Denyse O’Leary

Denyse O’Leary is a freelance journalist based in Victoria, Canada. Specializing in faith and science issues, she is co-author, with neuroscientist Mario Beauregard, of The Spiritual Brain: A Neuroscientist's Case for the Existence of the Soul; and with neurosurgeon Michael Egnor of The Immortal Mind: A Neurosurgeon’s Case for the Existence of the Soul (Worthy, 2025). She received her degree in honors English language and literature.

Archives

When Lost Worlds Get Found, Ruling Tenets Get Retired

_{Archeologists are quietly revising the human origins story in a way that does not follow a Darwinian pattern but they don’t quite come out and say it}_{Denyse O'Leary
August 13, 2026}

Without a subhuman, the human mind has no history. That is a serious blow to any Darwinian materialist project.

A Science Education Group Tackles the Fauci Hearing and Diary

_{They have every reason to be concerned about what these revelations about the Covid years are doing to the public perception of science}_{Denyse O'Leary
August 7, 2026}

At one time, it was the less well-informed people who trusted science less. But repeated episodes like the Covid Crazy will mean that the better informed people will trust less.

Want the Public to Trust Science Again? In Four Lessons, Here’s How NOT to Do It

_{Denyse O’Leary
August 6, 2026}

Ethan Siegel’s approach to public discussion of science is common enough: the exalted scientist reaches down to the ignorant masses.

How NOT to Get More People to Trust Science, in Four Easy Lessons

_{Ethan Siegel had the singular bad luck to write his condescending column about how we should Trust the Science more in the very wake of Fauci’s Covid “diaries” coming to light…}_{Denyse O'Leary
August 5, 2026}

Siegel’s essay at Big Think can have one very desirable result: It is a good, though unwitting, summary of attitudes that must change if public trust in science is to be improved.

Did Art Really Invent Humanity — as Opposed to the Other Way Around?

_{It’s an intriguing concept, and a welcome departure from more pedestrian claims}_{Denyse O'Leary
July 30, 2026}

Art cannot have helped make us more human if we did not start out that way. And that in turn could not have happened without some impetus that was simply not granted to any other life form.

Mind Behind the Universe? A Stereotype About Scientists May Be Crumbling

_{Denyse O’Leary
July 28, 2026}

Joel Kotkin points to a recent conference that brought together top engineers, mathematicians, and scientists to discuss the “new synergy.”

More Scientists Are Talking About a Mind Behind the Universe?

_{An urban affairs analyst thinks so and he also suggests some reasons why}_{Denyse O'Leary
July 27, 2026}

If being a scientist means that one must refuse to consider the evidence for design, it’s no wonder if many are looking for alternatives.

Could This Be One of Science’s Biggest Mistakes?

_{Denyse O’Leary
July 27, 2026}

Actually, computers aren’t even the sort of thing for which consciousness is relevant. Dogs are, and maybe frogs, but not computers.

Is “The brain is a computer!” One of Science’s Biggest Mistakes?

_{If so, the mistake throws a wrench into claims that conscious computers can ever be built}_{Denyse O'Leary
July 24, 2026}

The messy processes of the brain that enable the various layers of consciousness bear no relationship to what happens in computers.

What’s an Explainaway? Here Is an Example from the Debate on Near-Death Experiences

_{Denyse O’Leary
July 24, 2026}

Explainaways, whether possum tales or optical illusions, exist to protect a system from unwanted evidence by ignoring or dismissing it.

A Genuine Science-Based Debate About Near-Death Experiences?

_{Such a debate seems to be developing. It would make materialism much hard to just take for granted}_{Denyse O'Leary
July 23, 2026}

Explainaways protect the system from unwanted evidence by ignoring or dismissing it. But when the weight of such evidence grows, they stop sounding persuasive.

Get Smart: Neanderthals Progress from Brute to Beaut

_{Denyse O’Leary
July 23, 2026}

We must be ready to ask some questions about many of the evolution stories we have taken for granted.

Are Fictionbots Triumphing Over Writers?

_{At The Spectator, Geoff Bagwell tells us that AI is destined to destroy the creative writing industry as bots take writers’ jobs}_{Denyse O'Leary
July 21, 2026}

Reading for entertainment alone will become increasingly rare. I expect we will return to a culture where people who read are mainly looking for new ideas.

Do Cats Have Souls? Some Reflections

_{At the close of his article, Richard Stevens asks, “As humans have an immortal mind, might some animals have such a mind beyond biology, too?"}_{Denyse O'Leary
July 17, 2026}

We can’t do more than wonder but the main thing to see here is that the special position of humans might enable it.

So What Went Wrong With Wikipedia?

_{The whole business strikes some of us as a wildly Woke example of what can go wrong in an information society}_{Denyse O'Leary
July 16, 2026}

As an editor, I have often quietly substituted more reliable sources for information than Wikipedia when preparing various authors’ work for publication.

Sanger Banned by Wikipedia: Diagnosing a Disease

_{Denyse O’Leary
July 16, 2026}

Sanger became a Christian, which probably got him crossed off a lot of people’s Santa list. But how did he get banned?

Sweeping Europe, a Pagan Religion Has Daggers Out for This Technology

_{Denyse O’Leary
July 12, 2026}

A religion that sees humans as merely “an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet” would consider these unnecessary deaths hardly worth noticing.

Human Consciousness, from Mud to Mind?

_{Denyse O’Leary
July 6, 2026}

If human language — which is unlike any other communication in nature — evolved from something, we simply have no idea what that something is.

Consciousness is not a problem to be solved

_{It’s not even a problem that CAN be solved. It is an experience to be lived and it did not randomly evolve}_{Denyse O'Leary
July 5, 2026}

Consciousness is an immaterial creation given only to human beings to enable us to have a relationship with a higher power and to understand our universe better.

Speech, Laughter, and Intelligent Design

_{Denyse O’Leary
July 5, 2026}

A widely publicized thesis around ape and human laughter falls so woefully short that it forces an evaluation of other possibilities.