Humanize

Defining an Ape Theory of Mind Into Existence

_{Denyse O'Leary
February 19, 2025
6
Human Exceptionalism}

At ZME Science, founder Mihai Andrei tells us that recent research shows that bonobos have a theory of mind. That is, they have ideas about what other life forms are thinking. He goes further: That means humans are not nearly as exceptional as we think: For centuries, we’ve thought we were unique amongst the animals on Earth. But the more researchers study other species, the more we realize that we’re probably not as special as we once thought. For instance, one ability once thought distinctly human was recognizing when someone else lacks information. “Bonobos Know When You’re Clueless — Their Theory of Mind Explains Why,” February 3. 2025 Stop here for a minute Is it true that “recognizing when someone else lacks information” has been thought to be a …

Vice President Vance Defends Human Exceptionalism at Munich

_{Wesley J. Smith
February 18, 2025
3
Human Exceptionalism}

Vice President JD Vance made news in Munich by accusing the European political elite of not really believing in democracy. But another line stood out for me that I think is also worth noting. Vance defended the unique dignity of human life. From the speech: Contrary to what you might hear a couple mountains over in Davos, the citizens of all of our nations don’t generally think of themselves as educated animals or as interchangeable cogs of a global economy. It’s just one sentence in a 20-minute speech. But I think it is important and urge the vice president to expand upon that thought because human exceptionalism is under increasing attack by some of society’s most powerful political and cultural forces. For example: Mainstream bioethics predominately claims that the …

Washington Bill to Allow Non-MD-Prescribed Assisted Suicide and to Shorten Waiting Period

_{Wesley J. Smith
February 17, 2025
2
Euthanasia}

I previously wrote about pending Oregon and Vermont legislation to do away with the requirement that only doctors be allowed to legally assist suicides. Now, it’s Washington’s turn, with a proposal to allow “qualified medical providers” to prescribe poison, defined as a licensed physician, physician’s assistant, or advanced practice registered nurse. I previously opined about why I think this is a very bad idea, so I won’t belabor the points further. The Washington bill also speeds up the waiting period between the first and second request for poison pills for some suicidal patients: Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section, if, at the time of the qualified patient’s initial oral request in subsection (1) of this section, the attending …

Oregon Bill Would Also Allow Nondoctors to Prescribe Assisted Suicide

_{Wesley J. Smith
February 13, 2025
3
Euthanasia}

Yesterday, I posted about a Vermont bill that would allow nondoctors to prescribe death. I found out today that Oregon has similar legislation pending that would allow “providers” to lethally prescribe. SB 1003 specifies that “provider” can mean a licensed physician, a licensed physician assistant, or a licensed nurse practitioner. I wouldn’t trust a PA or NP to diagnose me with six months to live. Would you? That is not a putdown. These valuable medical professionals’ primary roles are to provide generalized care, monitor and manage chronic conditions, and provide wellness services. But they are not physicians. They receive less education and specialized training as compared with physician-certified specialists like cardiologists, oncologists, …

Vermont Bill Would Allow Nondoctors to Prescribe Assisted Suicide

_{Wesley J. Smith
February 13, 2025
2
Euthanasia}

Vermont has repeatedly expanded its assisted suicide law since it first passed. Nonresidents are allowed to receive lethal prescriptions, and assisted suicide can be prescribed via Zoom or Skype. Now, a bill has been filed that would allow nondoctor “clinicians” to prescribe death. From H.B. 75: This bill proposes to authorize naturopathic physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants to participate in the processes established in Vermont’s patient choice at end-of-life laws. It would also allow naturopathic physicians to sign and issue do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders and clinician orders for life-sustaining treatment. In other words, a suicidal patient would be able to access poison pills without ever seeing a doctor or having an in-person consultation or …

Bioethicist Urges Hospitals to Defy ICE

_{Wesley J. Smith
February 12, 2025
4
Bioethics}

Mainstream bioethics discourse is often just progressive politics by a higher-brow name. Now, the Hastings Center — the world’s most influential bioethics think tank — has published an advocacy essay by Loyola University bioethicist Mark G. Kuczewski, who urges his colleagues to convince hospital administrators to thwart the attempts of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to arrest illegal aliens at their institutions. Kuczewski laments the “fear” that the enforcement of immigration law is supposedly instilling in “immigrant communities,” somehow forgetting to note that whom he is really discussing are not immigrants in general but those here illegally. From “Supporting Patients and Students Who Are Immigrants: What to Do and Why Most Bioethicists …

Montana Senate Passes Bill That Would Make Physician-Assisted Suicide Illegal

_{Wesley J. Smith
February 10, 2025
3
Euthanasia}

Pro-assisted-suicide activists like to say the unethical act is legal in Montana. Strictly speaking, that isn’t true. Some years ago, a muddled Montana supreme court ruling refused to create a state constitutional right to assisted suicide as requested by activists because the Montana constitution’s legislative history made it clear that the court couldn’t. But wanting to legalize it anyway, the judges declared somehow that assisted suicide wasn’t against public policy of the state and that consent to such an act was a defense to a criminal charge. Montana has been in that muddled legal state ever since, with attempts to either explicitly legalize or criminalize assisted suicide unable to get to the governor’s desk. Now, the Montana senate has moved the anti-assisted-suicide …

The “Wisdom of Indigenous People” Would Make Environmental Science Less Scientific

_{Wesley J. Smith
February 10, 2025
4
Nature and Conservation}

Environmentalism is becoming increasingly irrational and unscientific. The “nature rights” movement, for example, has convinced governments and judges to assign personhood, “rights,” and, laughably, even “responsibilities” to geological features. Concomitantly, the increasing advocacy in many scientific papers to “listen to the wisdom of indigenous people” in determining environmental policies reflects this ongoing shift away from empiricism in environmental research and advocacy. Yes, indigenous people were and are keen observers of nature and live more softly on the land. But relying on “indigenous wisdom” to craft environmental policies suitable to the needs of modern societies makes little sense. Many of their practices were …

Ira Byock, M.D., on the Crisis in Hospice Care

_{Ira Byock
February 10, 2025
2}

The creation of the modern hospice movement was a major advance in the care for people with terminal illnesses. Alas, in recent years, hospice has entered something of a crisis, with too many facilities offering inadequate care and some patients receiving short shrift of services to which they are entitled. To get to the bottom of the problem, Wesley invited one of the movement’s leading lights, Dr. Ira Byock, to discuss what has gone wrong with hospice and what can be done about it. Ira Byock, M.D., F.A.A.H.P.M., is a leading medical authority, author, and public advocate for improving care for people living with serious medical conditions. He is an active emeritus professor of medicine and community & family medicine at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine. He earned …

JAMA Article Pushes for Over-the-Counter Abortion Pills

_{Wesley J. Smith
February 5, 2025
4
Abortion}

Taking abortion pills can lead to dangerous side effects, perhaps even death. Which is why the process of chemical abortion — called “medical” by pro-abortion advocates — is supposed to occur only under the guidance of a doctor. Indeed, post-Dobbs, women died because of improperly supervised chemical abortions, wrongly blamed by the media and pro-abortion advocates on pro-life laws. But the medical establishment is so invested in unlimited abortion that JAMA Internal Medicine just published an advocacy article calling for the two drugs used in chemical abortions to be available over the counter: A growing body of evidence indicates that mifepristone and misoprostol meet the FDA’s criteria for OTC sale. The medications are not addictive, and the user determines on …

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Ira Byock, M.D., on the Crisis in Hospice Care

_{Ira Byock
February 10, 2025
2}

Former CDC Director Robert R. Redfield on Viruses, Vaccines, the COVID Epidemic, and Distrust in Public Health

_{Robert R. Redfield
January 27, 2025
2}

The public health sector has been roiled by controversy and political turmoil in the last few years, what with the COVID pandemic, the fight over vaccine mandates, and questions about politicization of the sector. Beyond that, viruses make the news like never before. So, Wesley turned to an expert in both fields to learn more about virology, the government’s response to COVID, and the potential threat of bird flu. Robert R. Redfield, M.D., is a virologist. He has been a public health leader actively engaged in clinical research and clinical care of chronic human viral infections and infectious diseases, especially HIV, for more than 30 years. From 2018-2021, Dr. Redfield served as the 18th Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) and …

Is There a Difference Between “Mind” and “Brain”?

_{Brian R. Krouse, Angus J. Menuge, and Michael R. Egnor
January 13, 2025
2}

What is the “mind”? Is it a pure product of raw brain activity? Or, is it something “other” — that can be experienced, but not measured, observed but not fully defined? Does free will exist? Are our brains just so many meat computers? A new anthology, Minding the Brain, explores these and related issues in depth — both from philosophical and scientific viewpoints — explaining how and why “mind” and “brain” are distinct things. Three of the contributors to the book — all Discovery Institute colleagues — join Wesley on Humanize to discuss this fascinating topic. Editor and Contributor Brian R. Krouse is a software engineer with research interests in the philosophy of the mind, computer science, and neuroscience. He has a …

Dr. Kristin M. Collier on the Importance of Recognizing the Patient as a “Person”

_{Dr. Kristin M. Collier
December 16, 2024
2}

Medicine and healthcare have become one of the most contentious sectors of modern society. Doctors have greater scientific knowledge with which to help patients than at any time in history. But at the same time, the field seems to be heading in a more crassly technocratic direction, in which the human being seeking care may become lost in the attempt to heal the patient’s bodily systems. One doctor is working to return medicine to its more humane roots. Kristin M. Collier, MD, FACP is an associate professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she serves as the director of the University of Michigan Medical School Program on Health, Spirituality and Religion. She is also an associate program director of the Internal Medicine Residency …

Nina Shea on the Persecution of the Catholic Church in China

_{Nina Shea
December 2, 2024
2}

Religious persecution continues to afflict the world. Anti-Semitism abounds. Certain Islamic countries suppress minority faiths while Muslims face persecution in countries like India. Non-Orthodox Christians are persecuted in Russia, while some American Christians claim that they are discriminated against because of living out their faith precepts. In this episode of Humanize, Wesley focuses on the suppression of the Catholic Church in Communist China. Making her second appearance on the podcast, Wesley’s guest is one of the most informed persons in the world about these egregious human rights abuses. Nina Shea is a senior fellow and director of the Center for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute. Ms. Shea has been a human rights lawyer for nearly 40 years. She works …

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