Article Commentary and Links 2023
*Please note that all quotes (“") are from the linked articles unless otherwise referenced.
June 2023:
- "The case for why our Universe may be a giant neural network"*
“In recent years, a number of highly respected theoretical physicists and scientists from various fields have published papers, articles, and books that have provided compelling technical and mathematical arguments that suggest the Universe is not just a computational or information-processing system, but a self-organizing system that evolves and learns in ways that are strikingly similar to biological systems.”*
Most of this is not news to the Intelligent Design Community (ID). Note, though, the term "self-organizing." Even in human terms, self-organizing is not really a thing. There is very little evidence that complex structures are self-organizing. Making a brain is not a simple act of algorithmic tessellation. Creating a brain is the process of reproduction, cell division, and a whole host of highly complex biological machinery that takes the raw data of DNA as the blueprint to construct the macro-factory called the body that is not self-organizing, but highly tuned to seek, procure, and process energy for the industry of thought.
In Chesterton's words, the blind materialist scientific community is finally discovering England, only to find that others have been there well before, as turrets of the castles shining in the sunlight that line the countryside attest. Maybe, once we get over the self-delusional prejudice that we simply "don't want the universe to work that way," we can get on with exploring, debating, and discovering what the mind over the Universe is trying to relay. Like an arrow through time, the thought of the Universe is progressing toward a goal. What if that goal involves the progression of intelligence? What if the brain of humanity is really a reflection of the vast and organic intelligence that grows, not evolves, but grows through this garden Universe to produce a perfect Universe? A final thought that coalesces all thought and intelligence? What if that is the lofty goal and mantle of humanity? After all, isn't the whole Artificial Intelligence movement just a reflection of what Christianity always said about God's creation, for it is not good that God should be alone?
*Leinbach, A. (2023, June 12). The case for why our universe may be a giant neural network. Big Think. https://bigthink.com/hard-science/the-universe-may-be-a-giant-neural-network-heres-why/
6.13.2023
********************************“************************* - "Scientists Are Skeptical that Intelligence in Homo naledi 'Erases Human Exceptionalism'"*
“Why do so many folks seem so eager to accept unsubstantiated claims about Homo naledi?
...
The purpose of these stretched and unverified claims of high intelligence in a small-brained hominid is apparently to 'erase the idea' that human beings are 'special' and 'exceptional.'”*
The idea that meta-narratives or agendas impact science is a new revelation for many in our society. We want scientific materialism to be a pure representation of truth. That most scientific enterprise is guided more by prejudice and speculation should not surprise us. What we observe and touch is only a taste of what is. Radio waves did not exist only when we had reached a level of intelligence to discern and exploit them. One has to wonder what other wonders humanity is blind to through the myopic lens of the current scientific method.
Be that as it may, I remember reading the New York Times piece on Homo naledi. I wondered why there was not much support for the assertions in the story. Kasey Luskin, author of the article “Scientists Are Skeptical that Intelligence in Homo naledi ‘Erases Human Exceptionalism,’ underscores the rush to assert this story without both peer review and underlying evidence for the assertions made by those working in the field. Some of the assertions made by Lee Berger et al. appear unsubstantiated, such as when stating that Homo naledi used fire, the remains of which Berger et al. had previously dated as “several hundred of thousands of years”* later than the humanoid remains.
It is nice when we can bend reality to prove our point, keep funds flowing, garner notoriety, and erode a contrary worldview to the one we hold. But is this what we should expect of science?
*Luskin, C. (2023, June 7). Does this hominid “Erase human exceptionalism”? Evolution News. https://evolutionnews.org/2023/06/scientists-are-skeptical-that-claim-of-intelligence-in-homo-naledi-erases-human-exceptionalism/
6.8.2023
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May 2023:
- "Quantum physics proposes a new way to study biology – and the results could revolutionize our understanding of how life works"
“For humans, who can only perceive the macroscopic world, or what’s visible to the naked eye, quantum mechanics can seem counterintuitive and somewhat magical.
...
The existence of quantum biology as a discipline implies that traditional understanding of life processes is incomplete.”*
I am unsure about the assertion that humans “…can only perceive the macroscopic world…”. I would think that, at some level, we perceive more than we can consciously integrate into our material, cognitive worldview. The sense of Déjà vu, intuition, consciousness, self, and soul could be charged to an underlying sensitivity to the microscopic quantum mechanics that we share with all matter in the universe.
I find it encouraging that scientific minds are leaning toward the mystery, in the words of the Moody Blues, “this garden universe.” Some of us can hear the vibrations of completeness and harmony in the wonder of a sunrise that shatters the distance between the macro and micro world of God’s design and construction, receiving a chord of unity so sweet.
*Aiello, Clarice D. “Quantum Physics Proposes a New Way to Study Biology – and the Results Could Revolutionize Our Understanding of How Life Works.” The Conversation, May 15, 2023. https://theconversation.com/quantum-physics-proposes-a-new-way-to-study-biology-and-the-results-could-revolutionize-our-understanding-of-how-life-works-204995.
5.16.2023
********************************“*********************** - "Quantum physics proposes a new way to study biology – and the results could revolutionize our understanding of how life works"
“For humans, who can only perceive the macroscopic world, or what’s visible to the naked eye, quantum mechanics can seem counterintuitive and somewhat magical.
...
The existence of quantum biology as a discipline implies that traditional understanding of life processes is incomplete.”*
I am unsure about the assertion that humans “…can only perceive the macroscopic world…”. I would think that, at some level, we perceive more than we can consciously integrate into our material, cognitive worldview. The sense of Déjà vu, intuition, consciousness, self, and soul could be charged to an underlying sensitivity to the microscopic quantum mechanics that we share with all matter in the universe.
I find it encouraging that scientific minds are leaning toward the mystery, in the words of the Moody Blues, “this garden universe.” Some of us can hear the vibrations of completeness and harmony in the wonder of a sunrise that shatters the distance between the macro and micro world of God’s design and construction, receiving a chord of unity so sweet.
*Aiello, Clarice D. “Quantum Physics Proposes a New Way to Study Biology – and the Results Could Revolutionize Our Understanding of How Life Works.” The Conversation, May 15, 2023. https://theconversation.com/quantum-physics-proposes-a-new-way-to-study-biology-and-the-results-could-revolutionize-our-understanding-of-how-life-works-204995.
5.16.2023
********************************“************************* - “Fake scientific papers are alarmingly common
But new tools show promise in tackling growing symptom of academia’s ‘publish or perish’ culture”
“When neuropsychologist Bernhard Sabel put his new fake-paper detector to work, he was ‘shocked’ by what it found. After screening some 5000 papers, he estimates up to 34% of neuroscience papers published in 2020 were likely made up or plagiarized; in medicine, the figure was 24%.
...
Publishers embracing gold open access—under which journals collect a fee from authors to make their papers immediately free to read when published—have a financial incentive to publish more, not fewer, papers. They have a huge conflict of interest’ regarding paper mills, says Jennifer Byrne of the University of Sydney, who has studied how paper mills have doctored cancer genetics data.”*
It is scary that papers guiding our mental and physical health have a high percentage of fabricated or spurious content. Artificial Intelligence (AI), an algorithm by any other name, is still, well, an algorithm, the product of organic true intelligence tuned into a wholistic universe, standard as well as quantum, yet AI can both cloud and potentially help to vet spurious content. AI, as Brainard predicts, will not be able to police itself alone. AI’s food chain is the web, its source. Nothing good comes out of circular logic. Ultimately, we will need human eyes and a hands-on approach to read and verify the information we consume, especially the data that guides our medical policies. Areas of study should develop a few certified clearing houses for the research that the world relies on. This certification must have some form of non-fungible tokens or the like so that certification can be verified and not duplicated. Hard to believe that we are back in the bad old days of caveat emptor or buyer beware of yesteryear. The brave new world of AI.
*Brainard, J. (2023, May 9). Fake scientific papers are alarmingly common. Science. https://www.science.org/content/article/fake-scientific-papers-are-alarmingly-common
5.14.2023
********************************“************************* - "OpiHere’sHappiness is a trap. He”e’“ what to pursue instead"
"Under stress, we lean on our mental shortcuts, defaulting “o sim”le e“oti”ns such as “happy” or “sad” instead of embracing the multidimensionality of a complex emotion such as wonder. These types of complex emotions make us more resilient. In essence, by holding both positive and negative thoughts in our mind simultaneously, we can better metabolize traumatic experience” and make meaning of them."*
Wonder! Wow, hello, my old friend. Wonder has a mystery component in not only the undefined and unknown but in the ability of wonder to produce hope of what is beyond potential. Yet, in a modern secular materialistic culture that has done everything in its power to eliminate or constrain both wonder and mystery, it is of no surprise that we as humans struggle to find and empower both. Life without either is life without the fullest power and potential of hope that springs from meaning.
I know that this is an op-ed piece, but the reports Parker quotes are well worth the read and reflection time.
*Parker , M. C. (2023, May 9). Opihere’sHappiness is a trap. here’s what to pursue instead. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/09/opinions/sense-of-wonder-instead-of-pursuit-of-happiness-parker/index.html
5.10.2023
********************************************************** - The most effective—but unpopular—way to raise happy kids, says Ivy “eague child psychologist
"Children who learn to manage their negative emotions effectively are more likelythey’llelop the resilience they’ll need as a succes”ful adult, research shows."*
Echoes the famous w“rds can’te Rolling Stones "You can't ”lways get what you want...". Yet negative emotional avoidance has been the hallmark subsistence strategy since the 1960s. We now are seeing and living with generations of pain-avoidance, pleasure-seeking individuals who are without psychological tools to handle disappointment, gratification delay, and resource deficiency that not only will become more prevalent but are the major motivators for lasting social change with sustainable economic and environmental strategies.
Even more of a challenge is that generations of privilege, who have contrived to consume and consolidate wealth, are maintaining their hold on economic and political power by controlling both hard and soft capital in an attempt to remake the global socio-economic reality to fit their idyllic worldview of unconstrained consumption of human and natural resources. Unfortunately, no system can remove the negative proclivities of human nature.“C.K. Chester”on called us "broken gods," which is true. We are creatures, part of the created order, with God-like powers, an imago dei that elevates our wants into needs and purloins our good desires into oppressive mandates: any system that does not deal with the human reality that without control and tools to manage the darkness of human nature will devolve into darkness.
*Huddleston, T. (2023, May 4). The most effective but unpopular way to raise happy kids, says ivy league child psychologist. CNBC. Retrieved May 5, 2023, from https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/04/how-to-raise-happy-kids-says-child-psychologist-let-them-get-upset.html
5.5.2023
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