On Philosophy, Death and the Sea
A young philosopher finds philosophy consoling because it is impossible...
Stories by John Horgan
My Regrets about Controversial Anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon (RIP)
Chagnon’s views of the “fierce” Yanomamö and of the roots of war were more subtle than his critics or admirers suggested...
How We Can Avert Climate Apocalypse
An alarming book provokes a vision of a world that has solved the problems of global warming and war...
Is Mathematics, like Science, Pluralistic?
Mathematicians disagree over whether their fundamental assumptions, or axioms, are true...
Pluralism: Beyond the One and Only Truth
Some big questions, such as how matter makes mind and what quantum mechanics means, may not have a single, definitive answer
The Delusion of Scientific Omniscience
As time passes, the claim that science can comprehend everything looks increasingly nutty...
Genealogical Anxiety
Pondering the origins of your beliefs and yourself can be the first step toward making a better world...
The Dawn of Self-Consciousness
A sudden moment of self-awareness in childhood propels people on a quest to explore life’s mysteries...
We Should All Be Science Critics
A Harvard scholar says viewing science and technology with a critical eye can make the world a better place...
Cancer Medicine Is Failing Us
Our aggressive, expensive approach to cancer is doing more harm than good...
Can Psychiatry Heal Itself?
A Harvard historian urges psychiatrists to focus less on making money and more on helping patients...
What Does a Medical Nihilist Do When He Gets Sick?
Philosopher Jacob Stegenga, author of a scathing critique of medicine, discusses vaccines and his own health...
Is Medicine Overrated?
Given medicine’s poor record, physicians should prescribe and patients consume far fewer medications, a new book argues...
Meta-Post: Posts on Cancer
Cross-Check columns on cancer and related topics...
My Encounter with the Late Mitchell Feigenbaum, Chaos Pioneer and Critic
The renowned discoverer of order underlying chaos was surprisingly skeptical of claims that computers were creating a revolutionary new science...
Quantum Computing for English Majors
The poet who discovered Shor’s algorithm answers questions about quantum computers and other mysteries
Why Freud Should Be Dead
Freud’s most implacable modern critic recounts the flaws of psychoanalysis and its founder and deplores their persistent influence...
Was Darwin Wrong?
A journalist recounts the epic story of modern challenges to evolutionary dogma...
Free Will Is Real
Philosopher Christian List argues against reductionism and determinism in accounts of the mind...
From My Archives: Quark Inventor Murray Gell-Mann Doubts Science Will Discover “Something Else”
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Murray Gell-Mann’s first paper on quarks, Gell-Mann biographer George Johnson has written several terrific posts about one of the truly great theorists and characters of modern physics...
