Author: Denyse O’Leary | Page 4 | Science and Culture Today

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Author
Denyse O’Leary

Date
June 28, 2025

Categories
Archaeology
Arts
Evolution
Evolutionary Psychology
Neuroscience & Mind
Tagged
, abstractions, amphibians, animal art, Antone Martinho-Truswel, bear marks, beaver logs, birds, bison paths, cars, cave bears, cave painting, cephalopods, driving, fish, Flight, human art, human consciousness, human exceptionalism, Lascaux cave, Michel Lorblanchet, natural selection, Pech-Merle cave, reptiles, Sarah Newman, University of Sydney}

Birds Don’t Drive Buicks Because of … Evolution, You See

_{Denyse O’Leary
June 28, 2025

Archaeology, Arts, Evolution, Evolutionary Psychology, Neuroscience & Mind

6}

This all seems a roundabout way of saying that humans are exceptional. And here’s the question that no one in evolutionary biology has the answer to. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O’Leary

Date
June 27, 2025

Categories
Faith & Science
Fine-tuning
Intelligent Design
Tagged
, Aaron Zimmer, Battle of the Big Bang, Big Bang, black hole, conundrums, designed universe, Elie Feder, mind, multiverse, Niayesh Afshordi, Paul Sutter, Phil Halper, physicists, physics, quantum particles, Second Law of Thermodynamics, Singularity, Stony Brook University, string theory, uncertainty, universe}

The Very “Nature of the Universe” Puzzles Physicists

_{Denyse O’Leary
June 27, 2025

Faith & Science, Fine-tuning, Intelligent Design

8}

The more physicists know about the universe, the larger loom some questions about ultimate realities. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O’Leary

Date
June 25, 2025

Categories
Evolution
Human Origins and Anthropology
Tagged
, 1 percent myth, Andrew McDiarmid, bonobos, Bornean orangutans, Casey Luskin, chimpanzees, DNA, genetics, genomes, gorillas, humans, junk DNA, Nature (journal), Pan paniscus, reality, Research, siamangs, Smithsonian Institution, statistics, Sumatran orangutans}

Why Is the 1 Percent Myth So Beloved?

_{Denyse O’Leary
June 25, 2025

Evolution, Human Origins and Anthropology

5}

When a belief conflicts with common sense present-day reality, it is usually upholding an irrational value. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O’Leary

Date
June 20, 2025

Categories
Intelligent Design
Neuroscience & Mind
Philosophy of Science
Tagged
, Annaka Harris, consciousness, contradictions, dualism, eliminative materialism, Giulio Tononi, hardware, Hedda Hassel Mørch, illusion, immaterial world, Integrated information theory, materialism, matter, Nautilus, panpsychism, particles, physicalism, software, University of Inland Norway}

Weighing Whether Matter Itself Is Conscious

_{Denyse O’Leary
June 20, 2025

Intelligent Design, Neuroscience & Mind, Philosophy of Science

6}

To say that consciousness is real is to say that the immaterial world is, in principle, real. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O’Leary

Date
June 17, 2025

Categories
Faith & Science
Intelligent Design
Neuroscience & Mind
Tagged
, Annaka Harris, brains, Carlo Rovelli, consciousness, Daniel Dennett, eliminative materialism, Four Horsemen, idealism, illusion, Lee Smolin, materialists, mindfulness, New Atheists, octopus, panpsychism, quantum mechanics, Sam Harris, self, universe}

A Conscious Universe?

_{Denyse O’Leary
June 17, 2025

Faith & Science, Intelligent Design, Neuroscience & Mind

6}

Annaka Harris seems to be fleeing eliminative materialism — the snake that eats its own tail. Read More ›

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post

Author
Michael Egnor

Date
June 17, 2025

Categories
Faith & Science
Medicine
Neuroscience & Mind
Philosophy
Tagged
, animal, annihilationists, behavior, Boston College, brain, death, disintegration, dying, ethics, evil, flame, good, Human, human body, human soul, immortality, justice, mind, near-death experiences, number 7, Peter Kreeft, physical world, plant, rational soul, terminal lucidity}

Immortality of the Soul Is a Reasonable Belief

_{Michael Egnor and Denyse O’Leary
June 17, 2025

Faith & Science, Medicine, Neuroscience & Mind, Philosophy

4}

The annihilationists are being careless. They assume that the physical flame just disappears. Actually, it doesn’t. Read More ›

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post

Author
Denyse O’Leary

Date
June 13, 2025

Categories
Intelligent Design
Neuroscience & Mind
Physics
Tagged
, animal species, astrophysicists, awareness, Dogs, Edward Feser, eliminative materialism, Ethan Siegel, human mind, inner states, materialism, Michael Egnor, mind, physical reality, physics, sentience, The Immortal Mind, Thomas Nagel}

What (If Anything) Physics Can Say About Consciousness

_{Denyse O’Leary
June 13, 2025

Intelligent Design, Neuroscience & Mind, Physics

5}

What about objects? If we want to argue that they have consciousness too, we need to define the term differently from the experiential way we usually do. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O’Leary

Date
June 11, 2025

Categories
Faith & Science
Medicine
Neuroscience & Mind
Tagged
, brain, brain surge, Bruce Greyson, Charlotte Martial, Christian Jarrett, Jay Ingram, Jimo Borjigin, Mario Beauregard, Michael Egnor, near-death experiences, neuroscience, Paul Bloom, spaghetti, Susan Blackmore, The Spiritual Brain, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Thomas Kuhn, University of Michigan, veridical, Yale University}

Near-Death Experiences Are Being Taken More Seriously Now

_{Denyse O’Leary
June 11, 2025

Faith & Science, Medicine, Neuroscience & Mind

6}

We are seeing a growth in genuine curiosity, which is a welcome change, and likely to be a fruitful one. Read More ›

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post

Author
Michael Egnor

Date
June 10, 2025

Categories
Faith & Science
Medicine
Neuroscience & Mind
Tagged
, body, brain, consciousness, death, delusions, dementia, Denyse O'Leary, Discover Magazine, dreams, family members, hallucinations, hospice workers, illusions, Jordan Kinard, Langone Medical Center, last words, materialists, mind, neuroscience, New York University, rationalism, researchers, Sam Parnia, Scientific American, terminal lucidity}

Excerpt: As Death Approaches, a Sudden Light

_{Michael Egnor and Denyse O’Leary
June 10, 2025

Faith & Science, Medicine, Neuroscience & Mind

4}

Needless to say, such lucid episodes imply that the mind is more than the disjointed activities of a failing brain. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O’Leary

Date
June 5, 2025

Categories
Faith & Science
Medicine
Neuroscience & Mind
Tagged
, astrocytoma, brain, cafeteria, Christianity, eternity, Hope Is the First Dose, hospital, immortality, Lee Warren, left frontal lobe, life, Michael Egnor, mind, Mystery of the Mind, near-death experiences, neurosurgeons, podcast, skeptics, soul, textbooks, The Immortal Mind, tumor, universities, Wilder Penfield}

Two Neuroscientists on Life, Death, Eternity, and What Really Matters

_{Denyse O’Leary
June 5, 2025

Faith & Science, Medicine, Neuroscience & Mind

6}

Lee Warren interviews Michael Egnor on his book. It's a lively and accessible chat about how the human mind is not simply the brain and can even survive death. Read More ›