Category Archives: Culture

Why People Believe in Conspiracies

Posted on Tuesday 19 November 2013 by Mark R. Kelly

With the JFK 50th anniversary upon us, there have been numerous stories lately about this. Here’s one in Slate that wonders why so many people are so taken by outlandish conspiracy theories. http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2013/11/conspiracy_theory_psychology_people_who_claim_to_know_the_truth_about_jfk.html How can this be? How can so … Continue reading →

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Rights are Social Contracts

Posted on Friday 18 October 2013 by Mark R. Kelly

Alternet (and Salon): America Is Not a Christian Nation and Never Has Been: Why Is the Right Obsessed With Pushing a Revisionist History? Aside from the angle about the likes of David Barton rewriting American history to conform to the … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments, 6 Oct 13

Posted on Sunday 6 October 2013 by Mark R. Kelly

Many interesting posts this past week, some already posted on Facebook, collected here mostly for my future reference. Andrew Sullivan (The Dish) responds to a report about tea party voters. Sullivan: The bewildering economic and social and demographic changes have … Continue reading →

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Is the Younger Generation Turning away from Organized Religion?

Posted on Saturday 28 September 2013 by Mark R. Kelly

Skeptic Blog: http://www.skepticblog.org/2013/09/25/losing-our-religion/ We can all speculate about why younger generations are alienated from organized religion, and certainly there are many reasons. But knowing the current political trends in this country, we might suggest that one factor of great importance … Continue reading →

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Thoughts of a Thursday Afternoon: After the Apocalypse

Posted on Saturday 28 September 2013 by Mark R. Kelly

Every human being starts from scratch: he or she comes equipped with a mind honed by evolution for survival, prone to superstitious, self-interested thinking for the same reason, but ill-equipped to accurately perceive reality, the reality that can be deduced … Continue reading →

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Motivated Reasoning and Religion

Posted on Saturday 28 September 2013 by Mark R. Kelly

Applying motivated reasoning [or confirmation bias] to religion… http://www.salon.com/2013/09/27/why_are_so_many_christians_so_un_christian_partner/ As much as liberals would often wish it otherwise—and no matter how much conservative Christians may claim their beliefs all come from the Bible—the truth of the matter is there’s no … Continue reading →

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Law v. Science

Posted on Monday 16 September 2013 by Mark R. Kelly

Nice essay by Jesse Bering — an excerpt from his forthcoming book — about ‘age of consent’ laws and their variation over time and across different countries, whose cutoffs range from 12 to 21. (And in olden times, some US … Continue reading →

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Matthew Shepard and confirmation bias

Posted on Monday 16 September 2013 by Mark R. Kelly

A new book about Matthew Shepard suggests the story of his murder was far more complex than the gay-bashing narrative that has been assumed. Turns out it can be seen as a prime example of confirmation bias, http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2013/09/16/challenging-the-myth-of-matthew-shepard/ Comparable, says … Continue reading →

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Sunday Links and Commentary, 15Sep13

Posted on Sunday 15 September 2013 by Mark R. Kelly

Salon: Inside the conservative brain: What explains their wiring? Chris Mooney wrote a whole book on this subject (http://www.amazon.com/The-Republican-Brain-Science-Science/dp/1118094514), and it’s fascinating to wonder — setting aside precise partisan divides — to what extent different attitudes about the world are … Continue reading →

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Sunday Links and Commentary

Posted on Sunday 8 September 2013 by Mark R. Kelly

PZ Myers compares the atheist movement to the plight of World SF Conventions — in terms of their resistance to being open to interests of younger members. http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2013/09/06/the-future-will-not-be-the-past/ Alternet: http://www.alternet.org/former-christian-fundamentalist-how-science-made-me-lose-my-religion?paging=off When an engineer raised in a fundamentalist Christian community sees … Continue reading →

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