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 Absence of Empathy
- Jonathan Haidt, THE HAPPINESS HYPOTHESIS, post 4
- Cave Man Morality and the Normalizing of Racism
- Jonathan Haidt, THE HAPPINESS HYPOTHESIS, post 3
- Bill Gates and Climate Change
- Jonathan Haidt, THE HAPPINESS HYPOTHESIS, post 2
- Survival, Revelations, Falling Standards
- Jonathan Haidt, THE HAPPINESS HYPOTHESIS, post 1
- Troubled Children, Cognitive Collapse, Cave Man Morality
- Politics is more about tribal human nature than about solving problems
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Meta
Category Archives: Politics
Working Definitions, and Examples
Reviewing basic definitions of evil, sin, morality, woke, and fake news, with examples: The Trump admin and MAGA would like to take over all the big cities; How the far-right agenda is entering the mainstream; Do Republicans actually believe in … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Politics, Religion
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Everything Old and Simple; Conservatives, the Conceptual Ceiling, and Cognitive Dissonance
Conceptual ceiling and conservatives; Thoughts about how humanity might survive, via deliberate cognitive dissonance: “One mindset to maintain the tribe and ensure near-term survival; another to solve problems that threaten long-term survival.” Which one is right? Both are, in different … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Psychology
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Liberal and Conservative Goals
Why conservatives inculcate young thinkers, and liberals don’t (need to); Christian pastors in Kentucky want to shield children from LGBTQ books; why not shield them from the Bible? Which influence is worse? It depends on your goals, which are driven … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Psychology, Religion
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Further Reports on the Current Crisis
Robert Reich on groveling and inept and unprincipled people; Heather Cox Richardson on our idiot-child president; By wanting to banish mail-in ballots nationwide, Trump attacks states’ rights, a conservative principle for centuries; On the same theme, Thomas B. Edsall looks … Continue reading
Posted in Lunacy, Politics, Psychology
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The Ultimate Cognitive Bias, and Political News
Steve Stewart-Williams about an attempt to identify the one cognitive bias to rule them all: the confirmation bias; Political notes: How Trump claims victory yet again; how even Fox News noticed that not much was accomplished at that summit; And … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Psychology
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Distracted by Politics, Again
Eventually I’ll get to more serious subjects. Though arguably politics is the most serious subject, because politics is about psychology and that involves how humans perceive and believe everything else. But there is a reality beneath politics (or should it … Continue reading
Posted in Music, Politics, Psychology
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AI Is Telling People What They Want to Hear?
Tom Tomorrow on “defunding the police”; The unreliability of AI, with an example of John Scalzi; An essay about how the future will be mundane; Several links on Trump’s meeting with Putin in Alaska; Slate’s handy summary of people in … Continue reading
Posted in authoritarianism, Politics, Technology
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The Fringe Is Becoming Mainstream
Trump threatens to attack Mexico, ho hum; South Koreans think electric fans are deadly; A GOP rep claims evidence of “interdimensional beings”; Hegseth’s pastor claims “gay marriage doesn’t exist” because he doesn’t like it; Lance Wallnau thinks his god wants … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Lunacy, Politics, Religion
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Why Totalitarians Prefer Crackpots and Fools, as We Are Seeing Under Trump
Lesson for today, from Paul Krugman, from Hannah Arendt: “Totalitarianism in power invariably replaces all first-rate talents, regardless of their sympathies, with those crackpots and fools whose lack of intelligence and creativity is still the best guarantee of their loyalty.” … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Economics, Human Nature, Politics
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Nostalgia Bias, and Christian Intolerance and Hypocrisy
Trump’s worldview is stuck in 1989; Thinking the 1990s were better than today is nostalgia bias; D.C. is not the hellscape Trump claims it is (of course); More about that annoying busybody who opposes gay marriage and has nothing better … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Psychology, Religion
Comments Off on Nostalgia Bias, and Christian Intolerance and Hypocrisy
