Category Archives: Human Progress

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 →

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one thing the United States might be remembered for, in future centuries or millennia long after the country has been superseded by newer, more advanced societies, it will be that it was a place for immigrants and … Continue reading →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

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Links and Comments: Irrational Voters; Republicans and Gays; Religious Liberty v Progress

Posted on 9 April 2016 by Mark R. Kelly

Robert Sapolsky in last week’s Los Angeles Times: We’re rarely rational when we vote because we’re rarely rational, period. How various discoveries about mental biases and motivated thinking play out in elections. Probably the most striking thing about any of … Continue reading →

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Item’s from Sunday’s New York Times: Pace of Change; Criticism; Religion in Politics; Creative Children

Posted on 4 February 2016 by Mark R. Kelly

Most interesting, a review, by Paul Krugman, of a book by Robert J. Gordon, The Rise and Fall of American Growth, whose thesis is that the extraordinary growth and change brought about by technology over the past century has pretty … Continue reading →

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EO Wilson, Consilience, 3

Posted on 23 January 2016 by Mark R. Kelly

Third post about Edward O. Wilson’s 1998 book Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge. (first post; second post) Chapter 4, “The Natural Sciences”, focuses on the nature of science and how scientists actually work. The great divide among cultures on Planet … Continue reading →

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EO Wilson, Consilience, 2

Posted on 16 January 2016 by Mark R. Kelly

Second post about Edward O. Wilson’s 1998 book Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge. (first post) Chapter 2, “The Great Branches of Learning”, seems a bit off the mark since it doesn’t address those branches directly. Wilson says the Enlightenment thinkers … Continue reading →

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EO Wilson, Consilience, 1

Posted on 13 January 2016 by Mark R. Kelly

So now, after reading Edward O. Wilson’s The Meaning of Human Existence a bit over a year ago (last of five posts about it here), I’m returning nearly 20 years to one of his earlier, foundational I think, books: Consilience: … Continue reading →

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