcast
Author
Michael Egnor
Date
October 27, 2022
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Hinduism, Philosophy, and the Mind

Michael Egnor
October 27, 2022
1

Arjuna Gallagher is the host of the YouTube Channel called Theology Unleashed and a Hindu. He discusses Hinduism’s unique perspective regarding subjects such as metaphysics, evil, and free will with Dr. Michael Egnor. They also address creation, social ethics, and the relationship of the mind and the body. Additional Resources Dr. Michael Egnor Follow Arjuna Gallagher on Facebook Subscribe to Read More ›

senior in coma.jpg
side view of senior man in coma on bed in hospital
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post
Author
News
Date
October 19, 2022
Categorized
Medicine and Health, Neuroscience
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Researchers: Comatose People Can Have “Covert Consciousness”

Claassen and Edlow found that the brain patterns of a woman who could not respond physically to commands showed that she recognized them
News
October 19, 2022
5
Medicine and Health, Neuroscience

Columbia University neurologist Jan Claassen and Harvard medical school neurologist Brian L. Edlow introduce us to a vital new concept in consciousness: “covert consciousness,” which is experienced by 15–20% of people who are in a coma: Thirty-year-old New York City resident Maria Murkevich, for example, suffered a ruptured blood vessel in her brain and was comatose. Conventional tests (wiggle your toes, etc.) produced no response but her loved ones still believed she was “in there.”: They were right. But it took a high-tech method to demonstrate that: The medical team gave her an EEG — placing sensors on her head to monitor her brain’s electrical activity — while they asked her to “keep opening and closing your right hand.” Then Read More ›

this-experimental-painting-features-swirls-of-black-grey
This experimental painting features swirls of black, grey, purple, and white paints.
Type
podcast
Author
Michael Egnor
Date
September 29, 2022
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The Nature of Mind, Body, and Soul

Michael Egnor
September 29, 2022
1

How do the mind, the body, and the soul interact? After years of studying the brain, there are still many questions. Dr. Joshua Farris discusses free will, consciousness, and philosophy on this bingecast with Dr. Michael Egnor. Additional Resources Dr. Joshua Farris Dr. Michael Egnor Buy Dr. Joshua R. Farris’ Book: The Soul of Theological Anthropology Cartesian Exploration What is Read More ›

multi-ethnic-teenagers-smiling-outdoor-making-selfie-stockpack-adobe-stock
Multi ethnic teenagers smiling outdoor making selfie
Type
post
Author
News
Date
September 15, 2022
Categorized
Medicine and Health, Politics
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Egnor: Why More Sex Change Medicine for Teens in US Than Europe?

One factor in the difference between the United States and Europe may be less accurate information in the United States
News
September 15, 2022
4
Medicine and Health, Politics

Neurosurgeon Michael Egnor offers a look at the radical trend to medicine and life-altering surgery based on teen identity issues: Despite the logical gibberish, trans-activism has had a frightening impact on medical practice and medical ethics. ‘Gender affirmation’ clinics exist in medical centers across the country, and many clinics offer hormonal treatment and even radical surgery to children and adults. Boston Children’s Hospital — probably the most prominent children’s hospital in the country —  has offered mastectomies to girls as young as 15 for “gender reassignment,” and has offered patients phalloplasty (the surgical creation of a ‘penis’), metoidioplasty (cutting tissue to lengthen the clitoris), creation of a scrotum with testicular implants, hysterectomy, vaginoplasty (amputation of the penis and testicles with construction of a ‘vagina’) Read More ›

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A brazilian wandering spider (Phoneutria sp.) waits in ambush on a leaf at night in Costa Rica.
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
August 19, 2022
Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience
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Can Life Forms Like Spiders, That Lack a Neocortex, Really Dream?

Paleontologist Günter Bechly argues that it’s highly unlikely. Michael Egnor sides with Aristotle; they dream about what they can perceive
Denyse O'Leary
August 19, 2022
5
Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience

Recently, paleontologist Günter Bechly took issue with neurosurgeon Michael Egnor on the question of whether spiders dream. Egnor was willing to accept the possibility, noting that spiders can dream only about things they can think about: “If spiders and bacteria dream, they dream of flies or chemical gradients, but not of philosophy.” Bechly, on the other hand, thinks it’s a filament too far for the spider (never mind the bacteria) to dream at all: … I tend to concur with those neuroscientists who doubt any organisms possess phenomenal consciousness that lack a neocortex (found only in mammals) or a comparable structure (in birds and maybe cephalopods). Rapid eye movement may indicate neural activity, but the concept of dreaming for me Read More ›

brain anatomy
Real human half brain anatomy isolated on black background
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post
Author
News
Date
August 19, 2022
Categorized
Medicine and Health, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
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A Neurosurgeon on Why Some People Function With Only Half a Brain

The study results are reassuring and they point to two larger truths
News
August 19, 2022
4
Medicine and Health, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Yesterday, we ran a story about a recent study in which 40 people who had half of their brains removed (hemispherectomy) as children — due to intractable epilepsy — did unexpectedly well on psychological tests. Some say that it’s easy to explain because the brain has so many redundant elements. But is that all we need to know? We asked pediatric neurosurgeon Michael Egnor for some thoughts on that approach and he replied: The means by which people with major parts of their brains removed maintain function are not understood. It’s nonsense to say, as some do, that “The brain is massively parallel and recursive and functions under network rules and laws.” That’s typical neuroscience gibberish. The fact is that Read More ›

brain waves test
Brain model on human brain wave background
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post
Author
News
Date
August 18, 2022
Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
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People With Half Their Brains Removed Do Well on Psych Tests

In a recent study, adults who had had hemispherectomies as children — to combat severe epilepsy — performed within 10% of other study subjects on face and word recognition
News
August 18, 2022
4
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

At Carnegie Mellon University’s Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Institute, researchers recently found that people who had had half their brains removed as children (due to serious epilepsy) “scored surprisingly well on face and word recognition tests”: The researchers expected that those volunteers who had only their right hemisphere would do well at face recognition but not as well at word recognition, since the right hemisphere is generally used to process images while the left hemisphere processes words; they expected the opposite results for those who still had just their left hemisphere. Instead, the researchers found that both groups performed nearly equally well and both were on average 86% accurate on the tests compared to a control group consisting of Read More ›

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The girl hugs the basenji dog.
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
August 16, 2022
Categorized
Ethics, Natural Intelligence
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Animal Mind — Can You Clone Your Beloved Pet’s Personality?

People who can charge a great deal for cloning insist that the personality is not cloned… so why do it?
Denyse O'Leary
August 16, 2022
5
Ethics, Natural Intelligence

Michael Egnor has noted that the famous philosopher René Descartes (1596–1650) thought that animals were biological machines that did not have minds at all. Many arguments can be mustered against that view but the recent development of animal cloning may prove a new one. Barbra Streisand brought attention to the business of cloning deceased pets when she had her dog Samantha cloned in 2018 (though the process had been available for more than a decade). The cost? US$35,000 for a cat, $50,000 for a dog, and $85,000 for a horse. That’s hardly spare change yet, we are told, some less well-heeled folk will put off a new car or down payment to bring back a deceased companion: Kelly Anderson never Read More ›

gray-maze-with-mechanic-brain-stockpack-adobe-stock
Gray maze with mechanic brain
Type
podcast
Author
Michael Egnor
Date
July 28, 2022
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Mysteries of the Mind

Michael Egnor
July 28, 2022
1

It’s hard to know where the brain ends and the mind begins. How can studying our brains give us insight into our minds? Neuroscientist Andrew Newberg and neurosurgeon Michael Egnor sit down for a chat about all things brain related including neurotheology, methods of studying the brain, and other mind/brain phenomena. Additional Resources Andrew Newberg’s Website Michael Egnor at Discovery.org Read More ›

girl-before-a-doors-stockpack-adobe-stock
Girl before a doors
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post
Author
News
Date
July 12, 2022
Categorized
Ethics, Law, Philosophy of Mind
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Michael Egnor: If Evil Exists, So Must Good — and Real Choices!

In the podcast, he explains, denial of free will doesn’t mean that there is no guilt but rather that there is no innocence
News
July 12, 2022
9
Ethics, Law, Philosophy of Mind

In a podcast aired July 8, 2022, geoscientist Casey Luskin and neurosurgeon Michael Egnor explore “Evolution and the disturbing consequences of denying free will.” One consequence they look at is pre-crime, that is, treating people who are thought likely to commit an offence as if they had already done so. A partial transcript and notes follows. The podcast is here. Casey Luskin: In the previous podcast, Dr. Egnor, you mentioned how, once somebody denies free will, they really lose the ability to condemn any action that a human takes as morally evil. Everything we did in their view is determined by the forces of nature, and really nobody ought to be at fault for having done anything. These arguments have, Read More ›

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little bird flying out of bird cage, think outside the box
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post
Author
News
Date
July 3, 2022
Categorized
Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Physics, Science
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Why Free Will Is Philosophically and Scientifically Sound

As Michael Egnor points out in a recent podcast, it has been nearly a century since determinism was toppled in physics
News
July 3, 2022
10
Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Physics, Science

In “Neurosurgeon Michael Egnor: Humans Have Free Will” a recent podcast at ID the Future, geoscientist Casey Luskin discussed science-based arguments against free will with neurosurgeon Michael Egnor (13:05 min). Are these arguments a serious challenge or are they just wishful thinking on the part of materialists? Here’s a partial transcript: Casey Luskin: Now I want to continue our conversation, Dr. Egnor, from the previous podcast, where we were talking about your debates on evolution news and views, responding to Dr. Jerry Coyne, the well known evolutionary biologist from the University of Chicago. Coyne is what you might call an honest atheist in that he’s willing to admit the implications that atheism and Darwinian materialism have for concepts like free Read More ›

The concept of the human brain. The right creative hemisphere versus the left logical hemisphere. Education, science and medical abstract background.
Type
post
Author
News
Date
June 28, 2022
Categorized
Philosophy, Religion, Science, Social Media
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When a Neurosurgeon and a Biologist Keep On Arguing…

… we suspect some pretty basic science issues are involved
News
June 28, 2022
11
Philosophy, Religion, Science, Social Media

In a recent ID: The Future podcast (June 24, 2022) Casey Luskin interviews pediatric neurosurgeon Michael Egnor on his blogosphere debates with evolutionary biologist Jerry Coyne. Egnor, who has authored many research papers, espouses a non-materialist view of the mind — and of life in general — with which Dr. Coyne, a committed atheist, emphatically disagrees. Here’s a partial transcript from “A Brain Surgeon Debates Evolutionist Jerry Coyne and Other Atheists”: Casey Luskin: We’re going to talk about these debates you’ve had with Dr. Coyne and others. Some of the arguments you’ve made, I think, have been very compelling. But before we get into that, I’d like to ask, why do you focus your writing so much on Dr. Jerry Read More ›

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Group of burning candles against blue background, close up
Type
post
Author
News
Date
June 5, 2022
Categorized
Neuroscience, Spirituality
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Neuroscientist: Spirituality Helps Health Directly and Indirectly

Andrew Newberg has spent thirty years studying the effects of spirituality using the techniques of neuroscience
News
June 5, 2022
4
Neuroscience, Spirituality

Neuroscientist Andrew Newberg, co-author with Daniel A. Monti, M.D., of Brain Weaver: Creating the Fabric for a Healthy Mind through Integrative Medicine (Kales Press, 2021), reflected recently on what studies on the mental health benefits of spirituality can teach us. Some of the benefits of spirituality are due to the lifestyle changes it promotes: For example, going to church or other social events that are part of a religious tradition can be beneficial because social support, in and of itself, is beneficial to our mental health. The more people that we have in our social support network, the better we are at coping with various life stressors including problems with jobs, relationships, or health. Most religions also teach people to Read More ›

all-religions-temple-in-kazan-russia-stockpack-adobe-stock
All Religions Temple in Kazan, Russia
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post
Author
News
Date
May 15, 2022
Categorized
Philosophy of Mind, Religion
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What Do Christianity and Hinduism Have in Common?

And where do they differ?
News
May 15, 2022
3
Philosophy of Mind, Religion

At Theology Unleashed, neurosurgeon Michael Egnor and Hindu philosopher and broadcaster Akhandadhi Das discuss the similarities and differences between Thomistic philosophy and Vedanta Philosophy. Thomistic philosophy is the philosophy originally developed by Thomas Aquinas (1225– 1274), adapting the approach taken by early philosopher of science Aristotle (384– 322 BC) to the Christian worldview of the High Middle Ages. His work is of enduring significance in philosophy. Vedanta is “one of the world’s most ancient spiritual philosophies and one of its broadest, based on the Vedas, the sacred scriptures of India. It is the philosophical foundation of Hinduism… Vedanta affirms: The oneness of existence, The divinity of the soul, and The harmony of all religions.” – Vedanta Society of Southern California Read More ›

woman-fist-with-woke-written-woke-concept-refers-to-awareness-of-social-and-racial-justice-concern-vigilance-activism-stockpack-adobe-stock
Woman fist with woke written. Woke concept refers to awareness of social and racial justice, concern, vigilance, activism.
Type
post
Author
News
Date
April 10, 2022
Categorized
Ethics, Philosophy, Relationships, Religion
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A Catholic and a Hindu Tackle Woke culture

In a wide-ranging discussion, Michael Egnor and Arjuna Gallagher look at Woke culture, abortion, euthanasia, and microaggressions
News
April 10, 2022
22
Ethics, Philosophy, Relationships, Religion

In a recent series of Mind Matters News, podcasts, neurosurgeon Michael Egnor interviewed Arjuna Gallagher, a Hindu who lives in New Zealand. The first podcast looked at what the world’s 1.2 billion Hindus generally think about the mind and the second explored the Hindu view of free will and evil. The third podcast addressed the question, “What do Hindus think about the Big Bang?” Now, the fourth and final podcast asks, what do Hindus think of current science and culture issues, especially the flowering of Woke Cancel Culture, abortion, and euthanasia? Gallagher hosts a YouTube channel called Theology Unleashed, which has featured many guests discussing the spiritual dimension of our lives — for example, philosopher David Bentley Hart and neuroscientist Read More ›