Newsletter 811

14 Oct 2012 • 2 min read

Best of the Moment

This Must Be Heaven

Sam Harris | Sam Harris | 12 October 2012

Neurosurgeon describes his experience of the afterlife in Newsweek cover story. It sounds lovely, butterflies and all. But, says Harris, the conclusions the doctor draws from his sublime adventures are alarmingly unscientific Comments (https://thebrowser.com/articles/must-be-heaven)

Death Of The American Hobo

Aaron Lake Smith | Vice | 12 October 2012

Riding the rails to the National Hobo Convention in Britt, Iowa. But it's a sadly diminished spectacle. Maybe the last of its kind. Sixty people camping out where 1,800 did so in 1949. "It had the air of a hippie craft fair" Comments (https://thebrowser.com/articles/death-american-hobo)

Why Great Brands Fall From Grace

Bruce Levinson | Fast Company | 3 October 2012

Brands aren't born great. They acquire greatness through longevity, surviving and growing despite changes in the marketplace. If they don't adapt, they fade quickly. Remember the Motorola Razr phone? Or the Tivo TV recorder? Comments (https://thebrowser.com/articles/why-great-brands-fall-grace)

What Is Logic?

JW Gray | Ethical Realism | 10 October 2012

An introduction. "Logic is a domain of philosophy concerned with rational criteria that applies to argumentation. This includes argumentation within ordinary language, consistent reasoning, valid argumentation, errors in reasoning" Comments (https://thebrowser.com/articles/what-logic)

Where The Wild Things Were

Charles Siebert | New Republic | 11 October 2012

Story behind the Zanesville, Ohio wildlife massacre. Rich eccentric collects wild animals, sets them loose, commits suicide. Police arrive, panic, SWAT teams slaughter whole menagerie: 18 tigers, 17 lions, eight bears and more Comments (https://thebrowser.com/articles/where-wild-things-were)

How Large Is The Observable Universe?

Paul Halpern | Nova | 10 October 2012

"Our understanding of the universe is bounded by the edge of the observable universe. So how large is the part of the universe we’re potentially able to observe directly?" You may think it's a simple calculation. But it is not Comments (https://thebrowser.com/articles/how-large-observable-universe)
(http://www.amazon.com/Best-of-FiveBooks-2011-ebook/dp/B007GAM6RC?tag=thebro-21)

FiveBooks Interview

(https://thebrowser.com/interviews/kenneth-miller-on-arguments-against-creationism)

Kenneth Miller on Arguments against Creationism

The biology professor, and Catholic, tells us what we should read to understand the battle being fought between scientists and creationists
Read on (https://thebrowser.com/interviews/kenneth-miller-on-arguments-against-creationism)

Featured Special Report

(https://thebrowser.com/reports/david-foster-wallace)

David Foster Wallace

In memory of one of America's finest modern fiction writers Read on (https://thebrowser.com/reports/david-foster-wallace)

Reader Recommendations

nuzav (http://twitter.com/nuzav) For better, for worse: my husband, the rapist t.co/6zaZfyxd via @guardian (http://twitter.com/guardian) #browsings (http://twitter.com/#!/search?q=#browsings) More like this (http://thebrowser.com/browsings)

Book of the Day

Book of the Day (https://thebrowser.com/recommended/speak-memory-by-vladimir-nabokov)

Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov

Anne Applebaum says (http://thebrowser.com/interviews/anne-applebaum-on-memoirs-communism) : “One of the most beautiful memoirs ever written. Although it’s not about the Russian revolution as such, it is permeated with a sense of loss and exile” FiveBooks Archive (http://thebrowser.com/fivebooks/archive)