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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» Previous Views from Medina Road (2010-2013)
» Blogspot Views from Medina Road (2003-2010)-
Recent Posts
- Friday’s Post Temp Title
- Illegal voting, ulterior motives, resentment, racism
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- Christian Hypocrisy: The Beatitudes, vs. the Reality in Minneapolis
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- Which Part of Science Do Science Deniers Dispute?
- Shermer, Zakaria, Clinton, Bruckner
- “I Love the Poorly Educated”
- “Let the Country’s Weak and Vulnerable Suffer and Die.”
- Streets of Minneapolis
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Meta
Category Archives: Narrative
Links and Comments: Why People Believe
Links from recent weeks, on political themes. The point, as always, isn’t to rag on Republicans or conservatives, it’s to collect case studies on epistemology: how and why people believe what they do. More and more, Republicans and conservatives have … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Links, Narrative, Politics
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Four More Provisional Conclusions
Here’s a first draft of four more provisional conclusions I’ve drawn in recent years; they summarize themes I’ve invoked many times in these posts. I’ll revisit this post and refine, before I add them to a standing page on this … Continue reading
Posted in Changing One's Mind, Narrative, Provisional Conclusions
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Links and Comments: Science, Reality Bubbles, and Stories
The most interesting one is at the bottom. \\ Scientific American: To Understand How Science Denial Works, Look to History, subtitled, “The same tactics used to cast doubt on the dangers of smoking and climate change are now being used … Continue reading
Links and Comments: Against Trump; Roe v. Wade and Personal Choices; Scientists and Stories
Sunday’s NYT Opinion section — typically 10 or 12 pages — was devoted entirely to spelling out (yet again!) why Trump is such an awful president: End Our National Crisis, subtitled “The Case Against Donald Trump.” One section of which … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Narrative, Politics, Science
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Link and Comments: Cory Doctorow on Story
Slate: Cory Doctorow: The Dangers of Cynical Sci-Fi Disaster Stories, subtitled, I’m changing how I write fiction—for the benefit of the real world. The essay is on occasion of the publication of Doctorow’s latest novel, Attack Surface, a follow-up to … Continue reading
Posted in Narrative, Psychology
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Jonathan Gottschall: THE STORYTELLING ANIMAL: How Stories Make Us Human
Here’s a nonfiction book from 2012 that I just read this past month. It’s one of three or four books I have (another is called HOUSTON, WE HAVE A NARRATIVE: WHY SCIENCE NEEDS STORY) that are about the idea of … Continue reading
Posted in Book Notes, Narrative
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Links and Comments: Nature and Human Brains; Science Fiction and Mental Resiliency
Scientific American, Caleb A. Scharf: A Failure of Imagination, subtitled, “Nature does not have to play fair with our puny human brains.” A favorite theme of mine: how there’s more to the universe than humans are aware of; how there … Continue reading
Posted in Cosmology, MInd, Narrative, science fiction
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Links and Comments: Secrets of Success, the 2010s, Gibson’s future, History v. Narratives
Here are a few items from recent papers. 1) Nicholas Kristof: The Four Secrets of Success. Which are: 1. Take a class in economics and in statistics 2. Connect to a cause larger than yourself. 3. Make out. 4. Escape … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture, Economics, Narrative
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David Brooks on Myths vs. Parables
New York Times columnist David Brooks runs hot and cold with me; ostensibly a conservative, he’s too inclined to dismiss new ideas in favor of sanctified values, for my taste, yet he does read widely and responds to many new … Continue reading
Posted in Narrative, Social Progress
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Links and Comments: Storytelling; Religious Fundamentalism and Fake News; the Attraction of Conspiracy Theories
Time magazine, December 5, 2017, Jeffrey Kluger: How Telling Stories Makes Us Human [S]torytelling is a powerful means of fostering social cooperation and teaching social norms, and it pays valuable dividends to the storytellers themselves, improving their chances of being … Continue reading
Posted in Narrative, Psychology, Religion
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