Author Archives: Mark R. Kelly

Messier objects; Rebecca Solnit; Jonathan Haidt

Posted on Thursday 14 May 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

A chart showing the actual relative sizes of the Messier objects; Rebecca Solnit on the potential for imminent revolutionary change; Jonathan Haidt’s graduation speech, today. – – – Now this is cool. The Messier objects, fuzzy objects in the sky … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Psychology, Social Progress | Comments Off on Messier objects; Rebecca Solnit; Jonathan Haidt

Categories, Scales, a Public Health Triumph, and How the So-Called Experts Have Been Right

Posted on Wednesday 13 May 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Conservatives like categories, especially binary ones: two examples. Including the claim that what makes a man gay is liberalism; NYT updates its Autocracy Index, 12 markers of democratic erosion; Conservative panic over falling reproduction rates seen instead as a public … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, Politics, Psychology, Science | Comments Off on Categories, Scales, a Public Health Triumph, and How the So-Called Experts Have Been Right

Dan Barker, CONTRADUCTION

Posted on Wednesday 13 May 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

(UK: Hypathia Press, 2024, 111pp, including References but no index) Dan Barker (Wikipedia) is an atheist writer who was once an evangelical Christian pastor. I read one of his earlier books, LIFE DRIVEN PURPOSE (review here), which challenged Rick Warren’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Philosophy, Psychology, Science | Comments Off on Dan Barker, CONTRADUCTION

New Ideas in the World

Posted on Tuesday 12 May 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Has a new circulation system been found in the human body that might explain why acupuncture seems to work? Has a new framework been found that explains how the laws of nature varied at the start of the universe before … Continue reading →

Posted in Physics, Racism, Science | Comments Off on New Ideas in the World

Recalling American Life Before Vaccines, Including My Own

Posted on Monday 11 May 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

A remembrance of America before vaccines; How the DOGE-ing of the Humanities is being reversed, fortunately; Briefly noted: Trump’s intuitive thinking is wrong about vaccines and autism; a Republican who thinks racial discrimination is a thing of the past, as … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, Family History, Personal history, Politics | Comments Off on Recalling American Life Before Vaccines, Including My Own

Cooperation Is the Key to Human Advancement

Posted on Sunday 10 May 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

A counterpoint to zero-sum thinking from Japan, and cooperation; Tennessee shows how to rig an election; Short items on Trump, the Pope, and the Bible; now RFK Jr. is worried about jello; how a Christian conspiracy theorist now admits to … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, Human Nature, Human Progress, Politics, Religion | Comments Off on Cooperation Is the Key to Human Advancement

UFOs, Consciousness, Being Savvy

Posted on Saturday 9 May 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Adam Frank on the new UFO data; Thoughts about being savvy, and reality-literacy, and the lack of evidence for both UFOs and God; Carlo Rovelli denies there is a “hard problem” of consciousness. – – – One more about the … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Religion, Science | Comments Off on UFOs, Consciousness, Being Savvy

AI, UFOs, Tradwives

Posted on Friday 8 May 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Two pieces on Richard Dawkins, AI, and Clarke’s first law; Items on the new UFO files being released by the government; Two items about tradwives; Items debunking the so-called religious revival, Trump claiming hantavirus is “very much under control,” and … Continue reading →

Posted in Lunacy, Psychology | Comments Off on AI, UFOs, Tradwives

Sean Carroll on Science and Religion, and Templeton

Posted on Thursday 7 May 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Sean Carroll on science and religion, and why he doesn’t take money from the Templeton Foundation; Short items on how the Trump administration cutting funding to study the hantavirus, the one now loose on that cruise ship; more blaming Satan … Continue reading →

Posted in Music, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Sean Carroll on Science and Religion, and Templeton

Rutger Bregman: MORAL AMBITION

Posted on Thursday 7 May 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: Stop Wasting Your Talent and Start Making a Difference (2024 in Dutch; Little, Brown, 2025, 285pp, including 53pp of Thanks, Notes, and Index) Here’s the third book by Rutger Bregman, a Dutch historian and thinker. First was UTOPIA FOR … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Human Progress, longtermism, Morality | Comments Off on Rutger Bregman: MORAL AMBITION