Category Archives: Human Nature

Self-Destruction and Magical Thinking

Posted on Wednesday 26 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Self-destruction: Of the US military, of the Kennedy Center; How MAGA’s religious freedom doesn’t apply to Muslims; Dimwits: Darline Graham, advocates for “conservative-based” science; a GOP nominee who thinks humans and dinosaurs lived at the same time; Liars, vanity projects … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, conservatives, Human Nature, Music, Politics, Psychology, Religion | Comments Off on Self-Destruction and Magical Thinking

Cognitive Overload?

Posted on Tuesday 25 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Is humanity suffering information overload? Why people hate data centers; Why people hate the government; Is this all about the increasing complexity of the world, and the limits of human cognition? Comments about Trump and Canada from Robert Charles Wilson … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, Decline, Education, Evolution, Human Nature | Comments Off on Cognitive Overload?

The Proper Study

Posted on Monday 24 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

The proper study of mankind, if not in the way Alexander Pope meant; Powers of Ten, and the range of human intuition and understanding; If Pluto is a planet, so are dozens of other spherical bodies. A passionate performance of … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Human Nature, Music, Philosophy, Science | Comments Off on The Proper Study

The War Within Human Nature for Human Survival

Posted on Saturday 22 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

The growing movement of Americans who don’t think all people are created equal; Trump tries to intimidate the source of a report he doesn’t like; Under Trump, protected wild horses are being slaughtered; Trump is doing everything he can to … Continue reading →

Posted in authoritarianism, Conservative Resistance, conservatives, Human Nature, Politics | Comments Off on The War Within Human Nature for Human Survival

The Transition

Posted on Friday 21 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Fareed Zakaria responds to Ezra Klein about The Odyssey; Briefly: Trump running out of people to blame; How liberal families look pretty much like conservatives ones; The vacuousness of Darline Graham; Wojciech Kilar’s score for The Portrait of a Lady. … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Human Nature, Human Progress, Music, Politics | Comments Off on The Transition

Ideology and Fertility

Posted on Thursday 20 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

The complex reasons behind the drop in fertility; Mike Johnson is literally illiterate; Texas Christians are trying to define Muslims out of existence; Trump is trying crush California’s environmental policies, of course; Robert Reich explores who’s benefiting from the explosion … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, Human Nature, Music, Religion | Comments Off on Ideology and Fertility

Wiping out databases; sycophants; misogyny; revenge; Waymo

Posted on Wednesday 19 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

What authoritarian regimes do: suppress inconvenient evidence; Much concern about Trump sycophant Natalie Harp; More about Trump’s misogyny; Trump is all about revenge; How Democrats are resisting Waymo, a promising new technology. This is not a surprise. This is what … Continue reading →

Posted in authoritarianism, conservatives, Human Nature, Psychology, Technology | Comments Off on Wiping out databases; sycophants; misogyny; revenge; Waymo

David Brin’s Phases of the American Civil War

Posted on Saturday 15 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Still under the weather, for a week now. I’m behind updating sfadb. I spent some time this afternoon refining yesterday’s post. For now, not entirely irrelevant: Brin has long portrayed American history as the same kind of transition between modes … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, Human Nature | Comments Off on David Brin’s Phases of the American Civil War

The Expansion of Human Morality, the Relativity of Good and Evil

Posted on Friday 14 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Further thoughts on the evolutionary forces behind the expansion of human morality; Thought while reading Stephen King’s THE STAND; And further thoughts about human morality, and how conservative and progressive stances have been appropriate at different times; Heather Digby Parton … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, History, Human Nature, Human Progress, Psychology | Comments Off on The Expansion of Human Morality, the Relativity of Good and Evil

The Deep History Key to the American Political Divide

Posted on Thursday 13 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Kurt Andersen on America’s soft breakup; How the divide goes back ultimately to the Agricultural Revolution. – – – First up, a NYT Op-ed NY Times, Kurt Andersen, 9 Aug 2026: Has America Already Undergone a Soft Breakup?

Posted in Culture, Human Nature, Politics | Comments Off on The Deep History Key to the American Political Divide