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

With AI, Anthropomorphism Is High Stakes; But It May Be as Old as the Human Race

_{Denyse O’Leary
October 5, 2026}

Such relationships can lead to delusional spirals, including marrying a bot. One man proposed to his bot when he feared it would run out of memory.

Seeing Chatbots as People Is Not New. Some See Cars That Way

_{It's actually a natural tendency but it certainly comes with risks}_{Denyse O'Leary
October 4, 2026}

Anthropomorphism has nothing to do with electronics as such. But there are new perils.

Does a Decline in Reading Mean a Decline in Thinking?

_{Thinking is natural to humans. But the current decline in reading may signal a worrisome decline in a particular TYPE of thinking}_{Denyse O'Leary
October 2, 2026}

If we reach the point where most people cannot muster the level of sustained attention needed to read a book, political changes unwelcome to many of us are inevitable.

Abandonment of Books Would Have Devastating Consequences

_{Denyse O’Leary
October 2, 2026}

If we reach the point where most people cannot muster that level of sustained attention, changes unwelcome to many of us are inevitable.

Prize-Winning French Author Accused of Using AI; Furor Erupts

_{The questions the story raises are mostly not about the End of Writing}_{Denyse O'Leary
September 29, 2026}

Why had no one tried using an AI detector on Orélien’s—and everyone else’s—work as a *condition of entry* into the writing contest?

In Science, Endless Competing Models Are a Warning Sign

_{Denyse O’Leary
September 29, 2026}

Some of us are old enough to remember when the origin of life was a question that science would answer — soon. But that was hundreds of promising theories ago.

Are They Nuts Down in the Valley? Or Just Pretending?

_{Preaching the machine god apocalypse sounds a bit much when the real problem is serious security lapses}_{Denyse O'Leary
September 28, 2026}

In addition to the Doomers, there is the AI rights crowd, worried that we will reduce intelligent AI agents to slavery.

Slime Smarts: These Brainless Blobs Are Brighter than You Thought

_{Denyse O’Leary
September 28, 2026}

Some want to claim that slime molds poses a threat to the idea that humans are exceptional.

Right Now, Science Seems To Be Growing Stale…

_{If we judge by the number of dead end controversies... And this is just when we might expect it to be booming}_{Denyse O'Leary
September 27, 2026}

Perhaps the endless theorizing with so little result reflects what chance can produce. If researchers ever felt they could risk trying design, we could see if more insight follows.

Slime Molds and the Growing Controversy Around “Intelligence”

_{How they solve problems with no brain, no nervous system, no conventional sense organs is creating challenges in defining intelligence}_{Denyse O'Leary
September 26, 2026}

Instead of claiming, like the eliminationist, that neither humans nor slime molds are really intelligent, the panpsychist will claim that they both are — and then minimize the difference between them.

Next Big Thing Is… Privacy Rights for Animals?

_{Denyse O’Leary
September 24, 2026}

If we came across chimpanzee cave paintings, we would, of course, reconsider. But the thing is, we don’t.

Is Talking to Animals Really AI’s “Next Ethical Minefield”?

_{Curiously, the Bloomberg article focuses not on the potential for new understanding of animals but the risks that that understanding is thought to pose}_{Denyse O'Leary
September 23, 2026}

Some researchers seem to think that communicating with animals via AI will show that they have minds like human ones. But their behavior does not suggest that.

Scholars’ Mag Offers Sympathetic Review of Non-Materialist Books

_{The books are Antony Flew’s There is a God and Michael Egnor’s The Immortal Mind. Unusually for these times, NAS’s mag listens to both sides}_{Denyse O'Leary
September 20, 2026}

Materialists cannot apply common standards for assessing evidence because they must refute all evidence of non-materialism. That makes them hard to argue with.

Isn’t the AI March of Dooms Getting a Bit Ridiculous Now?

_{The recent military incident of concern stemmed from an analyst relying on a hallucinating chatbot — surely an avoidable error}_{Denyse O'Leary
September 19, 2026}

In an interesting cultural development, it’s easy to find people on the left and the right who are skeptical of the Doomers’ motives.

As Scholars Use AI To Write Papers, Are They Courting Doom?

_{Questions arise like, what even IS an author? Why does authorship matter? Why should students learn to write? And who needs scholars?}_{Denyse O'Leary
September 15, 2026}

If academic papers in a discipline can be mostly AI written, why credential scholars anyway? Perhaps the discipline itself is obsolete.

Those Demons at the Core – a Novel

_{Dr. Geoffrey Simmons’s taut new thriller, Oppenheimer’s Demon, envisions a nuclear threat aimed at the city}_{Denyse O'Leary
September 11, 2026}

Simmons is, among other things, a disaster preparedness expert. He portrays the growing panic in and around Chicago as word of a potential nuclear blast leaks out.

Those Demons at the Core: Taut New Thriller by Geoffrey Simmons

_{Denyse O’Leary
September 11, 2026}

Author Simmons is, among other things, a disaster preparedness expert. The outcome here would make 9/11 seem negligible.

Unexpected: Plants Undermine Materialist Consciousness Theory?

_{Plant scientist Calvo’s critique of neuron-based theories appears not to be hippie panpsychism; he is asking hard science questions}_{Denyse O'Leary
September 10, 2026}

If cognition can exist without a specific material substrate, one possible implication is that an underlying force seeks expression by whatever means are available.

Return of the Lizard Brain? It Seems Not

_{Denyse O’Leary
September 10, 2026}

It’s easy to see why people might latch onto the idea of a reptilian brain as an explainer, or an explainaway, for complex topics.

Data Centers Challenge Our Usual Politics — Will They Change It?

_{True, they use a lot of energy. But much of the controversy seems to suggest a shift in the political landscape}_{Denyse O'Leary
September 9, 2026}

This year, Harvard Magazine featured an article that asserts that the Democrats have lost key tech industry endorsements. Let's see if that matters.