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Continuing Conor Feehly's interesting points in his article "What makes a mind?", I would propose that "agency" isn't an adequate definition of "self". As Feehly points out, the concept of agency is complicated because comprehensive, inanimate systems can make complex decisions based on novel input. But we don't attribute agency to neural network software programs. …

I see that researchers have dismissed the likelihood of an advanced civilisation on planet K2-18b because no radio waves have been detected. This seems to be a narrow-minded approach. The earliest known civilisation on Earth was that of the Sumerians over 5000 years ago, and we can hardly call the ancient Egyptians and Greeks uncivilised. …

The comment in your Leader that "The sleep industry, for one, could reorientate itself around helping people... understand that they are getting more and better sleep than they realise" seems naive: why would an industry that monetises our worries about poor sleep try to reassure us in this way? The closing paragraph of another article …

Isabel Woodford's article on postnatal depression (PND) in fathers struck a chord with me. When my children were born in the early 1980s, PND wasn't recognised as a paternal issue. I don't recall feeling depressed myself, merely always tired, yet I was expected back at work the next day. Today, fathers are far more involved …

I was interested to read Ben Craven's letter concerning Paul Whitely's essay about the value of small changes in averting the climate crisis. Craven states that if every person and business in the world reduced their energy consumption by 1 per cent, the global decrease would be only 1 per cent, and we must therefore …

Keith Pearce wonders whether seafaring was developed as rising water levels submerged an accustomed overland journey. I understand that Indigenous Australian accounts of journeys between what is now Tasmania and mainland Australia recognisably depict the seabed configuration of the Bass Strait. If the dates are appropriate, this suggests a land crossing to Tasmania ( Letters, …

I have read your correspondence about this article and think that both the article and these letters miss a couple of important points. During the last glacial period, there were land bridges between Sicily and Malta and Gozo, which would have established the knowledge and the route. Secondly, the distance from Sicily to Malta is …

Regarding your article about overcoming tiredness, after a distressing life event in 1995, my GP asked me if I needed sleeping tablets. I replied that I was getting very little sleep, but I had read an article in Â鶹´«Ã½ that said that students were found to do equally well in exams if they had …

Just one or two bad nights' rest can increase our reaction times (28 February, p 30)