Category Archives: History

Just ’cause you feel it / Doesn’t mean it’s there

Comments about that article that distinguished between “liberals” and “progressives”; Yet another piece about how “voters feel one way about the economy but act differently”; An historical overview about how the US economy is no longer the greatest in history; … Continue reading

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More About Fake History

Let’s follow up on yesterday’s post here, with a couple more items on the same general topic. Mike Lofgren at Salon about the history of right-wing fake history; Texas Tribune about David Barton; And closing comments about theme parks and … Continue reading

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How “Meaning” is just another example of the Narrative Bias

Three pieces from Big Think. How history is told by story-tellers, and cannot be taken literally; How philosophy advances science by asking forbidden questions; How questions about the “meaning of life” reveal the narrative bias. —— Three sciency links, all … Continue reading

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Heather Cox Richardson, Book Bans, and Libraries

Profile of Heather Cox Richardson, and a review of her new book; Several items on book bans in the US; And an item about all the threats to US libraries, not just book bans. – – – Profile of Heather … Continue reading

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Two Political Items, Two Intellectual Items

NYT’s Michelle Goldberg on the legacy of Rupert Murdoch; Responses to conservative dismissals of climate change (with some quotes by Carl Sagan); Veritasium: How knot theory could save your life; Yuval Noah Harari on how history is the study of … Continue reading

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Another Day of Examples of Beliefs vs. Reality

Another example of conservatives retelling history, from PragerU; How those with beliefs in subjective truths are more prone to conspiracy theories; How China is now using AI to sow disinformation to gullible Americans, and wondering how long it will be … Continue reading

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Sibley Volcanic Park; the Doctrine of Discovery

Today — yet another pleasant day in the Bay Area, sunny and 74 degrees Fahrenheit — we went for a hike in the Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve, an area in the hills north of us where an actual volcano erupted … Continue reading

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Laptop Updates; More about the Crisis in Cosmology; Political matters; A History of Labor Day

New laptop updates. Another “calm down” reaction to the recent news about the “crisis in cosmology”; Political matters, including Alabama’s defiance of the Supreme Court; parental rights; freedom and education; And Heather Cox Richardson on the history of Labor Day. … Continue reading

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Conservatives and Mental Health

How Republican fears reveal their own mental health crisis; How Trump voters trust him more than family, friends, or clergy; How the worst people run for office (from Adam Grant), and how SF has anticipated this (from Isaac Asimov). This … Continue reading

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Feeding Voters a Fantasy World

The most alarming thing I’ve learned in the past decade is how so many ordinary people are not smart, not well-educated, are susceptible to political ideology and religious zealotry, and are driven by ideology and zealotry to try to take … Continue reading

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