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Panpsychism is the extreme claim that everything in the physical world—all subatomic particles-are in some sense ‘conscious’ or have a basic kind of ‘proto-consciousness’. Why are an increasing number of leading philosophers taking panpsychism seriously? Something must be up. Could it be doubt that the scientific project to explain consciousness has failed?
Yujin nagasawa is the kingfisher college chair of the philosophy of religion and ethics, and professor of philosophy at the university of oklahoma.
The US, Europe, and China have all contributed significantly to BCI advancements. Companies like Elon Musk’s Neuralink focus on invasive brain implants, whereas Chinese researchers have made major strides in developing non-invasive and adaptive BCIs.
This latest breakthrough underscores China’s commitment to making BCIs more efficient and user-friendly. By enabling a two-way interaction between brain and machine, the new system takes a significant step toward integrating BCIs into everyday life, from medical rehabilitation to consumer electronics.
The study was published in the journal Nature Electronics.
Summary: Researchers found that Buddhist jhāna meditation and Christian speaking in tongues, despite their differences, share a common cognitive feedback loop. This process, called the Attention, Arousal, and Release Spiral, creates a cycle where focused attention leads to joy, making concentration effortless and deepening the experience.
The study gathered firsthand accounts from meditation retreats and worship services, analyzing the micro-moments of attention and emotional shifts. Preliminary brain activity findings suggest both practices involve a cognitive shift that enhances immersion.
Understanding this shared mechanism could help more people access profound states of focus and tranquility. The next phase of research will use brain imaging to explore the physiological changes behind this phenomenon.
“ tabindex=”0” accuracy and scale, brings scientists closer to understanding how neurons connect and communicate.
Mapping Thousands of Synaptic Connections
Harvard researchers have successfully mapped and cataloged over 70,000 synaptic connections from approximately 2,000 rat neurons. They achieved this using a silicon chip capable of detecting small but significant synaptic signals from a large number of neurons simultaneously.
Summary: Researchers analyzed human motivation from an evolutionary perspective, identifying 15 key motives that drive behavior. These motives, grouped into five categories—environmental, physiological, reproductive, psychological, and social—reflect adaptations that helped early humans survive.
The study used network analysis of survey responses to reveal how these motives interconnect and influence one another. Notably, Status and Play emerged as central to motivational structures, facilitating resource access and skill development.
Findings also showed age and gender differences in motivational priorities, with younger individuals focusing on Status and Play, while older adults prioritize Comfort and Fear. The results have broad applications in marketing, AI, and mental health, helping tailor strategies to different motivational needs.
Hey everyone! Robin Hanson will be speaking on Thursday about his galaxy brain ideas on better incentive models for longevity. Plus his unique takes on prediction markets and long-term thinking. [ https://lu.ma/wzuwk1lp](https://lu.ma/wzuwk1lp)
Join us for a groundbreaking discussion with economist Robin Hanson on the future of longevity economics and city governance!
In this episode I am looking forward to exploring more about alternate interpretations of Quantum Mechanics. In previous episodes exploring consciousness, I’ve encountered several people who believe that Quantum Mechanics is at the root of consciousness. My current thinking is that it replaces one mystery with another one without really providing an explanation for consciousness. We are still stuck with the options of consciousness being a pre-existing property of the universe or some aspect of it, vs. it being an emergent feature of a processing network. Either way, quantum mechanics is an often misunderstood brilliant theory at the root of physics. It tells us that basic particles don’t exist at a specific position and momentum—they are, however, represented very accurately as a smooth wavefunction that can be used to calculate the distribution of a set of measurements on identical particles. The process of observation seems to cause the wavefunction to randomly collapse to a localized spot. Nobody knows for certain what causes this collapse. This is known as the measurement problem. The many worlds theorem says the wavefunction doesn’t collapse. It claims that the wavefunction describes all the possible universes that exist and the process of measurement just tells us which universe we are living in.
My guest is a leading proponent of transactional quantum mechanics.
Dr. Ruth E. Kastner earned her M.S. in Physics and Ph.D. in History and Philosophy of Science from the University of Maryland. Since that time, she has taught widely and conducted research in Foundations of Physics, particularly in interpretations of quantum theory. She was one of three winners of the 2021 Alumni Research Award at the University of Maryland, College Park (https://tinyurl.com/2t56yrp2). She is the author of 3 books: The Transactional Interpretation of Quantum Theory: The Reality of Possibility (Cambridge University Press, 2012; 2nd edition just published, 2022), Understanding Our Unseen Reality: Solving Quantum Riddles (Imperial College Press, 2015); and Adventures In Quantumland: Exploring Our Unseen Reality (World Scientific, 2019). She has presented talks and interviews throughout the world and in video recordings on the interpretational challenges of quantum theory, and has a blog at transactionalinterpretation.org. She is also a dedicated yoga practitioner and received her 200-Hour Yoga Alliance Instructor Certification in February, 2020.
