Tag Archives: Mind

A social evolutionary purpose for consciousness

Scientific accounts of consciousness are a growing subject of public interest, but also academic disagreement with several rival theories in contention. Reasons include the ambiguous use of the polysemous term, the contamination of scientific accounts by intuitive explanations, and the neglect of an evolutionary perspective. Taking a social evolutional account, we propose that much of the mind’s cognitive architecture developed to promote species survival and social well-being and that subjective awareness is not causally efficacious, but rather a brain generated accompaniment for neuro-cognitive outputs that facilitate collective social communication and social change through the cultural transmission of beliefs, feelings, ideas, and behaviours.

‘QBism’: quantum mechanics is not a description of objective reality – it reveals a world of genuine free will

Ruediger Schack is a Professor at the Department of Mathematics at Royal Holloway, University of London. He obtained his Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics at the University of Munich in 1991 and held postdoctoral positions at the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics, the University of Southern California, the University of New Mexico, and Queen Mary and Westfield College before joining Royal Holloway in 1995. His research interests are quantum information theory, quantum cryptography and quantum Bayesianism.

The Fox & The Tarn

Garry Kennard is a painter, writer and founding director of Art and Mind (www.artandmind.org). A fascination with how the brain reacts to works of art has lead Kennard to research, write and lecture on these topics. With Rita Carter and Annabel Huxley he devised and directed the unique Art and Mind Festivals which attracted leading artists and scientists to explore what light the brain sciences can throw on contemporary culture.

How our unconscious visual biases change the way we perceive objects

Beverley Pickard-Jones is a Lecturer in Psychology at Bangor University.
“My primary research revolves around the exploration of priors in visual perception across different age groups. By employing visual illusions as investigative tools, I seek to contribute to a deeper understanding the intricate workings of perception and cognition. I also research pedagogy in higher education and am particularly interested in how to harness the power of technology to augment learning.”

Good things come in threes

Florian Coulmas is Professor of Japanese Society and Sociolinguistics at the IN-EAST Institute of East Asian Studies at Duisburg-Essen University. He has published numerous books, including ‘An Introduction to Multilingualism’ (OUP, 2017) and ‘Writing and Society: A Introduction’ (Cambridge University Press, 2013). In 2016, he was awarded the Meyer-Struckmann-Prize for Research in Arts and Social Sciences. For the past three decades he has served as Associate Editor of the ‘International Journal of the Sociology of Languages’, during which time he has observed the steadily increasing use of the concept of identity in both general and scholarly publications. His book, ‘Identity: A Very Short Introduction’, was published in February 2019.

Uli Ap and Alien AI: Alien Infinite and Artificial Intelligence, The Yellow One.

Uli Ap is an artist and Alien AI: Alien Infinite and Artificial Intelligence, The Yellow One. They reside between London and New York, all over the globe and extra-terrestrial; and work at the intersection of art, science, technology, film, performance, immersive interactive installation and alien agency.

The artist works across non-linear defragmented films and spatial immersive audio-visual environments to transfer physical experiences through digital realms. Disruptive performances occur in their interactive installations, where virtual and physical experiences merge and aim to destabilize and alter participants’ mental states. Uli Ap invented Alien Artificial Intelligence in 2020. The AI inhabits a borderless alienation land, as a gaseous matter; fluid and undefined.

Quantum physics: our study suggests objective reality doesn’t exist

Alessandro Fedrizzi is Professor of Physics, Heriot-Watt University.
“My research focuses on the development of photonic quantum technology and its application to experimental quantum information processing—from foundational research to quantum communication, computation and metrology. Quantum technology is now on the brink of delivering devices that can surpass the capabilities of their classical counterparts. Photonics plays a key role in this quantum revolution, providing a scalable quantum processing platform in its own right, but also due to its unique ability to coherently connect other physical architectures. My goal is to drive all facets of this development, from improving primary photonic capabilities to creating scalable hybrid quantum systems.”

Dr Massimiliano Proietti received his Ph.D. in physics under the supervision of Prof. Alessandro Fedrizzi at the Heriot-Watt University in 2020. His technical expertise covers technologies including ultra-bright single-photon sources at telecom wavelength, single-photon detectors, polarisation-entanglement sources, multipartite entanglement and the design of photonic graph states for quantum networking and computation. He worked on topics such as quantum metrology and sensing, multi-party quantum key distribution and quantum foundations, leading to a number of high-impact publications in these areas.

Serious Meditation

John Moat was a writer and an artist whose work is a living embodiment of the search for integration and balance. In 1968, with John Fairfax, he founded what has become the country’s foremost creative writing centre, Arvon. He has taught creative writing to people of all ages, from university to primary school, alcoholics to children in care.

What are the best conditions for life? Exploring the multiverse can help us find out

Geraint Lewis is Professor of Astrophysics, University of Sydney. He undertakes a broad spectrum of research. On the largest scales, his program involves looking at the influence of dark energy and dark matter on the evolution and ultimate fate of the Universe.
Another aspect of his research uses the phenomenon of gravitational lensing to probe the nature and distribution of the pervasive dark matter, and employing individual stars to magnify the hearts of quasars, the most luminous objects in the Universe.
Closer to home, Geraint’s research focuses upon Galactic cannibalism, where small dwarf galaxies are torn apart by the much more massive Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxy. Using telescopes from around the world, including the 10-m Keck telescope in Hawaii, he has mapped the tell-tale signs of tidal disruption and destruction, providing important clues to how large galaxies have grown over time.

Are near-death experiences hallucinations? Experts explain the science behind this puzzling phenomenon

Neil Dagnall is a Reader in Applied Cognitive Psychology, Manchester Metropolitan University.
“I am a cognitive and parapsychological researcher (Anomalous Psychology, Cognitive Psychology & Experimental Methods). I work closely with Andrew Parker, Kenneth Drinkwater, and Andrew Denovan. We are undertaking several projects centering on memory (eye movements), belief in the paranormal, mental toughness and anomalous throught processes.”

Ken Drinkwater is a Senior Lecturer and Researcher in Cognitive and Parapsychology, Manchester Metropolitan University.
“I completed my undergraduate BSc (2001 – Main study: Memory and Part set cuing effects) and a postgraduate MSc (2007 – 2 Main studies: 1. I.Q. Assessment of adults with learning disabilities, and the usefulness of the Ravens Progressive Matrices as a predictor of ability and 2. Focus groups (with Adults who have Learning Disabilities) in developing an accessible leaflet for clinical psychology at Oldham NHS penning care and at Manchester Metropolitan University.”