our best intuitions have told us that consciousness is a product of complex brain processes creating the taste of coffee or the smell of a rose argues this view has been shattered by modern neuroscience in-depth article Harris draws from her recent documentary taking inspiration from the work of leading physicists and explains why consciousness is the most fundamental thing in the universe I made the case in my book, Conscious, that the assumption that consciousness arises out of complex processing in the brain is likely false and the reality may be that consciousness runs deeper in nature than the sciences have previously assumed I believe the reason for such widespread confusion about the emergence of consciousness is in large part due to powerful intuitions we have about the mind and brain that give us an incorrect picture of the underlying reality These false intuitions have been revealed to us time and again through modern neuroscience but the culture has barely begun to grapple with their implications One central problem the science of consciousness faces is that we can only locate conscious processes in nature through high levels of report and communication This is one of the reasons we have assumed consciousness only arises in complex systems rather than being something much more basic in nature as it’s only in systems that are similar to us that we can find evidence (reports) of consciousness the work with split-brain and locked-in patients should have radically shifted our reliance on reportability at this point Ask split-brain patient Julie what she’s experiencing and you’ll get the impression that none of the input to her right hemisphere is consciously experienced (which we now know is not the case) How could we even begin to guess whether there is a felt experience associated with a strolling snail All we have to go on is an analogy to where we find reports of conscious experience I feel that—okay that processing is conscious no felt experience associated with that processing of our scientific investigations of consciousness are unwittingly rooted in a blind assumption Additionally, the sciences have always assumed that consciousness (feeling fear, pain, and all the rest) provides an advantage to living systems, giving us reason to think consciousness evolved in complex life forms. But modern neuroscience continues to give us pause here as well Our increasing understanding of unconscious brain processes that take place “in the dark” expose the illusory nature of the feeling that our conscious experiences are the proximate cause of our behavior in many instances for example—the sight of a bear or the sound of a rattlesnake—is well underway before we become conscious of it so the feeling of fear does not trigger the response in the way we assume it does come at the tail end of a stream of brain processing and physical response of the body (Many people notice in emergencies that they have begun running for their life before they are conscious of what they’re running from.) Enjoy unlimited access to the world's leading thinkers Start by exploring our subscription options or joining our mailing list today. Consciousness is everything we know, everything we experience. The mystery at the heart of consciousness lies in why our universe – despite teeming with non-conscious matter – is configured in a way where it’s having a felt experience from the inside. Modern neuroscience suggests that our intuitions about consciousness are incorrect. And so, it’s possible that we’ve been thinking about consciousness the wrong way entirely, says bestselling author Annaka Harris. Annaka Harris is the New York Times bestselling author of CONSCIOUS: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind and writer and producer of the forthcoming audio documentary series, LIGHTS ON I published a book called Conscious: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind addresses big questions about consciousness and if it could be generated by artificial intelligence I thought I was tackling the most pressing inquiries but through the process of writing that book could it be an irreducible property of the universe existing alongside those that physics has already begun to understand and philosophers who are exploring this question in their work These conversations took on a life of their own eventually crystallizing into an audio documentary tracking my quest An exclusive excerpt from that work is included below—a special conversation with author and neuroscientist David Eagelman about how our brains construct reality and the scientific utility of studying illusions I became convinced that a view of the universe in which consciousness is fundamental is a possibility This revolutionary idea challenges traditional neuroscience and quantum physics shattering what we think we know about ourselves and scientific phenomena as foundational as space and time But when we take a closer look at all that science has told us about the universe we're quickly faced with this greatest of all mysteries Why do certain configurations of matter cause that matter to light up from the inside with felt experience Why does any collection of matter in the universe There's a wonderful quote from the philosopher Rebecca Goldstein about the mystery of consciousness which captures this idea and helps us understand the relationship between the physical brain and the more mysterious experience of consciousness the fact that some hunks of matter have an inner life is unlike any other properties of matter we have yet encountered The laws of matter in motion can produce this Suddenly matter wakes up and takes in the world." ♦ Annaka Harris's audio documentary Lights On is out on March 18th, and available for preorder now Reprinted by permission of Macmillan Audio FOND DU LAC (NBC 26) — The case of the 20-year-old woman charged with stabbing a 33-year-old woman to death will head to trial in May Annaka Trudell stabbed Ashley Calo after attempting to take drugs from her without paying Prosecutors say the altercation happened outside of a car where Calo's three-year-old son was sitting Trudell is charged with first degree intentional homicide and conspiracy to commit armed robbery A judge set Trudell's jury trial for the week of May 19th Calo's friends asked that Trudell receive the longest possible sentence while a bible study group that Trudell joined while in jail claims her life has "transformed." including felony murder as party to a crime for allegedly helping to set up the robbery and helping Trudell hide His trial has previously been set for the week of September 15 We cover stories making an impact in Fond du Lac. This is your home to stay on top of what is changing in Fond du Lac and why it matters to you and your family. We want to hear from you! Click here and tell us what we should be covering in your neighborhood is charged with first-degree intentional homicide and being party to armed robbery He has pleaded not guilty and returns to court for a status conference Aug was found dead inside a car after crashing near W There was also a 3-year-old child in the vehicle the call was for "someone overdosing" but then it was discovered she had been stabbed in the chest police determined Trudell and Miller had made arrangements to buy drugs from Calo "Miller told Trudell to take a knife to the deal for her protection when Trudell returned to Miller shortly after stabbing (Calo) Miller assisted Trudell in fleeing from Fond du Lac and avoiding detection and most of the post-stabbing conduct of fleeing and avoiding detection occurred on February 13 and 14 A witness said Calo had blue fentanyl pills to sell "Trudell said the deal was to be for the purchase of 57 Percocet pills "percs" for $250 but she planned on taking the pills without paying Trudell said though that the girl tried to rip her and Miller off," the complaint states "I didn't mean to do that" or "I didn't mean to kill her." She further said "I didn't want that to happen." The witness watched the argument in a fast-food parking lot "but it seemed to him like she didn't even know she was stabbed," the complaint states "Miller says he didn't think Trudell was going to rob Victim Miller than admits that Trudell told him she was going to get the pills that he didn't it was a good idea because it seemed like a setup He didn't know Trudell was going to kill anyone Miller says he thought Trudell had the money and was just going to buy the pills Miller said the Trudell was high and he thinks it is all a mistake Miller denied telling Trudell to take a knife Miller admitted that he knew Trudell was meeting up with Victim and Witness 1 for a drug deal Miller admits that he told Trudell to bring something for her protection but he didn't think he said anything about knives He never intended for Trudell to rob or kill Victim," the complaint states including one which went through the lung and heart will be Rock Island-Milan schools' new chief financial officer for the 2024-25 school year Earning unanimous school board approval Tuesday the district will pay Whiting a salary of $154,088 on a one-year contract Rock Island-Milan Superintendent Sharon Williams poses with Annaka Whiting on Tuesday after her official hiring as the school district's new Chief Financial Officer "I'm really excited to join you all and see what we can do together to better the community and the scholars (we) work with," she said after thanking board members for the opportunity Tuesday Attea and Associates to conduct a national CFO search after an extensive internal search failed Attea and Associates team screened more than five viable candidates for consideration before turning the final vetting and interview processes over to the district "It's been a hard-fought battle to identify a very qualified and exciting candidate for the CFO," Superintendent Sharon Williams said ahead of Tuesday's vote "We're looking to do great things in this realm and appreciate the support as we've searched for the perfect CFO for the Rock Island-Milan School District."  has more than 16 years of professional finance experience and was one of two candidates selected for final interviews She holds master's degrees in accounting and public administration and has worked in both the public and private sectors Whiting most recently served as comptroller of St and is a former finance director for the city of East Moline resigned in June after 11 years with the district After serving as a district payroll specialist and other business department roles she took over as CFO in the 2022-23 school year Barton was hired as a district accountant for the neighboring Moline-Coal Valley School District on July 1 To watch Tuesday's meeting recording, visit www.rimsd41.org/apps/pages/BOE and click the "Board Meeting Videos" tab Steel Militia and board members of Bikers 4 Backpacks roll into First day of kindergarten at Denkmann Elementary School in Rock Island on Monday Kindergarten Teacher Mary Justin gives instruction to Jasper Kler and Amora Anderson to start the first day of classes at Denkmann Elementary School in Rock Island on Monday Finley Wiggins has a tight grip around the neck of his mother Gabriella Mendoza before she leaves him at his desk to start his first day of kindergarten at Denkmann Elementary School in Rock Island on Monday Parents and students arrive for the first day of classes at Denkmann Elementary School in Rock Island on Monday Annalise Norris may be having second (and third) thoughts about what's to come as she waits with her parents Kim and Zach for her first day of kindergarten at Denkmann Elementary School in Rock Island on Monday Get our local education coverage delivered directly to your inbox Email notifications are only sent once a day Seeds 4 a Better Future has donated books to Rock Island Academy second-graders for nearly three years with hopes to expand to kindergarten a… Rock Island's 2024 Youth Citizen of the Year likes helping people — mostly Rock Island-Milan is at least the fourth Quad-Cities school district to be impacted this week There is not believed to be a direct connection… A quick look at what local districts covered last week Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device Account processing issue - the email address may already exist Invalid password or account does not exist Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account The area has a District 4 girls tennis doubles champion again as the team from Annaka Bruder and Georgia Randall of Hughesville won the championship on Monday at the Central PA Tennis Center The Spartans team beat South Williamsport’s Livy Harvey and Emily Holtzapple Bruder and Randall had to battle back in the semifinals in a three-set thriller Bruder and Randall won the first set 6-2 against South Williamsport’s Myles Morrison and Emma McLaughlin to force a winner-take-all third and berth to the final and states Harvey and Holtzapple won in three sets as well against Danville’s Josie Bendle and Gyovanna Sundaresan Harvey and Holtzapple won the first set 7-6 before dropping the second This marks the first District 4 doubles title for a team from Hughesville since Rachel Thomas and Allison Mattucci won back-to-back doubles titles in 2015-16 This is also the first time since 2007 that Hughesville won both the District 4 singles and doubles titles in the same season South’s Livy Harvey/Emily Holtzapple def Danville’s Josie Bendle/Gyovanna Sundaresan 6-1; Hughesville’s Annaka Bruder/Georgia Randall def South’s Mylee Morrison/Emma McLaughlin Hughesville’s Annaka Bruder/Georgia Randall def South’s Livy Harvey/Emily Holtzapple It’s not a coincidence that in the first year that the Lycoming College baseball team had a true home field since .. Annaka Harris is the New York Times bestselling author of CONSCIOUS: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind and writer and producer of the forthcoming audio documentary series Her work has appeared in The New York Times She is also an editor and consultant for science writers Annaka is the author of the children’s book I Wonder coauthor of the Mindful Games Activity Cards and a volunteer mindfulness teacher for the organization Inner Kids There are no statistics available for this player Thanks for visiting The use of software that blocks ads hinders our ability to serve you the content you came here to enjoy We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while you are here The more closely we observe the present moment I think the flow of time is not part of the fundamental structure of reality,” theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli tells me He is currently working on a theory of quantum gravity in which the variable of time plays no part I’m trying to get my mind around the idea that even though the universe is made up of “events,” as Carlo explains a single interval between two events can have different values its hands ticking a steady beat for the universe to march along to moving in one direction from the past into the future The prospect that our experience of time may not correspond to an underlying reality has fascinated me for as long as I can remember as the idea connects two of the most intriguing topics—time and consciousness Inspired by my recent conversations with Carlo and others in the production of my podcast documentary series I’ve been thinking more about where the two phenomena overlap and the next … When we look out at the ocean we naturally perceive the waves while understanding (both intellectually and intuitively) that there is no real “thing” that is a wave The concept is useful shorthand for a dynamic phenomenon that occurs in nature which is an ever-changing symphony of electrical firing among billions of neurons there isn’t an entity persisting through time in the form of a static “self.” All our conscious experiences are being generated anew by dynamic neuronal activity your “self” is an endlessly fluctuating process and those memories impact your experience in this moment but each moment of your experience still depends on the exact state of your brain at that particular point in time yet each moment is instantaneously swept away by a ghostly breeze The more focused our attention is on our experience through time peaceful stillness rides along the never-ending stream We are eternally racing toward the future—yet not moving at all There’s no traveling forward when you are the river I often wonder if time is our small keyhole into a deeper reality—just a glimpse of the vast structure of the universe Through the various attempts to understand the implications of quantum mechanics many physicists have become convinced that spacetime is emergent—that both space and time are manifestations of a more fundamental reality In a 2014 lecture at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics the prominent theorist Nima Arkani-Hamed declared it plainly: “Almost all of us very strongly believe that spacetime really doesn’t exist.” Whatever is true about the fundamental reality the space we seem to be moving through clearly represents something about the world the way our brains process incoming information often creates a distorted impression of what’s actually “out there.” In a 2016 Nautilus essay “Let’s Rethink Space,” science journalist George Musser uses a musical analogy to show how what appears to us to be spatial distance might in fact be a difference in energy: Sounds of long and short wavelengths are oblivious to each other; if you sound a deep bass note and a high treble pitch simultaneously each ripples through the room as though it were the only sound in the world … These waves overlap in the three dimensions of space through which they propagate as if they were located in different places you can think of the sound waves as residing 14 centimeters apart within a fourth spatial dimension But harder still is the project of constructing an analogy that helps us wrap our minds around the possible misrepresentation of time in our experience In my efforts to understand what it would mean for the flow of time to be an illusion the closest visualization I’ve been able to create is that of a web of nodes in which we experience only one node at a time all the other nodes become inaccessible to us as if a spotlight were continually traveling across this “web of time,” inch by inch If you were to experience a structure on this web —such as node a node f—you might interpret the experience as “two node a’s cause a node f” when the whole web of nodes already exists in its entirety The implicit causality would not apply at a deeper level Causality through time would still illuminate “connections,” it’s just that the underlying reality of these connections would reveal a structure vastly different from the one we intuit—that is and the present is the only true “reality.” In his most recent book, Einstein’s Unfinished Revolution, physicist Lee Smolin describes the conclusions that his colleague Julian Barbour has reached about the nature of time: Barbour insists that the passage of time is an illusion and that reality consists of nothing but a vast pile of moments each a configuration of the whole universe Now you are experiencing a different moment both moments exist eternally and timelessly Reality is nothing but this frozen collection of moments outside time … The moments all coexist and each is a configuration of the whole universe concluding that whereas space is not fundamental time is still part of the fundamental story reflects the degree to which the true nature of reality is at odds with our day-to-day intuitions Your view of the world is like a film projected on a two-dimensional sphere which we call the sky … Hypothesize that all that the universe consists of is these skies—each one the view of some event Rather than construct the views from the causal relations reverse things and derive the causal relations and everything else from the views In these musings I’m often left wondering to what degree our conscious experience of the flow of time is responsible for our confusion about it Is it possible that experiencing a deeper structure of the universe is what we’re calling time Are time and consciousness perhaps two sides of the same coin Whatever turns out to be true about the nature of reality in every moment of our lives we have firsthand knowledge of a simple truth: Circumstances have come together to create an experience of witnessing the universe unfold from within How and why may always remain mysteries—perhaps by definition as Smolin’s skies suggest—but in the meantime Annaka Harris is the New York Times bestselling author of Conscious: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind She is an editor and consultant for science writers and her work has appeared in The New York Times a collaborator on the Mindful Games Activity Cards and a volunteer meditation teacher for the Inner Kids organization Lead photo: Replica Of Nature / Shutterstock unraveled by the very brightest living thinkers You’ve read your 2 free articles this month Access unlimited ad-free stories like this one sign up for the free Nautilus newsletter: science and culture for people who love beautiful writing The mystery at the heart of consciousness lies in why our universe – despite teeming with non-conscious matter – is configured in a way where it’s having a felt experience from the inside Modern neuroscience suggests that our intuitions about consciousness are incorrect it’s possible that we’ve been thinking about consciousness the wrong way entirely then consciousness may not be something that arises out of complex processing in brains Consciousness could be a much more basic phenomenon in nature we can imagine that all types of processing in nature could include some type of felt experience But the mystery at the heart of consciousness is why in this universe that seems to be teeming with non-conscious matters somehow gets configured in such a way where suddenly it's having a felt experience from the inside there's something that it's like to be that matter And there's a lot that's happened in modern neuroscience that suggests that our intuitions about consciousness are wrong if it's possible that we've been thinking about consciousness the wrong way that it's not something that arises out of complex processing in brains is it possible that consciousness is a much more basic phenomenon in nature and is essentially pervading everything then we can imagine that all types of processing in nature could include some type of felt experience and I write about the science and philosophy of consciousness I have a book called "Conscious: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind." And I have a docuseries titled "Lights On." There's no perfect definition for consciousness in the way that I'm using it here And so it's useful to use Thomas Nagel's description from his essay "What is it Like to Be a Bat?" He illustrates a bat that is moving through the world using sonar the sounds are bouncing off the walls and the trees and it gets a picture of its external world in the same way that we get a picture of the external world through vision But you can imagine that the actual felt experience of that is very different from our experience of using vision So when I use the word "consciousness," I'm not talking about higher-order thinking or complex thought or things that we think of in terms of human consciousness But when I use the word "consciousness," I'm talking about awareness to talk about this more fundamental sense of consciousness It could exist in a very simple organism that is not capable of thought we think of a very young child or an infant we know that there's still felt experiences - feeling pressure against the skin which makes a lot of sense because we have assumed that the organisms that are conscious are the ones that are most like us The brain is the most complex system in the universe And so we assume that consciousness arises out of that complex processing But some of these intuitions that we're relying on to make that assumption have been overturned by modern neuroscience and have been shown to be illusions So when we're trying to think more clearly and more creatively about consciousness really get at the heart of where these intuitions are misleading us is there any evidence we can find from outside an organism that will conclusively tell us that that organism entails conscious experiences Is it driving our behavior in the way that we feel it is And our intuitive answer to both of these questions is a resounding yes if I go pick up my friend at the airport who I haven't seen in years and I see a big smile on her face and she's running toward me everything I see in her behavior in that moment are very good clues that she's conscious But we know it's possible for there to be no behavior coming out of a system nothing to detect from the outside when there's a full human conscious experience present and he had a condition called locked-in syndrome And this occurs when someone experiences brain damage either due to a stroke or to an external injury and the entire body becomes paralyzed so that someone is no longer able to move any part of their body yet they still retain a full conscious experience they developed this technique for him spelling out words with certain patterns of blinks And he ended up writing a beautiful memoir titled "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," and it took him 200,000 blinks to write that memoir a system in nature that is having such a full conscious experience as full as I am having right now with the ability to write and experience the world but with no ability to move or communicate or exhibit any behavior that would tell us that this person is conscious And so we can wonder if it's possible that there are other systems in nature that simply aren't able to communicate or exhibit behavior that convinces us that consciousness is present in them And our intuition regarding the second question is that our conscious experiences are affecting things If we encounter a bear or a lion in the wild the feeling of fear is the thing that gets us to move so quickly out of the way But what we now understand about the brain is that the experience of feeling fear is actually something that happens at the tail end of a sequence of processing and that our bodies begin responding and moving to a dangerous situation much more quickly than we become aware of it This is what neuroscientists refer to as binding processes Binding processes take in all of our perceptions all of the information that comes in through our eyes and ears and give us an experience of a present moment So I often give the example of playing the piano you'll have the experience of feeling the key move down at the same moment that you see the key move down and in the same moment that you hear the tone all of these signals move through the world at different amounts of time to get to your brain They each take different amounts of time to be processed by the brain The brain is taking in all of these inputs that are taking different amounts of time to reach the brain and be processed by the brain and then deliver them to your conscious experience as one single moment And so those intuitions that consciousness is driving that type of behavior So if the intuitions that led us to assume that consciousness arises out of complex processing we really have only two options for a starting place that consciousness arises out of complex processing Or all of these systems are conscious that consciousness is fundamental and how could we even study something like this scientifically We might wonder if experiences can be shared between systems If you think about Albert Einstein and the fact that he had intuitions for space-time that no other human being had and it took him more than a decade to explain this intuition through mathematics and language and to be able to communicate what he was talking about to other scientists let alone start to make scientific progress with it is there some future science where you might be able to actually share that intuition We might wonder which types of systems entail suffering this is something we obviously care a lot about We know now that when dogs cry out in pain they're feeling something very similar to what we feel And so it'd be interesting to learn what other types of systems might experience pain or suffering and I actually ran this little thought experiment for myself imagining that all the plants along the trail were not plants but were some type of creature feeling the world And just that little exercise gave me a sense of how different we might feel in the world if we understood that there were many more conscious systems around us than we realized Once South Williamsport’s Livy Harvey and Emily Holtzapple started walking up the hill at Williamsport High School’s tennis courts toward their coaches South Williamsport fans and family members didn’t take long to ask them to take a photo alongside South’s other doubles team South Williamsport coach Theresa Summerson asked her players if they wanted Sunday off or if they wanted to practice That’s because both of South Williamsport’s doubles teams in Saturday’s field won out and advanced to the District 4 doubles semifinals on Monday and have a chance to both move on together to the state tournament with wins in the semifinals Harvey and Holtzapple will face top-seeded Josie Bendle and Gyovanna Sundaresan of Danville in one of the semifinals it’ll be Hughesville’s Annaka Bruder and Georgia Randall facing McLaughlin and Morrison South Williamsport hasn’t had a doubles district champion in the 2000s Hughesville’s last doubles duo to win the title in districts was in 2016 when Rachel Thomas and Allison Mattuci won the title I think we’ve all been like our goal from the beginning of this,” Harvey said “I think all of us doing it showed we put in the work to do it,” Holtzapple added Harvey and Holtzapple took Montgomery/s Cali Barnes and Madisyn Miller to three sets to start the day the Mountie duo settled in and played great the remainder of the day They defeated Bucktail’s Eva Sockman and McKenna Bissman in the second round before beating Central Columbia’s Natalia Taylor and Cassandra Marte in the quarterfinals we aren’t playing these games anymore We’re done with the funny business and we’re getting right to work,” Harvey said “I think that motivated us to do better,” Holtzapple said they didn’t allow their opponents to shift away momentum especially after picking up 6-0 wins in each of the first sets in both “I think me taking forehand side and Emily taking backhand side I think that works so smoothly for us,” Harvey said of their strengths together “We both kind of know what to do where we are on the court.” “When I’m at the net and Livy’s doing the back I think that also helps make it run smoothly,” Holtzapple added McLaughlin and Morrison beat Lewisburg’s Dayssi Weis and Christina Zheng 56-4 win against Danville’s Cassie Shellenberger and Hazel Gatski Against Montoursville’s Jill Stone and Ally Witter it was the Mounties who emerged victorious 6-2 While some teams had some close sets and tough matches Hughesville’s Annaka Bruder and Georgia Randall had the opposite problem cruised past Bucktail’s Lola English and Matti Mason 6-0 win in the second round against Loyalsock’s Vivian Reem and Kaylene Kriner The Spartan pair then secured a trip to the semifinals after beating Central Columbia’s Rihanna Baker and Macy Gearhart she’s glad as a senior she gets to play for a chance at a district championship this year after not being able to last season “It definitely means a lot to me because last year I didn’t make ti to the semis and I’m a senior So making it to the semis definitely feels good,” Bruder said “It’s nothing I experienced before especially doing it with her,” Randall said Bruder and Randall both noted that they had to keep their opponents moving keeping Baker and Gearhart out of position and moving so they couldn’t get to the ball The Blue Jays played well though at the net against Hughesville “They had a really good girl at the net she could get to a lot,” Bruder said “They hit some good shots to the corners.” “Their net play was really good and they had some good serves They could hit the ball pretty ball,” Randall said Jersey Shore’s Kendall Bubb and Julia Herman had a great run on Saturday The duo ended up running into top-seeded Bendle and Sundaresan in the quarterfinals “Kendall and Julia had a great run today They’ve never played together before we had to make some changes and had a player get injured,” Jersey Shore coach Ann-Marie Dincher said She’s a second doubles player and Julia’s a first doubles player we knocked out a seeded team and then they lost to the No 6-1 win against Montoursville’s Lily Fortin and Kendall Simms before having to play a tough first set against Loyalscok’s Caroline Crawford and Gia Biacchi The Bulldog pair and Lancer duo played hard in that first set going 7-6 before Shore won the tiebreaker (7-2) The Bulldogs then closed it out with a 6-0 second-set victory “Going into the second set we just made some simple adjustments and we follow three simple rules They actually listened and we were able to cruise to a 6-0 win in the second set,” Dincher said Bendle and Sundaresan beat Bubb and Herman as the Danville pair routinely hit hard shots directly back at Jersey Shore and were able to play well throughout both sets “I think the best thing is they have great personalities,” Dincher said of Bubb and Herman “They never give up and they encourage each other to go after the next point.” Bendle and Sundaresan eliminated Hughesville’s Rebecca Roberts and Maya Snyder in the second round 6-0 first-round win against North Penn-LIberty’s Ellie Brion and Ciara Keiser Sockman and Bissman of Bucktial defated Lewisburg’s Ella Markunas and Morgan Strieby 6-2 Wellsboro’s Olivia Gage and Carys Bartlett fell in the first round to Central Columbia’s Taylor and Marte Loyalsock’s Ream and Kriner beat Cowanesque Valley’s Chelsea Wattles and Danica Gardner in the first round Montgomery’s Carly Hall and Madison Budman defeated Bloomsburg’s Erika Traupman and Ella Derr Baker and Gearhart eliminated Muncy’s Leah Vest and Taylor Shannon in the first round as the Muncy duo played tough in both sets Muncy’s Alyssa Krepinevich/Savannah Thompson def Towanda’s Ema Ackley/Jaden Conklin; Bucktail’s Lola English/Matti Mason def Mifflinburg’s Holly Swartz/Rhyann Kurtz; Wellsboro’s Evelyn Wetherbee/Kyleigh Lynn def N.P.-Liberty’s Elyna Booth/Elena Hazleton; Selinsgrove’s Miah Bassler/Talia Mowery def Mifflinburg’s Kaelynn Wagner/Addison Day Danville’s Josie Bendle/Gyovanna Sundaresan def Muncy’s Alyssa Krepinevich/Savannah Thompson 6-0; Hughesville’s Rebecca Roberts/Maya Snyder def N.P.-Liberty’s Ellie Brion/Ciara Keiser 6-0; Jersey Shore’s Kendall Bubb/Julia Herman def Montoursville’s Lily Fortin/Kendall Simms 6-1; Loyalsock’s Caroline Crawford/Gia Biacchi def Milton’s Kyleigh Snyder/Emily Waltman 6-4; South Williamsport’s Livy Harvey/Emily Holtzapple def Montgomery’s Cali Barnes/Madisyn Miller 6-4; Bucktail’s Eva Sockman/McKenna Bissman def Lewisburg’s Ella Markunas/Morgan Strieby 6-3; Central Columbia’s Natalia Taylor/Cassandra Marte def Wellsboro’s Olivia Gage/Carys Bartlett 6-0; Bloomsburg’s Mya Coyne/Siena Fristky def Selinsgrove’s Miah Bassler/Talia Mowery 6-0; Loyalsock’s Vivian Reem/Kaylene Kriner def Cowanesque Valley’s Chelsea Wattles/Danica Gardner 6-1; Montgomery’s Carly Hall/Madison Budman def Bloomsburg’s Erika Traupman/Ella Derr 6-1; Central Columbia’s Rihanna Baker/Macy Gearhart def 6-2; South Williamsport’s Emma McLaughlin/Mylee Morrison def Lewisburg’s Dayssi Weis/Christina Zheng 6-2; Danville’s Cassie Shellenberger/Hazel Gatski def Towanda’s Lainey Alderfer/Nadia Alderfer 6-0; Montoursville’s Jill Stone/Ally Witter def Selinsgrove’s Khylee Haines/Alexis Hoot 7-5; Wellsboro’s Evelyn Wetherbee/Kyleigh Lynn def Hughesville’s Rebecca Roberts/Maya Snyder 6-1; Jersey Shore’s Kendall Bubb/Julia Herman def Loyalsock’s Caroline Crawford/Gia Biacchi 6-0; South Williamsport’s Livy Harvey/Emily Holtzapple def Bucktail’s Eva Sockman/McKenna Bissman Bloomsburg’s Mya Coyne/Siena Fristky Loyalscok’s Vivian Reem/Kaylene Kriner 6-0; Central Columbia’s Rihanna Baker/Macy Gearhart def Montgomery’s Carly Hall/Madison Budman 6-1; South Williamsport’s Emma McLaughlin/Mylee Morrison def Danville’s Cassie Shellenberger/Hazel Gatski 6-4; Montoursville’s Jill Stone/Ally Witter def Wellsboro’s Evelyn Wetherbee/Kyleigh Lynn Jersey Shore’s Kendall Bubb/Julia Herman South Williamsport’s Livy Harvey/Emily Holtzapple def Central Columbia’s Natalia Taylor/Cassandra Marte Central Columbia’s Rihanna Baker/Macy Gearhart 6-0; South Williamsport’s Emma McLaughlin/Mylee Morrison def Montoursville’s Jill Stone/Ally Witter Danville’s Josie Bendle/Gyovanna Sundaresan vs South Williamsport’s Livy Harvey/Emily Holtzapple; Hughesville’s Annaka Bruder/Georgia Randall vs South Williamsport’s Emma McLaughlin and Mylee Morrison Are you actually in the driver’s seat of your own life The illusion of free will says that our choices are determined by factors greater than our intentions and actions that total conscious control is purely an illusion We may assume that illusions like this have evolved for their usefulness but most illusions that we experience are actually glitches Take for example the illusion of self – the other side of the illusion of free will coin unchanging entities that move through time and space separate from the rest of the physical world This illusion confuses us about our place in nature Harris explores these two illusions and how they shape our everyday experience ANNAKA HARRIS: People often think that illusions are evolved for their usefulness but the truth is that most illusions that we experience are actually glitches One example of this is the illusion of self and the illusion of free will and the illusion of free will and self are really two sides of the same coin It's this experience we all have of being a solid entity an unchanging entity that moves through time that is somehow living somewhere inside my body and this illusion confuses us about our place in nature and the state of reality on on many different levels But the truth is that there really is this positive way to view it I like to distinguish between conscious will and free will So I use the term free will to talk about decision-making processes in nature If you look at something like a pea tendril when it senses that it's close to a branch that it can wrap itself around it starts growing more quickly in that direction Most of us wouldn't consider that to be a free decision-making process It's a cause and effect process that occurs in nature And as you move up in complexity to the level of brains and then human brains the number of factors that come into play are so expansive that it would be impossible for us to track them all and it's a process by which the brain is interacting with the exterior world and measuring the different outcomes of the different possible futures This is something that I think we can refer to as free will and that what many people mean by free will The problem with having "free" in the title is that it's not free in the way we feel it is concrete entity that lives somewhere in the head feels as though it's separate from the physical world and separate from the cause-effect relationships that we know to be in place that could somehow freely make a decision or freely intervene in the physical world outside of the relationships of cause and effect everything we know takes place within this felt experience of consciousness we often equate this feeling of self with consciousness and I call that conscious will because it is this feeling that my conscious experience is this self and is the thing that has this freedom and this is how the illusion of self and the illusion of free will are related There was a very interesting study done in 2013 in which they put participants in an fMRI machine and showed them a screen and they gave them the option of either adding or subtracting these two numbers and they were scanning the activity of these participants' brains while they were doing this calculation and the result of this study was that the experimenters could tell up to four seconds not only when this person was going to make the decision but whether they decided to add or subtract and so you get the sense viscerally that there's no self or free will making decisions behind the scenes but that in terms of your conscious experience this is often very hard for people to grasp what that could even mean and so I'd first like to just be very clear about what I'm not talking about when I talk about the illusion of self So what is not an illusion is the fact that we are organisms and systems in nature and so we can talk about ourselves in the same way that we can talk about a cat as another organism in nature But even though we can label it a wave and we can call it a wave and talk about the types of things waves do we all understand that a wave is not a static thing in nature and our brains are very much the same thing They are processes in nature that are ever-changing that we are in constant communication with the external world and that the boundaries between ourselves and the world and ourselves and each other are not as solid and firm as they appear to us or that they feel to us to be especially when we feel like a static self So the neuroscience is really still in its infancy but we're starting to learn more and more about how this illusion of self gets created Part of it has to do with something called change blindness We have a blind spot in our visual field that we are not conscious of and neuroscientists are just now starting to understand that there is a change blindness with respect to our experience over time so that we don't notice how different each of our experiences in every moment are from every other which adds to this illusion of being a solid entity that moves through time unchanged and we also know that memory plays a role in creating this experience of self as well There's a sense in which all of the memories that we have access to over time were being experienced by the same subject and you can imagine if your memories weren't strung together and your experience was just of each present moment there'd be much less of a sense of a self moving through time We're also learning a little bit more about what neuroscientists refer to as the default mode network So we know that when the default mode network is active we are highly aware of this illusion of self and it tends to quiet down when we're experiencing what people talk about as a flow state when people are under the influence of some psychedelic substances or various meditation techniques that quiet down the default mode network we are not so aware of self versus other or self versus world which is actually closer to the underlying reality So many people find this realization to be quite disconcerting and I think one way to address that is levels of usefulness it is not useful or helpful to realize that there's an illusion of sorts taking place One example I like to give is that we more or less walk around with the illusion that the Earth is flat and that's the best way to go about our everyday lives If we constantly reminded ourselves that the Earth is a sphere and had to feel that way everywhere we went and would get in the way of all kinds of activities and would not be helpful And the same is true of the illusion of self and the illusion of free will but it actually can also be useful psychologically in certain circumstances this isn't something you wanna remind yourself of in every moment but there are moments where realizing that there's an experience of conscious will taking place can be quite liberating Many people get stuck in feeling responsible for their psychological state and there's a way in which simply being with whatever uncomfortable emotions you're experiencing whether it's sadness or frustration or anger being with them rather than believing that you are controlling them can be extremely beneficial for psychological wellbeing There are also ways that we can apply this in our relationships with other people I sometimes talk about the fact that you would never get angry at a tornado and that doesn't mean anger doesn't have a place in society and culture But there are times when anger can overcome us and start to rule our lives in a way that is incredibly unhelpful and unhealthy and when we understand that our brains are essentially processes playing out in nature and there isn't a solid self to every person that is somehow evil or worthy of blame can also be liberating to notice in certain circumstances Today's print edition Home Delivery A bear entered a home in Gunma Prefecture early Friday morning and seriously injured an elderly couple A woman in her 70s from the city of Annaka called emergency services around 20 minutes after midnight reporting that a bear had entered the home and bit her husband police said.googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1499653692894-0'); }); The couple were sleeping on the first floor of a two-story house when the man heard a noise outside and opened a window to investigate proceeded to attack the couple before leaving the scene immediately afterward Both are not in a life-threatening condition and are expected to recover in about three months In a time of both misinformation and too much information quality journalism is more crucial than ever.By subscribing Your subscription plan doesn't allow commenting. To learn more see our FAQ Sponsored contents planned and edited by JT Media Enterprise Division East Nippon Expressway Co is conducting construction work to prevent rockfall above the Kitanomaki Tunnel on the Joshin-Etsu Expressway in Annaka City the site was opened for a tour for about 70 people selected through a lottery work began to remove the rock mass above the tunnel participants wearing helmets went up the scaffolding They enjoyed views of the road and surrounding mountains.  A company employee from Nagano Prefecture said "It was a special experience walking above the road I usually use." The construction is scheduled to be completed in 2029 (Read the article in Japanese.) Author: Takumi Kamoshida You must be logged in to post a comment ' + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.webview_notification_text + ' " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_title + " " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_text + " Garber’s Kara Kotenko (27) pitches during the Bay County Softball Championship against Bay City Central on Sunday .st1{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:#2a2a2a}By Lee Thompson | lthomps2@mlive.comBAY CITY Kara Kotenko and Geena Gauthier went that route many And just one of those innings is all that separated the two pitching aces in their battle for the strikeout title on the 2024 Bay County Softball Leaders list When the final regular season numbers came in Kotenko had 288 strikeouts for Essexville Garber while Gauthier rung up 285 Ks for Pinconning two huge numbers in the annals of Bay County softball They are the two highest strikeout totals since Louise Rezmer of Bay City All Saints fanned 332 batters in 2009 Kotenko claimed the strikeout crown and the wins title posting 24 victories in the pitching circle That’s the highest total since Bay City Central’s Sydney Spencer won 25 games during the 2018 regular season showing her versatility by winning the home run crown in Bay County with eight big blasts She is the first Pinconning player to win the home run title since the stat was first tracked on Bay County Leaders in 2013 All Saints senior Annaka Neetz claimed the batting title for the third consecutive season joining Hannah Ducolon of All Saints (2015-17) as the only players to accomplish that feat since Bay County Leaders began in 2001 Neetz also shared the runs scored crown with Garber’s Ella Kokaly swiping a Bay County Leaders-record 43 bags John Glenn’s Gabriella Mezey was tops in RBIs driving in 53 runs during the regular season to become the first Glenn player to claim that crown since Kennedi Hardy in 2019 Here is a look at the 2024 Bay County Softball Leaders with regular season-only numbers A historical look at past stat champions is included below Annaka Neetz of the Bay City All Saints softball team for 2024.Lee Thompson | lthomps2@mlive.com Garber’s Grace Zwetzig (2) practice swings during the Bay County Softball Championship against Bay City Central on Sunday Gabriella Mezey of the John Glenn softball team for 2024.Lee Thompson | lthomps2@mlive.com Geena Gauthier of the Pinconning softball team for 2024.Lee Thompson | lthomps2@mlive.com Garber’s Ella Kokaly (7) high-fives teammates during the Bay County Softball Championship against Bay City Central on Sunday Bay City Central’s Alivia Kukla (11) pitches during the Bay County Softball Championship against Garber on Sunday Kara Kotenko of the Essexville Garber softball team for 2024.Courtesy Chelsea Westenburg is greeted by Bay City Central softball teammate Amanda Sheltrown during the 2006 season.Times Photo Brooke Drzewicki motors into second base for the Bay City All Saints softball team during the 2004 season.Times Photo 2024 Ella Kokaly (G) 47; Annaka Neetz (AS) 47 2014 Josie Lavrack (P) 56; Meredith Rousse (W) 56 2009 Danielle Anthony (C) 42; Rachel Bowker (G) 42 2004 Brooke Drzewicki (AS) 44; Katie Middleton (AS) 44 Bay City All Saints pitching ace Julie Glowiak has doubled as the most-feared hitter in the area during the 2004 season.TIMES PHOTO John Glenn's Kaylee Schreiber slides into first safely during a game against Bay City Western.The Bay City Times/MLive.com Bay City Western's Hannah Leppek takes a cut during a softball clash with Bay City Central in 2013.Michael Niziolek | Mlive.com Bay City All Saints softball pitcher Louise Rezmer won her 100th career high school game in 2009 Kaeleen Sugden pitches for Bay City Western during a Saginaw Valley League softball showdown in 2005.THE BAY CITY TIMES If you would like your local high school sports news delivered free to your inbox daily, click here and sign up for one of our local high school sports newsletters Love reading about local sports? Don’t miss any of the excitement from the season ahead. Purchase your subscription now and get full access to every story on MLive Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, (updated 8/1/2024) and acknowledgement of our Privacy Policy, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (updated 1/1/2025) © 2025 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us) The material on this site may not be reproduced except with the prior written permission of Advance Local Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site YouTube's privacy policy is available here and YouTube's terms of service is available here Ad Choices the 20-year-old woman charged with homicide for stabbing 33-year-old Ashley Calo in a drug dispute faced a judge Annaka Trudell is being charged with 19-year-old Dawson Miller as a co-defendant Miller told detectives he helped Trudell hide after the incident but didn’t realize she had killed someone until shortly before they were arrested and both appeared in court Friday for a joint preliminary hearing Miller’s attorney said since he was recently retained he wanted to reschedule the hearing to allow more time to review motions in the case The hearings will be rescheduled for later this month Trudell met up with Calo on February 13 to get drugs and Trudell allegedly told detectives she planned on taking the drugs without paying Details in the criminal complaint indicate calo’s three-year-old son Braxton was in the car A witness said Calo had blue fentanyl pills that looked like percocet Trudell told police a physical fight broke out Calo attempted to drive away and crashed into nearby landscaping and Calo’s friends say he is living with her stepbrother cheerful,” Calo’s friend Hollyann Zastrow said He’s just like one of the siblings in the family.” The family says they’re looking for a more permanent solution for Braxton You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser or activate Google Chrome Frame to improve your experience Blooming Prairie senior Annaka Forbsberg signs her national letter-of-intent to compete at Division I Coastal Carolina in BP Thursday Annaka Forbserg celebrated her signing with her family BLOOMING PRAIRIE -— Blooming Prairie senior Annaka Forsberg is already one of the best high jumpers in the state of Minnesota and now she’ll be lifting the bar even higher as she aims to leap at a national level who won the last two Class A state titles in high jump signed her national letter-of-intent to compete with the track and field team at Division I Coastal Carolina University next season at Blooming Prairie High School Thursday Forsberg took a brief moment to let a smile loose after her signing as she became the first BP track and field athlete to sign with a Division I school in 19 years I’ve always thought about what I wanted to do after high school and I definitely wanted to go to college,” Forsberg said “To have that weight lifted off my shoulders it’s going to be super fun to put my all into my last year of high school and get ready to compete in college.” Forsberg will be moving 1,285 miles southeast of BP as Coastal Carolina is located in Conway Forsberg chose a school near the ocean largely because she wants to study marine biology “My major was my major factor as far as where I was going to look,” Forsberg said track started to factor in and I really like the team and the program at Coastal Carolina It’s going to be a huge change and I can’t wait for it to be warm.” Forsberg won a state title in high jump this past spring with a height of 5-feet 4-inches and she took home her first state title in high jump when she cleared a height of 5-6 at the state meet in 2022 Forsberg finished fourth in the state high jump as a freshman in 2021 She holds the BP school records in the high jump and triple jump where she took sixth place at the state meet last season Forsberg has shown a lot of resilience over the years to invest heavily in a sport that involves a lot of falling down and occasional frustration for anyone looking to push themselves to their limits “You just have to push through every day,” Forsberg said “I think it’s my love for track that has carried me through.” Coastal Carolina competes in the Sun Belt Conference The Minnesota Timberwolves (33-29) are welcoming in the Utah Jazz (15-45) for a contest between Northwest Division foes… The Kansas Jayhawks versus the Houston Cougars is one of two games on Monday’s college basketball schedule that… The Tampa Bay Lightning versus the Florida Panthers is one of many solid options on today’s NHL slate.… The college basketball schedule on Monday is not one to miss Our computer model has recommended picks against… There are two games on the college basketball schedule on Monday that feature a ranked team nnaka and I were roommates our freshman year at Washington State University We’re still figuring out how to make our home a functional co-working space Annaka wants a treadmill desk near a window I want a space for my desktop computer and a quiet space to do interviews Annaka graduated from “Zoom university,” as we call it and family members watched the virtual ceremony When Annaka and her roommate’s names were announced they waved at the audience and walked across the living room instead of a stage I went to the “cliffs” along the Snake River I didn’t want to look at the graduation stream It was a harsh reminder that our four years of hard work was not going to be celebrated on a stage under the bright lights Annaka moved to Seattle for her first corporate job I started working at KUOW as the weekend morning announcer Neither Annaka nor I have ever worked full-time in an office — social distancing rules were in full effect when we began our careers Like many born in Generation Z, broadly defined as people under the age of 25, Annaka and I have struggled with launching our careers in a remote work environment. A study published by Washington State University in April found that while many Gen-Zers don’t feel ready to return to work fully in-person many feel that they are missing out on professional development and networking opportunities The study found 60% of Gen Zers are worried that starting their careers remotely hindered their growth Annaka and I fear having a false start could impact our careers said Gen Z is unique in feeling anxiety about the unknown consequences of remote work “They are concerned about access to training especially because these are folks really early in their career — it's often their first job,” Hunter explained “I think there's also a more general sense of anxiety about not knowing [Gen Z professionals] don't know how the workplace really works," he added stating that many feel they don't know what they may be missing out on Annaka and I are among the many Gen Zers who have had this experience Annaka wanted to connect with people at her new job but working remotely made that difficult “I was thinking I was going to be able to make friends at work,” Annaka said “I didn’t really know anyone peer-level at work I didn’t know how to make friends in general because everything was online If I were to reach out and message someone on [Microsoft] Teams According to a 2018 Gallup poll, having a “work best friend” at your job leads to increased productivity and more engagement at work who she connected with after moving to a team that worked partially in-person Annaka said she felt lost in the company culture and it was difficult to network and work on the projects she was most interested in I felt like I was losing out on mentorship opportunities by not being around colleagues often I was also missing out on the ability to quickly consult coworkers and talk through problems I paced around my apartment and let the anxiety eat me These moments made me feel lonely and helpless Loneliness is a state of mind in which there’s a disconnect between what somebody wants or expects from a relationship, and what they actually experience in that relationship, according to the University of Chicago's School of Medicine experiencing loneliness can have palpable consequences for a person’s well-being and is connected to a number of physical and mental health conditions In 2017, the U.S. Surgeon General declared that loneliness was at epidemic levels. One study published by the insurance company Cigna found that loneliness in Americans increased during the pandemic 7% more Americans felt lonely in just two years Gen Z has the highest rate of loneliness, according to a growing body of research. A study published by Cigna found that 79% of Gen Zers felt lonely. The study referred to us as the “Loneliest Generation.” My heart throbs when I think about younger Gen Zers who missed many of life’s experiences and milestones like going to Friday night football games and prom I missed out on late-night study sessions with college friends I also missed out on throwing my college grad cap in the air then searching for it among the sea of graduates I was really excited to join the workforce especially at the station I listened to as a backseat NPR baby I visited KUOW often when I participated in the station's youth journalism program I remember the newsroom used to be full of people and felt lively only a handful of my colleagues frequent the quiet office I have a few work best friends and met some fantastic mentors but lots of casual social interactions are still missing feelings of loneliness and isolation are two of the main reasons why we moved in together again I never thought I would willingly and happily give up living alone I'm happier now and glad Annaka is my roommate As the pandemic tails off, work norms continue to shift. It's unclear what those norms may be by 2024, the year scientists project the disease will become endemic; I hope we choose a path that is still flexible but less lonely nonprofit news organization that produces award-winning journalism humankind has been plagued by to two essential questions: Why do I have this unique voice inside my head And am I in control of it or am I simply a passenger The concepts of consciousness and free will are fundamental to the human condition—perhaps the two most crucial operating principles of our lives after millennia of philosophical inquiry and scientific progress unable to make many great claims with high certainty In the latest episode of Singularity University Radio’s the Feedback Loop we sat down with one of our species’ latest champions fighting to unravel the enigmatic puzzle that is the human mind including her husband and world-renowned author she’s honed her thoughts about consciousness and free will The result? Her new book, Conscious: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind a wonderfully concise and well-organized exploration of the mind’s greatest mysteries backed by numerous case studies and examples outlining our latest understanding of consciousness Annaka explains how easy it is to take our everyday experience for granted But the moment we stop to consider what’s really happening—our perception our experiences—we are forced to reckon with one of the most profound mysteries that exists: How could any collection of matter become self-aware Her stated goal is to shatter the intuitions and biases that can lead us into inaccurate assumptions and direct us instead into a state of awe and openness to new ideas One such idea is the controversial concept of panpsychism the idea that consciousness is a fundamental aspect of matter It’s a bold idea that was explored by thinkers as early as Plato but which lost favor through the years (especially with the rise of logical positivism) with science still struggling to find a solution for the “hard problem” of consciousness—which is the question of how and why organisms have subjective experience—there has been a resurgence in exploration of panpsychism as a possibility Sign up to receive top stories about groundbreaking technologies and visionary thinkers from SingularityHub we explore the notions of shattered intuitions and panpsychism the implications of consciousness studies for AI and free will and the lessons we can learn from altered states like meditation and psychedelics Image Credit: frankie's / Shutterstock.com Be Part of the FutureSign up to receive top stories about groundbreaking technologies and visionary thinkers from SingularityHub. SingularityHub chronicles the technological frontier with coverage of the breakthroughs FOND DU LAC (NBC 26) — Annaka Trudell and Dawson Miller who are charged in connection to the stabbing death of a woman in Fond du Lac A judge has ruled Trudell will stand trial for the death of Ashley Calo She's charged with first-degree intentional homicide and his case was also bound over for trial."It is probable that a felony was committed by each from the testimony," judge Andrew Christenson said "Each of these cases was bound over for trial I'm not going to dismiss or reduce anything today Though police said Trudell and Dawson had other plans "Annaka indicated that Dawson told her to meet up with them and rob her to take the drugs form her," Detective Vance Henning with the Fond du Lac police said "Annaka said Dawson told her to take some knives with her for protection." Police said Trudell told them a fight broke out and she stabbed Calo who then drove away before crashing her car Police said Calo's son was in the car but not hurt Miller been charged with multiple felonies Detectives said he helped set up the drug deal and then helped Trudell get out of town after the stabbing Calo's friends tell me her son Braxton is now living with family "The foster family is having some difficult conversations," Calo's friend Hollyann Zastrow said it's hard for him to understand what's going on at this point." Calo's friends said they're raising money for Braxton and are planning to set up and education fund Annaka Neetz celebrates her 1,000th point with her Bay City All Saints teammates during a game against Akron-Fairgrove on Feb MI – They’re fidgety and bubbly and bouncing with excitement It’s hard to sit still when you’re an elementary school student especially when there’s a superstar in your classroom On days when Bay City All Saints senior Annaka Neetz serves as a tech aide in her mother’s grade-school classes there’s an extra measure of glee in the air Not only is Annaka a thrilling player in basketball and volleyball and softball “She’s like a hero to the little kids,” said Greg Wagner the school’s student support advisor who also coaches softball Kids look up to her in the hallways and look up to her on the court.” Neetz further cemented her icon status at All Saints becoming just the second player in the 56-year history of the girls basketball program to eclipse the 1,000-point plateau for her career She joins 2017 graduate Shannon Bates in the rare club and is the 20th player in Bay County history to reach the mark But Neetz is the first to do it on a five-year plan In the first and only time it was done by the All Saints girls basketball Neetz and classmates Madie Werner and Lili Costilla were added to the varsity roster as eighth graders by coach Mike Debo That gives this year’s team a rare nucleus of five-year players “I was expecting to play at the high school level but I didn’t think I would be moved up to varsity I’ll always remember Coach Debo telling me to go in at the four-minute mark of the fourth quarter Because the school has an enrollment of less than 100 students MHSAA rules allowed All Saints to bring up eighth-grade players With four seniors – but no juniors and only one sophomore – on the roster Debo utilized that option to add three players he knew would be thrown into the fire as freshmen “We had the chance to allow them to play as eighth graders “You have to make sure the player is ready and I had confidence they all could handle it “It wasn’t as much about points as it was about coming off the bench understanding the system and getting their feet wet but you can see how much they developed and grew.” The Bay City All Saints girls basketball team celebrates Annaka Neetz and her milestone feat.Courtesy then added just 53 points the following year when All Saints played only seven games during the coronavirus-marred 2021 campaign But when she returned for her sophomore year joined a travel basketball program and got in extra hours in the gym with her father while honing the skills that would turn her into a 1,000-point scorer the 5-foot-9 forward sharpened the rugged mentality that has allowed her to thrive in the rough-and-tumble territory under the basket “There are definitely a lot of times of getting beat on down low,” said Neetz who recently signed with the Delta College women’s basketball program I try to drive and get them in foul trouble She does that with high energy and a competitive fire that lurks beneath that humble persona and friendly smile -- just as it did for big sister Elisa Neetz who was a four-year letterwinner in three sports at Essexville Garber It’s that spunk that has made Neetz the focal point of all three varsity sports throughout her high school career She is the top attacker for the volleyball team in the fall and shortstop and leading hitter for the softball team in the spring making her a must-see athlete year-round for All Saints followers – and up-and-comers “The little kids have seen her accomplishments in the classroom and on the court and softball field and they want to be like her when they get in high school,” Debo said “The seniors have become role models for our elementary students.” A lot of young eyes see her grade their worksheets go over math problems and help them study – then go out and score 32 points in a basketball game Neetz averaged 16.2 points and 9.0 rebounds per game last season while leading Bay County in both categories She’s tops again this year at 18.8 points and 10.2 rebounds Alongside longtime teammates Costilla and Werner she is leading the Cougars in their quest for a fourth North Central Thumb League Stripes Division championship in five years she considered it a team achievement Thursday when she reached rare air with her 1,000th career point “I’m thankful for the opportunity of reaching that milestone,” she said “It means a lot to me that my teammates keep passing me the ball and trusting me with it And so it was that more than four years after hitting her first varsity bucket as a 13-year-old – inciting the student section to chant “She’s in eighth grade – that the youngest daughter of Mary Beth and Walt Neetz scored on a drive to the basket and stamped her place in All Saints lore FOND DU LAC (WLUK) – The suspect in a homicide thatallegedly stemmed from a drug deal was ordered Friday to stand trial as was the suspect in the related armed robbery is accused of stabbed Ashley Calo during the Feb She is charged with first-degree intentional homicide and armed robbery with the use of force Also charged in connection with the case was Dawson Miller There was testimony at the preliminary hearings Friday after which the two were bound over for trial Arraignment dates were not immediately available Calo, 33, was found dead inside a car after crashing near W Our default intuition when it comes to consciousness is that humans and some other animals have it But how sure can we be that plants aren’t conscious And what if what we take to be behavior indicating consciousness can be replicated with no conscious agent involved Annaka Harris invites us to consider the real possibility that our intuitions about consciousness might be mere illusions Our intuitions have been shaped by natural selection to quickly provide life-saving information and these evolved intuitions can still serve us in modern life we have the ability to unconsciously perceive elements in our environment in threatening situations that in turn deliver an almost instantaneous assessment of danger — such as the intuition that we shouldn’t get into an elevator with someone even though we can’t put our finger on why and “false intuitions” can arise in any number of ways especially in domains of understanding — like science and philosophy — that evolution could never have foreseen An intuition is simply the powerful sense that something is true without having an awareness or understanding of the reasons behind this feeling — it may or may not represent something true about the world It’s possible for a vivid experience of consciousness to exist undetected from the outside And when we inspect our intuitions about consciousness itself — how we judge whether or not an organism is conscious — we discover that what once seemed like obvious truths are not so straightforward I like to begin this exploration with two questions that at first glance appear deceptively simple to answer Note the responses that first occur to you and keep them in mind as we explore some typical intuitions and illusions 1)      In a system that we know has conscious experiences — the human brain — what evidence of consciousness can we detect from the outside 2)      Is consciousness essential to our behavior These two questions overlap in important ways but it’s informative to address them separately Consider first that it’s possible for conscious experience to exist without any outward expression at all (at least in a brain) A striking example of this is the neurological condition called locked-in syndrome in which virtually one’s entire body is paralyzed but consciousness is fully intact This condition was made famous by the late editor-in-chief of French Elle who ingeniously devised a way to write about his personal story of being “locked in.” After a stroke left him paralyzed Bauby retained only the ability to blink his left eye his caretakers noticed his efforts to communicate using this sole remnant of mobility and over time they developed a method whereby he could spell out words through a pattern of blinks thus revealing the full scope of his conscious life He describes this harrowing experience in his 1997 memoir The Diving Bell and the Butterfly which he wrote in about two hundred thousand blinks Start by exploring our subscription options or joining our mailing list today This information is very helpful for my work from my location and I look forward to hearing more from you Some organism’s behavior is reflexive and some is operant Does plant behavior have a similar differential Annaka Harris, a science writer focusing on neuroscience and physics and the author of Conscious: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind (2019), challenges us to reflect on two points: 1) In a system that we know has conscious experiences — the human brain — what evidence of consciousness can we detect from the outside 2) Is consciousness essential to our behavior The editor notes, introducing an excerpt from the book “But how sure can we be that plants aren’t conscious Annaka Harris invites us to consider the real possibility that our intuitions about consciousness might be mere illusions.” Harris begins with a shoutout to natural selection (survival of the fittest), noting: and these evolved intuitions can still serve us in modern life… But our guts can deceive us as well especially in domains of understanding — like science and philosophy —that evolution could never have foreseen The problem with the “evolutionary” approach to thinking is this: If it’s true that we can’t trust the reasoning skills of our brains which evolved merely in order to enable us to survive and reproduce (according to the theory) to arrive at a correct answer we are in no position to evaluate Harris’s own thesis as either sound or unconvincing Nor is she in a position to evaluate it herself She also notes anesthesia awareness where patients are aware of events and pain during surgery these rare events where people are conscious — but we don’t know it — do occur But how do we generally notice consciousness in other human beings By their conscious interactions with us in situations where no other explanation seems plausible sudden unconsciousness in a human is likely to result in calls to 9-11 Human consciousness remains mysterious but it is not ambiguous If Harris wants to introduce the idea that plants are conscious efforts to denigrate the significance of human consciousness are simply not the best place to begin She is on firmer ground when she observes that plants have been found in recent research to do many things that animals do. She cites plant geneticist Daniel Chamovitz, whose book What a Plant Knows: A Field Guide to the Senses (Farrar Plants can sense their environments through touch and can detect many aspects of their surroundings It’s actually quite common for plants to react to touch: a vine will increase its rate and direction of growth when it senses an object nearby that it can wrap itself around; and the infamous Venus flytrap can distinguish between heavy rain or strong gusts of wind and the tentative incursions of a nutritious beetle or frog which will make them snap shut in one-tenth of a second The electrical signals that stimulate nerve cells in plants are similar to those in animals and the genes that enable the plant to determine light or darkness are the ones humans use too. One might add to the list the fact that plants use glutamate to speed signal transmission — a technique also used by mammals given the physics and chemistry of our universe a finite number of efficient communications systems is available A variety of different life forms may be found using them Those life forms may share nothing beyond the need to adopt one of the available systems But plant communication can be quite complex as well, as Suzanne Simard, has shown: She was studying the levels of carbon in two species of tree Douglas fir and paper birch carbon in two species of tree when she discovered that the two species were engaged “in a lively two-way conversation.” In the summer months the birch sent more carbon to the fir; and and at other times when the fir was still growing but the birch needed more carbon because it was leafless the fir sent more carbon to the birch — revealing that the two species were in fact interdependent Equally surprising were the results of further research led by Simard in the Canadian National Forest showing that the Douglas fir “mother trees” were able to distinguish between their own kin and a neighboring stranger’s seedlings Simard found that the mother trees colonized their kin with bigger mycorrhizal networks The mother trees also “reduced their own root competition to make room for their kids,” and sent messages through carbon and other defense signals to their kin seedlings increasing the seedlings’ resistance to local environmental stresses by spreading toxins through underground fungal networks plants are also able to ravage threatening species Because of the vast interconnections and functions of these mycorrhizal networks they have been referred to as ‘Earth’s natural Internet.’” It’s possible that plant interactions are as complex as those of social insects, but that does not, in itself, establish consciousness. Ants, for example, might be best understood as thinking like computers, which implies efficacy but not consciousness we can easily imagine plants exhibiting the behaviors described above without there being something it is like to be a plant so complex behavior doesn’t necessarily shed light on whether a system is conscious or not.” human intelligence: “The problem is that both conscious and non-conscious states seem to be compatible with any behavior so the behavior itself doesn’t necessarily signal the presence of consciousness.” No one is sure what human consciousness even is but we are pretty sure what computers are and do chatbots — to take one example — are simply scarfing up and reprocessing what humans say on the Internet AI could only be conscious if somehow consciousness arises naturally from large scale computations She then brings up the philosopher’s zombie, the zombie that might act exactly like a close friend but has no consciousness: Let’s say your “zombie friend” witnesses a car accident and takes out his phone to call for an ambulance Could he possibly be going through these motions without an experience of anxiety and concern or a conscious thought process that leads him to make a call and describe what happened Or could this all take place even if he were a robot without a felt experience prompting the behavior at all would constitute conclusive evidence of consciousness in another person I have discovered that the zombie thought experiment is also capable of influencing our thinking beyond its intended function in the following way: Once we imagine human behavior around us existing without consciousness that behavior begins to look more like many behaviors we see in the natural world which we’ve always assumed were non-conscious such as the obstacle-avoiding behavior of a starfish when we trick ourselves into imagining a person who lacks consciousness then we can begin to wonder if we’re in fact tricking ourselves all the time when we deem other living systems — climbing ivy or stinging sea anemones — to be without it that systems that act like us are conscious But what the zombie thought experiment makes vivid to me is that the conclusion we draw from this intuition has no real foundation it collapses the moment we take our glasses off Every human beings knows about human consciousness in the first person But not one of us can ever be absolutely sure that another human being is conscious accessible to others only by what we say and do the consciousness of others could be an illusion but then the whole universe around us could be an illusion — in theory We assume conscious human behavior in other human beings when they behave like conscious human beings That makes sense because the alternative — that you or I are the only conscious one — requires a much greater stretch of belief or stinging sea anemones,” we don’t think they are conscious because nothing in their behavior prompts such an interpretation It’s not a matter of intuition or prejudice; we are just not seeing evidence Harris’s argument here is similar to the one we encounter in claims that chimpanzees think like humans. If they do why don’t we see anything like a human culture growing up among them just occasional flashes of intelligent behavior Harris would do well to stick to the point that plant behavior is turning out to be as complex as animal behavior The question of consciousness is a separate one and there is no reason or need to assume that plants are conscious You may also wish to read: Do ants think? Yes, they do — but they think like computers. Computer programmers have adapted some ant problem-solving methods to software programs (but without the need for complex chemical scents) Navigation expert Eric Cassell points out that algorithms have made the ant one of the most successful insects ever FOND DU LAC (WLUK) -- Annaka Trudell allegedly fatally stabbed Ashley Calo in an argument about a drug deal according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday A $2 million cash bond was set at a hearing a week ago Trudell and Miller made their initial appearances Wednesday Both return to court March 8 for a preliminary hearing was charged with first-degree intentional homicide and conspiracy to commit armed robbery with use of force in connection with the death of 33-year-old Ashley Calo The homicide allegedly happened outside a car where Calo’s son was sitting Trudell met up with 33-year-old Ashley Calo to get drugs Details in the criminal complaint indicate Calo’s three-year-old son was in the car A witness said Calo had blue fentanyl pills that looked like Percocet Police say that when they told Trudell that Calo was dead she responded by sobbing and said “I didn’t mean to kill her.” The criminal complaint says 21-year-old Dawson Miller admitted to setting up the deal and told Trudell to take knives for protection Miller allegedly told detectives he didn’t know Trudell was planning to rob Calo the criminal complaint alleges Miller told detectives he helped Trudell hide but didn’t realize she had killed someone until shortly after she was arrested conspiracy to commit armed robbery with use of force and harboring or aiding a felon Both Miller and Trudell will appear in court March 8 for a preliminary hearing Sign In Subscribe Now It was her work at a daycare that led Annaka Westwick to pursue becoming a sheriff 15 years ago “I used to work with infants and toddlers and met a couple of daycare dads that were sheriffs and I got to know a little bit about the job from them,” she said “I was always interested in law enforcement.” her mom is Debbie Sykes and her dad is the late Gerry Westwick she and her 13-year-old son volunteer at Thunder Mountain Speedway She is on the board of directors and helps out wherever she is needed whether that is organizing the cars in the pits or back stretch flagging “We also volunteer with the Tri-City race series” she said as did her younger brother Tim Westwick and herself He is the best thing that ever happened to me.” Westwick said she thinks it is great there are so many more opportunities for women than there were when she was younger We are not held back by the gender roles anymore.” Recently she started working as a casual with B.C She is now in the process of becoming an emergency medical responder and has done some training for that position in the Lower Mainland “I have have a full-time job and a part-time job that both allow me to do different things but I get to be a part of the community and work with some pretty outstanding individuals.” Don’t miss out on reading the latest local provincial and national news offered at the Williams Lake Tribune Dialogue and debate are integral to a free society and we welcome and encourage you to share your views on the issues of the day. We ask that you be respectful of others and their points of view, refrain from personal attacks and stay on topic. To learn about our commenting policies and how our community-based moderation works, please read our Community Guidelines Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker TRACY — Sunday marked the end of their time in high school But Tracy Area High School graduates said it was also a new beginning remember how our story is written is up to you,” graduate Annaka Hook told her classmates but it is also everyone else’s who has helped us on this path,” said graduate Ian Her “So walk with pride and keep your heads held high A total of 68 graduates received their diplomas at Tracy Area High School on Sunday Today’s graduates have built up good memories going back over 12 years of school together Devereaux also recalled how she and her classmates left class for spring break in their sophomore year — and ended up being gone longer than anyone expected “Two weeks turned into the remainder of the school year,” she said Getting through the COVID pandemic was a challenge “Looking at the students gathered on this stage it turned out pretty good in the end.” In reflecting on the graduates’ present Lauren Zick turned to their class motto: “Carpe Diem,” Latin for “seize the day.” “It is used to urge someone to make the most of the present time and give little thought to the future “One way to do this is enjoying the little things and celebrating the small victories we have every day Seemingly small victories can add up to feeling like big victories Graduates encouraged each other to make the most of a new chapter in their lives Hook urged her classmates to ask an important question as they embarked on their futures I challenge each and every one you to have integrity and be kind to others in all your future endeavors,” Hook said Tracy Area High School Principal Kathy Vondracek also encouraged graduates to think about who they wanted to be in life “People will determine what kind of person you are by how you treat others,” she said “Become that person who you want to be.” SLAYTON — Attorneys in the case of a former Slayton teacher who was accused of criminal sexual conduct have .. says he feels pretty positive about House passage of the .. Copyright © 2025 Ogden Newspapers of Minnesota | https://www.marshallindependent.com | 508 W 18 Feb 2025Fans of The Chase branded one contestant's decision to accept the high offer a "waste of time" after they failed to take home the cash prize The popular game show returned to ITV on Tuesday but sadly his time on The Chase was short-lived and he lost his spot who was full of confidence as she stepped up to the table she made just £3,000 during the cash builder round after failing to answer many questions right Annaka opted to accept Mark's high offer of £53,000 on the next round Her decision was encouraged by presenter Bradley but viewers at home were unimpressed by Annaka's choice Some took to social media to share their opinion on the matter "Don't know why everyone gets excited when a poor player takes the high offer.. that just felt like a waste of time #TheChase," one person wrote on X A second added: "getting 3k on the cash builder and going big is my kind of delusion #thechase." (sic) A third fan said: "Fair play for going big don't go on a quiz show if you have no quiz knowledge #thechase." While someone else added: "She was useless - never in a million years was she going to win 53 grand there #thechase." (sic) Bradley approved of Annaka's choice to accept the high offer ‌However some fans of The Chase were pleased that a contestant had opted for the high offer on the ITV show One person wrote: "At least someone actually went for it #thechase," and another agreed saying: "Good for her going for the biggie #TheChase." (sic) "Yes! Finally someone taking The Chase seriously by taking the high offer! Hope she gets through! #TheChase," another said. (sic) Annaka was knocked out after facing The Beast, and while Debra managed to bag £6,000 for her and Tom, they both ended up walking away empty handed too. The Chase airs on weekdays on ITV1 from 5pm MULBERRY — Annaka Brace always liked science a 12-year-old seventh-grader at Mulberry Middle She thought she would become a cosmetologist instead But a visit to the University of South Florida through the College for Every Student program put her on a new track to becoming a chemist "I realized that going to college may open up more opportunities for me," she said That's the goal for the program that is in its fifth year at Mulberry Middle which received a School of Distinction recognition this week from the College for Every Student nonprofit organization Mulberry Middle is one of 33 schools in the United States and Ireland to receive the honor And it's the fourth time it has been recognized The organization is partnered with programs in 200 K-12 schools in 30 states and Ireland The programs are aimed at exposing students to college who are from low socioeconomic families or who would be the first generation in their families to go to college The organization also is partnered with about 200 colleges that waive application fees and offer scholarships to students involved in College for Every Student programs "Students are told they need to go to college but then they get there and there's no funding available to them," Principal Cynthia Cangelose said "This opens up a lot of opportunities for them." Schools are recognized for fulfilling criteria in three core practices: mentoring leadership through service and pathways to college and career There are 75 students enrolled in an elective class and they have lunch meetings with about 35 other students who are in the program but couldn't fit it into their class schedules They also meet with mentors from Mulberry High which also has the College for Every Student program and students from colleges including Florida Southern College the middle-schoolers participate in service projects from the planning and implementation phases to a reflection phase where they figure out what was successful and what they could've done better They've conducted canned food drives and posted inspirational quotes throughout their school during testing time to keep their peers motivated They've also participated in Relay for Life and created "college knowledge" cards they distributed to students from other schools Mulberry Middle and Mulberry High are the only schools in the Polk County School District with the College for Every Student Program who teaches gifted students at Mulberry Middle and leads the college program suspects the Mulberry schools were selected for the program because of its strong feeder pattern Mulberry Middle is one of three schools in the state to be recognized as exemplary Booker High in Sarasota and Largo Middle were also honored "These Florida schools are global models," CFES president and CEO Rick Dalton said in a statement "They are successfully creating a culture of college and career readiness and are helping their students develop the essential skills they need to succeed in the 21st century workforce." in addition to mentoring and service projects The students visit at least two colleges a year and a student who is in the program for three years is expected to have visited colleges of different sizes and demographics They participate in the University of South Florida's Engineering Expo and the University of Florida's Junior Science among other visits to colleges including Rollins College and local schools such as Florida Polytechnic University and Florida Southern College "They get to view dorms and on-campus eateries and learn that they get to pick their own class schedules," Larrow said "It blows their minds when they realize they can pick the times of their classes and don't have to go to class until noon if they don't want to," Cangelose added "The exposure gets them excited about going to college and having this own little world." Larrow told of a college visit during which a migrant student asked multiple times whether the bed and mattress came with the dorm room Larrow recalled asking the student why he was so concerned about it "He said he's never had a bed to sleep on," Larrow said "If a kid gets excited about college because there's a bed to sleep on I'm glad I was able to expose him to that and show him this opportunity." Mulberry Middle expects to have 30 or 40 migrant students to enroll in the school in October when their families return from out of state based on the crop season Some of those students will be integrated into the program Students who entered the program with different mindsets all share something in common: They've upped their goals a seventh-grader in the program for his second year didn't want to go to college until he started researching Florida State University for a project he did as part of the program comparing two universities but didn't think about going to college there until he realized he wants to study sociology and stay in Florida but didn't have an idea of what she'd like to study until she had the opportunity to meet with a nursing student during a visit to the University of South Florida an eighth-grader who has been in the program all three years but planned on only getting a bachelor's degree until he realized he could push himself to get into a collegiate high school program that will allow him to earn college credits and put him a faster track to earning a master's degree one day "(The program) made me really think about what opportunities are out there for me," Bowling said It was funded through a grant the first three years but struggled last year to get the funds it needed to run sufficiently the College for Every Student organization has offered to match the funds the school is able to raise for its program "Five thousand dollars lets it be an awesome program," Larrow said "We really need the money for charter buses for college trips and tours." Cangelose added the school is "not just looking for someone to come in and drop money "FedEx comes in once a week and teaches the kids robotics and code writing and what it's like to be an employee," she said We want the students to have that exposure because we want to supply the community with good employees "The students are getting quality experiences in this program." Madison Fantozzi can be reached at madison.fantozzi@theledger.com or 863-401-6971 STRATHAM — Five-year-old Annaka Miller of Stratham knows a thing or two about the spirit of love A 12-inch braid that will be donated to the Locks of Love organizaion and an adorable first haircut Locks of Love is a nonprofit organization that provides high-quality hairpieces for children suffering from long-term hair loss who could not otherwise afford them The goal is to help these children retain a sense of self-confidence and normalcy or "Oma," was diagnosed with breast cancer last year and began chemotherapy "She knew I was losing my hair," said Ashe Diana was familiar with the Locks of Love organization through various clients at her salon and spoke to Annaka about the possibility of donating a ponytail "I explained how Locks of Love would use the hair and said 'Wouldn't you want someone to donate a ponytail if you needed it?'" Annaka was enthusiastic and decided to donate her hair to Locks of Love who has been cutting and styling hair for 20 years gave Annaka her very first haircut at her salon in Portsmouth Elsa Ashe said she was not in favor of the idea until daughter Diana explained that they planned on donating the hair "Annaka was very shy at first and kind of nervous Diana said Annaka's big brother Cole was not quite as enthusiastic "He felt she was not unique anymore because her hair is just like everyone else's now," Diana said especially in light of the donation of the locks Most importantly Annaka likes her new haircut ‘annaka’ house by japanese firm akihisa hirata architecture office is a combination of architecture and landscape the house is created by a flexible system connecting many platforms and sloped surfaces the roof is made in the same method as its base thus creating an area with continuous space providing views of the surrounding landscape while still allowing areas to relate to each other the house is due to be complete by the end of 2010 AXOR presents three bathroom concepts that are not merely places of function but destinations in themselves — sanctuaries of style