Category Archives: Humanism

Understanding Human Nature

Posted on 23 June 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Ultimately, everything in the daily news makes sense through an honest understanding of human nature. (It is not there are two legitimate “sides” to every issue.) Two thought pieces for today, then a bunch of shorter items. About how macaques … Continue reading →

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Son of Longtermism

Posted on 22 August 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Some 14 days ago, in this post, I linked and quoted from a NYT guest essay by William MacAskill about valuing the future as much as we value the present. Which struck me as a reasonable position to take, a … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Human Progress, Humanism, Philosophy, Science, Social Progress | Leave a comment

Yuval Noah Harari, 21 LESSONS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY (post #2)

Posted on 4 February 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s my second concluding post about Harari’s third book. As usual, I find it hard to condense my notes too far, when the author has so many interesting things to say, especially in this second half. In the range of … Continue reading →

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Principles and Moral Guidelines, Update

Posted on 7 November 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

I polished my Principles page today, tightening a bit, and adding a section at the end listing my favorite alternatives to the Biblical Ten Commandments.

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Links and Comments: Socialism, Conspiracy Theories, Religion, Rationality, Liberalism, William Barr, Republicans

Posted on 20 March 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

First, a David Brooks column from back in December: I Was Once a Socialist. Then I Saw How It Worked. I was a socialist in college. I read magazines like The Nation and old issues of The New Masses. I … Continue reading →

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Passages from Pinker

Posted on 17 November 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

As a palette cleanser from my last post, here are some thoughts from my ongoing reading of Steven Pinker’s THE BETTER ANGELS OF OUR NATURE, a history of the world with focus on violence, that summarizes that history through phases: … 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 →

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Links and Comments: Star Trek and Humanism; John Cleese

Posted on 25 February 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

A couple more links noticed in recent days, before I lose or forget them; my daily routine, as we settle and unpack in our new home in Oakland, will be a while getting back to have time for more considered … Continue reading →

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10 Provisional Conclusions about Life, the Universe, and Everything, subject, of course, to revision based on evidence

Posted on 25 January 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Inspired by my post last night about A Secular Ten Non-Commandments, and the book’s invitation to generate one’s own set of beliefs, I sat down today to write out my own response… not of *commandments* (who am I, or anyone, … Continue reading →

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Phil Zuckerman, Living the Secular Life

Posted on 22 December 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: New Answers to Old Questions. This is a book that addresses the growing trend of non-religious people especially in the US, and how they live their lives without the assumptions that the faithful think are necessary for living a … Continue reading →

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