Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

Tagmind

Concept of brain recording for parkinson surgery
Type
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
Type
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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Water bubbles
Type
podcast
Author
Robert J. Marks and Michael Egnor
Date
February 13, 2020
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Michael Egnor: Is Your Brain the Same as Your Mind?

Robert J. Marks and Michael Egnor
February 13, 2020
2
Is the mind an emergent property of the brain? Or is there something else going on? Robert J. Marks discusses the different theories of the mind — including materialism, panpsychism, and dualism — with Dr. Michael Egnor. Read More ›
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
Type
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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kelly-kiernan-e4z9m2GWZt8-unsplash
Type
podcast
Author
Robert J. Marks and Walter Bradley
Date
December 5, 2019
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Walter Bradley: Biblical Accounts of Near-Death Experiences

Robert J. Marks and Walter Bradley
December 5, 2019
1

Near-death experiences often include a look at a person’s impact on the lives of others and a meeting with an otherworldly figure. Do religious texts like the Bible talk about near-death experiences? Robert J. Marks discusses near-death experiences with Dr. Walter Bradley. Show Notes 00:26 | Introducing Dr. Walter Bradley, Emeritus Distinguished Professor at Baylor University 00:37 | John Burke’s Read More ›

bradley-dunn-0nEWhWluCIc-unsplash
Type
podcast
Author
Robert J. Marks and Walter Bradley
Date
November 14, 2019
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Walter Bradley: Don’t Go Towards the Light?

Robert J. Marks and Walter Bradley
November 14, 2019
1

Can near-death experiences shed light on the mind/body problem? Robert J. Marks discusses near-death experiences and the mind/body problem with Dr. Walter Bradley. Show Notes 01:25 | Introducing Dr. Walter Bradley, Emeritus Distinguished Professor at Baylor University 01:55 | Definition of a near-death experience 03:36 | Near-death experiences and the mind/body problem 05:20 | A blind woman sees 07:50 | Read More ›

dolo-iglesias-Ufyx8i35-A0-unsplash
Type
podcast
Author
Robert J. Marks and Walter Bradley
Date
November 7, 2019
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Walter Bradley: Is Your Body an Instrument of Your Mind?

Robert J. Marks and Walter Bradley
November 7, 2019
1

Are we simply matter and chemical reactions or are our minds separate from our bodies? Robert J. Marks discusses the mind/body problem with Dr. Walter Bradley. Show Notes 00:34 | Introducing Dr. Walter Bradley, Emeritus Distinguished Professor at Baylor University 01:01 | Beliefs and objectivity 04:00 | A priori assumptions 04:36 | What is the mind/body problem? 05:45 | The Read More ›

Abstract extreme close up shot. Beautiful eye colored by a rainbow of colors.
Abstract extreme close up shot. Beautiful eye colored by a rainbow of colors.
Type
podcast
Author
Robert J. Marks and Yuri Danilov
Date
September 19, 2019
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Is What We Knew About the Brain All Wrong?

Robert J. Marks and Yuri Danilov
September 19, 2019
2

Robert J. Marks and Yuri Danilov discuss what we thought we knew about the brain twenty years ago, and how what we think we know now might change in another twenty years. Bringing their conversation to a close, Bob and Yuri also get into the innumerable details of our phenomenally complex human visual system and consider whether our actions are Read More ›

labyrinth centre
Type
podcast
Author
Robert J. Marks and Yuri Danilov
Date
September 5, 2019
Tagged
,

Neuroplasticity: How Your Brain Never Stops Changing

Robert J. Marks and Yuri Danilov
September 5, 2019
2

Your brain is always changing, from death till the moment you die.  Neuroscience calls this change in your brain neuroplasticity. Today Robert J. Marks discusses the brain’s ability to adapt and change throughout our lives with Yuri Danilov. Show Notes 01:00 | Introducing Yuri Danilov, Senior Scientist, Biomedical Engineering Department at the University of Wisconsin–Madison 03:00 | Unmasking and opening Read More ›

allec-gomes-9xpnmt41NKM-unsplash
Type
podcast
Author
Michael Egnor and Edward Feser
Date
August 15, 2019
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Edward Feser on Neurobabble and Remembering the Right Questions

Edward Feser dismantles many of the simplistic reads of contemporary neuroscience
Michael Egnor and Edward Feser
August 15, 2019
1

Michael Egnor hosts a captivating conversation with Edward Feser, Aristotelian, prolific blogger, and philosopher of mind. Neurobabble and pop science dismissals of the mind, final causes, abstract thought, and free will each face Feser’s piercing critique.

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Different types of computers and storage
Type
post
Author
Winston Ewert
Date
July 24, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind
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Is the Human Mind a Computer?

As a software engineer, I'd say we need to be clear what the question is before answering it
Winston Ewert
July 24, 2019
6
Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind

Once we understand clearly what a computer is, we will see why consciousness is not a form of computation.

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super brain
Type
post
Author
News
Date
July 10, 2019
Categorized
Philosophy of Mind
Tagged
, , ,

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
Type
post
Author
News
Date
July 4, 2019
Categorized
Education, Social Media
Tagged
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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 ›
clem-onojeghuo-78G3emEqA5Y-unsplash
Finger pointing at data behind neon marquee
Type
post
Author
Michael Egnor
Date
June 25, 2019
Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
Tagged
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Science Points To An Immaterial Mind

If one did not start with a materialist bias, materialism would not be invoked as an explanation for a whole range of experiments in neuroscience
Michael Egnor
June 25, 2019
5
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

There may indeed be material explanations (at least from the perspective of neuroscience) but the simplest and most convincing explanation for the results of many experiments is that abstract thought is an immaterial power, not a material power, of the mind.

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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 ›

victor-garcia-605537-unsplash
Be Reasonable written in neon on a brick wall
Type
post
Author
Michael Egnor
Date
May 24, 2019
Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind
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An Atheist Argues Against Reason

And thinks it is the reasonable thing to do
Michael Egnor
May 24, 2019
9
Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind

Justin Smith is leading the way to the abandonment of rationality. There’s not a shred of reason in his essay.

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