Denyse O'Leary

Macro concept of a brain connecting to pure love and intent

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
December 18, 2022

Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind, Physics

Tagged
Christian Kerskens, Elizabeth Fernandez, Light (particle and wave), Marcelo Gleiser, Quantum Entanglement, Quantum entanglement and the brain}

Why Many Researchers Now See the Brain as a Quantum System

_{The hypothesis is that the brain relies on quantum physics, not classical physics, to power thinking processes} _{Denyse O'Leary

December 18, 2022

5

Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind, Physics}

Astrophysicist and science writer Elizabeth Fernandez asks us to consider whether quantum processes might help us understand better how the brain works and shed light on consciousness: Some scientists suspect that quantum processes, including entanglement, might help us explain the brain’s enormous power, and its ability to generate consciousness. Recently, scientists at Trinity College Dublin, using a technique to test for quantum gravity, suggested that entanglement may be at work within our brains. If their results are confirmed, they could be a big step toward understanding how our brain, including consciousness, works. Elizabeth Fernandez, “Brain experiment suggests that consciousness relies on quantum entanglement” at Big Think (November 22, 2022) The paper is open access. Her thesis is that the brain Read More ›

Newspapers and Laptop. Different Concepts for News - Network or Traditional Tabloid Journals. Data Sources - Electronic Screen of Computer or Paper Pages of Magazines, Internet or Papers

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
December 16, 2022

Categorized
Economics, Media

Tagged
Bari Weiss, Holman W. Jenkins Jr., Journalism schools, Neetu Arnold, Washington Post layoffs}

Layoffs at Washington Post Show Direction of Mainstream Media

_{As their role has changed so much, they simply no longer have a mass popular base} _{Denyse O'Leary

December 16, 2022

5

Economics, Media}

The Washington Post has started layoffs and it isn’t pretty: The Washington Post’s all-hands meeting turned chaotic Wednesday after the newspaper’s publisher announced looming layoffs – and then left the room as concerned employees shouted questions. The Jeff Bezos-owned broadsheet will conduct a round of layoffs during the first quarter of 2023, publisher Fred Ryan announced during what was supposed to be an hour-long meeting. Thomas Barrabi, “Washington Post announces layoffs during tense town hall before publisher Fred Ryan storms out” at New York Post (December 14, 2022) This follows the CNN layoff of hundreds of staffers, announced at the end of November and described as a gut punch to the organization. The laid-off include such figures as Chris Cillizza, Read More ›

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
December 15, 2022

Categorized
Biology, Natural Intelligence

Tagged
Afghan Hound, Border Collie, Charles Fawole, Dog breeding for intelligence, Dog intelligence, Flynn effect, Jean Marie Bauhaus, Payton Pearson, Stanley Coren}

Can a Dog Be Bred To Be As Smart As a Human?

_{An enterprising electrical engineer thinks it can be done} _{Denyse O'Leary

December 15, 2022

7

Biology, Natural Intelligence}

Within one hundred generations or roughly 600 years? That’s the project Payton Pearson, an electrical engineer who gives his affiliation as the Air Force Institute of Technology in Dayton, Ohio, has set himself: Artificial selection is a well-known phenomenon of selecting for certain physiological characteristics of various species of plants and animals, and it is something that human beings have been doing for thousands of years. A perfect example of this is the union and development of dogs under human stewardship since the beginning of the agricultural era of society. In that time, approximately 6,000 years [1], dogs have been artificially selected in such a way as to produce thousands of different breeds. From the stout Dachshund, a dog breed Read More ›

Venus flytrap is one of the carnivore plants

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
December 14, 2022

Categorized
Panpsychism, Philosophy of Mind, Plant Mind

Tagged
Anesthesia awareness, Annaka Harris, Conscious: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind (Harper 2019), Consciousness (evolutionary approach), Daniel Chamovitz, Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Knopf 1997), Jean-Dominique Bauby (1952–1997), Locked-in syndrome, Natural selection, Philosopher's zombie, Plant communications, Plant consciousness, Plant senses, Suzanne Simard, What a Plant Knows (Farrar Strauss & Giroux 2017)}

A Science Writer Makes the Case for Plants as Conscious Beings

_{Annaka Harris, neuroscience and physics writer, starts by casting doubt on human consciousness} _{Denyse O'Leary

December 14, 2022

10

Panpsychism, Philosophy of Mind, Plant Mind}

Annaka Harris, a science writer focusing on neuroscience and physics and the author of Conscious: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind (2019), challenges us to reflect on two points: 1) In a system that we know has conscious experiences — the human brain — what evidence of consciousness can we detect from the outside? 2) Is consciousness essential to our behavior? The editor notes, introducing an excerpt from the book, “But how sure can we be that plants aren’t conscious? And what if what we take to be behavior indicating consciousness can be replicated with no conscious agent involved? Annaka Harris invites us to consider the real possibility that our intuitions about consciousness might be mere Read More ›

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
December 12, 2022

Categorized
Language, Psychology

Tagged
Chuck Dinerstein, Minced oaths, Profanity, Ryan McKay, Shiri Lev-Ari, Swearing}

Researchers: Profanity Has Some Elements of a Universal Language

_{They found that, in a number of languages, profanity omits certain sounds and stresses others} _{Denyse O'Leary

December 12, 2022

4

Language, Psychology}

In a study, researchers found that, across different languages, swear words tended to lack soundssuch as l, r, and w: Shiri Lev-Ari and Ryan McKay from Royal Holloway, University of London conducted a pilot study with speakers of five unrelated languages (20 individuals per language) and asked them to list the most offensive words they knew in their language, excluding racial slurs. The initial study revealed that swear words were less likely to include approximants, which include sounds like l, r, w and y. The authors suggest that approximants may be less suitable than other sounds for giving offense and investigated this in two further studies. Springer, “The universal sound of swearing across languages” at Eurekalert (December 5, 2022) The Read More ›

Tribe of Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherers Wearing Animal Skins Stand Around Bonfire Outside of Cave at Night. Portrait of Neanderthal / Homo Sapiens Family Doing Pagan Religion Ritual Near Fire

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
December 11, 2022

Categorized
Human exceptionalism, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Bruce Bower, Clare Watson, Homo Naledi fires, Jacquelyne Germain, Juan Negro, Keneiloe Molopyane, Lee Berger, Neanderthal cooking, Owl stones, Owl stones as children's art}

Our Ancestors Were Cooking Much Earlier Than Thought

_{The more we learn about early humans, the more sophisticated we find their culture to be} _{Denyse O'Leary

December 11, 2022

5

Human exceptionalism, Philosophy of Mind}

Recent findings suggest that some things we take for granted in human civilizations are much older than thought. Now, these findings are provisional but they are worth looking at: The owl stones from 5,500 and 4,750 years ago may be children’s art: But new research suggests the palm-sized plaques decorated in geometric patterns and with two engraved circles at the top might be the work of children. Numbering in the thousands and made from slate, the owl-like objects – previously dated the stone objects to be between 5,500 and 4,750 years old – may be “the archaeological trace of playful and learning activities carried out by youngsters,” according to the team of Spanish researchers behind the new study… They suggest Read More ›

Near death experience ascend up towards the light in the dark tunnel

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
December 11, 2022

Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Brain Wars (2012), Mario Beauregard, Near-death experiences, Sam Parnia, Steven Novella on NDEs}

Study: 1 in 5 Cardiac Patients May Have Near-Death Experience

_{The researchers found spikes of brain activity, including so-called gamma, delta, theta, alpha, and beta waves up to an hour into CPR} _{Denyse O'Leary

December 11, 2022

5

Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind}

Recent research shows that one in five people who survive cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) after a heart attack ‘may describe lucid experiences of death that occurred while they were seemingly unconscious and on the brink of death”: Led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and elsewhere, the study involved 567 men and women whose hearts stopped beating while hospitalized and who received CPR between May 2017 and March 2020 in the United States and United Kingdom. Despite immediate treatment, fewer than 10% recovered sufficiently to be discharged from hospital. Survivors reported having unique lucid experiences, including a perception of separation from the body, observing events without pain or distress, and a meaningful evaluation of life, including of their actions, Read More ›

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
December 9, 2022

Categorized
Censorship, Social Media

Tagged
Bari Weiss and Twitter, Elon Musk and Twitter takeover, Harriet Alexander, Jack Dorsey, Jay Bhattacharya, Joseph A. Wulfsohn, New York Post and Twitter files, Shadowbanning at Twitter, Twitter and child porn}

Update: Musk’s Second Salvo: Twitter Did Secretly Censor Users

_{Despite execs claiming that it didn’t. Elon Musk gave journalist Bari Weiss the story} _{Denyse O'Leary

December 9, 2022

5

Censorship, Social Media}

Readers may recall that Elon Musk, having bought Twitter, started opening some windows. It came out that the Hunter Biden laptop story was suppressed for reasons that would never have passed muster with a story about any other political figure. There is good reason to believe that Twitter had a cozy relationship with the FBI in the matter. Now, it turns out that, contrary to denials by top execs, there were indeed secret blacklists at Twitter: Twitter kept a ‘secret blacklist’ of topics and accounts to prevent them from trending, according to data obtained by journalist Bari Weiss – with conservative commentators deliberately downplayed in what one called ‘Soviet-style bulls***’,’ while another said he was treated ‘with more censorship than Read More ›

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
December 8, 2022

Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience

Tagged
Bradley van Paridon, Grygoriy Zolotarov, MiRNAs, Nikolaus Rajewsky, Octopus brain, Octopus intelligence}

Micro RNAs: A New Clue About Octopus Intelligence?

_{While octopus brains are very different from vertebrate brains, they share with vertebrates, a huge number of microRNAs} _{Denyse O'Leary

December 8, 2022

5

Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience}

In general, the “intelligent” animals (apes, elephants, crows, whales, dogs, dolphins) are vertebrates, not invertebrates. There is one glaring exception: the cephalopods (octopuses, squid, cuttlefish). They, like vertebrates, developed large, complex brains and unexpectedly sophisticated cognitive abilities. When thinking about the puzzle, we sometimes fall victim to a sort of confusion: We reason that greater intelligence results from the fact that it “helps the octopus survive better.” Perhaps it does. But, while greater intelligence might help many life forms survive better, only a few develop it. In short, we need a “how” explanation here, not a “why” explanation. A recent study from the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine points to the possible role of microRNAs (miRNAs). MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are Read More ›

Data center cloud connection network router and switch

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
December 7, 2022

Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Brian Mathur, Claustrum, Claustrum as router, Claustrum as seat of consciousness, Francis Crick, Francis Crick on consciousness}

Researchers: The Brain’s Claustrum Acts as a Router for Thoughts

_{Francis Crick thought the claustrum might be the “seat of consciousness,” an inherently materialist concept. The researchers think he was wrong.} _{Denyse O'Leary

December 7, 2022

4

Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind}

Remember Francis Crick (1916–2004) and The Astonishing Hypothesis (1994)?: “You, your joys and sorrows, your memories and ambitions, your sense of personal identity and free will are, in fact, no more than the behaviour of a vast assembly of nerve cells. As Lewis Carroll’s Alice might have phrased it: ‘You’re nothing but a pack of neurons’.” Crick focused on the brain region known as the claustrum as closely tied to consciousness. According to University of Maryland medical researchers, he thought of it as the “seat of consciousness.” Now, the very concept of a “seat of consciousness” assumes that consciousness is a material thing that needs a seat. In other words, consciousness must be found specifically in one place and not Read More ›

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
December 7, 2022

Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Centaurs, Horse and human co-operation, Horse Brain Human Brain (book), Horse psychology, Horses, Janet Jones, Julie Goodnight, Melvin Bradley}

Do Centaurs Really Exist? The Surprising Truth

_{Well, a half human/half horse cannot literally exist — but the way horses and humans work together has been called a “miracle”} _{Denyse O'Leary

December 7, 2022

6

Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind}

Classical Greek mythology featured the “centaur,” a creature that was half human, half horse. Neuroscientist and horse trainer Janet Jones, author of Horse Brain, Human Brain: The Neuroscience of Horsemanship (Trafalgar Square, 2020), tells us that there is a truth behind the myth (as so often). In what amounts to a “neurobiological miracle,” the horse — a prey animal — and the human — a predator — can learn complete neurological co-operation to perform complex feats that neither can manage alone. How complex are these equestrian feats? Horse-and-human teams perform complex manoeuvres in competitions of all sorts. Together, we can gallop up to obstacles standing 8 feet (2.4 metres) high, leave the ground, and fly blind – neither party able Read More ›

press and media camera ,video photographer on duty in public new

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
December 5, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance, Censorship, Media, Politics

Tagged
Declining accuracy in media, Douglas Murray, Douglas Murray at Munk Debate, Malcolm Gladwell, Matt Taibbi, Matt Taibbi at Munk Debate, Matt Taibbi on media, Michelle Goldberg, Munk Debate 2022, Victor Davis Hanson}

Veteran News Hound: Why Not To Trust Mainstream Media Anymore

_{Matt Taibbi and Douglas Murray’s resounding triumph in the Munk debates sheds light on why mainstream media are dying} _{Denyse O'Leary

December 5, 2022

6

Business and Finance, Censorship, Media, Politics}

On November 30, at the prestigious Munk Debates in Toronto, 20-year news veteran Matt Taibbi and author and columnist Douglas Murray faced off against New Yorker writer Malcolm Gladwell and New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg on the question: “Be it resolved, don’t trust mainstream media. The outcome was remarkable: As Taibbi tells it: A pre-event vote of attendees and listeners showed 48% support for our “side,” versus 52% for theirs. 82% of thousands of audience members claimed to be willing to change their minds. They were telling the truth, as it turned out. In a bitter slugfest that featured tense confrontations, impassioned oratory (especially from Douglas), and several almost unbelievably petty exchanges, Douglas and I swung the vote 39% Read More ›

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
December 5, 2022

Categorized
Censorship, Media, Social Media

Tagged
Andrew C. McCarthy, Blake Montgomery, Elon Musk and Twitter files, FBI and social media, Howie Carr, Jonathan Turley, Matt Taibbi and Twitter files, New York Post and Twitter files, Twitter files on Hunter laptop story}

Elon Musk Throws a Bomb at Media No One Should Trust

_{Musk’s release of the “Twitter files” on the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story has provoked media outrage and attempts to deflect the issues} _{Denyse O'Leary

December 5, 2022

6

Censorship, Media, Social Media}

By now, you’ve probably heard that Elon Musk, Twitter’s new owner, gave journalist Matt Taibbi inside information about Twitter’s suppression of an explosive story about Hunter Biden weeks before the 2020 election. But here’s some background that may shed some light — especially on how legacy media have changed and how social media really work. First, a summary of the basic story from legal scholar Jonathan Turley: Weeks before the 2020 presidential election, the New York Post ran an explosive story about a laptop abandoned by Hunter Biden that contained emails and records detailing a multimillion dollar influence peddling operation by the Biden family. Not only was Joe Biden’s son Hunter and brother James involved in deals with an array Read More ›

human head powerful inspiration tree abstract thinking inside your mind watercolor painting illustration hand drawn

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
December 2, 2022

Categorized
Panpsychism, Philosophy of Mind, Physics

Tagged
David Chalmers, Kelvin MacQueen, Sabine Hossenfelder on panpsychism}

Sabine Hossenfelder, Taking on Consciousness, Tackles Panpsychism

_{She wants to apologize to all carrots who are watching her video — but carrots are not watching and that’s the point} _{Denyse O'Leary

December 2, 2022

4

Panpsychism, Philosophy of Mind, Physics}

Recently, I’ve been looking ( here and here) at theoretical physicist Sabine Hossenfelder’s argument that quantum mechanics does not show that consciousness is essential for understanding the universe. The topic has become very interesting because of the growth of panpsychism in science — which Hossenfelder references in the video. Panpsychism is the belief that all of nature participates in some way in consciousness but that it is most highly developed in humans. Many prefer it to materialism because the panpsychist does not need to show that human consciousness is some kind of illusion that we evolved to believe in (?). It is part of the normal functioning of the universe even if we don’t understand how it works. To see Read More ›

3D illustration of Interconnected neurons with electrical pulses.

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
November 25, 2022

Categorized
Information Theory, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Consciousness and science, Eugene Wigner (thought experiment), Sabine Hossenfelder on quantum mechanics}

Science Isn’t Even Possible Apart From Non-Material Consciousness

_{Theoretical physicist Sabine Hossenfelder tries hard to argue against that conclusion but things do not go well…} _{Denyse O'Leary

November 25, 2022

4

Information Theory, Philosophy of Mind}

A couple of days ago, we were looking at the way theoretical physicist Sabine Hossenfelder grapples with the way quantum mechanics has undermined materialism. Whether and how we choose to measure something has a big impact, which makes consciousness very difficult to just explain away. Here is her most helpful video on the topic (all the more helpful, one might say, because she is so clearly unhappy with the outcome!): “Does Consciousness Influence Quantum Effects?” (November 19, 2022) Nobelist Eugene Wigner (1902–1995) was one of the physicists who explored the problem. Hossenfelder points to his famous “Wigner’s friend experiment.” (3:01). Here is an illustration from a different source: Essentially, as Wigner pointed out in 1961, a basic building block of Read More ›

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
November 23, 2022

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind, Physics

Tagged
John Bell, Quantum Mechanics, Sabine Hossenfelder}

Quantum Physics Axed Materialism. Many Hope the World Won’t Know

_{Theoretical physicist Sabine Hossenfelder struggles to explain how quantum mechanics is consistent with materialism} _{Denyse O'Leary

November 23, 2022

3

Philosophy of Mind, Physics}

Quantum mechanics, which developed in the early twentieth century, has been a serious blow to materialism. There is no way to make sense of it if immaterial entities like information, observation, or the mind are not real. Theoretical physicist Sabine Hossenfelder struggles against the effects of this fact. In a recent video, she asks, “Does Consciousness Influence Quantum Effects?” (November 19, 2022) She asks, why did some physicists like von Neumann and Wigner think that consciousness is necessary to make sense of quantum mechanics, and can consciousness influence the outcome of a quantum experiment? (0:33) Well, they had good reason. Any effort to exclude consciousness from reality fails. Hossenfelder, a hostile witness, kindly offers an example from the work of Read More ›

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
November 20, 2022

Categorized
Censorship, Data Privacy, Social Media

Tagged
Babylon Bee on Twitter, Donald Trump, Elon Musk and Twitter takeover, Norton on TikTok, TikTok and data privacy}

Why Do Twitter Jobs Matter More Than Data Privacy?

_{The Musk ‘n Twitter show won’t leave town any time soon and it obscures a much bigger, deeper issue} _{Denyse O'Leary

November 20, 2022

3

Censorship, Data Privacy, Social Media}

Elon Musk sure knows how to create a drama. First, a brief update because you probably had better things to do this weekend: Doom I! “1,200 Twitter Employees Resign, Company Closes All Offices” (Rolling Stone, November 18, 2022) Get this: “Twitter offices have been closed down and employees are resigning in droves, leading to growing fears that the service could shut down at any time.” (ScreenRant, November 18, 2022) “While it’s unlikely that Twitter will shut down entirely, departing employees are warning of service outages, glitches and safety risks. (NPR November 18, 2022) Worth noting: Musk has reinstated satire site Babylon Bee and Project Veritas, and, after conducting a poll, has also reinstated former U.S. president Donald Trump (who currently Read More ›

3d illustration of black retro alarm clock with arrow and golden megaphone on yellow color background

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
November 16, 2022

Categorized
Philosophy, Science

Tagged
Cameron English, Frank Mitloehner, Jerry Coyne, Nature Magazine on COVID, Virtue (Woke virtue)}

What Happens When Science Mags Go Woke?

_{When fashion mags go woke, no one cares. Some girls want to wear rags on their heads, well… But science mags?} _{Denyse O'Leary

November 16, 2022

3

Philosophy, Science}

Let’s look at some of the things that are happening: Darwinian evolutionary biologist Jerry Coyne puts the matter concisely when he says, The old saying goes that “all science is political”, a saying that is true only if you stretch the meaning of either “science” or “political”. I’m baffled, for instance, to understand how my work on the genetics of hybrid sterility in Drosophila is political. But don’t worry: the ideologues will find a way to make it so. “You’re doing your work in the milieu of a culture,” they’ll babble, “and decisions about what to fund and publish are explicitly political.” Blah blah blah. Jerry Coyne, “Scientific American goes defensive; tries to pretend that every social justice screed is Read More ›

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
November 7, 2022

Categorized
Social Media

Tagged
Blue Checkmark (Twitter), Brian Moynihan, Elon Musk, Elon Musk and changes at Twitter, Facebook layoffs (2022), Jacob Carpenter, JacobCarpenter on Twitter, Steve Tollman, Twitter, Twitter blue check marks, Twitter layoffs (2022)}

Musk’s Day at Twitter Dawned: And So What Really Happened?

_{For one thing, many layoffs — but layoffs are currently widespread in Big Tech} _{Denyse O'Leary

November 7, 2022

4

Social Media}

Important people seem to be taking Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover very seriously indeed. Were those of us who have disregarded Twitter in the past wrong? Blind sided? Here’s U.S. President Joe Biden: “Elon Musk goes out and buys an outfit that spews lies all across the world, There’s no editors anymore in America.” Maybe, but no one is forced to join Twitter or even listen… Many traditional tech watchers are sounding an alarm over Musk’s post-takeover layoffs. But before we get into that, let’s note that other Big Techs are also currently laying off personnel in considerable numbers: November 4 has been called the worst day for layoffs in 2022 (Black Thursday) at Fortune: News of job cuts came down Read More ›