Monthly Archives: June 2014

Notes on Greta Christina

Posted on 13 June 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

As a follow-up to the last post, I’ve read three other books in the past several months about the theist/rationalist divide. Here are some note and comments, one at a time. (The other two, to follow, are books by Adam … Continue reading →

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Notes on A.C. Grayling: The Case Against Religion and for Humanism

Posted on 12 June 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

A.C. Grayling is a British philosopher whose 2013 book The God Argument: The Case Against Religion and for Humanism, is a clear and concise summary of why religion is best abandoned and why humanism (as he describes it) is a … Continue reading →

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Unafraid of the Dark: Highlights from the last episode of Cosmos

Posted on 9 June 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Passages from the last episode of Neil deGrasse Tyson’s “Cosmos”. Early in the episode, he describes a thought experiment: Pick a star, any one of the hundreds of billions of stars in our Milky Way galaxy, which is just one … Continue reading →

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Salon on Cosmos, Neil deGrasse Tyson, science, and conservative denialism

Posted on 9 June 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Several posts at Salon lately about “Cosmos”, Neil deGrasse Tyson, science, and conservative denialism. 5 Most Important Lessons from “Cosmos” Which are: It’s OK to not know all the answers Climate change is happening, and it’s made-made. Evolution: How did … Continue reading →

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Mathematics and Economics

Posted on 9 June 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Both Slate and Salon have run excerpts from Jordan Ellenberg’s book How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking,. A new one at Salon, Math vs. Reaganomics: Why GOP’s anti-tax hysteria falls flat, examines economic relationships, and Laffer … Continue reading →

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Clarke, Childhood’s End, part 3 – passages

Posted on 7 June 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Passages from Clarke’s Childhood’s End. The early part of the book involves a faction of the public that objects to the Overlords’ presence, on the grounds that their influence deprives them of “Freedom to control our own lives, under God’s … Continue reading →

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Clarke, Childhood’s End, part 2 – themes

Posted on 6 June 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Last week I started my discussion of re-reading several classic Arthur C. Clarke novels, and summarized the plot of Childhood’s End, in this post. Now some comments on themes. My purpose in these rereadings is not to explore the history … Continue reading →

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Mathematics and Reality

Posted on 6 June 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

A new book called How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking, by University of Wisconsin professor Jordan Ellenberg, is getting some attention. Here’s an NPR interview. And Slate has been posted several excerpts of the book by … Continue reading →

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No One Can Be An Expert on Everything

Posted on 6 June 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

This post by Andrew Sullivan, about GOP denialism of climate change, raises fundamental epistemological questions about how we know *anything*. I’m not a scientist either. I have no expertise in measuring carbon levels back thousands of years; I have no … Continue reading →

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