Monthly Archives: January 2022

John Allen Paulos, INNUMERACY: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences (1988)

Posted on 21 January 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

This slender book was first published in 1988 (I have the 1990 paperback edition) and became a bestseller. It was one of the earliest books on the very general theme of how many people don’t understand the world around them, … Continue reading →

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L&Q&Cs: Neal Stephenson on What Might Save Us

Posted on 20 January 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Sunday’s New York Times Magazine had an interview with SF writer Neal Stephenson, whose latest novel is Termination Shock. NYT Times Magazine: Neal Stephenson Thinks Greed Might Be the Thing That Saves Us

Posted in Culture, Psychology, Science | Leave a comment

E.O. Wilson: THE SOCIAL CONQUEST OF EARTH (2012)

Posted on 19 January 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

E.O. Wilson’s THE SOCIAL CONQUEST OF EARTH, from 2012, is in my estimation one of the four most significant books by this scientist and writer. (The others are ON HUMAN NATURE, 1978; CONSILIENCE, 1998; and THE MEANING OF HUMAN EXISTENCE, … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Changing One's Mind, Culture, Evolution, Morality, Religion | Leave a comment

L&Qs&Cs: Wearing Us Down

Posted on 18 January 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

We are weary of this, as I alluded a few posts ago, but that’s what they count on, I think, that the events of the past year, or past five years, will become the new normal. (I refuse to link … Continue reading →

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E.O. Wilson, GENESIS: THE DEEP ORIGIN OF SOCIETIES (2019)

Posted on 17 January 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

This was Wilson’s second to the last original book, and it’s quite short, perhaps simply a long essay; 125 pages divided into 7 chapters with illustrations and blank pages in between; many references, and an index. Key Points The gist … Continue reading →

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E.O. Wilson: THE ORIGINS OF CREATIVITY (2017)

Posted on 16 January 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

What is creativity? It is the innate quest for originality. The driving force is humanity’s instinctive love of novelty—the discovery of new entities and processes, the solving of old challenges and disclosure of new ones, the aesthetic surprise of unanticipated … Continue reading →

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L&C: Rationality in Language

Posted on 15 January 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Something a bit abstruse for today. This is via a Facebook post by David Brin on December 21st.

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Ls&Cs: Never Too Many Guns; Conservatives Against Modern Medicine

Posted on 14 January 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

NYT, Farhad Manjoo, 13 Jan 2022: We Must Stop Showering the Military With Money

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SF as Luddite Literature?

Posted on 13 January 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Today’s counter-intuitive notion is from novelist and long-time Locus columnist Cory Doctorow. This essay is in the January 2022 issue, and posted (for free) online, here: Locus, Cory Doctorow, posted 3 Jan 2022: Science Fiction is a Luddite Literature

Posted in Human Progress, science fiction, Technology | Leave a comment

Graduation

Posted on 12 January 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Today I finished, or ‘graduated,’ my cardiac therapy program. It went for 36 sessions (the most that insurance covers, apparently), and began the Wednesday after Labor Day, but what with the facility’s shutdown for a month due to plumbing issues, … Continue reading →

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