Category Archives: Human Progress

Wright: Nonzero: Intro and Chapter 1

Posted on 7 September 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

I’ve decided to tackle three or four substantial nonfiction books, over the next few weeks, in the manner of reading books for college courses — that is, alternating among them over a quarter or semester-like period of 8 to 10 … Continue reading →

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Pinker: Better Angels: Passages and Outline from the Preface

Posted on 6 September 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

This is Steven Pinker’s big 2011 book, The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined, that takes a long-range view of human history to show that the human condition, over millennia and especially in recent centuries and decades, … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Culture, Evolution, Human Progress, Humanism, Steven Pinker | Comments Off on Pinker: Better Angels: Passages and Outline from the Preface

Big History

Posted on 3 March 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

I’ve just recently become aware of the concept, and term, “Big History”. It happened when I saw a coffee table book, shown here, at Barnes & Noble a couple weeks ago, and glanced through it, noticing two names I recognized: … Continue reading →

Posted in Cosmology, Evolution, Human Progress | Comments Off on Big History

The Enlightenment and This Moment in American Culture

Posted on 1 March 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

From Washington Post, a week or so ago: Harvard scientist worries we’re ‘reverting to a pre-Enlightenment form of thinking’ Prompted by how some presidents — Bush 43, and now Trump — are actively pushing back against scientific findings and research. … Continue reading →

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Anthropocene and Harari

Posted on 23 February 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

From last weekend’s New York Times Magazine, Is the ‘Anthropocene’ Epoch a Condemnation of Human Interference — or a Call for More?, by Wesley Yang. Noticed firstly as continued evidence of the currency of the term ‘anthropocene’ to refer to … Continue reading →

Posted in Evolution, Human Progress | Comments Off on Anthropocene and Harari

A Vision of Possible Futures

Posted on 13 February 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s a great video called Wanderers, by Erik Wernquest, that depicts visions of a future in which humanity has “conquered the solar system” in the words of this frame article at ScienceAlert.com. It’s narrated by Carl Sagan, whose introduction alludes … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Progress, Space | Comments Off on A Vision of Possible Futures

Pondering Immigration and the Future of the Nation

Posted on 10 February 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

If there’s any one thing the United States might be remembered for, in future centuries or millennia long after the country has been superseded by newer, more advanced societies, it will be that it was a place for immigrants and … Continue reading →

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Carl Sagan, THE VARIETIES OF SCIENTIFIC EXPERIENCE (2006): History is a battle of inadequate myths

Posted on 7 June 2016 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s a book I had forgotten I had, relatively speaking; I obviously bought it back in 2006 or so, but I didn’t read it right away and so it sat on my shelves among many other books (by Sagan and … Continue reading →

Posted in Cosmology, Culture, Evolution, Human Progress, Provisional Conclusions, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Carl Sagan, THE VARIETIES OF SCIENTIFIC EXPERIENCE (2006): History is a battle of inadequate myths

Sean Carroll, THE BIG PICTURE

Posted on 3 June 2016 by Mark R. Kelly

Sean Carroll’s THE BIG PICTURE: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself, just published May 10th, is an ambitious, wide-ranging book not so much about cosmology (Carroll’s specialty at CalTech), as about the perspective we gain through … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Evolution, Heinlein, Human Progress, Meaning, Morality, Philosophy, Physics, Provisional Conclusions, Religion, Ten Commandments | Comments Off on Sean Carroll, THE BIG PICTURE

Links and Comments: Innovation, Optimism, Conspiracy Theories, and Liberals

Posted on 26 May 2016 by Mark R. Kelly

Four items from the New York Times, Sunday before last. Neil Irwin: What Was the Greatest Era for Innovation? A Brief Guided Tour. What strikes me about this is not so much which era was greatest, as how much things … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Human Progress, Politics | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Innovation, Optimism, Conspiracy Theories, and Liberals