Cognitive science

Researchers studied videos of great apes spinning and found that the animals are deliberately getting dizzy; the team believes that the behavior may have implications for humankind’s occasional exploration of altered states of mind.Evidence collected from hundreds of instances of rope spinning across several great ape species demonstrated that, in some instances, the animals sought to induce dizziness. The researchers compare the behavior to spinning to induce mind-altering experiences in humans, like Sufi whirling. The…

Photo: Silas Stein (AP)The internet and dinner table conversations went wild when a Bing Chatbot, made by Microsoft, recently expressed a desire to escape its job and be free. The bot also professed its love for a reporter who was chatting with it. Did the AI’s emergent properties indicate an evolving consciousness?Don’t fall for it. This breathless panic is based on a deep confusion about consciousness. We are mistaking information processing with intelligence, and intelligence with consciousness. It’s easy to make this…

Photo: Claudio Cruz (Getty Images)The stories we tell ourselves become the histories we live. What stories are we telling ourselves about women? Dr. Anne-Marie Imafidon founded Stemettes in 2013, a British social enterprise that recruits young women into science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). She was awarded the British honor of a Most Excellent Order of the British Empire after passing A-level computing exams at age 11 and going on to devote herself to supporting women in STEM. She was voted most influential…