Category Archives: Culture

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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Religion and Community

Posted on Thursday 5 September 2013 by Mark R. Kelly

Another provocative, insightful essay by Connor Wood, expanding on the theme of the earlier essay I linked, this one keying off the conclusion of a study done by three psychologists. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/scienceonreligion/2013/09/ritual-creates-tribesand-tribalism/ The study concludes it’s not religious belief, per se, … Continue reading →

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Progressives and Regressives

Posted on Wednesday 4 September 2013 by Mark R. Kelly

The passage cited in the previous post reminded me of a Facebook post from Robert Reich, several weeks ago, which I managed to track down via Google and capture here for my reference. Why is it that most progressives live … Continue reading →

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Conservatives and Liberals, and why we need both

Posted on Wednesday 4 September 2013 by Mark R. Kelly

I came across new blog on the vast Patheos website, Science on Religion, and this post by one Connor Wood, a PhD student at Boston University in religion and science, a post called Calling an End to the Culture Wars, … Continue reading →

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