Mark R. Kelly
» Founder in 1997 and site-runner for 20 years of Locus Online (Hugo Award winner in 2002). Founder in 2012 and still site-runner of sfadb.com (Science Fiction Awards Database). Retired in 2012 after 30 years as a software engineer for a certain rocket engine factory.
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- EO Wilson, CONSILIENCE, 10
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- EO Wilson, CONSILIENCE, 9
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- EO Wilson, CONSILIENCE, 8
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- EO Wilson, CONSILIENCE, 7
- More Dispatches from Alternative Realities
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Meta
Category Archives: Meaning
Two Thought-Provoking Pieces, and Notes about the Fringe
Adam Frank on science and the need to account for human experience; How “entropy bagels” and other complex structures emerge from simple rules; Headlines about the fringe: that North Carolina GOP nominee; how Trump is degenerating; his empty pseudo-religion; his … Continue reading
Posted in Meaning, Music, Philosophy, Science
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Progress in 2023
For this last post of the year, I’ll link several year-end pieces about progress in the world, where most people see only continued doom. (I’ll do a separate post, about progress against my goals in my own life, soon.) NY … Continue reading
Sources of Meaning
How the Catholic League finds meaning at Christmas only in its own teachings, while presuming everyone else must be miserable; How Republicans have found tribal meaning in Christian Nationalism; How Republicans search for voter fraud only among populations who would … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Meaning, Music, Religion
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I Don’t Know. Not Everything has Meaning. And Nihilism. Not What You Think.
Essay by Anne Lamott about what she’s learned at age 69; NYT’s Brad Stulberg about traumatic experiences and finding, or not, new meaning; A summary of my recent thinking about the narrative bias, metaphor, and “meaning”; Considering what “nihilism” is … Continue reading
Posted in Meaning, Philosophy
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How “Meaning” is just another example of the Narrative Bias
Three pieces from Big Think. How history is told by story-tellers, and cannot be taken literally; How philosophy advances science by asking forbidden questions; How questions about the “meaning of life” reveal the narrative bias. —— Three sciency links, all … Continue reading
Posted in History, Meaning, Narrative, Philosophy, Science
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Odds and Ends from Recent Weeks
Today I’m catching up on numerous items from recent weeks that I want to note even though I haven’t had time to thoroughly read or comment about them. A couple of them, at least, I will revisit, because I need … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture, Meaning, Politics, Psychology
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A New Book About Humanity’s Future, and Meaning
Cautiously considering the new book by Marcelo Gleiser, which seeks meaning where I think none exists; Items about Mike Pence’s Biblical cherry-picking, how Tennessee is the “worst state for voting rights,” and two takes on Vivek Ramaswamy: “spouting nonsense” and … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Lunacy, Meaning, Politics, Science
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The Lies that Bind
How the Christian curriculum ACE lies about science; How some people are happy to submit to tyranny; Wondering if it matters children are lied to about reality, and concluding that it doesn’t, given certain purposes of life; And reflecting again … Continue reading
Quote of the Day: Recovering from Madness
Charles Mackay was a Scottish poet who lived from 1818 to 1889. He was the author of the book Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, in 1841.
Posted in Meaning, Philosophy
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Denying the Denialists? and Bros
Just time for one Reading today, then some comments about seeing a movie in a movie theater for the first time in nearly 3 years.
Posted in Meaning, Movies, Politics
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