Discovery Institute

The Latest

The End of the Machine Metaphor?: Emily Reeves; January 13, 2025; 11; Intelligent Design

God and the Odds of ET: Jonathan Witt; January 13, 2025; 9; Physics, Earth & Space

Progressive Columnist Almost Embraces Sanctity of Human Life: Wesley J. Smith; January 14, 2025; 5; Human Exceptionalism

Campus Antisemitism Continues: Bruce Chapman; January 13, 2025; 6; Citizen Leadership

Transgenderism, Theology, and a Transfer of Power: Marvin Olasky; January 11, 2025; 5; Discovery Institute

More of the Latest …

Policy Focus: School Choice in the States

_{Keri D. Ingraham
January 13, 2025
13
Education}

Huge historical legislative victories have occurred over the past four years, advancing school choice in states nationwide. In some states, the wins have entailed the creation of new school choice programs, while in other states, it has involved expanding existing programs to reach more students. Most noteworthy has been the enactment of universal or near-universal school choice in 12 states since 2021.

Video

C.S. Lewis’s Challenge to Scientocracy in Cambridge and Beyond

C.S. Lewis’s Challenge to Scientocracy in Cambridge and Beyond: John G. West; January 6, 2025; Intelligent Design

Watch: The Wild West of Energy: Center on Wealth & Poverty; January 2, 2025; Economics

Fossil Explosions in the History of Life: Paleontologist Günter Bechly: Günter Bechly; December 16, 2024; Intelligent Design

Return of the God Hypothesis in Cambridge with Stephen Meyer: Stephen C. Meyer; December 12, 2024; Intelligent Design

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Podcast

Is There a Difference Between “Mind” and “Brain”?

_{Wesley J. Smith
January 13, 2025}

What is the “mind”? Is it a pure product of raw brain activity? Or, is it something “other” — that can be experienced, but not measured, observed but not fully defined? Does free will exist? Are our brains just so many meat computers? A new anthology, Minding the Brain, explores these and related issues in depth — both from philosophical and scientific viewpoints — explaining how and why “mind” and “brain” are distinct things. Three of the contributors to the book — all Discovery Institute colleagues — join Wesley on Humanize to discuss this fascinating topic. Editor and Contributor Brian R. Krouse is a software engineer with research interests in the philosophy of the mind, computer science, and neuroscience. He has a …

Günter Bechly on Fossils and Common Descent

_{Günter Bechly
January 10, 2025}

We were shocked and grieved to learn of the death of our friend and colleague Günter Bechly this week. Gunter was a world-class paleontologist and an inspiration to many for his learned insight into the fossil record and his brave rejection of Darwinian dogma. Over the next two Fridays, we’re sharing a two-part interview originally recorded in 2018 with host Sarah Chaffee. In this exchange, Gunter spotlights some problems the fossil record poses for Darwinism and, specifically, the theory’s idea of universal common ancestry. Bechly was a proponent of Darwinism until he discovered, well into his career, what he sees as significant scientific reasons to doubt the evolutionary story. The occasion for his conversation with host Sarah Chaffee is an essay he and Stephen Meyer …

The AI Bubble: Lessons from Past Financial Bubbles

_{Robert J. Marks II
January 9, 2025}

In this installment of the Mind Matters News podcast, host Robert J. Marks begins a conversation with economics professor and author Gary Smith about the hype of generative AI and its impact on the market. Smith is the Fletcher Jones Professor of Economics at Ponoma College and a frequent contributor to Mind Matters News. Smith argues that generative AI, embodied in services like ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, exhibits many characteristics of past market bubbles, including excessive hype, lack of profitability, and unrealistic expectations. Smith holds that generative AI models have limited practical economic value. They may be good at finding statistical patterns but struggle to distinguish meaningful, useful correlations from coincidental ones. Smith describes the fundamental …

Events

More Events …

The Latest

The End of the Machine Metaphor?

God and the Odds of ET

Progressive Columnist Almost Embraces Sanctity of Human Life

Campus Antisemitism Continues

Transgenderism, Theology, and a Transfer of Power

Policy Focus: School Choice in the States

Video

C.S. Lewis’s Challenge to Scientocracy in Cambridge and Beyond

Watch: The Wild West of Energy

Fossil Explosions in the History of Life: Paleontologist Günter Bechly

Return of the God Hypothesis in Cambridge with Stephen Meyer

Podcast

Is There a Difference Between “Mind” and “Brain”?

Günter Bechly on Fossils and Common Descent

The AI Bubble: Lessons from Past Financial Bubbles

Events

Dallas Conference on Science & Faith

Programs