Monthly Archives: February 2015

Links and Comments: Memory is Fallible; Fundamentalists Are Alike All Over

Posted on 10 February 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

A couple informed articles appeared today about the Brian Williams kerfuffle, how the NBC News anchor was discovered to have inflated his account, increasingly over the years, of being on a helicopter in the Iraq War in 2003, and speculation … Continue reading →

Posted in Psychology, Religion | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Memory is Fallible; Fundamentalists Are Alike All Over

Links and Comments: Audiences Cheering and Egging Them On; Christian persecution and criminalization; Why people doubt science

Posted on 9 February 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

It’s been widely observed that the Internet has allowed like-minded people of all stripes to find each other, create online communities, and reinforce each others opinions and prejudices, in increasingly specific bubbles of interests and ideologies. But the visibility of … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Culture, Religion, The Gays | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Audiences Cheering and Egging Them On; Christian persecution and criminalization; Why people doubt science

Jordan Ellenberg, How Not to Be Wrong

Posted on 8 February 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: The Power of Mathematical Thinking. This is the first of what may turn out to be several posts about this book, an examination of several basic principles (linearity, inference, expectation, regression, and existence) and how they apply to every-day, … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Culture, Economics, Mathematics, Thinking | Comments Off on Jordan Ellenberg, How Not to Be Wrong

Links and Comments: The Size of the Universe; The Size of the Planets

Posted on 7 February 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

» NPR’s blog Cosmos & Culture: Lessons From The Beginning Of Time. One report, among many in the past few days, that the apparent detection of ‘gravitational waves’ from the Big Bang, a year ago, was a false alarm: the … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: The Secular Life; Anti-Vax conspiracy theories; demonizing political opponents; the hell of heaven

Posted on 5 February 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

A couple days ago NYT op-ed columnist David Brooks wrote Building Better Secularists, in which he presumes to instruct those who do not share his religious beliefs how they are obliged to construct the social infrastructure that religion would otherwise … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Culture, Thinking | Comments Off on Links and Comments: The Secular Life; Anti-Vax conspiracy theories; demonizing political opponents; the hell of heaven

Links and Quotes: Science and Humanities; Babies; American Exceptionalism

Posted on 4 February 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Science and the Humanities For decades, ever since C.P. Snow characterized the Two Cultures of science and humanities, debates have raged about the divisions between the two. Recently writer Leon Wieseltier posted a screed in the New York Times Book … Continue reading →

Posted in Children, Culture, Morality, Science | Tagged | Comments Off on Links and Quotes: Science and Humanities; Babies; American Exceptionalism

Links and Comments: About Vaccine Denial

Posted on 4 February 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

» New York Times [and elsewhere, it’s syndicated], Frank Bruni, The Vaccine Lunacy: We’re a curious species, and sometimes a sad one, chasing knowledge only to deny it, making progress only to turn away from its benefits. And We rightly … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Lunacy, Narrative, Science | Comments Off on Links and Comments: About Vaccine Denial

New Blog Title and Header Pic

Posted on 2 February 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Now relocated in Oakland, I am changing the name of this blog, and posting a new header photo — the best I’ve been able to do this past week on my iPhone. Over time I’ll do better. The thing about … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Michael Shermer, Science and God, Religion vs Education, Your soul

Posted on 2 February 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Michael Shermer’s new book As mentioned a couple posts ago, Michael Shermer has a new book out this week (I got my copy yesterday), The Moral Arc: How Science and Reason Lead Humanity toward Truth, Justice, and Freedom, which addresses … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Culture, Evolution, Morality, Religion, science fiction | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Michael Shermer, Science and God, Religion vs Education, Your soul