Category: Neuroscience & Mind

02Apr 2022 by Post

A Sympathetic Account of Panpsychism

Albert Einstein, brain, consciousness, David Papineau, general relativity, materialism, neuroscience, Neuroscience & Mind, New Scientist, panpsychism, Philip Goff, physicalism, physicists, physics, Physics, Earth & Space, quantum world, Thomas Lewton

“Modern physics was founded on the separation of mind and matter.” Indeed, it was. And if that doesn’t work, materialism is dead. Source

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27Mar 2022 by Post

Are Birds Really Smarter than Reptiles?

animal behavior, babies, birds, brain size, brain volume, cognitive capacity, Cornell University, cuckoo, Diane Colombelli-Négrel, eggs, facial recognition, fairy wrens, intelligence, Intelligent Design, lemurs, lizards, Malurus cyaneus, neurons, Neuroscience & Mind, Pavel Němec, penguins, reptiles, The Scientist

Scientists clash over how to measure animal intelligence: brain volume, brain organization, numbers of neurons…? Source

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12Mar 2022 by Post

Faith in God Is the Only Coherent Basis for Reason

atheists, Christianity, evolutionary biologists, existence, Fact, faith, Faith & Science, Faith vs. Fact, Jerry Coyne, knowledge, logic, Neuroscience & Mind, non-contradiction, reason, René Descartes, skepticism, theists, thinking, Thomas Aquinas, truth

Atheists commonly assert that there is a profound dichotomy between faith and reason. Source

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03Mar 2022 by Post

The Remarkable Things We’re Learning About Bird Intelligence

African grey parrot, Alex (parrot), apes, birds, chimpanzees, cockatoo, cutlery, Goffin’s cockatoo, golf, intelligence, Intelligent Design, invertebrates, knife, mammals, Neuroscience & Mind, New Caledonian crows, New Zealand, octopus, Smithsonian Magazine, spoon, token, University of Birmingham, utensils, vertebrates, walnut

These findings are only among birds that have actually been studied; most birds have not been studied for intelligence. Source

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11Feb 2022 by Post

Can Insects Be Conscious? Let’s Look at Bees First

Andrew Barron, Australia, biology, central complex, Colin Klein, consciousness, Evolution, honeybees, human consciousness, insects, Intelligent Design, Macquarie University, midbrain, Neuroscience & Mind, phenomenal consciousness, PNAS, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Smithsonian Magazine

It is important to qualify what “consciousness” means when we are talking about bees. Source

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24Jan 2022 by Post

Theists vs. Atheists: Who Has the Burden of Proof?

atheists, debate, Divine Hiddenness argument, Evidence, faith, Faith & Science, ground of existence, ignorance, immunity idol, logic, Matt Dillahunty, nature, Neuroscience & Mind, theists, tribal immunity

Because Dillahunty refuses to debate me again, I’ll address his claim that atheists have no burden of proof in the debate over God’s existence in this post. Source

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05Jan 2022 by Post

Does Superdeterminism Resolve Dilemmas Around Free Will?

Acts, Augustus, beliefs, block universe, determinism, free will, John Bell, laws of nature, materialists, nature, Neuroscience & Mind, physicists, Physics, Earth & Space, quantum mechanics, Sabine Hossenfelder, Superdeterminism, universe

The conventional view of nature held by materialists is that all acts are wholly determined by the laws of nature. Source

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17Nov 2021 by Post

Harvard U Press Computer Science Author Gives AI a Reality Check

algebra, ambiguity, artificial general intelligence, Artificial Intelligence, audience, computer science, computers, COSM 2021, Discovery Institute, Erik Larson, grocery store, Harvard University Press, humans, Jeopardy, Neuroscience & Mind, News Media, philosophy, reality check, superintelligence, The Myth of Artificial Intelligence

The key missing ingredient in machine intelligence is the ability to appreciate context, do analysis, and make appropriate inferences. Source

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05Nov 2021 by Post

University of Chicago Biochemist: All Living Cells Are Cognitive

archaea, bacteria, Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, biology, cell's, cognition, Daniel Dennett, intelligence, Intelligent Design, James Shapiro, Life Sciences, Neuroscience & Mind, Oxford English Dictionary, protoplasm, quorum sensing, University of Chicago

James Shapiro’s recent paper points out, with examples, that bacteria meet the Oxford English Dictionary’s definition of “cognitive.” Source

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22Oct 2021 by Post

Where and What Is Consciousness?

Aristotle, Baruch Spinoza, brain, cerebral cortex, consciousness, Evolution, Jerry Coyne, Mark Solms, Medicine, Michael Egnor, mind, neuroscience, Neuroscience & Mind, philosophy, physicalism, robots, Science Uprising, The Hidden Spring, Thomas Aquinas

If humans are just “robots made of meat,” then the seat of consciousness ought to be locatable somewhere in the brain. Source

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