Humanize

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 …

Will “Nature” Sue to Prevent Mining of Huge Lithium Deposit?

_{Wesley J. Smith
January 9, 2025
3
Nature and Conservation}

Here’s the good news. A massive deposit of lithium has been discovered on the border of Oregon and Nevada. From the OilPrice.com story: A massive new lithium discovery on the border between Oregan and Nevada could supercharge the country’s white-gold rush. It is estimated that the newly discovered reserves under the ancient McDermitt Caldera holds a whopping 40 million metric tons of lithium. The scale of this deposit is extraordinary, “dwarfing other reserves worldwide.” Just last year, lithium producers were thrilled to find a reserve of 4 million metric tons of lithium in the Smackover Formation, a geologic formation that spans the width of Arkansas. Next to the McDermitt Caldera, that now seems a paltry sum. This deposit could obliterate China’s …

Medical Journal Articles Urge Same Health Care Coverage for Illegal Aliens as Citizens

_{Wesley J. Smith
January 6, 2025
5
Health Care}

The latest New England Journal of Medicine contains two advocacy articles that essentially argue that the country should provide health care for illegal immigrants, no questions asked. The first, discusses the 1.1 million elderly people with no legal right to be here, who as a result, do not qualify for Medicare or federal Medicaid funding, which the authors call “dual ineligibility.” The article argues that these illegal residents should be covered by Medicare if they paid taxes, but realizing that is a political nonstarter, urge a combination of strategies. These range from states authorizing payments under Medicaid, to funding community health centers, to illegal elders being covered by their legal adult children’s health insurance. But what the authors really …

Assisted-Suicide Death Ceremonies Becoming Normalized

_{Wesley J. Smith
January 2, 2025
3
Euthanasia}

Back in 1991 or so, I was invited by an elderly and ill suicidal friend — along with about 20 of her other pals — to gather in her apartment for a suicide party. Frances' idea was that she would tell us how much we meant to her, we would reciprocate, and she would swallow pills. Instead, all her friends were appalled and held an intervention.

High U.N. Official Supports “Nature Rights” and Environmental Lawfare

_{Wesley J. Smith
December 31, 2024
3
Nature and Conservation}

The assistant secretary general of the U.S., Kanni Wignaraja, wants “nature” to go to court so that tribunals can set environmental policy for the world. From her “Nature Goes to Court,” published by the U.N. Development Programme (of which she is a regional director): Nature is taking the stand as courtrooms worldwide become battlegrounds for Earth’s rights. The rise in climate litigation shows how the environment can take centre stage as a plaintiff, demanding justice and accountability, benefiting us all. . . . Good grief. “Nature” would not be “going to court” or doing anything as viruses, geological features, flora and fauna would be utterly oblivious of the proceedings. What Wignaraja really means is that people who …

Only Feminism Can Prevent Global Warming

_{Wesley J. Smith
December 28, 2024
4
Uncategorized}

About a month ago, some bioethicists claimed that bioethics should prevent climate change. My eyes had finally stopped rolling when lo and behold, I learn from three UN Women researchers — in Scientific American, no less — that feminism holds the real key to preventing the planet from cooking. As you would expect, the opinion piece is a godawful mess that attacks capitalism and the use of fossil fuels, in other words, its authors disdain prosperity. From “How Feminism Can Guide Climate Change Action:” The current economic system that underpins that status quo is rooted in the extraction of natural resources and exploitation of cheap or unpaid labor, often done by women and marginalized communities. This system therefore drives the climate crisis while perpetuating …

Basta! Italy’s National Bioethics Committee Urges Blocking Puberty Blockers

_{Wesley J. Smith
December 21, 2024
2
Transgenderism}

The tide is really turning against the gender ideologues who advocate experimenting on the bodies of children as a supposedly “medically necessary” treatment. Now, Italy’s National Bioethics Committee has recommended substantially ending the use of puberty-blocking drugs as a “treatment” for childhood gender confusion. From the Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine’s press release: The November 2024 guidance states that puberty blockers should only be provided after mental health interventions failed, and only in the context of proper research trials. The CNB’s key recommendations are: Puberty blocker prescriptions for gender dysphoria should occur only after the documented failure of psychotherapy or psychiatric interventions. All clinical assessments …

Study: Climate Change Causing More Deaths in USA . . . from Cold?

_{Wesley J. Smith
December 20, 2024
2
Nature and Conservation}

We keep hearing that climate change is increasing heat deaths (and migration, wars, hunger, thirst, and every other bad thing under the sun). But Bjorn Lomborg frequently points out that many more people die from cold than heat. Now, a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association tells us climate change caused increasing cold-caused deaths in the USA. From “Cold-Related Deaths in the U.S.”: Although mean temperatures are increasing in the US, studies have found that climate change has been linked with more frequent episodes of severe winter weather in the US over the past few decades, which may in turn be associated with increased cold-related mortality. But winters are growing increasingly mild. At least, that was the story last year. From a CNN …

Pig-to-Human Kidney Transplant Offers Hope — and an Ethical Solution

_{Wesley J. Smith
December 18, 2024
4
Health Care}

With so many people on the organ transplant waiting list, the ethics of organ donation have begun to buckle. Euthanasia has been conjoined with organ harvesting in Canada, Belgium, Netherlands, and Spain. Efforts are under way to permit people to sell one kidney and parts of their liver to supplement philanthropic donations. A procedure is now in use by which, prior to organ procurement, a donor’s heart is restarted and blood flow to the brain is cut off — which would seem to suggest that doctors are causing brain death. China has a black market in organs supplied by the killing of Falun Gong prisoners and other political dissidents. Presumed consent proposals are being proffered, for example in Spain, that would require people to opt out of donation rather than …

NYT Column: Factory Farms Are Good for People and the Planet

_{Wesley J. Smith
December 17, 2024
5
Human Flourishing}

We hear a lot from environmentalists, animal rights activists, and just plain caring people about the supposed evils of industrial farming. Neo-Luddites throw tantrums about GMOs, for example. And many commenters — including in these pages — lament the conditions in which meat animals and egg-laying hens are raised. Those are certainly legitimate concerns worthy of investigation and debate. But we also need to focus on the tremendous good humans receive from having bountiful, affordable, and nutritious food supplies, which would seem to require at least some industrial methods to achieve. Indeed, until now, these and other benefits humans receive from industrial agriculture and so-called factory farms seem to be one of those hot potato topics that we are not allowed to …

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Podcast

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

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

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 …

Daniel Carcillo on Psychedelics as a Treatment for Depression and Traumatic Brain Injury

_{Daniel Carcillo
November 11, 2024
3}

People with serious mental health issues often face years, if not a lifetime, of debilitating symptoms. These traumas can sometimes be difficult to treat, much less cure. And that has some people looking for new avenues of care beyond standard medicines, including — controversially — psychedelic substances such as Psilocybin, LSD, and the like. Enthusiasts believe that these substances offer so much hope that they are devoting their lives and careers to this burgeoning field of care. One of these is former professional hockey star, Daniel Carcillo — a 2-time Stanley Cup winner with the Chicago Blackhawks — who was diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome and traumatic brain injury (TBI) following his 10-year career in the NHL. After years of suffering from neurological issues, …

Dr. Keri D. Ingraham on the Most Important Issues in American K-12 Education

_{Dr. Keri Ingraham
October 28, 2024
2}

It’s no secret that American education is experiencing a profound crisis. Many of our children can’t read, do mathematics, or learn basic life skills. At the same time, many accuse the education establishment of imposing radical ideological views on children such as gender ideology and anti-Americanism. The good news is that concerted efforts are underway to reform education to better equip children for adulthood and to be productive members of society. My colleague at Discovery Institute — Dr. Keri D. Ingraham, Director of the American Center for Transforming Education — has followed these developments closely and has learned opinions about what has gone wrong in education, what is working, and what should be done to improve the system. So, I asked her back to …

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