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Neuroscience & Mind

Homo_sapiens_neanderthalensis-Jäger
Photo credit: Neanderthal-Museum, Mettmann, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Getting Stoned: Did It Shape Human Origins?

For a really wild excursion, nothing beats efforts to explain the evolution of the human mind. Read More ›
Middle-earth
Photo credit: Jackie.lck (photos · photo sets), CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Putting AI to the “Tolkien Test”: Could It Pass?

Could ChatGPT ever hope to get close to the creative depth found in Tolkien’s Middle-earth? Read More ›
near-death experience
Photo credit: Jr Korpa via Unsplash.

Soul Survives Death? ER Doc Faces Skepticism

In discussion with Robert Lawrence Kuhn, Dr. Sam Parnia stuck to his clearly defined evidence, avoiding religious digressions. 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 ›
Panthera_tigris_altaica,_Duisburg_(DE)_–_2023_--_0637
Photo: Amur tiger, by Anil Öztas, FALCC-BY-NC-4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Do Animals Really “Take Revenge”?

The true tale of an Amur tiger hunting down and killing his hunter in 1997 is among the best attested of these stories. Read More ›
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Photo credit: Landon Parenteau, via Unsplash.

Bioethicists Push Psychedelics for an “Interesting” Life

The dangers of taking such drugs aside, this essay reflects the reductionism of our time. Read More ›
Field_of_Weeds_(2636333676)
Photo: Weeds, by Sharon Mollerus, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

To Weed the Garden, or Not to Weed the Garden, That Is the Question

An award-winning environmental journalist tackles the question of plant consciousness and plant rights. Read More ›
Herkulaneischer_Meister_002 2
Image: A fresco from Pompeii, Naples National Archaeological Museum, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Scientists Ask: Does the Soul Survive Death?

Gradually, medical findings about what happens to the mind around the time of death are undermining assumptions that the soul dies with the body. Read More ›
brain
Photo credit: BXu99, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Split-Brain Research Confirms Unity of the Human Mind

The NOVA special’s claim is, “The split brain phenomenon suggests that there can be two separated minds, if you will, inside of a skull.” Read More ›
Dülmen,_Wildpark,_Brücke_am_Herzteich_--_2022_--_4642
Photo credit: Dietmar Rabich / Wikimedia Commons / “Dülmen, Wildpark, Brücke am Herzteich -- 2022 -- 4642” / CC BY-SA 4.0For print products: Dietmar Rabich / https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:D%C3%BClmen,_Wildpark,_Br%C3%BCcke_am_Herzteich_--_2022_--_4642.jpg / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/.

Why Are We Drawn to Beauty?

While I love Haidt’s emphasis and regard for the beautiful, I question the power of his argument about beauty as a remnant of our collective survival instinct. Read More ›

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