Collosum
@collosum.bsky.social
Collosum is a space for exploring the science of mind—through books, articles, and ideas at the intersection of philosophy, psychology, and cognitive science.
Mapping the Mind #6
What's new in the science of mind?
open.substack.com
February 5, 2026 at 6:07 PM
"The minimization of prediction error in real brains and real bodies is a continuous dynamical process that is likely inseparable from its material basis, rather than a meat-implemented algorithm existing in a pristine universe of symbol and sequence."
www.noemamag.com/only-what-is...
www.noemamag.com/only-what-is...
Only What Is Alive Can Be Conscious | NOEMA
Artificial intelligence doesn’t meet the test.
www.noemamag.com
January 31, 2026 at 4:29 PM
"The minimization of prediction error in real brains and real bodies is a continuous dynamical process that is likely inseparable from its material basis, rather than a meat-implemented algorithm existing in a pristine universe of symbol and sequence."
www.noemamag.com/only-what-is...
www.noemamag.com/only-what-is...
"New experiments reveal how astrocytes tune neuronal activity to modulate our mental and emotional states. The results suggest that neuron-only brain models, such as connectomes, leave out a crucial layer of regulation."
www.quantamagazine.org/once-thought...
www.quantamagazine.org/once-thought...
Once Thought To Support Neurons, Astrocytes Turn Out To Be in Charge | Quanta Magazine
New experiments reveal how astrocytes tune neuronal activity to modulate our mental and emotional states. The results suggest that neuron-only brain models, such as connectomes, leave out a crucial la...
www.quantamagazine.org
January 31, 2026 at 12:51 PM
"New experiments reveal how astrocytes tune neuronal activity to modulate our mental and emotional states. The results suggest that neuron-only brain models, such as connectomes, leave out a crucial layer of regulation."
www.quantamagazine.org/once-thought...
www.quantamagazine.org/once-thought...
Free will: real, illusory, or something in between?
Here’s a curated list of the best books on free will—spanning philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience.
collosum.co/best-books-o...
Here’s a curated list of the best books on free will—spanning philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience.
collosum.co/best-books-o...
The Best Books on Free Will - COLLOSUM
A curated list of the best books on free will, from classical philosophy to modern neuroscience and psychology.
collosum.co
January 19, 2026 at 3:43 PM
Free will: real, illusory, or something in between?
Here’s a curated list of the best books on free will—spanning philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience.
collosum.co/best-books-o...
Here’s a curated list of the best books on free will—spanning philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience.
collosum.co/best-books-o...
"LLMs know so much, and are good at tests. They are intelligent [...] But a human baby is learning all the time, and consciousness might be much more linked to the process of learning than its endpoint of intelligence."
www.theintrinsicperspective.com/p/proving-li...
www.theintrinsicperspective.com/p/proving-li...
Proving (literally) that ChatGPT isn't conscious
There is nothing it is like to be a Large Language Model
www.theintrinsicperspective.com
January 16, 2026 at 11:39 AM
"LLMs know so much, and are good at tests. They are intelligent [...] But a human baby is learning all the time, and consciousness might be much more linked to the process of learning than its endpoint of intelligence."
www.theintrinsicperspective.com/p/proving-li...
www.theintrinsicperspective.com/p/proving-li...
Reposted by Collosum
ICYMI: My column for @chemistryworld.com on the challenges of definitions of life, and why I don't think replication is the big deal it's usually made out to be. Those are mules, by the way.
www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/arch...
www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/arch...
Archaeon’s lack of metabolism challenges definitions of life
A question that is not the same as asking whether something is alive
www.chemistryworld.com
January 14, 2026 at 9:01 AM
ICYMI: My column for @chemistryworld.com on the challenges of definitions of life, and why I don't think replication is the big deal it's usually made out to be. Those are mules, by the way.
www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/arch...
www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/arch...
Reposted by Collosum
Cartoon by Ryan James Terry, Philosophy Now Issue 164 #philosophyofmind #Philosophy
December 3, 2024 at 4:32 PM
Cartoon by Ryan James Terry, Philosophy Now Issue 164 #philosophyofmind #Philosophy
We draw a sharp line between humans and other animals, but philosophy and neuroscience keep blurring it. If animals have inner lives, denying them moral consideration becomes harder to justify.
collosum.co/animal-consc...
#AnimalConsciousness #ethics #philosophyofmind #consciousness #morality
collosum.co/animal-consc...
#AnimalConsciousness #ethics #philosophyofmind #consciousness #morality
Searching for Animal Consciousness - COLLOSUM
Do other animals have inner lives? Philosophy and neuroscience challenge human exceptionalism, and raise uncomfortable ethical questions.
collosum.co
January 9, 2026 at 4:28 PM
We draw a sharp line between humans and other animals, but philosophy and neuroscience keep blurring it. If animals have inner lives, denying them moral consideration becomes harder to justify.
collosum.co/animal-consc...
#AnimalConsciousness #ethics #philosophyofmind #consciousness #morality
collosum.co/animal-consc...
#AnimalConsciousness #ethics #philosophyofmind #consciousness #morality
📖 Read more of Aristotle's argument—as well as those from Nietzsche, Hume, Schopenhauer, Russell, and others—in Free Will, a book that explores one of philosophy’s most enduring debates through the original words of history’s greatest thinkers.
Available now —> collosum.co/free-will/
Available now —> collosum.co/free-will/
July 24, 2025 at 1:35 PM
📖 Read more of Aristotle's argument—as well as those from Nietzsche, Hume, Schopenhauer, Russell, and others—in Free Will, a book that explores one of philosophy’s most enduring debates through the original words of history’s greatest thinkers.
Available now —> collosum.co/free-will/
Available now —> collosum.co/free-will/
Are you truly free? Or are you following a script you didn’t write?
Great minds like Hume, Tolstoy, and Nietzsche all wrestled with the question of free will.
Their ideas collide in Free Will, the first book from Collosum. Pick up your copy here: collosum.gumroad.com/l/free-will
Great minds like Hume, Tolstoy, and Nietzsche all wrestled with the question of free will.
Their ideas collide in Free Will, the first book from Collosum. Pick up your copy here: collosum.gumroad.com/l/free-will
May 31, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Are you truly free? Or are you following a script you didn’t write?
Great minds like Hume, Tolstoy, and Nietzsche all wrestled with the question of free will.
Their ideas collide in Free Will, the first book from Collosum. Pick up your copy here: collosum.gumroad.com/l/free-will
Great minds like Hume, Tolstoy, and Nietzsche all wrestled with the question of free will.
Their ideas collide in Free Will, the first book from Collosum. Pick up your copy here: collosum.gumroad.com/l/free-will
Pierre-Simon Laplace believed in a completely deterministic universe, a vast chain of cause and effect unfolding with mathematical precision.
Read more of his argument in Free Will, a book that explores one of philosophy’s most enduring debates. collosum.co
Read more of his argument in Free Will, a book that explores one of philosophy’s most enduring debates. collosum.co
May 22, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Pierre-Simon Laplace believed in a completely deterministic universe, a vast chain of cause and effect unfolding with mathematical precision.
Read more of his argument in Free Will, a book that explores one of philosophy’s most enduring debates. collosum.co
Read more of his argument in Free Will, a book that explores one of philosophy’s most enduring debates. collosum.co