Author Archives: Mark R. Kelly

Links and Comments: Tribalism, Zero-Sum Politics, Trump, Gut Reactions, Weather Forecasting

Posted on 22 September 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

First, Andrew Sullivan has an essay in New York magazine, America Wasn’t Built for Humans, subtitled, “Tribalism was an urge our Founding Fathers assumed we could overcome. And so it has become our greatest vulnerability.” He wonders how American has … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture, Lunacy, Provisional Conclusions | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Tribalism, Zero-Sum Politics, Trump, Gut Reactions, Weather Forecasting

Isaac Asimov: Foundation

Posted on 21 September 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Rereading classic SF in the 21st century: In which I both tease out themes of, and try to summarize, Isaac Asimov’s first Foundation book. I reread Isaac Asimov’s Foundation, i.e. the first book in the ‘Foundation Trilogy,’ a couple weeks … Continue reading →

Posted in Isaac Asimov, science fiction | Comments Off on Isaac Asimov: Foundation

Links and Comments: Reactions to Art; the Eclipse; Christianity and PKD

Posted on 16 September 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Saved from Facebook… A post by Adam-Troy Castro: Noted in a thread: Somebody (I forget who) told the story of leaving A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE as one of two teenage couples, being absolutely gobsmacked by it, and listening to his … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Movies, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Reactions to Art; the Eclipse; Christianity and PKD

Bertrand Russell: Why I Am Not a Christian: Summary and Comments

Posted on 14 September 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

This is a famous essay/lecture by one of the 20th century’s most influential philosophers. I first read the book containing this essay in 1979, when I was 24, and happened to pick it up again today, and thought it worth … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Philosophy, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Bertrand Russell: Why I Am Not a Christian: Summary and Comments

Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow: Intro and Chapter 1

Posted on 13 September 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

This is perhaps the most influential book of the past couple decades on the whole subject of human mental biases, how the ways in which we think entail errors of perception, and employ heuristics that are often but not always … Continue reading →

Posted in Evolution, MInd, Psychology | Comments Off on Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow: Intro and Chapter 1

Pinker: Better Angels: Chapter 1: A Foreign Country

Posted on 12 September 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

“If the past is a foreign country, it is a shockingly violent one.” This 30-page chapter is “tour” of the past, from 8000 BCE to the 1970s, an impressionist portrait of how violence was so common in the past, compared … Continue reading →

Posted in Religion, Steven Pinker | Comments Off on Pinker: Better Angels: Chapter 1: A Foreign Country

Link and Comments: The 3% Climate Change Deniers

Posted on 12 September 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

You know how 97% of climate scientists agree that climate change is real, and due to human causes? So what about the 3% that don’t? A new study examined those. Quartz: Those 3% of scientific papers that deny climate change? … Continue reading →

Posted in Science | Comments Off on Link and Comments: The 3% Climate Change Deniers

Link and Comment: Elizabeth Kolbert spells it out

Posted on 11 September 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

The New Yorker, September 11th issue. Elizabeth Kolbert: Hurricane Harvey and the Storms to Come. Subtitle: “In the leadup to the historic flood, Texas Republicans abetted Trump’s climate-change delusions.” Print title: “Coming Storms” Elizabeth Kolbert, author of one of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Science | Comments Off on Link and Comment: Elizabeth Kolbert spells it out

Link and Comments: NYTBR reviews Kurt Andersen’s FANTASYLAND

Posted on 11 September 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Just published, a big book by novelist and journalist Kurt Andersen, Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History (Random House), which is in my to-read stack. For the time being, here are some passages from Sunday’s front page review … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Religion, science fiction, TV Sci Fi | Comments Off on Link and Comments: NYTBR reviews Kurt Andersen’s FANTASYLAND

Link and Comments: SF and Science

Posted on 11 September 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Slate has an interesting essay by Lawrence Krauss that covers basic points about how science fiction doesn’t/can’t truly predict the future, with an interesting point how the internet arose as a tool to coordinate very complex scientific experiments: Indeed, perhaps … Continue reading →

Posted in Science, science fiction | Comments Off on Link and Comments: SF and Science