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consciousness

PopeLeoXIV
Photo: Pope Leo XIV, by Edgar Beltrán, The Pillar, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Zombie Metaphysics: Dawkins Versus Pope Leo

This casual devaluing of consciousness is actually intertwined with the rush to ascribe it to AI. The ultimate conclusion is the same. Read More ›
Aristotle
Photo: Bust of Aristotle, Acropolis Museum, Athens, by Deiadameian, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Of Bee Brains, ChatGPT, and Fists of Ham

Happily, a recent philosopher has provided some intellectual tools for avoiding the sort of ham-fisted either/or approach to consciousness. Read More ›
woman-with-straitjacket-dark-background-stockpack-adobe-stoc-165851633-stockpack-adobestock
Woman with straitjacket, dark background
Image Credit: artursfoto - Adobe Stock

Scientists Ask, “Is Materialism Holding Science Back?”

Is materialism a straightjacket? The very fact that a respectable conversation is going on around this question tells us that something has changed. Read More ›
yellow-crested-cockatoo-bird-stockpack-adobe-stock-249892550-stockpack-adobestock
Yellow-Crested Cockatoo Bird
Image Credit: THP Creative - Adobe Stock

What Is Consciousness For? Sixteen Theories Take a Crack at the Question

It sounds like we do not really know what we are looking for, which will doubtless complicate efforts to find it. Read More ›
capture-the-essence-of-collective-consciousness-through-digi-888916819-stockpack-adobestock
Capture the essence of collective consciousness through digital connectivity by visualizing it in a dynamic and visually striking manner from a worms-eye view Create a design that symbolizes
Image Credit: jinna - Adobe Stock

Conscious AI, You Say? Here Are Six Models of Consciousness

Integrated Information Theory (IIT) is a mathematically founded emergence model. Michael Egnor and I recently published a paper critiquing IIT. Read More ›
jsc2024e038397
Photo: "Crystals Grown in Space," by Redwire, via NASA.

Origins, Destiny, and Intelligent Design

Apart from an intelligent designer, “…we are forced to believe that nucleic acids eventually acquire awareness of their own existence when they are mixed.” Read More ›
a-pet-scan-image-of-the-human-brain-showing-areas-of-high-an-897499320-stockpack-adobestock
Image Credit: keetazalay - Adobe Stock

Terminal Lucidity Points to Indestructible Personhood

Why would the human mind sometimes appear strongest when the brain is weakest? We begin a two-part conversation discussing the phenomenon of terminal lucidity. Read More ›
Cyclamen-coum
Photo: Cyclamen coum, by Famberhorst, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Science, Purpose, and Michael Levin: The Discussion Evolves

A leading spiritually agnostic (at least, that is my impression) biology researcher, Michael Levin at Tufts, is himself a proponent of teleology in nature. Read More ›
Sagittarius-B2
Photo credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Adam Ginsburg (University of Florida), Nazar Budaiev (University of Florida), Taehwa Yoo (University of Florida); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI).

According to New Physics Model, Consciousness Underlies the Universe

We live in a universe closer to the vision of Plato (c. 427 – 348 BC) than of Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–1895). Read More ›
person-is-looking-for-way-out-of-psychedelic-maze-a-surreal-581529726-stockpack-adobestock
Person is looking for way out of psychedelic maze. A surreal labyrinth in magical forest. Human consciousness is at dead end, searching for solutions. Created with Generative AI
Image Credit: Lazy_Bear - Adobe Stock

Does Quantum Mechanics Help Make Sense of the Soul?

Quantum mechanics seems to be the game-changer that Albert Einstein (1879–1955) feared it would be. It is certain to liven up discussions about the soul. Read More ›

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