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
- The Retreat from the Enlightenment
- Now It’s Calls for Execution
- What Meaning Means, and if AI Gods Provide That
- Greene and Pinker, and “Piggy”
- Christopher Hitchens, god is not Great
- Richard Dawkins, THE GOD DELUSION, post 6
- Six Seven and Human Nature
- Richard Dawkins, THE GOD DELUSION, post 5
- Status on a Gloomy Day; Why Anyone Should Care
- Richard Dawkins, THE GOD DELUSION, post 4
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Meta
Category Archives: Philosophy
Jonathan Haidt, THE HAPPINESS HYPOTHESIS, post 5 (conclusion)
Subtitled “Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom” With second subtitle “Why the Meaningful Life is Closer than You Think” (Basic Books, 2006, xiii + 297pp, including 54pp acknowledgements, notes, references, and index. Hardcover with no dust jacket.) (Post 1, Post … Continue reading
Posted in Book Notes, Human Nature, Meaning, Morality, Philosophy, Psychology
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And How Science Fiction Is Both a Symptom and a Solution
Further thoughts on how science fiction informs current social ills; Republican doublethink about “No Kings” rallies; Columbus Day, and Trump’s veneration of Columbus vs the realities of history; Heather Cox Richardson’s perspective on Columbus, and the origin of Columbus Day. … Continue reading
Posted in History, Human Nature, Human Progress, Philosophy, Psychology, Science, science fiction
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How This Is All About Science Fiction
This blog isn’t about conservatives and the religious; it’s about people believing things that aren’t true, about tribalism and hypocrisy, and how human nature reduces everything into binaries. With numerous examples; And about how Trump didn’t win the Nobel Peace … Continue reading
Posted in Human Nature, Philosophy, Politics, Psychology, science fiction
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Secular Values, and Reality as Evil
Two thematic follow-ups to yesterday’s post. OnlySky, Bruce Ledewitz, 20 Aug 2025: Can people thrive in a secular society?, subtitled “Are secular values the cause of our malaise?” Yesterday’s post extended a theme on this blog concerning a range or … Continue reading
Posted in Cosmology, Meaning, Philosophy, Physics, Science
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Is the universe friendly, or hostile?
David Wallace-Wells on the Epstein scandal, with items by Zack Beauchamp and Shawn McCreesh; How simple-minded Trump characterizes his adversaries as “evil”; How Trump’s economic agenda is driven by simple-minded lies and misunderstandings; How the question “Is the world a … Continue reading
Posted in History, Human Nature, Philosophy, Politics, Religion
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Stories, Archetypes, Morality
Does anyone take Jung or Freud seriously any more? OnlySky’s Bruce Ledewitz on the contemporary idea of “evil”; Robert Reich on “the worst bill in history” and fact-checking claims about tax cuts; How local communities fight back against ICE; Republicans … Continue reading
Posted in Music, Philosophy, Politics, Psychology
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Paths Away From and To Reality
“Doing your own research” mostly leads to false conclusions, unless you’ve done your “homework” — i.e. have an education in the subject matter; Example of a claim about Sodom and Gomorrah and an asteroid or comet airburst; How simpletons think … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Psychology, Religion, Social Progress
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Mark Lilla, IGNORANCE AND BLISS
Subtitled “On Wanting Not to Know” (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Dec. 2024, 239p, including 12p notes and acknowledgments) This is a little book published just a couple months ago that appealed for a couple reasons. First, I read the author’s … Continue reading
Posted in Book Notes, Philosophy, Psychology
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Shades of Morality
Trump’s crazy Gaza redevelopment plan; How conservatives use “corruption” (without evidence) as an excuse to undermine institutions they don’t like; And they would go after Wikipedia, if they could; Then a long sequence about JD Vance on Christian love, various … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Lunacy, Morality, Philosophy, Religion
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Competence Is Beside the Point
Several items today about the confirmation hearings for Pete Hegseth and Pam Bondi; “Anonymous smears” and “I am not familiar with that statement”; competence isn’t the point, loyalty and disruption are. The consequences of a “woefully uninformed electorate” and whether … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Lunacy, Philosophy, Politics
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