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.
Stories by John Horgan
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
Climate Change
Should We Chill Out about Global Warming?
Two “ecomodernists” argue that continued progress in science and other realms will help us overcome environmental problems
Space & Physics
The More We Know, the More Mystery There Is
Physicist Marcelo Gleiser muses over the paradoxes of scientific progress
Neuroscience
A Modest Proposal for Solving the Solipsism Problem
Philosopher Colin McGinn proposes that “brain splicing” could allow us to experience the consciousness of others
Biotech
How Technology Can Make Valentine's Day Much, Much Better
Brain implants could eliminate miscommunication between lovers
Cognition
Who Invented the Mind–Body Problem?
Germans were debating the “body–soul problem” by the mid-19th century, but Socrates pondered the problem first
Behavior
Is Science Infinite?
Science will never tell us who we really are, and that is why it will last forever
