Science and Culture Today Discovering Design in Nature
Topic

Nautilus

tired
Photo credit: Tim De Pauw, via Unsplash.

Materialism Is Sounding Super Tired Lately

This sort of cross between a fairy tale and pop psychology helps pop science readers pass the time while listening to the latest announcement of a flight delay. Read More ›
RayapelgicaPteroplatytrygonviolaceaCabodePalosE
Photo: Stingray, a cartilaginous fish, by Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

On Fish Intelligence, We’re Misled by Darwinian Assumptions

The world of life is full of intelligence. Its intensity varies not with distance from the supposedly accidental human but with the life form’s need for it.  Read More ›
Aninstantaneousphotographofafewmembersofa22school
Image credit: Artemas Ward, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

When Schools of Fish Lose Their Memories

Because we don’t tend to think of fish as being very smart, we don’t think they could have memories that matter. Read More ›
Panpsychism-2-Adobe-Stock259152806-1536x1068
Image licensed via Adobe Stock.

Weighing Whether Matter Itself Is Conscious

To say that consciousness is real is to say that the immaterial world is, in principle, real. Read More ›
ashley-batz-betmVWGYcLY-unsplash
Photo credit: Ashley Batz via Unsplash.

Study Probes the Origins of Consciousness

Understanding consciousness by these means is going to be a much slower process than the researchers had hoped. Read More ›
Leonardslee_Gardens,_Anton_Smit_'Walk_of_Life'_Exhibition,_'Stream_of_Consciousness'_2019_-_geograph.org.uk_-_7091110
Photo credit: Leonardslee Gardens, Anton Smit 'Walk of Life' Exhibition: 'Stream of Consciousness' 2019 by Michael Garlick, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Scientists Examining Consciousness — Here’s the Problem

Many researchers do like to write about consciousness and here are two recent contributions to the accessible literature. Read More ›
La_pirogue_a_balancier
Photo credit: Brigitte Bourger Brigitte Bourger, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Study: Geological Habitability Parameters Imply Earth is Special and Advanced Life Extremely Rare

One thing that is likely to get some pushback is the study’s claim that modern-style plate tectonics on Earth did not commence until the Neoproterozoic. Read More ›
cell
Image credit: Illustra Media.

Doctor’s Diary: A Truly Fantastic Voyage!

The old movie mostly dealt with the brain, lung, heart, blood vessels (all at the tissue level) and a few scattered cells. Read More ›
lobster
Photo credit: David Clode via Unsplash.

What Does It Mean to Say “Lobsters Are Conscious”?

Much will be learned from a more careful analysis of the behavior of life forms, which will likely turn up many more instances of unexpected sentience. Read More ›
Daniel-Dennett
Photo: Daniel Dennett, by User:Mathias Schindler, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Is Darwinian Philosopher Daniel Dennett the End of an Era?

Dennett’s image of the human mind as a user-illusion was very fashionable but it never made any sense. Read More ›

© Discovery Institute