Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

TagNeuroscience

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Plasma Ball
Type
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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Neurons cells concept
Conceptual illustration of neuron cells with glowing link knots in abstract dark space, high resolution 3D illustration
Type
post
Author
News
Date
February 15, 2019
Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience
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Even the axons in our nerve cells are “smart PCs”

Your brain is not a computer, it is billions of them
News
February 15, 2019
5
Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience

Contrary to expectations, researchers say, far-flung regions (thousands of cell body widths from their nucleus) can even make independent decisions.

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Abstract Looking Into a Kaleidoscope Background Geometric Shapes
Abstract Looking Into a Kaleidoscope Background Geometric Shapes
Type
post
Author
Michael Egnor
Date
December 31, 2018
Categorized
Philosophy of Mind
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In One Sense, Consciousness IS an Illusion…

We have no knowledge of the processes of our consciousness, only of the objects of its attention, whether they are physical, emotional, or abstract
Michael Egnor
December 31, 2018
8
Philosophy of Mind
When we think, we think about reality, not about the neurological processes by which we connect to reality. It is by keeping this understanding clearly in mind that we escape the solipsism that bedevils modern neuroscience. Read More ›
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Man with red paint flowing from eyes
Type
post
Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
December 3, 2018
Categorized
Ethics
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AI and the Future of Murder

If I kill you but upload your mind into an android, did I murder you or just modify you?
Jonathan Bartlett
December 3, 2018
4
Ethics
The sci-fi TV series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013– ) tackled this question in an episode titled “Self Control”.  Scientist Holden Radcliffe has an android assistant appropriately named Aida (Artificial Intelligence Digital Assistant). Together, they build a virtual world that people could be plugged into and uploaded into, called The Framework. Read More ›
annie-spratt-746980-unsplash
Type
post
Author
News
Date
November 30, 2018
Categorized
Machine Learning
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Quantity vs Quality: Can AI Help Scientists Produce Better Papers?

What happens when scientists simply can't read all their peers' papers and still find time for original research?
News
November 30, 2018
3
Machine Learning
Quantity is definitely a solved problem. STM, the “voice of scholarly publishing” estimated in 2015 that roughly 2.5 million science papers are published each year. Some are, admittedly, in predatory or fake journals. But over 2800 journals are assumed to be genuine. Read More ›
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Man in a maze
Type
post
Author
Eric Holloway
Date
November 29, 2018
Categorized
Philosophy of Mind
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Has Neuroscience Disproved Thinking?

A philosopher argues that Nobel Prize-winning research shows that the theory of mind is just another illusion, useful for survival and success
Eric Holloway
November 29, 2018
11
Philosophy of Mind
We've all seen this sort of argument before in many other guises. It is commonly called “reductionism.” The reductionist claims that, because an object can be construed as made up of parts, the object is just the parts. It is like saying that because an article like this one is constructed from letters of the alphabet, the article is only rows of letters. Read More ›
Conceptual image of a large stone in the shape of the human brain
The young and conceptual image of a large stone in the shape of the human brain
Type
post
Author
Michael Egnor
Date
August 7, 2018
Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
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The Brain Is Not a “Meat Computer”

Dramatic recoveries from brain injury highlight the difference
Michael Egnor
August 7, 2018
6
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

The brain looks like a computer only if we analyze it as if it were a computer. Our analysis does not mean that it is a computer, and it does not mean that computation explains the mind or even that computational approaches to neuroscience provide genuinely meaningful insight into neurophysiology.

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Little girl undergoing electroencephalography procedure
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
July 25, 2018
Categorized
Philosophy of Mind, Social Factors
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Attend your own funeral!

It’s easy if you upload your consciousness to the cloud, says futurist
Denyse O'Leary
July 25, 2018
6
Philosophy of Mind, Social Factors
Presumably, in Ian Pearson's future, the rich can attend their own funerals and alternate world funerals an indefinite number of times, each one numbering as many different people as he wants. Read More ›