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

What Is Consciousness For? Sixteen Theories Take a Crack at the Question

_{Denyse O’Leary
May 16, 2026}

It sounds like we do not really know what we are looking for, which will doubtless complicate efforts to find it.

Hello, Materialists, Let’s Weigh and Measure the Mind

_{Denyse O’Leary
May 15, 2026}

A recent review of our book provides a chances to reflect on mind verus matter — and materialism.

What Is Consciousness Actually Supposed To Do?

_{The Royal Society offers sixteen theories of the evolutionary function of consciousness. The trouble is, it's not clear what consciousness even is}_{Denyse O'Leary
May 14, 2026}

Some of the theories of animal mind are interesting but no one really has any idea how consciousness originated.

Orwell: Totalitarianism Starts As an Internal Mental State

_{While the scene has certainly changed in the last eighty years, the effort to control information is still vigorous}_{Denyse O'Leary
May 10, 2026}

On Saturday, I looked at Matt Johnson’s thoughts on George Orwell’s vital but comparatively unknown 1946 essay, “The Prevention of Literature.” Orwell, famous for Animal Farm (1945) and Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), wanted to “make political writing into an art.” Image Credit: Igor Nikushin - Adobe Stock He was well aware that most competitors for public attention simply wanted to make political writing a reliable form of mass brainwashing. He hoped to find a public that sought an alternative. He published “Prevention” (longish, at 5500 words) in Polemic, a short-lived British intellectual magazine (1945–47), which featured work by such notables as Henry Miller, Bertrand Russell, A. J. Ayer, and Dylan Thomas. Intellectual freedom as …

The Surest Way to Squelch Intellectual Freedom: Make It Impossible

_{As reading and writing skills plummet, the chatbot may turn out to be a bigger enemy of intellectual freedom than the censor}_{Denyse O'Leary
May 9, 2026}

Automated writing leads to a decline in intellectual skills for the same reasons as automated walking would lead to a decline in motor skills.

How Much Does the Mind Weigh? How Long Is It?

_{A recent article at Popular Mechanics provides a chance to reflect on mind vs. matter — and materialism}_{Denyse O'Leary
May 4, 2026}

People are entitled to their own definitions of materialism, of course. But once we focus on a standard one, we see that it is false to the reality of the human mind.

Do Brain-Jolts Really Explain Near-Death Experiences?

_{Denyse O’Leary
May 4, 2026}

One change I have noticed recently is that science writers seem a bit more careful with the topic than they used to be.

Who Expected Richard Dawkins To Blow Up Darwinism?

_{To the astonishment and dismay of a computer pro who once admired him, Dawkins, who has a materialist view of human consciousness, has convinced himself that a chatbot is conscious}_{Denyse O'Leary
May 3, 2026}

If this is what happens when people think that human consciousness has a purely material evolutionary origin, it is a strong argument for the opposite view.

Near-Death Experiences: Do Brain Jolts Really Explain Them?

_{In the wake of evidence for changed lives, attempts to debunk NDEs as “just this or that” are starting to sound less certain}_{Denyse O'Leary
May 1, 2026}

Materialist theories intended to explain away NDEs need only sound plausible and scientific; they need not enlighten. A new one will be along shortly anyway.

How Do You Cram the Universe Into A Story — and Keep it Focused?

_{Philosopher Stephen Meyer narrates the film but never gets in the story’s way}_{Denyse O'Leary
April 29, 2026}

At last, the end of materialism escapes the lecture room; it becomes a story about real people in real time in the midst of a civilizational struggle.

Toward a True — and Also Scientific — Picture of the Human Mind

_{Alexander Batthyány offers a personal anecdote about Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist Sir John Eccles that might help point the way}_{Denyse O'Leary
February 8, 2026}

Batthyány also expressed concern that a non-material/spiritual understanding of topics like terminal lucidity risks being taken over today by New Age nonsense.

The Thin Spaces of Our Lives Where Strange Things Do Happen

_{Denyse O'Leary
February 7, 2026}

In the discussion with Batthyány, Egnor suggested that people who inexplicably become more lucid near death are drawing closer to the light of God.

Consciousness… a Computer or a Magnifying Glass?

_{At ID the Future, Egnor and Batthyány offer some further thoughts on the ongoing mystery: How does the human mind clear at the point of death?}_{Denyse O'Leary
February 6, 2026}

Neither shortage of oxygen nor the presence of relatives account for the sudden release from confusion or dementia.

How Sudden Lucidity at Death Became a Science Topic

_{Psychologist Alexander Batthyány and neurosurgeon Michael Egnor discuss the implications of clear consciousness despite deadly illness}_{Denyse O'Leary
February 3, 2026}

Serious research on terminal lucidity will immensely damage the sort of materialism that Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker champions.

Free Will vs. the Totalitarian Temptation

_{Denyse O’Leary
January 3, 2026}

If our thoughts and choices really are wholly determined, well then what follows?

Free Will vs. the Totalitarian Temptation

_{If our thoughts and choices really are wholly determined, what follows?}_{Denyse O'Leary
December 19, 2025}

Pundits and politicians alike are tempted by the idea that, if there are no higher powers or greater realities to answer to, they can force people to fulfil their visions with impunity.

Does Quantum Mechanics Help Make Sense of the Soul?

_{Denyse O’Leary
November 29, 2025}

Quantum mechanics seems to be the game-changer that Albert Einstein (1879–1955) feared it would be. It is certain to liven up discussions about the soul.

Skeptic Michael Shermer’s Non-Vision of the Soul

_{Denyse O’Leary
November 28, 2025}

Responding to Michael Egnor at COSM 2025, he said that the soul is an explanation but not a good explanation for our relationship to our bodies.

Does Quantum Mechanics Help Us Make Sense of the Soul?

_{Quantum mechanics seems to be the game-changer that Albert Einstein (1879–1955) feared it would be. It is certain to liven up discussions about the soul}_{Denyse O'Leary
November 27, 2025}

Shermer told Mind Matters News after the event that he would bump up his credence in the existence of souls from 1% to 2% out of 99%.

Skeptic Michael Shermer’s (Non)-Vision of the Soul

_{Responding to Michael Egnor at COSM 2025, he said that the soul is an explanation but not a good explanation for our relationship to our bodies}_{Denyse O'Leary
November 26, 2025}

He sees words like “mind” and “soul” as just linguistic placeholders until we have a fully material explanation for how we function.