Cognition
A Buddhism Critic Goes on a Silent Buddhist Retreat
Something weird happens to a skeptical science writer during a week of meditation, chanting and skygazing
Stories by John Horgan
Space & Physics
David Bohm, Quantum Mechanics and Enlightenment
The visionary physicist, whose ideas remain influential, sought spiritual as well as scientific illumination
Mental Health
Yes, Make Psychedelics Legally Available, but Don't Forget the Risks
Psychedelics have psychological and spiritual benefits, as a new best seller claims, but they’re far from a panacea
Culture
Why Does Jim Holt Exist?
A connoisseur of science, math and philosophy takes on the really big questions
Space & Physics
How Physics Lost Its Way
Physicist Sabine Hossenfelder claims desire for beauty and other subjective biases have led physicists astray
Public Health
Shouldn't Americans Care That Their Country Is Killing as Well as Imprisoning Kids?
Americans objecting to U.S. detainment of children at borders should also protest killing of kids overseas
Cognition
Bloomsday Tribute to James Joyce, Greatest Mind-Scientist Ever
Ulysses doesn’t solve the hard problem, but it conveys with unsurpassed vividness what it feels like to be human.
Space & Physics
Do Our Questions Create the World?
Quantum theorist John Wheeler’s “it from bit” hypothesis anticipated ongoing speculation that consciousness is fundamental to reality
Public Health
How Google Could Help End War
By renouncing military contracts, Google could catalyze a much-needed discussion about how the U.S. and other nations can move beyond militarism
Cognition
Responses to "Was Wittgenstein a Mystic?"
The philosopher’s great work Tractatus is perhaps “a blank canvas” on which we project what we want to see.
Cognition
Was Wittgenstein a Mystic?
The philosopher's greatest work, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, only makes sense in the light of mysticism
Culture
Freeman Dyson's Solution to the Problem of Evil
Dyson’s principle of maximum diversity says that without hardship and suffering, life would be too dull
Cognition
A Super-Simple, Non-Quantum Theory of Eternal Consciousness
A sleepy philosopher inspires thoughts on how consciousness could endure forever
Medicine
Journalists Offer Sharply Divergent Views of Brain Implants for Depression
One reporter emphasizes the promise of an experimental treatment, another the peril
Policy
Is Science Hitting a Wall?, Part 2
Analysis of drug research identifies causes of declining returns, like the "better than the Beatles" problem, and a possible solution, "Dead Drugs Officers"
Policy
Is Science Hitting a Wall?, Part 1
Economists show increased research efforts are yielding decreasing returns
Policy
Dear Trump, Make World Peace Your Mission
The president has the deal-making skills to end war between nations once and for all
Behavior
Can Meditation Make Us Nicer?
A new study raises questions about meditation’s moral and social benefits.
Policy
Cosmic Thinker Worries about Ends of Science and Humanity
Cosmologist Martin Rees holds forth on multiverses, biothreats, AI, utopia, God and “posthuman” science
Space & Physics
My Alarming, Inspiring Encounter with the Late Stephen Hawking
After having a seizure in my arms at a meeting in Sweden, the paralyzed physicist lectured on how we live in a “superspace” with infinite dimensions
