Be Careful with Occam’s Razor, You Might Cut Yourself
A biologist-philosopher cautions against banishing from our worldview things that science cannot comprehend
Stories by John Horgan
Meta-Post: Posts on Brain Implants
Cross-Check columns on brain implants and other technologies for manipulating minds...
Meta-Post: Posts on Buddhism and Meditation
Cross-Check columns, critical and not so critical, on Buddhism, meditation and related topics
Meta-Post: Posts on Psychedelics
Cross-Check columns on psychedelics and related topics...
Why We're Still Fighting over Freud
A debate over the relevance of psychoanalysis to brain research highlights science’s lack of progress in understanding the mind...
Meta-Post: Posts on Mental Illness
Cross-Check columns on efforts to explain and treat mental disorders...
In Defense of Disbelief: An Anti-Creed
We should doubt all theories and theologies that claim to solve the problem of who we really are
Meta-Post: Posts on the Mind-Body Problem
Cross-Check columns on consciousness, free will and other mind-related puzzles...
Making Sense of Quantum Mechanics
Philosopher David Albert thinks there might be a “clear and straightforward” way of thinking about quantum phenomena...
Thomas Kuhn Wasn't So Bad
A former student of the influential philosopher defends him against filmmaker Errol Morris’s “character assassination”
New Zealand Acts to Reduce Mass Shootings. Why Won't the U.S.?
“Freedom loving” National Rifle Association thwarts Americans’ desire for tougher gun controls
Meta-Post: Posts on War and Peace
Cross-Check columns on war and related topics
Was Thomas Kuhn Evil?
Filmmaker Errol Morris, once Kuhn’s grad student, accuses him of being a bad philosopher and bad person.
The Great Hunger and the Randomness of the World
A science journalist walking through Lower Manhattan ponders the meaning of the Irish Hunger Memorial
Okay, Maybe Proofs Aren't Dying After All
Experts argue that proofs are doing fine, contrary to a controversial 1993 prediction of their impending demise...
The Horgan Surface and the Death of Proof
Mathematicians take revenge on the author of a controversial article about proof by naming an object after him...
Meta-Post: Horgan Posts on Poverty and Other Social Problems
Cross-Check columns on poverty, inequality, racism, sexism and violence. Plus progress and Noam Chomsky
Revolt against the Rich
Nobel laureates, a new congresswoman and others urge raising taxes on the ultrawealthy to counter surging inequality...
Are Cyborg Warriors a Good Idea?
The Pentagon is funding brain-implant research aimed at creating neurally “enhanced” soldiers
The Deep Roots of Fake News
A new history of the U.S. traces mass media’s destabilizing effects back to the nation’s birth...
