Today’s episode of ID The Future comes from our sister podcast Mind Matters News, a production of Discovery Institute's Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence.
On this episode of Mind Matters News, guest host Pat Flynn welcomes Dr. Winston Ewert to the show to discuss Ewert’s chapter in the volume Minding the Brain.
In his contribution, titled “The Human Mind’s Sophisticated Algorithm and Its Implications,” Dr. Ewert argues that the human mind’s problem-solving cognition can be modeled as a sophisticated algorithm. Ewert explains that any cognitive task can be expressed as a version of the halting problem from computer science, where an algorithm either halts or continues infinitely. He suggests that humans are able to solve a large and sophisticated subset of these problems, but are limited in the same way that no algorithm can solve all halting problems. Ewert contends that this algorithmic view of human cognition has implications that challenge reductive materialist and neo-Darwinian views, despite resistance from some thinkers who believe human abilities transcend any algorithm. Read More ›
Before we can ask whether the universe is designed, we should first ask if we can trust the minds we’re using to investigate it. On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid welcomes to the show science teacher and writer Rebekah Valerius to discuss an essay she recently penned unpacking the argument from reason and its implications for Darwinism, materialism, and atheism. This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation. Read More ›
Is the human body a cosmic accident, or is it the handiwork of a master engineer? Today on ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid begins a two-part conversation with physician Dr. Howard Glicksman, co-author with engineer Steve Laufmann of the new book Your Amazing Body, a fresh, abridged version of their previous book Your Designed Body. In Part 1 of the conversation, Dr. Glicksman begins by contrasting unguided material causes (Darwinism) with intentional intelligent causes, emphasizing that intelligent design better explains the intricate, interdependent coherence found within the human body. He argues that Darwinian evolution only describes how life looks, failing to explain the complex functional capacity, control systems, and engineering principles required for life to actually work and survive. This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation. Look for Part 2 in a separate episode. Visit www.idthefuture.com for more episodes! Read More ›
What if life isn’t just a collection of molecules bumping around? What if every living thing, from a single cell to a human being, is doing something much more surprising—processing information and communicating in complex, purposeful ways? On this episode of ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid begins a two-part conversation with Dr. Eric Hedin, a physicist and author who’s been asking bold questions about the hidden patterns of life. He’s argued recently that the way living systems handle information—and communicate—is more likely evidence of intelligent design, not blind, undirected processes. This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation. Read More ›
For decades, we’ve thought the control center of life lies in DNA. But a new scientific framework is emerging that challenges that idea, and suggests that vast portions of the genome are immaterial and lie outside the physical world. Today, physicist Dr. Brian Miller shares his perspective on the cutting-edge, potentially revolutionary research of mathematical biologist Dr. Richard Sternberg on the immaterial aspects of the genome. In this exchange, Dr. Miller shares several examples of the immaterial nature of life. These ideas point towards the earliest stages of the next great scientific revolution and have significant implications for the intelligent design debate. Read More ›
On this ID The Future, host Casey Luskin concludes a two-part conversation with Dr. Uditha Jayatunga, a medical doctor and consultant in rehabilitation medicine in the UK, about the challenges that biological complexity poses to evolutionary theory. Their chat is a helpful refresher on some of the biggest challenges to a Darwinian explanation for the origin and development of life on Earth. In Part 2, Dr. Jayatunga provides more examples of purposeful complexity from the animal world and unpacks the power and complexity of the human brain as evidence for intelligent design. This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation. Read More ›
