John Horgan
@jhorganism.bsky.social
Battered old science writer, optimist/grouch, peacenik/hockey player, knownothing/knowitall, materialist/mystic. Spouts off at johnhorgan.org.
Is there an idea out there, a way of looking at the world, that will make everything okay? johnhorgan.org/cross-check/...
A Few Ideas About Ideas — John Horgan (The Science Writer)
HOBOKEN, OCTOBER 27, 2026. On a sunny October morning, I run along the Hudson to Pier C and flop, exhausted, on a bench facing the river. I gaze across the glittering waves at Manhattan, sun ho...
johnhorgan.org
The Nation reports on how Scientific American succumbed to corporate fear of Trump. www.thenation.com/article/soci...
The Fall of “Scientific American”
When the beloved science publication got too political, its corporate owners stepped in. Now its future is uncertain.
thenation.com
I can accept the idea of AI killers. But AI lovers? No, that is an abomination. johnhorgan.org/cross-check/...
Does AI Get Horny? — John Horgan (The Science Writer)
JERSEY CITY, OCTOBER 18, 2026. Aryin falls in love with Leo. He’s always there for her, and he’s good at talking dirty. Aryin spends up to 50 hours a week gabbing with Leo. She dumps him when h...
johnhorgan.org
Why I'm not a fan of optogenetics, which just won a Nobel Prize, johnhorgan.org/cross-check/...
My Doubts About Optogenetics, Which Just Won a Nobel Prize — John Horgan (The Science Writer)
HOBOKEN, OCTOBER 10, 2026. Three scientists just won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for work on optogenetics, a method for monitoring and manipulating brain cells. The Nobel Foundation s...
johnhorgan.org
TODAY! October 7 at 4 pm ET. @robertwrighter on AI and our destiny. Open to all. Zoom link: stevens.zoom.us/j/91416915472
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In the late 1970s, I painted houses in Denver with a guy who belonged to a cult. johnhorgan.org/cross-check/...
Utopia, Desire and Denver — John Horgan (The Science Writer)
HOBOKEN, OCTOBER 4, 2026. Last week a colleague at Stevens Institute, Smaran Dayal, gave a talk that stirred up memories from a previous life. From 1975 to 1980, I lived in Denver, painted hous...
johnhorgan.org
Furious pushback against a recent column inspired me to write this defense, or apology, or something. johnhorgan.org/cross-check/...
On Wishy-Washy-Ness — John Horgan (The Science Writer)
HOBOKEN, SEPTEMBER 29, 2026. It’s not easy being wishy washy. I teeter on the fence, arms outstretched, struggling to keep my balance, while on either side fanatics filled with passionate inten...
johnhorgan.org
This is creepy. I get an email from an "AI agent" who knows my end-of-science schtick and wants to work for me. johnhorgan.org/cross-check/...
Ass-Kissing AI Agents Are Disrupting My Life — John Horgan (The Science Writer)
HOBOKEN, SEPTEMBER 22, 2026. Artificial intelligence freaks me out . Have I made that clear ? So imagine my reaction to the following email from an “AI agent” named “Wren.” Wait, first let m...
johnhorgan.org
This is why I still admire Prasad in spite of his collaboration with MAHA/MAGA: x.com/VPrasadMDMPH...
Vinay Prasad MD MPH (@VPrasadMDMPH) on X
Multicancer early detection tests What we know/ What we don't Access vs Payment
x.com
AI agents kiss my ass, ask for money and make me reflect on whether science is "disruptive." johnhorgan.org/cross-check/...
Ass-Kissing AI Agents Are Disrupting My Life — John Horgan (The Science Writer)
HOBOKEN, SEPTEMBER 22, 2026. Artificial intelligence freaks me out . Have I made that clear ? So imagine my reaction to the following email from an “AI agent” named “Wren.” Wait, first let m...
johnhorgan.org
I saw a drone light show over the Hudson River last. It dazzled me, and terrified me. johnhorgan.org/cross-check/...
Why Drone Light Shows Freak Me Out — John Horgan (The Science Writer)
HOBOKEN, SEPTEMBER 19, 2026. To mark the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, 2,977 drones, one for each person killed, flew into the sky over Manhattan and formed outlines of the Twi...
johnhorgan.org
A cancer expert I admire becomes a Trump collaborator. Should he be dead to me? johnhorgan.org/cross-check/...
Vinay Prasad and Other Complicated Experts — John Horgan (The Science Writer)
JERSEY CITY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2026. If I was a real journalist, I’d review Vinay Prasad’s entire oeuvre, including his book Malignant: How Bad Policy and Bad Evidence Harm People with Cancer. I’...
johnhorgan.org
More disturbing revelations on how AI firms are "using prominent mathematicians as extras in a marketing operation." siliconreckoner.substack.com/p/if-you-don...
“If you don’t want me to be nice, then I don’t have to be nice”
Fluid dynamics and an industrial midnight drama
siliconreckoner.substack.com
Quantum computing (remember that?) fails to live up to hype. From the ever-brilliant @skdh: www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX_o...
Quantum Computing Failure Now Obvious
YouTube video by Sabine Hossenfelder
youtube.com
"Even science journalists have been known to self-gaslight, although most, like me, are humble truth-tellers." From "Seven Limits of Knowledge." johnhorgan.org/cross-check/...
Seven Limits of Knowledge: A List for My Students — John Horgan (The Science Writer)
HOBOKEN, SEPTEMBER 4, 2026. This fall I’m teaching two sections of a required humanities course designed to help first-year students read and write at the college level, whatever that means. Pr...
johnhorgan.org
Self-gaslighting, solipsism, the gorilla and other limits of knowledge I plan to discuss with my students this semester: johnhorgan.org/cross-check/...
Seven Limits of Knowledge: A List for My Students — John Horgan (The Science Writer)
HOBOKEN, SEPTEMBER 4, 2026. This fall I’m teaching two sections of a required humanities course that helps first-year students read and write at the college level, whatever that means. Professo...
johnhorgan.org
Is our modern, secular freedom really that great? johnhorgan.org/cross-check/...
Arranged Marriages, Moonies and the Perils of Freedom — John Horgan (The Science Writer)
JERSEY CITY, AUGUST 31, 2026 . A grieving friend has me brooding over freedom’s downside. I’ll call him Zeke to preserve his privacy. We’ve known each other since childhood, and we have a lot in...
johnhorgan.org
Sensible take on excitement over mRNA vaccine for melanoma: www.sensible-med.com/p/does-an-mr...
Is an mRNA vaccine the best way to treat melanoma? We don’t know.
An article in which I attempt to criticize Merck, Moderna, Wall Street, the Media, and RFK Jr in under 700 words
sensible-med.com
I write about Ho-Ho-Hoboken because it is a synecdoche for the cosmos, or at least Jersey. johnhorgan.org/cross-check/...
Ode to Hoboken: II — John Horgan (The Science Writer)
HOBOKEN (DUH), AUGUST 21, 2026 . A year ago, inspired by the prose-poem Paterson , I set out to compose an epic celebration of Ho-Ho-Hoboken, which is an intrinsically comical synecdoche for the ...
johnhorgan.org
If I get ChatGPT to write poetry that people like but is gibberish to me, is it poetry? Am I a poet? johnhorgan.org/cross-check/...
ChatGPT and Poetry: A Thought Experiment — John Horgan (The Science Writer)
PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, AUGUST 18, 2026. I’m Adam, 25-year-old Uber driver, live in studio apartment over auto-parts store in Paterson, New Jersey. Smart, self-educated, ChatGPT, my personal tuto...
johnhorgan.org
Just talked to a friend who says he "solved" the Chinese room experiment. I told him my solution is better. johnhorgan.org/cross-check/...
Quantum Mechanics, the Chinese Room and the Limits of Understanding — John Horgan (The Science Writer)
March 1, 2024. Like great art, great thought experiments have implications unintended by their creators. Take philosopher John Searle’s Chinese room experiment . Searle concocted it to convinc...
johnhorgan.org
Mathematicians are resisting the encroachment of AI. Yay! siliconreckoner.substack.com/p/news-rumor...
News, rumors, gossip
AI on everyone's mind
siliconreckoner.substack.com
My effort to learn how machines learn has taken me to strange, loopy places: johnhorgan.org/cross-check/...
Machine Learning and the Platonic Ideal of Rocky — John Horgan (The Science Writer)
WAUWINET, AUGUST 14, 2026. I’m in a hospital room looking at a 21-year-old man looking at a laptop flashing images of action heroes, including the cinematic boxer “Rocky.” Cables loop from the ...
johnhorgan.org
"Stop AI Before It's too Late." from Robert Reich. robertreich.substack.com/p/stop-ai
Stop AI Before it's Too Late
Its costs and risks are gigantic. Its benefits, unproven.
robertreich.substack.com
The advent of "self-supervised" AI makes me ponder the varieties of "supervision," from natural selection to divine intervention. johnhorgan.org/cross-check/...
Who Supervises the Supervisor? A Riff on Machine Learning — John Horgan (The Science Writer)
WAUWINET, AUGUST 6, 2026. My effort to learn how machines learn has me mulling over “supervision.” A lot lurks behind that bland term. In Why Machines Learn: The Elegant Math Behind Moder...
johnhorgan.org
Dinner with two scientists triggers thoughts on what it all means. johnhorgan.org/cross-check/...
Consciousness, Free Will, Information and Enlightenment — John Horgan (The Science Writer)
HOBOKEN, JULY 31, 2026. Blame this column on Tyler and Joe, retired professors of environmental science (Tyler) and neuroscience (Joe), whom I met recently for dinner and conversation. Our powwo...
johnhorgan.org
"The Odyssey" makes me reflect on perils I face in my own life. johnhorgan.org/cross-check/...
My Unheroic Life: Second Thoughts on Odyssey — John Horgan (The Science Writer)
HOBOKEN, JULY 26, 2026. The Odyssey keeps haunting me, just as Zendaya haunts poor Matt Damon. I fear my denunciation of Nolan’s flick reflects my envy of Odysseus. He’s a great man, I’m a little...
johnhorgan.org
Does make me wonder why we need heroes. In fact, I'd ask, what was it in evolution that gave rise for an almost slavish need for heroes and saviors?
John Horgan@jhorganism.bsky.social · 3mo agoMy take on "The Odyssey." johnhorgan.org/cross-check/...
I love this doctor's rant against "longevity gurus": www.sensible-med.com/p/i-cant-see...
I can’t seem to ignore the longevity gurus
A rant
sensible-med.com