💡 10 Brilliant Insights from Daniel Dennett

The latest from Nautilus, this week’s Facts So Romantic, today’s question, and your free story of the day. [View in browser](| [Join Nautilus]( Together with Did a friend forward this? [Subscribe here.]( Hello there Nautilus reader, and thanks for being here. Today we have a radical rescue for Caribbean reefs, 10 philosophical insights from the late Daniel Dennett, and the Soviet rebel of music. Plus, be sure to check out this week’s Facts So Romantic (on cybernetics after Stalin, Darwin’s achievement, lunar exercise, and more). A close friend of mine is an illusionist, so I’m curious to hear your responses to today’s question, on magic. Hope you dive into your free story (on the Mormon conquest of America) below. Be well! —Brian Gallagher [ENVIRONMENT]( A Radical Rescue for Caribbean Reefs Can transplants help Caribbean corals avert collapse? BY JULI BERWALD It’s an all-too-familiar headline: Coral reefs are in crisis. Indeed, in the past 50 years, roughly half of Earth’s coral reefs have died. [Continue reading→]( How to Become a Better Engineering Leader [Leadership in Tech]( is a free, carefully curated [weekly newsletter]( for CTOs, engineering managers and senior engineers. It focuses on people management, architecture, building products, and growing teams and organizations. Over 23,000 engineering leaders read the [newsletter]( and it’s the best way to get ahead in your career. [Sign Up]( The latest from Nautilus PHILOSOPHY 10 Brilliant Insights from Daniel Dennett A glimpse of a mind jammed to the rafters with ideas. BY DAN FALK [Continue reading→]( ARTS The Soviet Rebel of Music He composed on a computer in a dangerous time. His echo is still heard today. BY GRIGORI GUITCHOUNTS [Continue reading→]( Like Having a Brand New Bed Freshen your bedding with the comfortable [Pure Green Mattress Topper]( and rest easier knowing it’s made from natural latex harvested from organically grown rubber trees. [SHOP AMAZON]( FACTS SO ROMANTIC The 5 Best Things We Learned Today They say that science progresses one funeral at a time. The funeral that rocketed cybernetics from pseudoscience to a subject worthy of investigation in the Soviet Union was Stalin’s. [Nautilus→]( In a single stroke, the idea of evolution by natural selection unifies the realm of life, meaning, and purpose with the realm of space and time, cause and effect, mechanism and physical law. [Nautilus→]( Last summer’s unprecedented heat wave saw water temperatures off the coast of Florida exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit. [Nautilus→]( What doesn’t kill off human populations tends to make them stronger. [Nature→]( Astronauts living on the moon can stay fit—that is, mitigate bone and muscle loss in low gravity—by running around a contraption motorcyclists use for stunts. [The Guardian→]( WE'RE CURIOUS TO KNOW... Would you wish to know how the greatest magic trick you’ve ever witnessed worked, or would that spoil the illusion for you? Let us know! Reply to this newsletter with your response, briefly explaining your choice, and we’ll reveal the top answers. (This question was inspired by “10 Brilliant Insights from Daniel Dennett.”]([)]( Top Answer to Our Previous Question(On the Most Memorable Gamble You’ve Ever Taken) • I looked carefully into the young detective’s eyes as I considered how to answer her question, “Did your son work at the cafe last month?” I was a mother of two boys on Aid to Families with Dependent Children child support. When they turned 14 and 15 they took kitchen jobs. I could not take their meager wages and if I reported those wages the county would have reduced my $160 a month support, already insufficient. I knew I could go to jail for perjury by telling the truth. The several seconds I took to answer were the biggest risk I’ve ever taken. – Letha W. • My cohorts and I were walking to school and had to cross an expressway. This bridge was for walking traffic only, and had two 30-inch rails on either side. I was feeling particularly brave that day, and decided to walk the entire bridge, across the expressway, during rush-hour traffic, on the rail, about 4 inches wide. The bridge spanned the expressway’s six lanes of traffic. Needless to say, as dumb as that was, I’m still here. – Daniel S. • I met someone on Twitter. She lived in Atlanta. I lived in Seattle. We had a long distance relationship for a long while. Then, the gamble: I quit my job, packed my things, and moved to Atlanta to be with her (having never been with her longer than a weekend). We're happily married. The best decision I ever made in my life and will ever make. – Jonathan S. QUOTE OF THE DAY “You don’t need miracles. You just need to understand the world the way it really is, and it’s unbelievably wonderful. We’re so lucky to be alive!” [The late philosopher Daniel Dennett on the joy of science.]( Your free story this Thursday! [SOCIOLOGY]( How the Mormons Conquered America The success of the Mormon religion is a study in social adaptation. BY MICHAEL FITZGERALD At the end of the smash Broadway musical, The Book of Mormon, the protagonist, Elder Price, a zealous young Mormon missionary in Uganda, triumphantly sings, “We are still Latter day Saints, all of us / Even if we change some things, or we break the rules.” [Continue reading for free→]( Step into the Void “Somewhere across the plain of imminence, shouting into the void …” That’s singer Nate Hardy from the second track of Microwave’s latest album Let’s Start Degeneracy. Voids—of the emotional sort—are a recurring theme across the album from the cheekily self-described “adult mid-tempo psychedelic contemporary rock band from Atlanta, GA.” It’s fitting then, that Nate has chosen to read [this story]( from one of our most prolific contributors, theoretical cosmologist Paul M. Sutter. Sutter tells us, “This story about voids is deeply personal to me, as voids have always struck a chord with me and been the focus of my scientific research. But there's so much more to the concept of nothingness than just their physical manifestation, and it's beautiful to hear echoes of that search in Nate's narration.” You can now [watch]( or [listen]( to Hardy read Sutter’s story “Why We Need to Study Nothing.” [WATCH]( [LISTEN]( P.S. The United States bought the territory of Louisiana from France on this day in 1803. The Louisiana Purchase was barely two years old when Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon Church, was born. [The areas that land grab included would shape the early history of America’s new religion.]( “Smith had to flee his base in Kirtland, Ohio, due to the crash of a bank he founded, heading to Missouri, where a successful Mormon outpost had been established,” wrote Michael Fitzgerald. “The Mormons’ rapid growth upset the settlers there, and armed conflict broke out.” Smith then moved to Southern Illinois, where his story—or at least his life—would end. He caused a public riot after attacking a local newspaper that exposed his polygamy, and was jailed. “A mob stormed the jail,” wrote Fitzgerald, “and killed him.” Today’s newsletter was written by Brian Gallagher Thanks for reading. [Tell us](mailto:brian.gallagher@nautil.us?subject=&body=) your thoughts on today’s note. Plus, if you find our content valuable, consider [becoming a member]( to support our work, and inspire a friend to sign up for [the Nautilus newsletter](. [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( Copyright © 2024 NautilusNext, All rights reserved. You were subscribed to the newsletter from [nautil.us](. Our mailing address is: NautilusNext 360 W 36th Street, 7S, New York, NY 10018 Don't want to hear from us anymore? [Unsubscribe](