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Linguistics

cave-painting
Photo: “Tree of Life,” a cave painting from Borneo, Indonesia, by Lhfage at English Wikipedia [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons.

Do We Need Language to Think?

For a long time, it was only a philosophical issue: Plato saw thinking as a conversation with oneself. Read More ›
3024px-James_Joyce_death_mask 2
Photo: Death mask, James Joyce, by Rrburke, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Arguing About Taste with Large Language Models

When Large Language Models aspire to the literary genius of James Joyce, what could go wrong? Read More ›
RNA_Isolation_by_Trizol_Method
Photo: A sample of RNA, by Ajay Kumar Chaurasiya, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

RNA as Cells’ “Text Messaging” System

Some researchers wonder if RNA can be understood as a common language that can be read among cells of widely different life forms. Read More ›
City of David
Photo: City of David, by David Coppedge.

Intelligent Design in Action: Pattern Matching in Archaeology

Our uniform experience of intelligent causes allows us to make inferences about design, even without knowing the identity of the designers. Read More ›
Cupules
Photo: Cupules, by Max Ronnersjö, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Human Origins and the Beginning of Art

There is now evidence of something like artwork among several ancient human types, not just Neanderthals. Thus, an academic controversy has arisen. Read More ›
Homo_sapiens_neanderthalensis-Mr._N
Image credit: Neanderthal-Museum, Mettmann, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Were Neanderthals Religious?

We can’t poll long-dead Neanderthals on life, death, and the hereafter but the evidence we’ve dug up suggests they were thinking about that kind of thing. Read More ›
Noam Chomsky
Photo: Noam Chomsky, by Asadr1337, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Artificial General Intelligence: The Poverty of the Stimulus

It doesn’t even matter if the child is blind, deaf, or both. Barring developmental disorders (such as some forms of autism), the child can learn language. Read More ›
Fireworks over Seattle
fireworks
Photo credit: Shannon Kringen from Seattle [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons.

Happy New Year! No. 1 Story of 2023: Joe Rogan and Stephen Meyer Talk Science and Faith

For more than three hours, Rogan asked questions about the scientific argument for the reality of God, as well as Meyer’s reasons for believing the Bible. Read More ›
brain
Photo credit: Jesse Orrico via Unsplash.

My Question for P. Z. Myers: How Did Human Consciousness “Evolve”?

Human consciousness entails a unique ability to think abstractly — to reason, to think logically, to use language, to do mathematics, to exercise free will. Read More ›
woman and dog
Photo credit: Jamie Street via Unsplash.

Intelligent Design in Human-Animal Friendships

A man and his emotional support alligator, Wally, made headlines last week when they tried to attend a baseball game together in Philadelphia. Read More ›

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