Author Archives: Mark R. Kelly

Rituals and Routines, and Fonts

Posted on Friday 12 December 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Personal health updates; Big Think on the need for everyday rituals; Boing Boing on the origins of Calibri and Times New Roman, and stupidity; Short takes on approval ratings, European leadership, earning more, and Trump’s image. – – – It’s … Continue reading →

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Marriage, and Women

Posted on Thursday 11 December 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Adam Lee on whether marriage can survive the continued emancipation of women; Thought of the day about who’s making progress and who are against it; Short takes on a Republican loonie; on a Christian who advises calling gay men a … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Human Nature | Comments Off on Marriage, and Women

Steven Pinker: ENLIGHTENMENT NOW, post 1

Posted on Thursday 11 December 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled “The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress” (Viking, Feb. 2018, xix+556pp, including 102pp of notes, references, and index.) This is the last of the ‘big’ Steven Pinker books that I’ve read but not yet written up here. Though … Continue reading →

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Human Happiness, and Fonts

Posted on Wednesday 10 December 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Sean Illing and Brad DeLong wonder why, with all humanity’s progress, aren’t we happier? An eternal question; Paul Krugman on how Trump thinks people aren’t properly grateful for his perfect economy; Marco Rubio defeats a woke font; Heather Cox Richardson … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Human Nature, Politics, progress | Comments Off on Human Happiness, and Fonts

Most People Are Nice; Scientific Truths

Posted on Tuesday 9 December 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Hannah Seo at Vox: people are nicer than you think; Ethan Siegel at Big Think: 10 scientific truths that became unpopular in 2025; Briefly noted: the Texas governor wants to install Turning Point USA chapters in every high school; Trump’s … Continue reading →

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Retreat and Hypocrisy

Posted on Monday 8 December 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Why does Trump promote AI, while cutting funding for science and medicine? Why does Trump pardon drug traffickers, while shooting boats in the Caribbean that are supposedly, without evidence, trafficking drugs? Paul Krugman on the end of the free world; … Continue reading →

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Detached from Reality

Posted on Monday 8 December 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Would conservatives insist that student papers defending creationism or flat eartherism qualify in science classes, if citing the Bible as evidence? More about Trump’s white supremacist policies; Brief items about Russia, Masculine public hangings, Trump’s “library,” and AI sermons. – … Continue reading →

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Retreat from Civilization

Posted on Saturday 6 December 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Trump worries about “civilizational erasure” but only in a white supremacist sense; And contrasting his motives with those described by Pinker that brought about modern civilization; Heather Cox Richardson describes the retreat from the global stage; Bryan Walsh at Vox … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Human Progress | Comments Off on Retreat from Civilization

Strategies of Reality Denial

Posted on Friday 5 December 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Trump’s basic strategy is “deny deny deny”; Why young men turn to Nick Fuentes’ neo-Nazi movement; How Trump is dragging the White House press corps, and perhaps all modern civilization, down into his gutter; How Trump is reviving rules about … Continue reading →

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Steven Pinker, THE BETTER ANGELS OF OUR NATURE, post 7

Posted on Friday 5 December 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled “Why Violence Has Declined” (Viking, Oct. 2011, xxvii + 802pp, including 106pp of notes, references, and index.) Summary: Chapter 9 concerns four ways in which humanity’s “better angels” turn people away from violence and toward cooperation and altruism. These … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Human Nature, Morality, Science, Steven Pinker | Comments Off on Steven Pinker, THE BETTER ANGELS OF OUR NATURE, post 7