Category Archives: Human Nature

Who’s Happiest and Why?

Posted on Monday 28 April 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Phil Zuckerman on that World Happiness Report; A NYT article about alternatives to religion; Recalling mythos and logos; Richard Dawkins on how reality is so much more interesting than religion, And Vox on social trends that may affect religious affiliations. … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Nature, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Who’s Happiest and Why?

What Conservatives Mean by the Deep State

Posted on Tuesday 22 April 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Namely, anything that interferes with their agenda, in effect the entirety of Jonathan Rauch’s “constitution of knowledge,” since MAGA conservatives don’t truly believe in the Constitution or our system of government; Robert Reich on the billionaire class, that doesn’t care … Continue reading →

Posted in authoritarianism, conservatives, Human Nature, Politics | Comments Off on What Conservatives Mean by the Deep State

And Now We Have Linus

Posted on Wednesday 16 April 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Why manufacturing jobs are never coming back to America; Heather Cox Richardson records Steven Inskeep’s quip; And How JD Vance is fine with abandoning due process; About Linus, our fourth cat. – – – I keep thinking: we’re living in … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Human Nature, Politics | Comments Off on And Now We Have Linus

We’re Becoming an Authoritarian, Theocratic, Police State

Posted on Friday 11 April 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Anne Applebaum on why dictatorships fail; David Brooks on how Americans can’t think anymore; Amanda Marcotte on Elon Musk’s and MAGA’s misogyny, via their war on empathy; Morons: A GOP Rep about how climate change is a sham because God … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, conservatives, Human Nature, Politics, Religion | Comments Off on We’re Becoming an Authoritarian, Theocratic, Police State

Dan Ariely, MISBELIEF

Posted on Wednesday 9 April 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled “What Makes Rational People Believe Irrational Things” (Harper, September 2023, 311pp, including 21pp of acknowledgements, references, and index.) Here’s the latest book by Dan Ariely, author of one of the earliest books I read about psychological biases and human … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Human Nature, Psychology | Comments Off on Dan Ariely, MISBELIEF

How Trump and MAGA illustrate Fundamental Principles

Posted on Monday 7 April 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

How my posts about current politics, including Trump and Musk, are about illustrating fundamental principles; Trump simply doesn’t understand trade; David Brooks on how conservatives have changed; A Christian law-maker who thinks “critical thinking” includes teaching about God; Short items … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, conservatives, Human Nature, Lunacy, Music, Religion | Comments Off on How Trump and MAGA illustrate Fundamental Principles

Unstable Moron, and His Fans

Posted on Friday 4 April 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Heather Cox Richardson on reactions to Trump’s tariffs, including Canada’s reaction and how Republicans hope this will somehow all work out; Jonathan Chait on how Trump has already botched his plan by suggested he might negotiate; Aside about my motivation … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, Human Nature, Lunacy, Politics | Comments Off on Unstable Moron, and His Fans

“Liberation Day”

Posted on Thursday 3 April 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Trump’s “Liberation Day” of tariffs for virtually every country around the world — except for Russia! — might well wreck both America’s, and the world’s, economy; With Paul Krugman’s expose of their “formula”; A reminder from Robert Reich, from 2018, … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Nature, Lunacy, Politics | Comments Off on “Liberation Day”

A Post-Pandemic Malaise?

Posted on Tuesday 1 April 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Thoughts about whether the pandemic has led to autocracy around the world; How that, and inequality, have left Americans in a sour economic mood; A graphic illustrating how those who want to privatize everything think everything is about making money; … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Human Nature, Politics | Comments Off on A Post-Pandemic Malaise?

I read the news today, oh boy.

Posted on Sunday 30 March 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

How mold is taken as a miracle, another example in an endless series throughout history; Short items about Trump, tariffs, and auto prices; lying about American history; how “make America healthy again” means the opposite; how a vaccine expert has … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Nature, Psychology, Religion | Comments Off on I read the news today, oh boy.