Category Archives: Morality

Links and Comments: Haidt, Krugman, Cruz and Swanson, Evolution v Creationism and Iowa Home-Schoolers

Posted on Friday 20 November 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

I am 3/4 of the way through that Jonathan Haidt book, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion, which is almost revelatory in the sense that it provides a vocabulary and a theoretical framework for … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture, Evolution, Morality, Politics, Psychology, Religion | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Haidt, Krugman, Cruz and Swanson, Evolution v Creationism and Iowa Home-Schoolers

Reading Haidt, arcs of history, false balance, how liberal views are closer to the truth, and science fiction

Posted on Thursday 12 November 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Beginning to read Jonathan Haidt’s The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion today, an eloquent, insightful exploration into how the parameters of human psychology explain the range of political and religious differences. I wrote a … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture, Evolution, MInd, Morality, Politics, Provisional Conclusions | Comments Off on Reading Haidt, arcs of history, false balance, how liberal views are closer to the truth, and science fiction

The Atlantic on trigger warnings; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the war on reason

Posted on Tuesday 29 September 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

I mentioned a while back the cover story on The Atlantic magazine’s September issue, The Coddling of the American Mind, by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt. (Haidt is the author of the book The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture, Morality, Provisional Conclusions, Psychology, Religion | Comments Off on The Atlantic on trigger warnings; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the war on reason

David Brooks: American Exceptionalism vs. Conservatism

Posted on Monday 28 September 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

David Brooks’ column in Friday’s (Sept. 25th) New York Times for once said something that completely resonates with me, without his usual waffling and obeisance to parochial religious sentiment: The American Idea and Today’s G.O.P.. He takes the idea of … Continue reading →

Posted in MInd, Morality, Provisional Conclusions | Comments Off on David Brooks: American Exceptionalism vs. Conservatism

Links and Comments: Scientism; the Arc of Moral Progress; Conservative Resistance and Certain Republicans

Posted on Sunday 13 September 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

What we read from this morning’s newspapers… New York Times, Simon Critchley, There Is No Theory of Everything. An essay (which is longer online than the version in print) about science and the humanities and about a teacher of his, … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Human Progress, Morality, Science | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Scientism; the Arc of Moral Progress; Conservative Resistance and Certain Republicans

Links and Comments: Hand-Picked Truths and Moral Progress

Posted on Wednesday 26 August 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

First, taking the high road, an op-ed by NYT science writer George Johnson, in yesterday’s NYT Science section: The Widening World of Hand-Picked Truths. (The title in print was “The Gradual Extinction of Accepted Truths”.) This speaks to the increasing … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Morality, Religion | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Hand-Picked Truths and Moral Progress

Links and Comments: Dated and Offensive SF; Puppygate summaries

Posted on Tuesday 25 August 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Will get back to posting about rereading Isaac Asimov shortly, but an initial comment I have is how embarrassing Asimov’s prose of the early 1940s was. I suppose it was the style of the era, and Asimov did grow out … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Progress, Morality, science fiction | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Dated and Offensive SF; Puppygate summaries

Links and Comments: Reason; Morality; Wesleyan; Timeline; The Onion; Jeffrey Tayler

Posted on Friday 21 August 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Today, a collection of posts I’ve not read in detail, or do not have time to comment upon in detail, but wish to save for future reference. Science on Religon: Connor Wood: Reason™ is not going to save the world … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Morality, Science, science fiction | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Reason; Morality; Wesleyan; Timeline; The Onion; Jeffrey Tayler

The Lottery and Jim and Mary G

Posted on Sunday 9 August 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

I reread Shirley Jackson famous/infamous short story “The Lottery” this morning (you can find the full text here) and was struck by this passage, about 2/3 the way through: “They do say,” Mr. Adams said to Old Man Warner, who … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Morality, science fiction, Short Fiction | Comments Off on The Lottery and Jim and Mary G

The Irish Need Not Apply

Posted on Wednesday 15 July 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

» New York Times, Timothy Egan: Not Like Us Donald Trump is attracting quite a following with his comments about Mexican immigrants: When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Human Progress, Morality, Social Progress | Comments Off on The Irish Need Not Apply