Author Archives: Mark R. Kelly

Francis Collins on Facts (!)

Posted on Tuesday 24 September 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Francis Collins on how facts don’t care how you feel; Short pieces on Trump and golf; how brain damage is linked to religious fundamentalism; how Carlson and Vance are smart guys who play dumb; about Trump’s Truth Social posts; how … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Psychology, Religion | Comments Off on Francis Collins on Facts (!)

Utopias, Dystopias, and Tribalism

Posted on Monday 23 September 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Follow-up to yesterday’s topic about utopias and dystopias, and Star Trek; How Trump and Vance have no idea about the reasons for Obamacare; Robert Reich on how Trump appeals to base hatefulness; Charles M. Blow on Trump’s bigger agenda; And … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Economics, Star Trek | Comments Off on Utopias, Dystopias, and Tribalism

Today’s New Insight

Posted on Sunday 22 September 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

What ‘woke’ means, to different people; How the ancients overcame biases in understanding the world, in order to discover and navigate the world; How moderns have tried to overcome cognitive biases through constitutions and “political correctness” and being “woke,” and … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Science, Social Progress | Comments Off on Today’s New Insight

Admitted Liars; Presumptions of the Ancients

Posted on Saturday 21 September 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Republicans repeatedly are admitting they lie; How Republicans voters trust Trump as a source of election information; Reading Timothy Ferris, revisiting the ancient astronomers and their presumptions about the universe — not unlike the modern discovery of psychology biases. Increasingly, … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, conservatives, Lunacy, Psychology, Science | Comments Off on Admitted Liars; Presumptions of the Ancients

Alarmism About Culture

Posted on Thursday 19 September 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

A disgruntled French intellectual on “deculturation” sounds a lot like MAGA; Shorter items about how a mother died due to Georgia’s abortion ban; how conservatives see everything they don’t like is a judgement from their God; how Trump supporters are … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, Culture, Economics, Politics | Comments Off on Alarmism About Culture

Stories Are Not Evidence

Posted on Wednesday 18 September 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

How the right “creates stories” to support their worldview (i.e. they’re all about motivated reasoning); Paul Krugman on Trump, tariffs, Stalin, and Lysenko; Items about DeSantis cheating and which party is the party of violence; Items about a brain fever … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Lunacy, Music, Narrative, Politics | Comments Off on Stories Are Not Evidence

Passages from Brian Greene and Richard Dawkins

Posted on Tuesday 17 September 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

How unusual is this? An esteemed scientist, Brian Greene, with an Opinion piece in a major paper. (I just reviewed his book UNTIL THE END OF TIME ending here.) Washington Post, Brian Greene, 16 Sep 2024: Opinion | Decades later, … Continue reading →

Posted in Cosmology, Evolution | Comments Off on Passages from Brian Greene and Richard Dawkins

Education vs. Conservatives

Posted on Monday 16 September 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Why should a ‘diverse’ campus include conservatives who are essentially against education? Paul Krugman on the eternal demonization of immigrants by conservatives; Short items about Vance’s fantasies, his aim simply to get media attention, and Trump’s clueless accusations about harsh … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Education, Politics | Comments Off on Education vs. Conservatives

Distrust of Science and of Public Schools

Posted on Sunday 15 September 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Thomas B. Edsall on the roots of MAGA’s distrust of science; Hemant Mehta on evangelicals and public schools. NY Times, guest essay by Thomas B. Edsall, 11 Sep 2024: MAGA vs. Science Is No Contest [Gift Link] I’ve mentioned before … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Education, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Distrust of Science and of Public Schools

Regression Toward the Tribal

Posted on Saturday 14 September 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Let’s see now. Here we are in the 21st century. In the past 500 years humankind has shown remarkable progress on two parallel fronts. Along governance: no longer was the divine right of kings (or tribal leaders) recognized; rather, principles … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Epistemology, History, Human Progress, Politics, Science | Comments Off on Regression Toward the Tribal