The entire universe may have an internal mind—or the whole idea of consciousness could be a sham. Here’s why scientists still ...

Evolution often examines animals on an individualistic level, but more modern ideas explore how evolution can impact genetics and cultures and societies. A new paper from two U.K. neuropsychologists ...

Is the “stoned ape theory” of human consciousness valid? This is the hypothesis that consuming psychedelic mushrooms played a major role in the evolution of human consciousness. It was put forth by ...

From the vantage point of the Unified Theory Of Knowledge (UTOK), we can frame the root of many modern philosophical confusions via the "Enlightenment Gap." This refers to the fact that the ...

In his book "One Hand Clapping: Unraveling the Mystery of the Human Mind" (Prometheus/Swift Press, 2025), New York University neuroscientist Nikolay Kukushkin traces the evolution of human ...

After recently writing about Singularity in this column, I felt it was time to address the elephant in the room – the difference between Artificial Intelligence and Human Consciousness in the Age of ...

An image generated by prompts to Google Gemini. (Courtesy of Joe Nalven) This column was composed in part by incorporating responses from a large-language model, a type of artificial intelligence ...

PBS NC helps your community explore new worlds and ideas through programs that educate, inform and inspire. Your ...

Ken Wilber is an American philosopher and writer who is best known for his work on the subject of integral theory. This is a ...

About 300,000 years ago, an early human was foraging for food in an expanse of grassland. She spied a cluster of mushrooms ...

Re “What Is It Like to Be a Computer?,” by Barbara Gail Montero (Opinion guest essay, Nov. 10): Dr. Montero’s essay argues that artificial intelligence may one day become conscious. But I wonder if ...