Category Archives: Human Nature

Competence vs. Competition

Posted on Monday 23 February 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Olympics thoughts: zero-sum games; competence vs competition; Amanda Marcotte on the violence and propaganda from the DHS; Zack Beauchamp on how to stop a dictator: make the threat obvious; Tom Nichols on the Republican Party’s Nazi problem; Short items about … Continue reading →

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Another Take on the Left/Right Divide

Posted on Sunday 22 February 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Kalen Dion on the right/left divide: homogeneity/diversity, and all that implies; What do historians mean that tomorrow won’t be better than today? Because human nature; The modern economy and the limits of human cognition; Conservative values: the Biblical right to … Continue reading →

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Whatever They Can Get Away With

Posted on Friday 20 February 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Short items today Trump’s move to demolish greenhouse gas standards is based on a (admittedly technical) lie; America is experiencing a tourism slump (because… one guess); About Trump’s “cartoonish” monuments to himself; How Trump makes his own voters suffer; How … Continue reading →

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Are There Superior Civilizations?

Posted on Wednesday 18 February 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Reactions to a speech by Marco Rubio claiming the superiority of Western Civilization over all others, by Bret Stephens, Eliot A. Cohen, Jamelle Bouie; Noting again Jared Diamond, who explained decades ago why the fact that the Enlightenment et al … Continue reading →

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Religious Motivations

Posted on Tuesday 17 February 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Jerry Coyne challenges claims of a religious revival in America; Review of a book called “Why I Am Not an Atheist” by Christopher Beha; And a NYT essay by author Christopher Beha. – – – A couple items about religion … Continue reading →

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The Clash Within

Posted on Sunday 15 February 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

How there isn’t a clash of civilizations (e.g. Christian vs. Muslim) so much as a clash between modernity and those who resent it: WOKE vs MAGA; Items about ensuring the “right” people will vote, the erosion of the separation of … Continue reading →

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How the War on Woke Reflects the Basics of Human Nature

Posted on Sunday 8 February 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Just one piece today, a longish piece I’m going to go through fairly carefully, since it puts current issues about MAGA and conservative regression into a broad context, broader I’d say than the 400 years stated in the title. Salon, … Continue reading →

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The War on Truth; and Religion

Posted on Wednesday 4 February 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Minneapolis and the war on truth; Jerry Coyne on prayer, triggering off Savannah Guthrie news; How Jeff Bezos is destroying The Washington Post just as Trump has done with America; Short takes. – – – It’s only getting worse. We’re … Continue reading →

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The Conservative Resistance to Changing One’s Mind

Posted on Tuesday 27 January 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Why can conservatives not admit they might have been wrong? Trump never admits to being wrong; he never apologizes; And yet the administration is softening its accusations against the people killed by ICE in Minneapolis; Trump contradicts the 2nd amendment; … Continue reading →

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Pulling Bolts Out of the Ferris Wheel

Posted on Monday 26 January 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Train Dreams Republicans on the need to carry guns; How the truth in Minneapolis is whatever Trump says it is; And how the administration altered images and made false posts; Heather Cox Richardson on KQED Forum this morning; Brief items … Continue reading →

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