Category Archives: Epistemology

I’ve Caught a Cold; How Much of Science Fiction is Obsolete?

Posted on 14 June 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

I’ve caught colds my entire life; two or three a year. I sneeze, cough, and it usually starts with a sore throat. (Whereas I very rarely have gotten flues, with a temperature and symptoms that go on for a week.) … Continue reading →

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Stupid Lies

Posted on 13 May 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Trump’s stupid lies; How conservatives do not trust people to make their own decisions; Heather Cox Richardson on how we got here; A Republican who boasts about cheating homeless people; On a positive note: Ali Velshi on NPR this morning. … Continue reading →

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Trust in Science, Bertrand Russell, and Religious “Truth”

Posted on 7 May 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

An item about restoring trust in science, which doesn’t say very much except to improve education; A reading from Bertrand Russell, about religion, morals, and science; How a religious thinker thinks historians should only tell history that is “inspiring and … Continue reading →

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Watching Movies in Theaters; UBI; Reality; Why Everyone Thinks They’re Losing; and Epistemology

Posted on 4 January 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Items today: How watching movies in certain theaters (AMC) is a bloated experience; Why UBI studies are not making traction into political policy; A New Yorker graphic essay about how reality might exist only because we’re observing it; E.J. Dionne … Continue reading →

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Real Conspiracy Theories and Fake Crises

Posted on 15 November 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Benjamin Bradford at CFI about how conspiracy theorists shrug about real conspiracy theories; Big Think on conspiracy theories about places claimed not to exist; Robert Reich on the fake crises Republicans use to distract from real problems. CFI, Benjamin Bradford, … Continue reading →

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The Deep State, or, Jonathan Rauch, THE CONSTITUTION OF KNOWLEDGE, part 3

Posted on 11 November 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

I’ve said the last two posts that I would quote the passages of Rauch’s book in which he describes what he considers to be the components of the “reality-based community.” And how it struck me that some of these components … Continue reading →

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Jonathan Rauch, THE CONSTITUTION OF KNOWLEDGE, part 2

Posted on 10 November 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Yesterday I gave a general overview of this book, and made a few specific comments. Today I’m going to read through my notes again, and highlight some more specific comments, and maybe quotes. Like this summary, at the end. The … Continue reading →

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Jonathan Rauch, THE CONSTITUTION OF KNOWLEDGE, part 1

Posted on 9 November 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: “A Defense of Truth”. Brookings, 2021. 266pp of text, plus notes and index, total 305pp. This is one of two books I’ve read recently, following the Lee McIntyre book that I posted about two days ago, that dovetail in … Continue reading →

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Do These People Ever Go Outside and Look Around?

Posted on 8 November 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Paul Krugman asks why the Right hates America; Like Mike Johnson, Rick Santorum is skeptical of democracy (when results don’t go his way); Adam Lee on the allure of tribalism. Paul Krugman responds to the Damon Linker piece that I … Continue reading →

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Lee McIntyre, ON DISINFORMATION

Posted on 7 November 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: “How to Fight For Truth and Protect Democracy.” The MIT Press, 2023. I’m behind on writing up my recent reading here on this blog, so let me resume with this very short little book, small in size and just … Continue reading →

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