Monthly Archives: March 2021

Links and Comments: About Gun Violence

Posted on 29 March 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

I’m narrowing in on a Provisional Conclusion that most people live their daily lives without any perspective or context about what happens in the outer world. (And, for many issues, that’s just fine. But not for all issues.) Thus, Americans … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Psychology | Leave a comment

Links and Comments: Religious Matters, 27Mar21:

Posted on 27 March 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Jerry Coyne on David Brooks; Nicholas Kristof on progressive Christians; Evangelicals’ false doctrine.

Posted in Religion | Leave a comment

The Most Beautiful Music in the World: Mahler s5m2

Posted on 26 March 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

It’s a passage of just over a minute, beginning at 17:50 of this Claudio Abbado performance of Mahler’s 5th symphony, and about four minutes into the second movement. It’s as if the world stops, ponders, and reflects. Then re-emerges, confidant. … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Leave a comment

Nonfiction Notes: Adam Grant’s THINK AGAIN

Posted on 26 March 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Adam Grant, THINK AGAIN: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know (2021) This is a recent book, still on the bestseller lists, by an author I had not previously encountered. He’s a professor and TED talker. The book seems … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Psychology, Science | Leave a comment

Links and Comments: Confessed Liars, Their Targets, Right-Wing Political Spin

Posted on 25 March 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Confessed liars Sidney Powell (and Tucker Carlson); gullibility for conspiracy theories; Right-wing misinformation campaigns.

Posted in Politics, Psychology | Leave a comment

Links and Comments: APOD; Trusting Science; Trusting Experts

Posted on 24 March 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Another amazing photo from APOD– Which as in previous photos like this that I’ve posted, shows a huge swath of sky, as we would see it with all the stars we *can* see, along with all the nebulae that we … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Science | Leave a comment

Nonfiction Notes: Alan Lightman’s PROBABLE IMPOSSIBILITIES

Posted on 19 March 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Alan Lightman: PROBABLE IMPOSSIBILITIES (2021) This is a new book of essays by a professor at MIT, author of earlier books including the well-regarded novel Einstein’s Dreams (Wikipedia, way back in 1993) and most recently of essay collection Searching for … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Philosophy, Science | Leave a comment

Nonfiction Notes: Elizabeth Kolbert’s UNDER A WHITE SKY

Posted on 19 March 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

This modestly-length book is a sequel of sorts to the author’s The Sixth Extinction (2014), which won a Pulitzer Prize and which I greatly admired. (My review here.) That book was about how the human impact on the planet, especially … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Science | Leave a comment

Links and Comments: Science Matters, 18 Mar 2021

Posted on 18 March 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Catching up on things that have caught me eye the past week or two. How humans have remade the Earth; about Daylight Saving Time; Dark Matter; How time might flow in two directions; the Nature of mathematics.

Posted in Mathematics, Philosophy | Leave a comment

Thinking On Blog: Wise Men

Posted on 17 March 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

(This is a blog post version of the process of “thinking out loud.”) In a book I read recently – it was Michael Shermer’s first book, WHY PEOPLE BELIEVE WEIRD THINGS, my comments posted here) — the author made the … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Religion | Leave a comment