Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

Denyse O'Leary

blue-sky-ocean-stockpack-adobe-stock
blue sky ocean

Are Near-Death Experiences Just Another Branch of Research Now?

We should hope so because there are a number of interesting allied research areas that would be better studied without preexisting prejudice against NDEs
In a discussion at Psychology Today, a philosopher notes that her dissertation supporting the reality of near-death experiences was received without hostility. Read More ›
physics-or-mathematical-equations-on-a-universe-decorative-led-background-give-the-impression-of-interstellar-space-travel-stockpack-adobe-stock
Physics or mathematical equations on a universe decorative LED background give the impression of interstellar space travel.

Fine-Tuning of Universe Makes a Top Neuroscientist “Very Hopeful”

Allen Institute’s Christof Koch talks about the assumptions underlying his consciousness theory — which led many other neuroscientists to try to Cancel him
When one of the world’s most prominent research neuroscientists goes off the classic materialist script — and gets away with it — things are changing. Read More ›
nuclear-power-plant-stockpack-adobe-stock
Nuclear power plant.

Is Our World, Post-1950, Really a Geological Epoch?

Some earth scientists lobby for calling the past 75 years the Anthropocene epoch, giving it equal importance with the 16-million-year Upper Jurassic
Whether it’s good science terminology, the Anthropocene concept broadcasts so much cultural vibe that it may not just go away after a No vote. Read More ›
robot-chat-bot-android-and-digital-evolution-of-robotics-future-processor-development-technologies-3d-illustration-of-quantum-cyberspace-ai-and-global-data-stockpack-adobe-stock
Robot, chat bot, android and digital evolution of robotics. Future processor development technologies. 3D illustration of quantum cyberspace. AI and global data

About the claim that chatbot Claude 3 showed self-awareness…

Has anyone noticed the resemblance between the conviction that an AI project thinks like a human and that extraterrestrials are visiting us?
Just as extraterrestrials are Out There because we don’t want to think we are alone, chatbots are Becoming Human because we don’t want to feel we are unique. Read More ›
robot-hand-displays-blue-digital-interface-wearing-blue-suit-and-helmet-stockpack-adobe-stock
Robot hand displays blue digital interface, wearing blue suit and helmet.

How Materialism Handicaps Us in Understanding AI’s Limits

Sabine Hossenfelder acknowledges AI’s limits, yet she is convinced that it will become conscious

In “Scientists warn of AI collapse,” theoretical physicist Sabine Hossenfelder warns, “We’ve all become used to AI-generated art in the form of text, images, audio, and even videos. Despite its prevalence, scientists are warning that AI creativity may soon die. Why is that? What does this mean for the future of AI? And will human creativity be in demand after all? Let’s have a look.” She discusses the problem that chatbots and other generative AI create; they end up reprocessing and degrading their own information, essentially eating their own tails: [1:28] The more AI eats its own output the less variety the output has. For example in a paper from November, a group of scientists from France tested this for Read More ›

abstract-image-of-the-brain-in-which-synapses-are-represented-as-glowing-lines-symbolizing-learning-stockpack-adobe-stock
Abstract image of the brain in which synapses are represented as glowing lines symbolizing learning

Neuroscientist: How the Brain-as-Computer Myth Led Science Astray

Michael Merzenich explains neuroplasticity — how the brain organizes itself in detail — to Robert Lawrence Kuhn at Closer to Truth
The Dalai Lama asked Merzenich a question that cut to the heart of the question of the relationship between our brains and ourselves. Read More ›
violation-of-law-law-breaking-concept-metal-handcuffs-on-canadian-flag-on-black-background-top-view-stockpack-adobe-stock
Violation of law, law-breaking concept. Metal handcuffs on Canadian flag on black background top view

Canada Prepares Harsh New Online Harms Bill to Fight “Hate”

Canada is a comparatively peaceful country, so onlookers might puzzle over the assumption that draconian measures are needed to fight poorly defined “hate.”

Yesterday, I discussed the way in which Canadian government efforts to manage the news industry led to Canadians being restricted by Facebook from posting links to news media. Undeterred, the government now seeks to stamp out “hate”/“hate speech” in online media. The Online Harms bill, C-63, if enacted as proposed, according to a veteran free speech journalist, provides that “victims of ‘hate speech’ could be compensated up to $20,000.” Also, “a new stand-alone hate crime offence would be added to the criminal code allowing for penalties of up to life imprisonment.” It also provides for house arrest for people who, it is feared, “may commit a hate crime in future.” Related 2023 legislation (C-11) requires that all podcasters and streamers, Read More ›

ottawa-parliament-buildings-center-block-with-peace-tower-and-canadian-flag-stockpack-adobe-stock
Ottawa Parliament Buildings Center Block with Peace Tower and Canadian flag

When Government Manages the News Business: Canada Tried That…

Any comprehensive censorship regime requires that the government begin by managing the news business
Canadians lost the right to post news links to Facebook and Instagram. And, amid media layoffs, Google did not give media the sum they hoped for. Read More ›
a-team-of-surgeons-performing-brain-surgery-to-remove-a-tumor-stockpack-adobe-stock
A team of surgeons performing brain surgery to remove a tumor.

Neuroscientist: Human Brain More Complex Than the Models Show

The weird “homunculus” — the way the brain maps the body — was pioneer neurosurgeons’ best guess nearly a century ago
We shouldn’t be surprised if the brain is more complex than could be known earlier. Most modern research into human beings is turning out that way. Read More ›
-stockpack-adobe-stock
遊ぶチンパンジーの子供

Why Humans Can’t “Share the Spotlight” With Tool-Using Animals

As the Ivy League war on human exceptionalism motors on, researchers’ thinking sometimes shorts out — and they don’t even notice

At Sapiens, Oxford archaeologist Michael Haslam and Harvard archaeologist Abigail Desmond offer a fascinating look at the way animals use tools. It’s marred by a mental “short circuit” (I am not sure of a better way to describe it) about human beings. They are not happy with human exceptionalism at all. For example, they write, “Archaeologists have long considered tool use to be an evolutionary milestone that distinguished our lineage from other animals. Humans were considered the technological species.” Indeed, their purpose in writing is to show us that it’s not so. Before we turn to their argument, let’s look at their claim about archaeologists’ views. If archaeologists indeed think that humans are “distinguished” from other animals, they have made Read More ›

businessman-keeping-the-growth-in-economy-stockpack-adobe-stock
Businessman keeping the growth in economy

Is There a Solution to Low Quality Research in Science?

Molecular biologist Henry Miller and statistician Stanley Young explain why statistical techniques like meta-analysis won’t solve the basic problem
It doesn’t sound as though any solution that doesn’t tackle the basic honesty problem is likely to work. Meanwhile, the public should not be blamed for doubt. Read More ›
journalist-reporter-dedicated-storytellers-of-world-news-and-information-era-of-rapid-media-evolution-well-informed-microphone-tv-television-press-communication-role-online-stockpack-adobe-stock
journalist, reporter, dedicated storytellers of world, news and information, era of rapid media evolution, well-informed, microphone TV television press communication role online.

Why Mainstream Media Can No Longer Really Fight Censorship

Whether they realize it or not, by accepting funds in order to survive, the MSM will gradually become agencies of government

TV personalities — ones you might not have expected — have begun to notice the way mainstream media now drop the ball on news coverage. The usually apolitical TV psychologist Dr. Phil, for example, was recently holding forth to podcaster Joe Rogan on their inability to report honestly on many sensitive political subjects. Medical doctor Drew Pinsky, who has offered relationship advice in a number of media venues, is saying similar things. News about every cultural flashpoint now seems to be managed in the way that facts about COVID-19 were at the height of the pandemic scare. Why fight censorship if you can just censor yourself? An inevitable outcome of the strategic lack of curiosity among journalists is a marked Read More ›

a-man-puts-wooden-blocks-with-the-words-fact-and-fake-concept-of-news-and-false-information-yellow-press-stockpack-adobe-stock
A man puts wooden blocks with the words Fact and fake. Concept of news and false information. Yellow press.

So Who Are Today’s Disinformation Police?

Social scientists are striving to develop ways to blunt the force of information that governments would rather the public did not know or heed
The disinformation experts claim to be defending democracy — and yet their principal weapon is indoctrination. Read More ›
the-archaeologist-is-digging-stockpack-adobe-stock
The archaeologist is digging

Prehistoric Children with Down Syndrome Were Valued, Burials Show

The six found so far from one culture, identified by DNA evidence, did not live long but they were buried with grave goods
Today, when children with Down syndrome can grow up, they can display remarkable abilities, as the story of the Edmonton Oilers’ Joey Moss shows. Read More ›
consciousness-metaphysics-or-artificial-intelligence-concept-waves-go-through-human-head-3d-rendered-illustration-stockpack-adobe-stock
Consciousness, metaphysics or artificial intelligence concept. Waves go through human head. 3D rendered illustration.

Philosopher: Non-Materialism Is Fashionable Orthodoxy Now

Non-reductionism, which means that the mind is not simply reducible to the brain, is now well accepted, she argues
Giuseppina D’oro’s essay introduces two 20th-century idealist philosophers — Oakeshott and Collingwood — and their critique of psychology as a science. Read More ›
money-making-machine-printing-fake-counterfeit-dollar-bills-generative-ai-stockpack-adobe-stock
Money making machine printing fake counterfeit dollar bills. Generative AI.

If Information Is Wealth, Are Deepfakes a Form of Counterfeiting?

The current tech media overdose on panic over deepfakes. They could be drowning out practical ways of fighting back
To whatever extent digital information is a form of wealth, its digital producers must always fight counterfeiters — just as currency issuers must do. Read More ›
locked-padlock-on-network-cables-connected-to-white-wi-fi-wireless-router-on-a-desk-prohibit-and-restrict-access-to-the-internet-limit-internet-connection-and-internet-censorship-concepts-stockpack-adobe-stock
Locked padlock on network cables connected to white Wi-Fi wireless router on a desk. Prohibit and restrict access to the internet, limit internet connection and internet censorship concepts.

When Censorship Parades Itself as a Science…

A House Subcommittee discovered that the National Science Foundation — which is supposed to support science and engineering — is readying censorship tools
The bee in the bonnets of the researchers who received the funding for the internet censorship program is that Americans can’t tell fact from fiction. Read More ›
a-young-woman-holding-the-hand-of-an-old-woman-in-a-hospital-bed-black-and-white-stockpack-adobe-stock
A young woman holding the hand of an old woman in a hospital bed, black and white

Palliative Care Doctor: What Dying Feels Like

Although a dying person tends to spend more and more time asleep or unconscious, there may be a surge of brain activity just before death
Fifty years ago slick commentators expected to explode myths about the soul or the hereafter but today, NDEs and terminal lucidity are serious research topics. Read More ›
endless-reflections-of-mirrors-in-labyrinth-house-stockpack-adobe-stock
Endless reflections of mirrors in labyrinth house

Hall of Mirrors: The Many Ways Consciousness Baffles Researchers

Does consciousness have a seat at the table? Wait a minute. Isn’t consciousness the table? Or is it?
The human brain was bound to disappoint a pop culture quest for easy answers; brain imaging has not turned out to be a road map of the mind. Read More ›
anonymous-call-stockpack-adobe-stock
Anonymous call

Book Banning Today: Silently … Not Like in the Old Days

Traditional anti-book banning groups are simply not where the action is and maybe don’t want to be

Last week we looked at the way censorship in the age of the internet is typically invisible. It’s not the police raiding bookstores; it’s — for example — sudden downranking of posts so that information that might have reached millions of people reaches only dozens. Constantly suppressed, it can’t go viral. We can see the change more clearly if we look at the difference between how books (and other information) used to get banned and how they get banned today. Book banning before the internet When the word “book bans” is used today, it usually means something different from what it meant even a few decades ago. Ulysses, a groundbreaking work by Irish novelist James Joyce (1882–1941) was indeed banned Read More ›