Monthly Archives: March 2024

Mirror Realities

Posted on 30 March 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Can’t resist another round of political links this afternoon, about the Alice in Wonderland, mirror-universe that conservatives and Trump-supporters apparently live in. In which they, and those of us living in the real objective world, believe the other is the … Continue reading →

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A History of Progress and Backlash

Posted on 29 March 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Two items about Fareed Zakaria and his new book; Robert Reich on Roger Ailes; How “DEI” is now substituting for the N-word. * There’s a new book out this week by Fareed Zakaria, whose 2020 book, Ten Lessons for a … Continue reading →

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Case Study of the Psychology of Conspiracy Theorists?

Posted on 28 March 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

First, a quote about progressives and conservatives, the future and the past; Then more about the conspiracy thinking about the Baltimore bridge collapse, with examples from PolitiFact, CNN, and CFI (Center for Inquiry); And how the construction workers who fell … Continue reading →

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Perspectives from Reality and Fantasy

Posted on 27 March 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

How the first scene in Netflix’s “3 Body Problem” is seen differently by conservatives and progressives; Daniel Kahneman, RIP, who realized that people are not rational; More right-wing conspiracy theories about the Baltimore bridge collapse; And items about an earthquake, … Continue reading →

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Necessary Stories, and Most of the Others

Posted on 26 March 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

About this morning’s Baltimore bridge collapse, and the right-wing conspiracy-theory accusations about it; Paul Krugman on how Republicans want to bring down Obamacare to support their notion that the government can never do good things; And a Doonesbury cartoon about … Continue reading →

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Oliver Sacks, THE MAN WHO MISTOOK HIS WIFE FOR A HAT

Posted on 26 March 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Like the Pinker and Wilson volumes I’ve covered here recently, this is another classic nonfiction book, one I first read years ago without taking notes (maybe before I began taking notes on my reading). So I skimmed through it again … Continue reading →

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How Humans Live by Stories, and Myths

Posted on 25 March 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

A NYT essay that wonders if, given how political persuasions are aligned with community, we actually ever think for ourselves; An example from the fringe about a Republican who wants to outlaw “chemtrails”; A review of a book about the … Continue reading →

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An Anthropologist from Mars Considers the Evidence

Posted on 23 March 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

What would a hypothetical anthropologist from another planet conclude about humanity from these several items today? Charlie Kirk insists Christians must vote Republican; a former ESPN anchor thinks Satan knocked out her teeth; Charlie Kirk thinks Haiti is infested with … Continue reading →

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Putting Things Into Perspective: Science, Expertise, Liberalism

Posted on 22 March 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Items today are follow-ups to items from the past couple days, it turns out. Ethan Siegel at Big Think puts that dark matter claim into the perspective of how science works; Tom Nichols’ update of The Death of Expertise aligns … Continue reading →

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Exceptionalism, and Science Fiction

Posted on 21 March 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

A screed by Brian Karem at Salon about how “America has lost its collective mind”; How ideas of American exceptionalism have been reflected in 20th century science fiction; Examples about “don’t say gay” laws; Trump’s fascist rhetoric; Trump’s dementia; how … Continue reading →

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