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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- Two Essays
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- Joshua Greene, MORAL TRIBES, post 2
- Joshua Greene, MORAL TRIBES, post 1
- Believing Anything
- The poorly educated and the “cognishly umpired”
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Meta
Category Archives: Psychology
How Rugged Individualists Cannot Solve Global Problems
A note about my trip tomorrow to Austin; How Mike Johnson characterizes Republicans as “rugged individualists,” yet who can still not get along to solve actual problems; How Trump’s policies would increase inflation, and his fans haven’t noticed; More about … Continue reading
Posted in Morality, Personal history, Politics, Psychology
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Two Essays
Frank Bruni on how everything is complicated, and the need to be humble; A New Yorker piece about how to understand misinformation. I have at hand two or three long essays that I plan to read and comment on, as … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Philosophy, Psychology
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Believing Anything
A long opinion piece by Dana Milbank at WaPo shows *how* Trump supporters will believe anything, without explaining (despite the headline) *why* they do; My thoughts about what has brought about the loss in consensus reality; And short items about … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Psychology
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Oliver Sacks, THE MAN WHO MISTOOK HIS WIFE FOR A HAT
Like the Pinker and Wilson volumes I’ve covered here recently, this is another classic nonfiction book, one I first read years ago without taking notes (maybe before I began taking notes on my reading). So I skimmed through it again … Continue reading
Posted in Book Notes, MInd, Psychology, science fiction
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How Humans Live by Stories, and Myths
A NYT essay that wonders if, given how political persuasions are aligned with community, we actually ever think for ourselves; An example from the fringe about a Republican who wants to outlaw “chemtrails”; A review of a book about the … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, History, Narrative, Psychology
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EO Wilson, CONSILIENCE, 11
Chapter 12, To What End? Wilson’s final chapter ponders options for humanity’s future, and comes down on the side of “existential conservatism.” And since it is about humanity’s future, the chapter has some things to say about the themes of … Continue reading
Posted in Book Notes, Human Progress, Morality, Psychology, Science, science fiction
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Motivated Reasoning, Supreme Court Edition
Just one short, but provocative, item today. This is the opening piece in the “Talk of the Town” section in the March 18th issue of The New Yorker. It cuts to the core of Supreme Court, and conservative, thinking. The … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Psychology, Social Progress
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EO Wilson, CONSILIENCE, 9
Chapter 10, The Arts and Their Interpretation Here we have perhaps the area most resistant to the idea of biological or psychological interpretation. Because it doesn’t occur, especially to the artists themselves, why people tell certain kinds of stories and … Continue reading
Posted in Book Notes, Human Progress, Psychology, Science
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EO Wilson, CONSILIENCE, 8
Chapter 9, The Social Sciences Now Wilson begins takes his conclusions about human nature and searches for ways to bring insight, if not explanation, to various aspects of human culture, in particular studies in the humanities that are supposedly resistant to … Continue reading
Posted in Book Notes, Human Progress, MInd, Psychology, Science
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Emotional Intelligence and Con Men
Robert Reich on Trump’s stupidity — except for his emotional intelligence, which manifests as his being a con man; Peter Wehner on “Fifth Avenue Republicans”; Tom Nichols about why Trump shouldn’t be given security briefings; Music: Neil Finn’s “Into the … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Music, Politics, Psychology
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