Category Archives: Human Nature

Little House on the Prairie, and Presumptions

Posted on Thursday 6 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

About the new Little House on the Prairie; Short items: GOP melts down over Abdul El-Sayed; Trump is learning to be embarrassed; MSM covers heat events without mentioning climate change; Heritage Foundation thinks Fauci proves we should ignore experts; an … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Human Nature, Politics, Religion, Science | Leave a comment

Tearing Down, and Tricksters

Posted on Wednesday 5 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

How Big Business is abandoning climate commitments; Attacks on the Endangered Species Act, and critical thinking; Trump thinks blue states are a threat to the nation; and about his irrationality; How to deal with uncertainty (and the conservatives who refuse … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Human Nature, Philosophy, Science | Leave a comment

Can People Out-Think Human Nature?

Posted on Tuesday 4 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Two items from Steven Pinker: One about modernism and beauty; The other about a Thomas Sowell book about human nature and human reason. – – – Yes, we’ve been doing it for some time. Two items today via Steven Pinker … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Human Nature, Music, Politics | Leave a comment

All Stories Change

Posted on Monday 3 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Before it was called the Civil War, it was called the Slaveholders’ Rebellion, until apologists got the name changed; Trump and rewriting American history; Perhaps knowing less makes you happier; Religious folks who see data centers as signs of the … Continue reading →

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Zeus’ Law

Posted on Sunday 2 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

The Odyssey and Zeus’ Law; Trump doubles down on reflecting pool vandals; Christian sky evangelist kicked off plane; Headlines from JMG about AI slop, Burgum also doubles down, bullying, executing women who get abortions, criminally charging librarians, permitting ex-gay torture, … Continue reading →

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An SF/F/H Venn Diagram

Posted on Sunday 2 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Further thoughts on the topic of Friday’s post. (Busy weekend.) The first thing to understand about the very broad generalizations I made there is that there is no one type of “science fiction,” no one “fantasy” genre, no one idea … Continue reading →

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Reality is a Communist Plot, says MAGA

Posted on Thursday 30 July 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Robert Reich lists items in MAGA’s totalitarian mindset; Short items on religious discrimination, Trumponomics, and new 60 Minutes correspondents, no experience required. – – – Robert Reich, today: Reality is a Communist Plot, subtitled “Of MAGA and the totalitarian mindset” … Continue reading →

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Thinking for yourself; Suicidal empathy

Posted on Wednesday 29 July 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Conditions for stupidity: outsourcing your thinking to an authority, willful ignorance, and conformity; No, ‘suicidal empathy’ is not destroying the West; Short items on Bari Weiss, windmills, blaming Canada, how Trump pled the fifth too, how Christians preach to captive … Continue reading →

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Nothing Is Evenly Distributed, Ever

Posted on Monday 27 July 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

The great science fiction writer William Gibson famously said: “The future is already here – it’s just not evenly distributed.” Thought for today: The same could be said of the Enlightenment, and the Scientific Revolution. Not only do many people … Continue reading →

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Uni-context and Flattening

Posted on Tuesday 21 July 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Derek Thompson on philospher Agnes Callard’s idea of “uni-context,” which matches my notion that human thinking “flattens” different levels of understanding into a single, human-centric context; How conservatives hate “The Odyssey,” quoting Al Franken; Briefly noted: To get a Trump … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Nature, Music, reality | Comments Off on Uni-context and Flattening