Hacker News Reader

Comment by sgarrity | Hacker News Reader

I can't quite get a feel for the background and slant of some of these new web-only publications. I'm thinking of nautil.us and aeon.co in particular. They are science-focused, but lean toward philosophical topics.

I can't figure out if they are reputable sources that dabble in more abstract concepts, or if they are some kind of pseudo-science platform for crazy founders.

View on HN

Aeon is overtly anti-scientific in all the articles from it I've read. The trend tends to be to take something scientific, like cognitive biases or the Milgram experiments, use some postmodernist device like Freudian literary criticism or political theory to critique the science, and then conclude that the factual reality is not in favor of the scientific evidence.

I think it's just generic post-modernism.

I think they're general-interest popular science magazines, with indeed a bit of an abstract slant.

I'm the "crazy" founder of Nautilus. We are a science magazine, with a multidisciplinary approach. We want to explore each monthly issue topic from disciplines within and outside the sciences, like philosophy. But we are mostly about telling good stories....science with a literary voice.

Just to note -- Nautilus is also a print publication! I have their substantial (nearly 200 pages), beautiful (simple and effective layout, thick glossy pages), and fascinating Fall 2014 issue on the table in front of me. I've made a conscious effort to read more physical books lately, because tablets and even Kindle holds too many temptations for my distractable self. When I'm not quite in a book mood, it turns out that a high-quality periodical like Nautilus is still very wonderful, even in our webby world.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com