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

Not This Again?! The Lizard Brain Is Back? Wait. It’s NOT Back…

_{A useful item from Georgia Tech examines the claim that an ancient lizard brain controls our emotions}_{Denyse O'Leary
September 5, 2026}

It’s easy to see why people might latch onto the idea of a reptilian brain as an explainer for complex topics. But the neuroscience underpinning it is just not that persuasive.

Overhyping the Mind-Body Interaction Problem

_{Denyse O’Leary
September 4, 2026}

Eliminative materialism is best seen as a nice try at cementing materialism in a world where it faces mounting serious challenges.

Trends: Eminent Journal Nature Gets Community-Noted (!) at X

_{The critics of its Jason Arday editorial are the very people who would once have gone to bat for Nature and similar journals}_{Denyse O'Leary
September 3, 2026}

Community notes are usually the fate of people who pass on debunked or fake news. But Nature took that risk with its surprising approach to the Jason Arday tragedy/scandal.

The Mind–Body “Interaction Problem” Is Desperately Overhyped

_{Why would our mental states NOT be "causally relevant" to the way we behave?}_{Denyse O'Leary
August 30, 2026}

The universe contradicts the eliminativist point of view. The laws that govern it are not physical things but they are real.

Elite Publisher Pulls Book Due to Fake Quote

_{The quote, in a New York University Press book, originates in a series of misrepresentations of something a Lehigh University biochemist had written}_{Denyse O'Leary
August 27, 2026}

The challenge, moving on, is that better scholarship means listening to those who challenge conventional ideas instead of serially editing them.

Prebunking: “Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain”

_{We know we are living in a changing world, when Europe is striving to be China}_{Denyse O'Leary
August 26, 2026}

At the Brussels Signal, tech analyst Norman Lewis has been discussing a form of indoctrination that is becoming increasingly popular in the European Union, and doubtless elsewhere: prebunking — “a preventative measure that aims to prepare audiences to recognize and resist information risks.” (UNHCR) Prebunking is beloved of bureaucrats and you will hear a great deal about what a good thing it is from many sources — sources that should, under the circumstances, give pause for thought: ● “What Is Prebunking? It’s better to inoculate against disinformation than to debunk later.” (Psychology Today, 2021) ● “False information is everywhere. ‘Pre-bunking’ tries to head it off early” (NPR, 2022) ● “What is Pre-Bunking: The Power of …

How Can We Make Sense of Claims for Plant Consciousness?

_{Plants are cognitive but consciousness means something rather larger than cognitive}_{Denyse O'Leary
August 25, 2026}

Computers are not conscious simply because they are programmed to make decisions; plants are likely in the same position.

Evolutionary Lens Deterred Scientists from Considering Plant Cognition

_{Denyse O’Leary
August 25, 2026}

It’s a familiar concept: the long, slow march from mud to mind meant that only toward the upper tier would we find such developments as cognition.

How Our Tech-Obsessed Age Responds to Grief: Grieftech

_{Just when we thought that the chatbot craze couldn’t get crazier — departed loved ones get uploaded as chatbots}_{Denyse O'Leary
August 22, 2026}

Grieftech poses genuine problems when avatars seem to keep the deceased unchanged in a changing world — or change just when we want them to.

Is Evolution Theory Canceling Itself? If So, It’s Not Alone

_{Darwinian biology, along with other areas of science, seems much less sure of itself today}_{Denyse O'Leary
August 21, 2026}

New information suggests that basic assumptions underlying many disciplines may be inadequate or mistaken. How they respond will predict their future.

AI: A Boon or a Bane? Misunderstood, or Misused?

_{Pew Research finds that young people are losing faith in a glorious AI future. They have a point but...}_{Denyse O'Leary
August 19, 2026}

When the young people inherit the world, they can start getting tough with misuse and abuse but first they should take the time to learn how it works.

What if the Brain Is a Filter?

_{Denyse O’Leary
August 17, 2026}

The idea would provides insight into one of the most significant characteristics of near-death experiences, the extraordinary lucidity that experiencers report.

Hotter water? Neuroscientist Christof Koch plans to study NDEs

_{Having survived an effort to Cancel him, he makes no further commitment to a conventional materialist view}_{Denyse O'Leary
August 16, 2026}

Koch might wish to consider William James’s neglected theory of consciousness: the brain does not create the mind; it focuses it.

Human Evolution Needs Subhumans, and Needs Them Badly

_{Denyse O’Leary
August 15, 2026}

Excavation of Neanderthal and other sites is leveling even further the fabled Ascent of Man.

Human Evolution Needs Subhumans, and Needs Them Badly

_{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.”