Category Archives: MInd

The Mendacious David Barton

Posted on 17 April 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Amanda Marcotte at Salon: First fake news, now fake history: Glenn Beck wants to train young people to promote an alternative history About Glenn Beck and his partner, David Barton -! If there are two characteristics that really define Trumpism, … Continue reading →

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Religious Zealotry in Science Fiction

Posted on 8 April 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

There has been a controversy within the SF field over the past few years about how groups called the “sad puppies” and the “rabid puppies”, for various reasons, have mounted campaigns to influence the Hugo Awards nominations. (They succeeded two … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Religious Intellectuals; Lawrence Krauss; Daniel Dennett

Posted on 30 March 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Jerry Coyne asks, Are religious people a bit thick?. He disagrees with someone who claims that many very smart people are also religious. Look at it this way: if someone spent much of their lives worshiping Santa, elves, fairies, or … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Conservative Cruelty; Blue Lies

Posted on 29 March 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Chauncey DeVega at Alternet: Why Are Republicans So Relentlessly Cruel to the Poor?. Subtitle: “Paul Ryan has dreamed of slashing Medicaid since his keg-party days—and that blithe hostility is widespread”. Because conservatives are more inclined to think that poor people … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Political bubbles; Group knowledge; Randall reviews Rovelli

Posted on 6 March 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Interesting pieces from Sunday’s New York Times Front page article: How to Escape Your Political Bubble for a Clearer View. About how to overcome the built-in biases in Facebook and other social media to feed you only what you want … Continue reading →

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Elizabeth Kolbert on books about the limitations of human reason

Posted on 2 March 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

In last week’s New Yorker, Elizabeth Kolbert (author of foundational, Pulitzer Prize-winning nonfiction The Sixth Extinction; my review) reviews three books about the limitations of human reason. Why Facts Don’t Change Our Minds The review/essay describes various psychological experiments — … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Loyalty, Defiance, Imagined Realities

Posted on 15 February 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

A revealing piece in today’s Slate: The Only Truth Is Trump, in which William Saleton reveals the subtext of Kellyanne Conway’s response to the Flynn debacle. His points: Loyalty within Trump’s circle is more important than loyalty to country. The … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Human Biases and Christian Superstition

Posted on 13 February 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Friendly Atheist: What Caused the Oroville Dam Crisis? Some Christians Online Blame CA Liberals for Defying God. Here in California our several years of drought have ended (at least in the northern part of the state) in so much rain … Continue reading →

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Link and Comments: Facts v Emotions

Posted on 11 February 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Slate, Jess Zimmerman: It’s Time to Give Up On Facts — Or at least to temporarily lay them down in favor of a more useful weapon: emotions. Yet another article (by a former fact-checker) about how human mental biases deflect … Continue reading →

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Christianity and the Sunk Cost fallacy

Posted on 4 January 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

In the Christmas Day issue of the New York Times, columnist Nicholas Kristof has a chat with the evangelist Christian pastor and author Timothy Keller, asking Am I a Christian, Pastor Timothy Keller?. Kristof admires the teachings of Jesus but … Continue reading →

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