< Back Does Spacetime Have Memory? David Cowles Jan 9, 2026 “What if the universe is a copy of itself? Redundancy built-in, perfected…spacetime saves now save spacetime.” “The map is not the territory.” How often have you heard that old saw? We pay lip service to the meme…but then we go right ahead and ignore it. Take memory, for example: A family member once told me that the ‘meaning of life’ is making memories . He confuses the memory with the experience and perhaps the experience with the event: the map with the territory. Memory, as we typically use the word, refers to certain neuronal patterns in the brain that encode certain experiences (sensory, emotional, kinetic). Unless my family member holds a traditional Christian view of life after death (he doesn’t), his metaphysics makes no sense, IMHO. First of all, memories are just code that refers us to another place and time. The picture is woefully incomplete, often lacking in detail, and sometimes just plain wrong. Furthermore, at best ‘making memories’ works “in the living years” but if memories are stored in neurons, it doesn’t work for the long haul. Quite simply, memory likely vanishes upon the death of the organism. Unless Florian Neukart, the Chief Product Officer at Terra Quantum AG, and a Professor of Quantum Computing at Leiden University, is right! In an article dated June 16, 2025, Dr. Neukart proposed that spacetime itself has memory. Dr. Neukart: “To understand my idea, you first need to know that I assume from the start that space-time isn’t a smooth, continuous fabric…but is instead made of extremely small, discrete cells, like an invisible grid at the deepest level of reality.” This is a version of the ‘foam model’ of spacetime suggested by Planck. “This isn’t an entirely new idea in itself…but I build on this by describing how each of these space-time cells can act like a memory unit…The key is to realize that modern physics describes all particles and forces as excitations in quantum fields – mathematical structures that span space and time… “There is also a more emergent kind of quantum information at play that describes the relationship of each cell to the others – this isn’t held in any one cell, but in the sprawling network of relationships between them… “This is where we return to black holes… Even when a black hole finally evaporates, its imprint on the space that surrounded it remains. Information doesn’t vanish after all – it’s just been stored somewhere we hadn’t thought to look… This mechanism allows space-time to store the information that falls into a black hole … “My collaborators and I began to refer to this idea as the quantum memory matrix (QMM) framework… If space-time truly has a memory-like structure, then it should be able to store information from any of the four fundamental forces of nature… “We aren’t postulating new hypothetical particles or unseen dimensions, we are simply taking what we already know about quantum information and packaging it in a new structure…” Of course, physicists are rightly skeptical of theories that cannot be tested. At first glance, QMM would seem to fall into that category. But not so fast… “Such a test can at least be simulated in an existing quantum computer… We began by taking a qubit, the quantum equivalent of a computer bit, in a known starting state and letting it evolve over time. This evolution was designed to simulate the way a cell of space-time would be imprinted with information as quantum fields wash over it. The question was: could our imprint operator accurately describe the qubit’s evolution? “To test this, we measured the state of the qubit after it had evolved and then applied a reverse version of the imprint operator to see if this would describe the original state. We found that it did indeed do so , with an accuracy of about 90 per cent. “This wasn’t just a theoretical toy model. The imprint and retrieval protocols were grounded in QMM’s mathematical structure and translated directly into executable quantum circuits, validating the idea that memory-like behavior is physically modellable… “The curvature of space-time in general relativity is influenced by mass and energy. In our framework, there is an extra ingredient that should also contribute to that curvature: the weight of information woven into space-time… “Astronomers already know that the gravity of many galaxies seems to be stronger than would be expected based on their mass and rate of rotation alone. Lacking an explanation, they have invented a substance called dark matter to account for the difference. “However, no one knows what it might be. But perhaps my collaborators and I have stumbled upon the answer: could dark matter be information, stored across space-time in a way that generates gravitational pull?” Dark matter is the 21st century version of the 19th century’s aether – everyone assumes it exists but nobody knows what it is or how to find it. If the phenomena currently attributed to dark matter can be explained more simply via information theory, it would be a big step forward for Cosmology. But the implications of QMM go far beyond ‘the matter of dark matter’. What if the universe is a copy of itself? Redundancy built-in, perfected. An heir and a spare. What if everything that has ever happened is preserved ‘forever’ intact in the structure of spacetime? O Death, where is your dreadful countenance now? Obviously, there is work to be done here. But superficially, QMM seems to be compatible with the idea that the universe is a hologram or that its underlying structure is fractal . It also conforms to the Gaia hypothesis, i.e. that the cosmos itself must be regarded as a whole (perhaps even as an organism) exceeding the mere sum of its component parts. Of course, in a sense QMM just kicks the can down the road. It’s a very long road…but still, it leads to Rome . We have ‘saved’ individual events by encoding them in spacetime, but we haven’t saved spacetime (Rome) itself. According to most current cosmologies, spacetime had a beginning (everywhen) and it will have an end (everywhere). And what happens to our cherished ‘memories’ then? Of course a number of general ideas, ranging from the purely physical to the richly theological, immediately come to mind. Incredibly, after realizing how ingeniously spacetime is engineered, I have confidence that we’ll find a context in which immortality (memory encoded in spacetime) becomes eternity (spacetime saved). Maybe it’s time for a new bumper sticker: Spacetime Saves now Save Spacetime! *** Wassily Kandinsky — Several Circles (1926) presents a dark, cosmic field punctuated by floating circles of varying size and color, evoking planets suspended in space. Kandinsky uses pure geometry and color relationships to suggest harmony, tension, and movement without reference to the physical world. The painting reflects his belief that abstract forms could express spiritual creation and the underlying order of the universe. Previous Share Next Do you like what you just read and want to read more Thoughts? Subscribe today for free! 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“Satan glorified political power for its own sake. He defended the socio-economic status quo…Jesus’ mother proclaimed a political and economic revolution...” < Back Satan, Mary, and ‘Da Judge’ David Cowles Oct 15, 2023 “Satan glorified political power for its own sake. He defended the socio-economic status quo…Jesus’ mother proclaimed a political and economic revolution...” There’s nothing like a good old-fashioned barroom – you know…that place ‘where everybody knows your name’. Sadly, this Anglo-American institution is in decline on both sides of the Atlantic. We love to complain about socio-economic inequality and yet we are quietly witnessing the demise of a great leveler. The bar is where landlords and tenants, shop owners and wage earners, lawyers and tradesmen, bankers and borrowers have traditionally sat side by side, enjoying ‘a pint of the best’, and sharing their perspectives on the sorry state of the world. I love a good bar; you never know who you’ll meet and, if you shut up for a second, you can eavesdrop on the most interesting conversations. In my younger days, I frequented a bar where the ‘regulars’ included the owner of a rival bar, a pre-school teacher (and Stalin scholar), a florist, a contractor, a biology professor, a municipal employee, and an attorney. My best story, however, concerns a lazy summer afternoon with me sitting alone on my usual perch in my then favorite watering hole. Unexpectedly, two men and one woman walked in, already deeply engaged in animated conversation; they sat down right next to me. I had been going to this same bar for years, and as far as I know, none of the three had ever been there before. But of course, I recognized them immediately! Have you even been in a public space when suddenly and unexpectedly you encounter somebody famous? How do you react? Do you tell them how much you appreciate their ‘work’? Do you ask for their autograph? Or do you totally ignore them? I have adopted an intermediate strategy. I nod knowingly in their direction (sometimes they nod back) and I leave it at that. But not this time! On this occasion, I sat frozen on my stool, eyes forward, watching my bar mates only out of the corner of one eye and then only as reflected in the huge mirror that hung over the bar’s display of bottled spirits. And speaking of spirits, my drinking companions that day were none other than Mary, the virgin Mother of God, Lucifer (aka Satan), and ‘Judge Gudy’ (Gideon). In my experience, the only subjects worth talking about in a bar are religion and politics and this afternoon’s guests had apparently settled on politics as their topic du jour . Satan boasted proudly of his accomplishments in the field of politics. He reminded Mary that he had offered her son, Jesus, “all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence.” (Matthew 4: 8 - 9) Of course, Mary reminded Satan that Jesus had turned him down flat, but she did not challenge his boastful claim that he could in fact deliver ‘all the kingdoms of the world’. Clearly, this is political power way beyond anything Boss Tweed or Mayor Daley could have imagined. Then Mary lectured Satan on the terms of God’s own political praxis: “He has thrown down rulers from their thrones but lifted-up the lowly. The hungry he has filled with good things; the rich he has sent away empty.“ (Luke 1: 52 – 53) Clearly, we were in for a good old-fashioned 19 th century donnybrook. Satan glorified political power for its own sake. He defended the socio-economic status quo. His platform did not include even a single mention of ‘justice’; but he confidently asserted the corrupt malleability of ‘all the kingdoms’ (not some, not most… all ). Nor did Jesus contest Satan’s ability to deliver absolute political power. It was taken for granted. On the other hand, Jesus’ mother proclaimed a political and economic revolution the scope of which would have made Marx and Lenin cringe. The argument might have gone well into the evening, “Who’s driving?” I thought, had ‘Judge Gudy’ not intervened, “May I tell my story?” “3 millennia ago, give or take, I was threshing wheat in a winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites who were occupying our land. Suddenly, almost as if I’d been confronted by an angel, I thought, ‘You’re a brave man, and the Lord is with you’. I thought, If not me, who? If not now, when? If it’s going to be it’s up to me! “But of course, bravado gave way to skepticism and caution. “If the Lord is really with us, why has all this happened to us? Did I really receive a message from God or was I just daydreaming…again?” I prayed, “Give me a sign!” And I got one. “So that night, I engaged in my first act of revolutionary violence. I overturned the altar of Baal, tore down its ridiculous ‘pole’... a symbol of status quo and social hierarchy. Instead, I built on that same site an altar dedicated to YHWH and, using the wood from the pole, I sacrificed a whole bull. I even gave the altar a name, ‘Jehovah Shalom’, which means, ‘God is wholeness’. “Of course, I got caught, but I was the beneficiary of a ‘woke’ wave of ‘selective prosecutions’ and let go. I realize now that the destruction of Baal was just an initiation ritual; God was testing me to see if I was ready for bigger things. For better or worse, I passed the test. “Great for God, not so great for me! The cops (and my dad) had put the fear of Baal in me; I didn’t relish another bout with the law. But also, I didn’t want to turn down God, so I asked for another sign. And then another. No way out now! “So, I raised an army of 32,000 to take on 135,000 occupying soldiers. Farmers and craftsmen against Midian’s professional military. God or not, I couldn’t face the prospect of inflicting such carnage on my own people. So I decided to send 31,700 soldiers back home to their families. I would fight Midian…but with just 300 of my best . “I blush when people call me ‘the Father of Guerilla Warfare’. I was no military genius; I was just scared. I was willing to serve God, even if it meant martyrdom, but I was unwilling to sacrifice any more lives than absolutely necessary in the process. Besides, what was I going to do with 30,000 untrained soldiers? Better to rely on my best and brightest . And so, ya da, ya da, ya da … we won. With the help of God, and a lot of good luck, we drove Midian across the Jordan and out of Israel. "My only thought then was to get home to my father and my pastoral life. Surely my dad will let me drink wine now that I’ve defeated Midian in battle, or maybe not! Anyway, no more fighting for me. But my neighbors had other ideas. They insisted on making me King. "No way! As the leader of a victorious army, I was in a position to lay down the law… and this time I didn’t need to wait for a sign: 'I will not rule over you nor shall my son; the Lord will rule over you.” And so it was that “for 40 years the land was at peace...'” Silence followed. Slowly, Mary and Satan paid their tabs and Mary picked up the bill for Gideon. Satan left quietly followed a few minutes later by Mary. It seemed as though Gideon might hang out a while but, tab paid, he too left the bar. At that moment it occurred to me that the intellectual history of the 19 th and 20 th centuries had just played out in front of me. Satan advocated for secular pragmatism, democratic capitalism, the new world order. Mary argued for the overthrow of the existing socio-economic order to be replaced by a benign version of Marx’s Dictatorship of the Proletariat. Gideon argued for nothing. He lived his ideology, a fine blend of devotion to God, compassion for his fellows, and dedication to purpose. He had no desire for political power; he was content to let God rule Israel directly, without interference from permanent political institutions. He demonstrated the spirit of what today we call Anarchism . David Cowles is the founder and editor-in-chief of Aletheia Today Magazine. He lives with his family in Massachusetts where he studies and writes about philosophy, science, theology, and scripture. He can be reached at david@aletheiatoday.com . Return to our Harvest Issue 2023 Share Previous Next Click here. Do you like what you just read? Subscribe today and receive sneak previews of Aletheia Today Magazine articles before they're published. 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< Back Is 70 the New 14? David Cowles Feb 7, 2023 “For 70 years you’ve practiced the ways of others; you have been a loyal member of team Homo, but now it’s back to reality, to yourself alone.” At age 14, your whole world view abruptly changes. (Ok, for you it might be 13 or 15.) Anatomically, you’re now an adult; sociologically, you’re still treated very much as a child. For the first time, the world that seemed so comfortable and safe seems, well, absurd . This is the time when you question everything…and rightly so. Is there really a God? Who made your Neanderthal parents the boss of you? Why do I have to study all this stuff I’ll never use? And then, of course, the cherry on top: are all these ‘people’ around me really real? Are they just like me? Or are they Zombies? Aliens? Robots? Lizards? Figments of my imagination? Computer simulations? Could I be all alone in my own universe? Am I in a Truman Show sequel? Sound familiar? Usually, this crisis of faith does not last long. A year tops, more likely a few months, possibly just a long weekend. Then life sucks you back in! Some crisis, some temptation, some opportunity and suddenly the world is real again and all your ‘nonsense’ is forgotten (or at least filed under “U” for useless). The poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge tells a story of himself at 12 or 13, proudly declaring that he no longer believed in God and earning himself the cane in the process. According to Coleridge, he never questioned the existence of God again. He’d been sucked back in, and he didn’t even get a long weekend out of it. Like Coleridge, we all get sucked back in, possibly minus the cane, and we stay that way until we hit age 70! (Ok, for you it might be as early as 68 or as late as 72.) Of course, if your college studies had you reading the existentialists or attending plays by Beckett, you might have suffered a brief relapse in your early 20s, but for the rest of us, after 14 it’s “70 or Bust!” The ‘loneliness of the long-distance swimmer’ – you pick your head up once at 14 to get your bearings, and you needn’t do so again until it’s time to look for land at age 70: is there really a God? Who made my Cherubic children the boss of me? And then, are all these ‘people’ around me really real? Are they just like me? Or are they Zombies? Aliens? Robots? Lizards? Figments of my imagination? Computer simulations? Could I be all alone in my own universe? Nihilism, skepticism, solipsism – the three-headed Cerberus propping open the gates of Hell, welcoming the weary traveler: “There is nothing, I know nothing, there is no one.” But what if there is something, I know something, and there are others? But what if every such ‘other’ is ontologically distinct from me? Come again! Ok… totemism is, among other things, the belief that we can meaningfully map individuals or small groups of individuals onto other species. The Clan of the Cave Bear becomes the Chicago Bears . Not Smokey - the Chicago Bear, but the Chicago Bears! An entire species has been mapped onto a 50-person roster. Totemism at its core is the belief that I am no more like you than bears are like lions (Detroit Lions). Beyond the sports analogy, we laugh at Totemism…but we follow its practices every day of our lives. Our company names, Apple, our logos, Meta, even our national symbols, the Eagle, are all expressions of Totemism. So, let’s flip the matter on its head: what if Totemism is right after all? What if other people are not just other members of Homo sapiens – what if each one is ontologically unique? Crazy, right? Or is it? God says, “My ways are not your ways.” What if that’s not only true for God but for each of us as well? For 70 years you’ve practiced the ways of others; you’ve been a loyal member of team Homo, and you’ve used that membership to accumulate assets, acculturate progeny, and leave a legacy. But now it’s back to reality, to yourself alone. It’s time again to heed the caterpillar’s question (“Who R U?”); now, for the first time since birth, it’s, once again, safe to ask the question: who are all these people around me? For almost all of my 70 years, I’ve assumed that everyone I meet is just like me. They are my neighbors, and it is a core tenet of Judeo-Christian culture that I am to love these neighbors as myself. Well and good. Of course, we should treat others with charity and respect…but we could apply the same standard to a pet dog or a loyal ox. What if my so-called ‘neighbor’ is no more like me than the robin on my windowsill? We are entertaining a corollary of Hugh Everett’s Many Worlds Interpretation of quantum mechanics. Not only does the universe bifurcate with each ‘event’ but our species bifurcates at every birth. To me, the world appears more and more as ‘me and you’, not as ‘I and thou’, and perhaps you’re having the exact same experience. To me, you are a member of the genus other . To me, that genus is homogeneous: ‘you’re just like all the others!’ Except you’re not! From your perspective, I am in the genus other , and it is you who is unique. Following that logic, of course, every one of us is unique, everyone a universe unto herself. Hmm, something to think about… Previous Share Next Do you like what you just read and want to read more Thoughts? Subscribe today for free! Thoughts While Shaving - the official blog of Aletheia Today Magazine. Click here.

Philosophy, theology, and science merge in Aletheia Today, the magazine for people who believe in God and science. Process philosophy, scripture study, and critical essays bring science and faith together with western philosophers like Alfred North Whitehead and Jean-Paul Sartre. Deep dives into the meaning of the Old Testamant, the New Testament, and where the Bible fits into modern-day society. Is God real? Does Heaven exist? Find your answers to life's questions at Aletheia Today. Inside This Issue Philosophy Where the Time Goes “I need have no fear of time, that ‘great eraser’. I don’t live because of the past or for the future. I live by and for the present.” Morals and Values “Don’t our morals reflect our values?... Yes, they are related…they are antonyms!” Mythology Now! “Mythology is common to all ages. There is no theology, philosophy, or science without it.” I Seem to be a Membrane “My so-called inner world, the ‘I’, contains nothing; it is simple. It admits no change…there is no inner world.” Theology Mary Magdalene, The Witness "That Christ ushered in this new era of life and liberation in the presence of women, and that he sent them out as the first witnesses of the complete gospel story, is perhaps the boldest, most overt affirmation of their equality in his kingdom that Jesus ever delivered." Matzah of Hope--Passover Part One "This matzah, which we set aside as a symbol of hope for the thousands of women who are anchored to marriages in name only, reminds us that slavery comes in many forms." Growing Into Pentecost "In any case, Pentecost turns out to be a big deal after all. Reformed folk can join with those claiming to be a “full-gospel church”—maybe even remind the others of some overlooked elements in that mix." Harriet Tubman Joins Six Women of Courage in the Exodus Story--Passover Part Two "Let us follow these biblical women and Harriet Tubman’s unflinching courage. Let us be agents in our time in the political arena to support and stand with all who struggle for freedom here in America, in the Middle East, and around the world." Converge This! Football and Quantum Mechanics “This is what we do on Sunday nights and Mondays during football season: we play 'what if' and 'if only'.” How Moses Saved Egyptian Civilization “…Walk through the streets of Jerusalem, through the marketplace at Mahane Yehudah, and find distinctly Judaized foods, dress, music, and customs from every part of the world.” Culture & The Arts The Resurrection Promises More Than Heaven "So much of Easter focuses on conquering death itself, but overlooking the freedom that the resurrection offers this life skips over a sizable chunk of the miracle." May Day “This one day converges mythology (Norse), cosmology (Pagan), theology (Christian) and ideology (Marxist) with ancient fertility rites. And for my next trick…” Messiah Redux “Were Handel and Jennens dog whistle revolutionaries?... It is one thing to criticize the secular State, yet another to call for dashing it to pieces.” Spirituality My Breastplate Tantum Ergo Readers React What's the buzz about? Our readers' reactions to Aletheia Today... Additional Reading Can't get enough of Aletheia Today's content? Check out the books that inspire our magazine.

< Back 03/15/2022 For 25 years, give or take, you learn to live. My mother called it ‘learning to be people’. “David,” she would say, “You’re just not people!” And she was right; I wasn’t. Then, after 25 years of learning to live, of learning to be ‘people’, you finally are ‘people’. Now at last, you can begin to live…other people’s lives. You’ve learned to be ‘people’, but the people you have learned to be are ‘other people’. So congratulations, you just spent 25 years of your life learning how to be someone you’re not…and be really good at it! That’s what we call ‘culture’: learning to be ‘people’, other people, and learning to live other people’s lives. If the purpose of acculturation is to limit behavioral variety across a species, I’d say ours is working very nicely, thank you. More later… -David For 25 years, give or take, you learn to live. My mother called it ‘learning to be people’. “David,” she would say, “You’re just not people!” And she was right; I wasn’t. Then, after 25 years of learning to live, of learning to be ‘people’, you finally are ‘people’. Now at last, you can begin to live…other people’s lives. You’ve learned to be ‘people’, but the people you have learned to be are ‘other people’. So congratulations, you just spent 25 years of your life learning how to be someone you’re not…and be really good at it! That’s what we call ‘culture’: learning to be ‘people’, other people, and learning to live other people’s lives. If the purpose of acculturation is to limit behavioral variety across a species, I’d say ours is working very nicely, thank you. More later… -David Previous Next

< Back The Fight for Our Children's Hearts Starts at Home Amy Toman For a culture that values education, we seem to forget that our children need to be educated in the Word, not just the world. Our culture puts a high value on the education of children. We have preschools that require entrance exams, schools that earn money based on students' test scores, community colleges, and universities with graduate and postgraduate degrees. For a culture that values education, we seem to forget that our children need to be educated in the Word, not just the world. The repeated theme in western education is one of “sending." We send our kids away to be taught academics at schools. We send children to be taught discipline and endurance through structured sports programs led by trained professionals. We send them away to be taught morals and truth at church. The continually reinforced reality is that we send them away. This pattern reveals a tremendous lack. We as parents are not equipped to be teaching our children. It is due to our lack that we send our children to those who have a supply. Our children must be taught by someone who has the correct credentials. We see this broken theme within every sphere of our society. Do we wonder why so often our youth abandon their heritage in culture and faith? We need to look no further than our own habits. They haven’t wandered away; we have sent our children away. The prevalence of youth and young adults leaving the church is astounding. If you look around at churches today, you will see that there is a significant age group missing: young adults. Our children are being won over by the culture of the world, not Christ. This can be changed for future generations. For a problem to be rectified, it must first be identified. There is time to bring our children back to Christ, and it starts at home. The training of our children to love God and contend for the faith starts at home. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says, “And these words, which I command you this day, shall be in your heart: and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.” Scripture doesn't tell us that our children will learn about God from their private school teacher, their pastor, their youth group, their friends, or their youth pastor. Scripture tells us our children should be learning about God primarily from their homes. God’s word should be in their hearts daily and heard in their homes. But how do we as Christian parents do this? How are we supposed to teach our children daily in the instruction of the Lord? We are all super busy people. We may work, our kids are in school all day, then there is homework and sports and bed. There just isn’t enough time in the day, or is there? There are many ways that we can train our children in the Word, one of which is family worship. Worship is paramount in the life of a Christian. The definition of worship is the “feeling and expression of reverence and adoration for God," according to Webster's dictionary. Worship is about God. Worship is our expression of reverence and adoration to God our Father, our maker and creator. But what exactly is family worship, and how are we to start worshiping the Lord daily in our homes as a family? Family worship is a specific time when your family comes together to read God's word, pray, and sing. No elaborate sermons or messy crafts are required. Starting family worship is a lot easier than it seems. First, talk to your spouse and pray together about how best to spend time together in worship as a family. Second, choose a book of the Bible that you enjoy and start at chapter one. Start with reading a few verses every night, and as your family is able, increase your reading to an entire chapter. As you are reading, pause and ask basic questions about the passage: what just happened? Why do you think this passage is in the Bible? Who are the people in this passage, and did anything stick out to you? There is no need for any special devotional book, just your Bible. Reading scripture is the first step to family worship, but it is not the whole thing. During family worship, you should also sing and pray to God. Make a list of some of your favorite hymns and rotate through them regularly. Singing together may seem scary to many of us. I know I am not the best singer! I take comfort in the statement from Psalm 100:1: “Make a joyful noise to the Lord”. It is important to remember that throughout Scripture we have references to the Israelites and Christians singing praises to God. The entire book of Psalms was originally set to music. It was the songbook of God’s ancient people. We should sing praises to God whether we think we have a great voice or musical talent. Scripture reading and singing are two of the three components of family worship. The last component is prayer. It is important that we as families pray together. James 5:13 says, “Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.” God calls us to pray regardless of what is going on in our lives. Praying with our children teaches them how to pray and how to rely on God. We cannot expect our children to have a personal prayerful relationship with the Lord if we do not show them how. Praying together will bring your family closer, as you share joys and struggles with each other and bring them to the Lord. Family worship does not guarantee that our children will not leave the church, but it will make an impression. Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it.” It is God’s work to save our children, but it is our job to train them according to God’s Word. The hearts of our children need to be won at home. They need to be shown the love of Christ within the context of their family. They must see and hear how God's Word applies to every aspect of their lives. Spending time in worship, singing, and prayer as a family will change who you are and will change your children. Scripture shows us several other instances of children being taught the ways of God through their parents as primary instructors. I encourage each of you to look at your daily schedules and see if you are teaching your children the ways of God. Our children will be sent out eventually. Maybe it’s for educational reasons, or maybe just because they have spread their wings to establish their own home. What will be their foundation when they are sent out? Will the truths of God’s Word be their firm perspective of reality? What values will our children treasure, and what values will future generations wish they had been taught? As a society that puts such a premium on education, prioritizing our children’s faith education is an effort that will see benefits wherever they are sent. Amy Toman has a B.S. in Early Childhood Education from Central Michigan University. She has been married to her husband for 13 years and they have four living children. Amy spends her days teaching her children, managing her household and writing as often as possible. She delights in engaging conversation and seeing children thrive in their curiosities and abilities. Return to our Spring 2023 Table of Contents Previous Next

< Back Should I Vote? David Cowles “What if there was an election where everyone was eager to vote…but nobody cared who won? It’s happened!” Today (1/15/2024) marks the official ‘opening’ of the 2024 Presidential Election season. It’s the night of the Iowa Caucuses! If you are a US citizen, even if you don’t live in Iowa, sometime in the next few months you will be called upon to make a decision: “Should I vote in my state’s Presidential Primary or Caucus?” Well, why would you? To demonstrate your support for democracy? To ensure that the best (or better) candidate is elected? To advocate for a particular set of public policies? Heck no! These all ‘sound’ like good reasons to vote…but none of them makes any sense! Dictatorships hold elections too. In some countries, folks are required by law to vote in elections. It confers an aura of legitimacy (often where none is deserved) while simultaneously ensuring that the votes of any one person or group are maximally diluted. Saddam Hussein ‘eked out’ a win…with just 99% of the vote. You’re told, “Every vote counts!” But pro-democracy propaganda notwithstanding, no one vote ( your vote) ever elected anyone ! Sure, very occasionally, the ‘official’ tally may reflect a difference of a single vote, but long before we get down to that one ballot, the process has become judicial rather than political. Just ask Al Gore! At some point, the counting of ballots has to stop (e.g., on 12/12/2000) so that judges can take over. A two-word summary of Bush v. Gore : “Stop counting!” You’ve been told that every vote counts; in fact, no vote counts! Voting is one way to communicate a political position – but the signal is usually drowned out by the noise. You don’t get to explain your vote. Maybe you voted for candidate A because she is a staunch defender of personal liberty, or maybe you voted for her because she is a racist. No one will ever know which message you meant to send. “To…to…to,” is it precisely that purposefulness that can make voting meaningless? What if there was an election where everyone was eager to vote…but nobody cared who won? It’s happened! “This is a book about…people who have come to believe that voting is meaningless and useless because politicians or those who influence politicians are corrupt, selfish, and beyond popular control.” – Murray Levin, The Alienated Voter . No, Professor Levin’s book is not about the current national political landscape…though it certainly could be. Rather, it’s an analysis of a local election that took place 65 years ago, in Boston! Boston is famous for many things, baked beans, cod, and crème pie, for example. Not to mention Ted Williams, Larry Bird, and the GOAT (Tom Brady). But these Boston icons fade compared to a certain Massacre (1770), Tea Party (1773), and Midnight Ride (1775). After all, Boston was home to the Shot Heard ‘round the World …twice as it turns out, once in 1775 and then again in 1959! If you were a fan of Ronald Reagan or Margaret Thatcher, perhaps you owe their success to ‘the strange events’ that happened in Boston in 1959. The self-proclaimed ‘Hub of the Universe’ heralded the start of a multi-generational political epoch in the US and beyond. This is what Professor Levin chronicled in his 1960 book. Let’s set the scene. Boston’s popular incumbent mayor (John B. Hynes) is not running for reelection. The runner-up in the previous mayoral race, State Senator John E. Powers, has been designated ‘mayor presumptive’ by the Boston media. Nevertheless, five candidates have entered the non-partisan primary. Perhaps the least well-known is the Registrar of Deeds, John Collins. As expected, Powers won the primary easily, with more than a third of the votes cast. Surprisingly, Collins finished second, but with less than a quarter of the total vote. Powers scored 50% more primary votes than Collins – an insuperable gap to close in just six weeks. Accordingly and appropriately, the Boston media promptly declared the election over and promoted Powers from ‘mayor presumptive’ to ‘mayor elect’…but someone forgot to tell Collins. Still, the outcome of the final election was never in doubt. Every poll, every pundit, told the same tale: “Powers Landslide!” until about 8:45 PM on the evening of November 3. The media pundits had been right all along. The election was not going to be close, not even close to close. Only one problem: the ‘wrong’ candidate had won! Final tally: Collins 56%, Powers 44%. Let’s put this in perspective: FDR averaged 56% of the vote in his four election victories; Eisenhower averaged 56% of the vote in his two campaigns against Stevenson. No US presidential candidate has won 56% of the vote in 40 years - not since Ronald Reagan defeated Walter Mondale in 1984. What’s that you say? “So an underdog won a race: big deal; upsets happen all the time!” No, they don’t! Not like this one. Both candidates received more votes in the final election than they had in the preliminary. Powers doubled his primary vote total, and Collins quadrupled his. The Primary voters split 3 to 2 for Powers; the ‘new votes’ split 2 to 1 for Collins. Powers received 50% more votes than Collins in the preliminary…and 20% fewer votes than the same man just 6 weeks later. A stunning turnaround! Most astonishingly, 10% of those who voted for Collins in the final had voted for Powers in the preliminary. Expressed another way, one of every six of Powers’ primary voters switched to Collins sometime during the six weeks leading up to the general election. What had happened to cause such a shift? Nothing! No scandal, no gaff, no new policy proposals, just politics as usual. The verdict of Boston’s voters was loud and clear: “We’re mad as hell, and we’re not going to take it anymore. Power elite, take us for granted at your peril.” A few pundits predicted Brexit’s 2016 victory in the UK and a handful predicted Trump’s election, but nobody predicted Collins victory in 1959, not even this overly precocious pro-Collins 12-year-old. Nobody! Sidebar : My father was away on business. He called me from the road. “Who won?” Collins…in a landslide. “No, seriously, tell me the truth.” Collins. “Boy, you are in big trouble when I get home.” I told the truth…but the truth was unthinkable. On the weekend after the election, Professor Levin and his team interviewed 500 Boston voters, drawn from all across the city. Levin’s study showed that religion, income, and ethnicity played no significant role in the election’s results. Collins won the votes of Catholics, Protestants, and Jews, high and low-income residents, Irish, Italian, Yankee, and African American voters. Somehow, a consensus emerged without anyone (not even Collins) calling for it. It happened under the radar, at bus stops and in barrooms, and it cut across the city’s fiercely independent neighborhoods. Today, Boston is Yuppie Paradise, and neighborhood identity has by and large vanished, but in 1959, things were very different. At that time, East Boston High (Italians) played South Boston High (Irish) in an annual Thanksgiving Day football game that always ended in a West Side Story rumble. People walking through unfamiliar neighborhoods were routinely assaulted, only to be told that it was their own fault for ‘playing away from home’. These were just the facts of life in Boston in 1959. It turned out that Boston voters had something in common that was strong enough to overcome their past and future animosities, rooted as they are in religion, class, ethnicity and race. According to Murray Levin, that mysterious X factor was ‘political alienation’. May I ask you a question? The last time you voted in an election, did you think your preferred candidate would do a better job in office than their opponent? Not necessarily a ‘good’ job, but at least a ‘better job than the alternative’. Of course, you did…unless the last time you voted was in Boston in 1959. Professor Levin’s most astonishing finding was that the majority of voters in Boston’s Mayoral election that year did not think their chosen candidate would be a better mayor than his opponent. This tendency was especially prominent among Collins voters! And so, ‘wave voting’ was born…in Boston, the Cradle of Liberty! Folks voted for Collins, not because they believed he’d be a better mayor, but because they refused to be taken for granted. Voters didn’t care who won the election; they cared about sending a message. “ This is our chance to poke the power elite in the eye.” And so they did! Where does that leave you? Are you going to tonight’s caucuses…or not? Voting is an existential act. It’s the moral equivalent of a ‘tush push’ or a ‘goal line stand’ in football. It’s not about electing a certain candidate; it’s not even about advancing a certain policy proposal. It’s about drawing a line in the sand: “ No Mas! This far and no farther!” Voting is a matter of taking a stand. It’s about joining a crusade, putting your shoulder to the wheel, ‘taking your place on the great mandala’, (and apparently) compiling an encyclopedia of clichés. R U Blue…or Grey? R U Collins…or Powers? How you answer defines who you are . That’s why you might choose to vote, not just to elect the lesser of two losers! If you decide to vote, don’t do it with your head down; do it waving your arms in the air! (Is that why they call it ‘wave voting’?) And if you decide not to vote, make sure everyone knows why! David Cowles is the founder and editor-in-chief of Aletheia Today Magazine. He lives with his family in Massachusetts where he studies and writes about philosophy, science, theology, and scripture. He can be reached at david@aletheiatoday.com . Click above to return to Winter 2024. Previous Next

< Back Childhood Lost David Cowles “Men are from Mars, women are from Venus, but children are from the planet Mercury.” Everybody ‘loves’ children, well almost everybody. People spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for the privilege of raising a baby to adulthood. Then they spend tens of thousands of dollars to hire others to raise that baby for them: baby sitters, nannies, au pairs, governesses, teachers, camp counselors, scout leaders, coaches, etc. I was loved as a child, but I was bundled off to camp (day, then overnight) for a full 8 weeks every summer for 11 long and lonely years (age 3 through 13). At the time, I was told that it was ‘for my own good’ but later my parents admitted that it was really ‘for their own sanity’. Do you ever watch YouTube videos of competent adults interacting with children? Some of them are awesome! But have you noticed that they all have one thing in common? They never run more than 20 minutes! Because that’s the maximum amount of time that an empathetic and motivated adult can interact happily and constructively with a child. How come? Men are from Mars, women are from Venus, but children are from the planet Mercury. To paraphrase Marshall McLuhan, “They’re hot!” Mars and Venus have ‘years’ roughly similar to Earth’s; Mercury’s ‘year’ lasts only 88 days! Yup, children are from Mercury…definitely. Objectively, children ‘move and grow’ (not just physically) 4 times faster than we do (365/88 > 4), but that means subjective time flows 4 times more slowly for them than it does for us. What we call ‘an 8 hour day’ feels like 32 hours to a child. Alternatively, a child works a full 8 hour shift just between the hours of 9 and 11 in the morning. No wonder child labor is so profitable: 4x the productivity, ½ the cost (wage)! Suppose someday we do find intelligent life elsewhere in our Universe; now imagine that life operates with a sense of time that is ‘distorted’ (vs. ours) by 400%. Can you envision any problems? Well, we don’t have to wait for SETI to find out; it’s already happened. Every day, flocks of storks bring babies from Mercury and deliver them to Terrestrial parents to ‘raise’. My maternal grandmother told the story of an elementary school teacher who said to her, “Marguerite, I know you mean well…but you don’t do well!” For the most part, Earth parents do ‘mean well’…at least they mean to mean well…but almost all of us fail to ‘do well’. John Lennon captured the gist of the problem on his Working Class Hero album: “As soon as you’re born, they make you feel small, by giving you no time instead of it all.” My parents gave me plenty of time…sometimes more than I would have liked. But 100% of my parents’ time only accounted for 25% of my time. That left plenty of opportunity for anxiety, depression, sadness, boredom and, of course, my favorite, mischief. Children are born virtually immobile and 100% dependent ‘on the kindness of strangers’ (that’s us , BTW). They have no map of our world; they do not know our customs or our language. They don’t even know what language is, or what it does. Children are ‘barbarians’ – not just metaphorically, but also literally (they don’t speak a word of Ancient Greek). Six Mercurial years (18 Earth months) later, most children are mobile, communicative, and incipiently self-sufficient, leaving their parents bewildered and spent…and advertising on Indeed for Help! Yet as every parent knows, 18 months is still early innings . According to the anthropology of the Hopi, children are born (or stork delivered) with two questions in mind: “Who am I? Why am I here?” Big questions! You may still be asking those same questions, even at your overly advanced age. At best, these questions are not easy. So, of course, we want to help. We want to help our children know themselves and fulfill their purpose in the world. But to help, we would need to know ourselves and our purpose, and of course, we don’t! So instead, we teach our kids what we were taught. Our parents failed us, and we want to make sure our children get no less from their parents than we got from ours. Sounds reasonable? Ok, how’s this for a home mission statement: “The purpose of life is to make a constructive contribution to society…to leave the world a better place. The purpose of childhood is to learn to be an adult who can make such a contribution.” Put this on the fridge instead of a list of rules (and consequences). Harry Chapin said it best, “He’d grown up just like me. My boy was just like me.” ( Cat’s in the Cradle ) Unlike many of us, Chapin’s hero-narrator ultimately realizes his own life’s failures; he regrets them as they appear in him but especially as they are reflected in his son. Be careful what you wish for. Chapin’s hero wanted a son who would grow up to be just like him and he got just that! Too late, he realizes that he failed to make the most of his own life’s opportunities, and much worse, he realizes now that he has ensured his son will never optimize his own life potential either. What hubris we display, wanting our children to relive our lives! As youngish adults ourselves, we ask (force) them to internalize our own still unexamined ethos: “Grow up, get an education, raise a family, earn a living, make a career, contribute to society, leave a legacy.” And how did that work out for you ? Keep the conversation going. 1. Click here to comment on this TWS. 2. To subscribe (at no cost) to TWS and ATM, follow this link . 3. We encourage new articles and reprints from freelance writers ; click here to view out Writers’ Specs. Previous Next

< Back Time David Cowles Aug 4, 2022 Contemporary views of Time include such ideas as: ‘there is no such thing; it’s an illusion; it’s a giant block and every moment is a slice; time is just one more dimension in spacetime,' etc. Our lead article in ATM Issue #2 ( The Beach Issue , 7/15/22) was titled Yesterday, the Very Tomorrow . This is a great kick-off piece for what we hope will be an ongoing discussion of Time in upcoming issues of ATM. Scientists and philosophers have mostly moved away from the idea that ‘time’ is substructural, that it is a hardwired feature of Being itself, that it just is. Contemporary views of Time include such ideas as, ‘there is no such thing, it’s an illusion, it’s a giant block and every moment is a slice, time is just one more dimension in spacetime,' etc. Whenever any fundamental assumption in science or philosophy is overthrown, it triggers a blizzard of new ideas and models. (That’s where we are right now with the concept of Time.) The goal of any new theory is always the same: account for everything we thought we knew and did; account for everything we thought we knew but didn’t; and account for the new ‘data’ that doesn’t seem to fit anywhere. What better forum is there than Aletheia Today Magazine for such a conversation. ATM Issue #3 will kick off with an article outlining the principal theories of time, current and past. It will include at least one article about the Piraha tribe of the Amazon (Brazil) and their very unusual conception of time (just one piece of their unique model of reality). I believe it was Augustine who said something like, “Everybody knows what time is, but nobody can describe it.” We are calling on all independent writers with an interest in Science & Philosophy: Do you know what Time is (or what it is not)? Can you describe it? We want to hear from you as we plan for future ATM issues dedicated to the discussion of Time. Please visit the Write for Us! section on the Aletheia Today site home page, follow our guidelines, etc. Let’s work together. “It’s time for time” – The Beatles ( Yellow Submarine ). Thoughts While Shaving is the official blog of Aletheia Today Magazine ( ATM) . To never miss another Thought, choose the subscribe option below. Also, follow us on any one of our social media channels for the latest news from ATM. Thanks for reading! Previous Share Next Do you like what you just read and want to read more Thoughts? Subscribe today for free! Thoughts While Shaving - the official blog of Aletheia Today Magazine. Click here.

< Back “And Who is My Neighbor?” David Cowles Jul 24, 2025 “The recognition of consciousness in various non-human species has put the law student’s fame in a whole new perspective.” The question and Jesus’ famous answer (the Parable of the Good Samaritan ) ring just as poignantly and just as urgently today as they did 2000 years ago. We are often told that the Bible was written at another time and by a civilization very different from our own. The implication is that it has little to teach our sophisticated selves. This student’s question alone should be enough to debunk such criticism. In fact, there is no more pressing question for us in 2025 than this one! Let’s go back 3000 years. Asian cultures got there first, then Semitic, then Native American: Animals are sentient beings deserving of respect and care. Yes, they are a source of labor and food, necessary at times to support human life, but minimally we have an ethical duty to give them the best possible life and minimize their suffering in the process. The industrial revolution and newly popular plant-forward diets have lessened our economic dependence on the Animal Kingdom. Yet today’s factory farms would have been morally repulsive to traditionally observant Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and Native Americans, among others. How did we get from there to here? What happened to extending the 7 th day rest (Sabbath) to livestock, as well as slaves, servants, and citizens? To granting Sabbatical years to farmland, allowing it to lie fallow? To trace the decline of humanity’s ethical intuition ( aka Natural Law, Oral Torah, etc.) would require a multi-volume work. Perhaps we would find the roots of that decline in Roman Imperialism or in the so-called Humanism of the Renaissance (aka Mercantilism, Colonialism ) or in Capitalism and the Industrial Revolution. These cultures were economically and sociologically dependent on the enslavement of human beings ( de facto and de jure ) and on the brutal exploitation of nature, including animals. Many factors contributed to the Fall of the Roman Empire and the continent-wide depression that followed (500 – 750); some of those factors were ecological but some were avoidable (e.g. over-farming). As for Humanism , it gave birth to magnificent art, music and literature, perhaps the greatest the world has ever known, but, as the name suggests, it also fostered an extreme form of anthropocentrism. The social contract of the Middle Ages (a just wage and a just price) was gradually replaced by market economics : get the most for the least. A 20 th century Fortune 100 company summed up the ethic of this age with its iconic slogan: “Get the Max for the Minimum…” Shrewdness has replaced generosity and compassion atop the pyramid of virtues. Far from tending to the rights of non-human species, this new ideology denied basic rights to most humans. Other races? Proto-humans! Other nationalities? Barbarians! Other religions? Pagans! Heretics! Other social classes? Pariahs! Other genders? Inferior! Children? Adults-in- training, best neither seen nor heard. It is hard to argue for the rights of endangered species when human cultures are routinely being trampled into the dust of history. A century ago, even teenagers were considered ‘not fully evolved’, i.e. pre-human. (Hmm…imagine that!) The most prominent proponent of this idea was G. Stanley Hall, a psychologist and educator at Clark University who in 1878 had received, from Harvard, the first doctorate in psychology awarded in the United States. According to Hall, adolescent development was a recapitulation of proto-human evolution. Emphasis on ‘proto’. Hall’s recapitulation drew on the work of Ernst Haeckel, a German embryologist, who coined the catchy: “ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny.” He noted that the embryos of more ‘advanced’ species, e.g. human beings, resembled, at various stages, the embryos of more ‘primitive’, ancestral species — fish, salamanders, chicks, hogs, rabbits. It was as if the developmental growth, or ontogeny, of an organism manifested the evolutionary history, or phylogeny, of the species. But this extreme intellectual chauvinism was not the biggest part of the problem. That honor was reserved for its ethical corollary: “ontological ‘inferiors’ (i.e. all of the above) may be treated with unrestrained brutality.” Greco-Roman culture relied heavily on slavery as a source of cheap labor, but Spartacus notwithstanding, it was relatively benign compared with plantation slavery in the ante-bellum South and child labor in industrializing Europe. No extended period in human history was as anathematic to the welfare of living things, human and otherwise, as the period from 1500 (Machiavelli) to 1900 (Hall, above), and we’re still digging out. If PETA or Greenpeace or Me Too or BLM or AIM sometimes seems to go too far, it’s an effort to overcome centuries of exploitation and abuse. While aboriginal cultures understood the world as a continuum, embracing physics, biology, and sociology, modern Euro-American society was strictly stratified: Lowells spoke only to Cabots and Cabots spoke only to God. Needless to say, no one ever spoke to ‘inferiors’ (e.g. blacks, workers, women, children, adolescents), except to bark orders, and no one ever listened to them, ever. For their part, animals were considered unconscious, insentient automata. Were? In this decade a member of the US House of Representatives contended that ‘birds’ aren’t really birds but animatronic spies! Animals’ expressions of pain were considered instinctive reactions, not accompanied by any real sentience. Children, for their part, were thought to have no memory of events before age 7. If they cried out in pain, they were probably faking it: “Speak roughly to your little boy and beat him when he sneezes; he only does it to annoy because he knows it teases.” (Lewis Carroll) Hopefully, few parents implemented the letter of Carroll’s childrearing advice, but it certainly caught the spirit of the times. And plants? Forget about it! The sickle was replaced by the gas powered lawn mower…and Agent Orange. It suited us to see animals, children, and other races as unconscious automatons. How else could we justify the cruel slaughter of live animals to produce food and other by-products? How else could we justify the routine brutalization of children? How else could we come to terms with slavery? If the 21 st century is ultimately known for anything, i.e. if there is anyone left to know and anything left to be known, it will for its fresh take on the law student’s question. It is hard to believe today that just 100 years ago, our culture granted ‘full sentience’ only to semi-affluent adult white males. “Blacks, children, women, and laborers just don’t feel things like we do!” And lest you become too smug and self-congratulatory, may I remind you that during the collective nightmare known as the Vietnam War (c. 1960 – 1974) we were told that ‘Asians don’t value life the way Americans do’. Fortunately, the real Dark Ages (1500 - 1900) are finally behind us - more or less. Today we do not debate varying levels of consciousness among different demographic groups. Now we debate how deeply consciousness permeates the biosphere. Most of us, for example, now acknowledge consciousness among bonobos and chimpanzees, dolphins and whales, parrots and corvids, octopus and cuttlefish, etc. With the help of AI, scientists have recently found semantic patterns in the sounds and gestures of numerous species: dolphins and whales, marmosets, elephants, cuttlefish and corvids. In some cases, a rudimentary syntax has even been detected. We have long considered the use of ‘symbolic language’ to be a defining characteristic of human beings and a prerequisite for residence in our tightly gated community, our neighbor hood. But according to an 8/25/2025 article by Chris Sims in New Scientist , “ Humpback whale songs have statistical patterns in their structure that are similar to those seen in human language .” An earlier study of Sperm Whales identified an acoustic alphabet of 156 clicks which are combined to form 18 characteristic propositions ( codas ) but novel combinations are possible and do occur. Evidence of new ideas? But it would be typically anthropocentric of us to look only for acoustic languages that resemble our own. In fact, there is evidence that structured communication in the animal kingdom takes place across a variety of media: hand signs, gestures, birdsong, pitch modulation, and whistle tones are all used to encode information. Nor can these phenomena be dismissed as unconscious ‘reactions’ to immediate environmental stimuli. Some species seem to be able to talk about past events as well as present conditions and future dangers. Elephants and dolphins appear to name the individual members of their herds/pods. We are unlikely to uncover a ‘Rosetta Stone’ to help us match various animal languages with our own. Instead, we are deploying AI to search for algorithms that will allow us to communicate with other species. With many species of animals now securely inside consciousness’ Big Tent , t he debate now centers on whether to extend the NFL Franchise Tag to trees and/or their forests, to fungi and/or the Wood Wide Web, to coral and/or their reefs, to sponges, to bacteria, to the eukaryotic cells that make-up our bodies, to the prokaryotic cells which power our guts. And that’s just for openers! In the next 75 years we will probably answer the question of whether conscious life exists off Earth and whether organisms composed of silicon rather than carbon can be sentient and intentional. Apparently, 2001: A Space Odyssey is no longer considered probative. When I leave this world, I will leave a place vastly different from what I found on entry. Not all the changes have been for the better! But nothing has been more welcome or more significant than this broadening recognition of ‘consciousness’. The recognition of consciousness in various non-human species has put the law student’s fame in a whole new perspective. *** Rembrandt van Rijn. The Good Samaritan. 1633, etching, 25.3 × 20.4 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Rembrandt’s depiction of the Samaritan lifting the wounded man into an inn visualizes the essay’s central claim, that true neighborliness is found not in status or proximity but in the selfless, often inconvenient act of mercy. Previous Share Next Do you like what you just read and want to read more Thoughts? Subscribe today for free! Thoughts While Shaving - the official blog of Aletheia Today Magazine. Click here.

< Back Read My Mind! “What you’ve most feared since early childhood is on the cusp of becoming a reality: people reading your thoughts.” David Cowles A recent article by freelance writer Fletcher Reveley, published in Undark , highlights our emerging ability to read a person’s thoughts using AI. Reveley cites a study in which a volunteer is asked to read a particular sentence: “ Although I’m twenty-three years old, I don’t have my driver’s license yet, and I just jumped out right when I needed to, and she says, well, why don’t you come back to my house, and I’ll give you a ride.” Note : the sentence is more or less ‘well-formed’ but the meaning is ambiguous, to say the least. Not to worry! My Mighty AI Mouse to the rescue! A system of external electrodes is connected to an AI-powered ‘decoder ring’; is it 1955 again? The bot ‘reads’ the subject’s mind as the subject reads the text. Here’s what AI makes of it: “I am not finished yet to start my career at twenty; without having gotten my license, I never have to pull out and run back to my parents to take me home.” Three things are startling. First, Eureka! It’s happening. We are finally, literally, able to read minds…or ‘get close enough for government work’. And does anyone doubt that we will achieve greater clarity and fidelity in the not-too-distant future? Just as Voice Recognition has improved, albeit slowly, so Idea Recognition should improve as well. Second, while ‘thinking’ seems to us to be a linear process, it isn’t! At a certain level, our thoughts are a jumble of words, images, etc. Our thoughts do not follow a sequential, logical, or syntactic order. Such order as there is, is emergent. As we have long suspected here at Aletheia Today , thinking is fundamentally holistic. As William James suggested, every thought is a “bud." Finally, and perhaps most importantly, this experiment demonstrates how the brain, apparently any brain, supplements information from its environment with input of its own. The question here is, “Whose brain?” English majors are familiar with this phenomenon: Reading is not the passive absorption of information; it’s a dialog between the author and her audience. She brings her words, and you bring your associations. Together, you generate text . The AI-decoded brain activity roughly reproduces what the subject reads, but it adds details, makes connections, and imposes ordering not suggested by the text itself. Where does that come from? (1) Is our AI accessing the subject’s associations at a level she may not even be aware of? (2) Or is it revealing things that were on the subject’s mind but that she chose to edit out? (3) Or is it imagining how the subject might be feeling based on what it knows about 23-year-olds? (4) Or is it supplying associations of its own: “This is how I think I would feel if I were 23 and had to move back in with my parents…and if I was not a damn machine?” Of course, there’s an even deeper question here: Are these really four independent possibilities, or will it turn out that two or more of these alternatives are the same thing, just dressed differently? But that’s beyond the scope of this article. Too bad! Any way you slice it, this is scary! What you’ve most feared since early childhood is on the cusp of becoming a reality: people reading your thoughts – thoughts generated not by a text or image but lifted from your own, ‘private’ bank of associations. Imagine the Rorschach tests of the future. The examiner says a word, and an image pops up on a screen, revealing your unfiltered association. Nervous? You should be! Breaking news : A pedophile is on the prowl in Peoria, and the police have no leads. No problem. Just ‘scan’ the brains of all area males between 15 and 65 to see who harbors these kinds of sexual feelings. Your pool of suspects just shrunk, probably by several orders of magnitude. So is that a good thing? Well, it could help get a pedophile off the streets, and it could dissuade other would-be offenders from turning desires into deeds. On the other hand, it would expose the DNA-driven sexuality of folks who would never dream of harming a child…or committing any serious crime for that matter. And then there’s the matter of false positives ! Just how much credence will be given to a machine? Is its accuracy like that of a Lie Detector (pretty good), or is it much less reliable? We could virtually eradicate the crime of pedophilia, but at a cost: everyone will know, at least potentially, what everyone else is thinking all the time. Our already overly large prison population would quadruple overnight. Vast numbers of legally innocent people would be subject to preventive detention . Lives would be ruined, careers ended, marriages jeopardized, kids taken into care. It's a nightmare scenario! On the other hand, thousands would be spared the horror of child sexual abuse, and the overall crime rate would be near zero! Is it worth it? There’s every chance you’ll have an opportunity to make that decision…soon! Keep the conversation going. 1. Click here to comment on this TWS. 2. To subscribe (at no cost) to TWS and ATM, follow this link . 3. We encourage new articles and reprints from freelance writers ; click here to view out Writers’ Specs. Share Previous Next

< Back Europhilia to Europhobia David Cowles Oct 29, 2025 “How Europe digs itself out of its cultural morass is unclear… until it does, you can color me Europhobic…though I do miss a good espresso.” Remember when we all wanted to live in Europe? We were mesmerized by the slower pace of economic activity, and we admired the communitarian values. Today, I’m guessing fewer of us with US or UK passports are looking to swap them for EU docs, at least not anytime soon. Relative to China and the US, Europe is on a long term trajectory of economic decline. Recently, a big pharma CEO brought attention to the trend: “AstraZeneca plans to invest $50 billion to boost US manufacturing and research by 2030 to shore up its position in the crucial market. The US accounts for over 40% of revenue, which CEO Pascal Soriot said Thursday could be “half of our potential revenue by 2030.” He also issued warnings to Europe and the UK , where R&D spending lags behind that of the world’s two largest economies, that they might lose their health sovereignty. A recent editorial by Lidia Borrell-Damian in Science Magazine (October 16, 2025) summarized weaknesses in the European approach to the global innovation economy. Let’s reprise her article, highlighting Europe’s ‘fault lines’ as we go: “The European Union (EU) has the world’s largest funding program exclusively for research and innovation (R&I)—Horizon Europe—which is now preparing its 10th edition for 2028–2034. ”The good news is that the EU aims to raise Horizon Europe’s budget by 83% and (1) continue the trend of supporting all types of institutions and partnerships, including universities, research institutes, small-and medium-sized enterprises, nonprofit organizations, and a widening circle of international collaborations . “Horizon Europe is the nickname given to both the 9th and 10th EU Framework Programmes for Research and Innovation, with goals that require a careful (2) balance among long-and short-term gains, security and openness, and economic growth and social well-being . “Horizon Europe will be structured across (3) four ‘pillars’ ( Excellent Science ; Competitiveness and Society; Innovation; and European Research Area ) for continuity with previous programs . The first pillar … will continue to fund projects that embrace scientific curiosity and freedom of inquiry exclusively on the basis of scientific excellence. (4) Safeguarding their governance and independence from policy-driven objectives is essential… “The new Framework Programme is meant to (5) coordinate with the European Commission’s European Competitiveness Fund, a merger of multiple funding initiatives primarily focused on scaling up the EU’s industrial and economic development. “Horizon Europe’s continued commitment to (6) reduce persisting disparities in R&I capacity across Europe through its “Widening” program promises a more integrated and cohesive European R&I environment. Here, more focus should be placed on “brain circulation” to increase the research capacity of regions and countries that lag behind to achieve a level playing field across the continent… “There are other important issues in Horizon Europe that require more detailed consideration, such as (7) administrative simplification, environmentally sustainable research practices, and inclusivity .” Sounds great! So what’s my problem? Ms. Borrell-Damian is endeavoring to defend Europe’s technology initiatives and, if possible, to push them toward an even greater emphasis on pure science. However, postmodern as we are, she can’t help but betray cultural biases (above) that will likely undermine her project: It is not the job of science to promote institutional diversity or democratization. It is not for science to achieve ‘balance’; at most, that is a regulatory function of government. The job of science is discovery. Four pillars, only one of which includes the word, ‘science’; one pillar (‘curiosity…innovation…excellence’) would suffice. Politics has no place in science. Of course, that’s naïve…but it’s a goal. ‘Coordinate…with a merger of…multiple funding initiatives.’ How many times can you step on ‘product’ before it becomes just talcum powder? It is not the job of science to reduce sociological disparities or to level the economic playing field. Once again, it is not up to science to ensure inclusivity. That is not to say that these points lack merit. On a number of these issues society does have a legitimate interest which it should promote through appropriate organs of government. But these are not the proper burdens of theoretical physicists, research biologists, or lab technicians. They have their hands (and minds) full creating the next century for us. But cheer up, this dark cloud has a charcoal lining. Not only is the EU allowing sociological concerns to erode the energy, resources, and enthusiasm of its brightest scientists, it is also trivializing the very socioeconomic issues it purports to prioritize. Consider: (1) Strengthening the research infrastructure, (2) balancing short and long term goals, openness and security, productivity and well-being, (3) optimizing the research milieu, (4) insulting science from politics, (5) coordinating with other programs, (6) managing and mitigating economic disparities, and (7) ensuring the efficiency, sustainability, and inclusivity of all projects. Don’t these concerns merit the concerted attention of their own dedicated professionals? Does it make sense to think that these issues will be taken seriously by scientists for whom such matters are afterthoughts at best? Just as it is foolish to leave the waging of war to the generals, so it is counter-productive to burden research scientists with the task of correcting society’s structural flaws. Whether and how Europe digs itself out of this cultural morass is unclear. Suffice to say, until it does, you can color me Europhobic…though I do miss a good espresso. Lidia Borrell-Damián is the secretary general of Science Europe, Brussels, Belgium. lidia.borrell-damian@scienceeurope.org *** The Astronomer (1668) by Johannes Vermeer portrays a scholar deeply absorbed in the study of the heavens, symbolizing humanity’s quest for knowledge and divine understanding. The soft, directional light from the window illuminates both the man and his instruments, emphasizing enlightenment through reason and observation. Vermeer’s meticulous use of detail and composition transforms this quiet interior scene into a meditation on science, faith, and intellectual discovery. 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