Category Archives: Human Progress

Along the Spectra

Posted on Friday 16 October 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

In the context of the Tom Cruise film Digger, thoughts about the difficulties of thinking about climate change; Neil deGrasse Tyson wonders if humans are intelligent enough to understand everything; Fareed Zakaria on why Marco Rubio thinks the West is … Continue reading →

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How Humanity Is Better Now Than We Were In the Past

Posted on Sunday 4 October 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Francis Fukuyama on why we’re better than our ancestors. – – – Big Think, Jonny Thomson, 30 Sep 2026: Francis Fukuyama on why we’re better than our ancestors, subtitled “Everyone matters. If you believe that, it’s a good sign.” Immediate … Continue reading →

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All the Time in the World

Posted on Wednesday 16 September 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

What would you do if you had all the free time in the world? An OnlySky essay explores this question in the context of AI; How Harari anticipated this; My own answer to this question, since I’m retired and do … Continue reading →

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How the Terrorists Won, in a Sense

Posted on Saturday 12 September 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Passing through airport security is an example of how the terrorists won, and maybe what led to MAGA and Trump; Jonathan V. Last on how terrorism sometimes works; (And how terrorists are motivated by religion); The reflecting pool contractor admits … Continue reading →

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Adam Kirsch: THE REVOLT AGAINST HUMANITY

Posted on Wednesday 9 September 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: Imagining a Future Without Us (Columbia Global Reports, 2023, 100pp, including 2pp of further reading.) Here’s a small book with some provocative ideas I didn’t anticipate from the title. It’s from a publishing imprint of Columbia University called Columbia … Continue reading →

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We’re a Cooperative Species, Not an Isolationist Tribal One, Mostly

Posted on Wednesday 2 September 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Essay on how the future of independence is interdependence; Short items about JD Vance’s sense of spiritual darkness, and his apparent welcoming of the “end times”; a new Navy Secretary who believes in witchcraft; asking why psychics don’t help in … Continue reading →

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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 →

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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 →

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Toby Ord, THE PRECIPICE

Posted on Monday 6 July 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity (Hachette, 2020, 468pp, including 225pp of resources, acknowledgements, appendices, further reading, notes, bibliography, and index.) Here is book about existential risks, a topic on which I have several books, though this one … Continue reading →

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The 250th, Patriotism, and the Sin of Pride

Posted on Saturday 4 July 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

On the bright side, 25 reasons to be optimistic about the future; 5 questions that will determine America’s next 50 years; Connie Willis relates some potential optimism in the decline of MAGA; Why Americans are living longer; Nicholas Kristof on … Continue reading →

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