Category Archives: Psychology

L&Qs&Cs: Tribal Loyalty and Other Atavisms

Posted on Saturday 5 February 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

This is fascinating *not* because it’s political, but because it’s evidence that however much some of us think the world “progresses,” there will always be atavisms. With a Randall Munroe namecheck at the end. NYT, Jon A. Shields, 3 Feb … Continue reading →

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L&Q&Cs: Neal Stephenson on What Might Save Us

Posted on Thursday 20 January 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Sunday’s New York Times Magazine had an interview with SF writer Neal Stephenson, whose latest novel is Termination Shock. NYT Times Magazine: Neal Stephenson Thinks Greed Might Be the Thing That Saves Us

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Simon Baron-Cohen: THE PATTERN SEEKERS: How Autism Drives Human Invention (2020)

Posted on Tuesday 4 January 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

This is one of those books I heard about when it was published (via a PW review), but passed on at the time. (As I pass on 80% of books I hear about that I think I might like reading, … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: January 6th; How Americans Need Each Other; How to ‘Do Your Own Research’; Enduring Conspiracy Theories

Posted on Monday 3 January 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Let’s do some links and comments today, then tomorrow perhaps I’ll return to posting book summaries. NYT, The Editorial Board, 1 Jan 2022: Every Day Is Jan. 6 Now This could be a reference from my 2021 in Review post. … Continue reading →

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Ls&Cs: A Few Recent Headlines

Posted on Thursday 25 November 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Investing; astrology and narcissism; fear as self-defense; insurgency in America.

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Links & Comments: How the Media Should Cover Indecent Politicians; The Streisand Effect

Posted on Monday 22 November 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

It’s the beginning the holiday season, which means I’ll get less done. I’m a little like Isaac Asimov, in the way that he famously preferred to stay at home (in his Manhattan highrise, with the curtains closed) to read and … Continue reading →

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Ls&Cs: The Middle Ground Between Conspiracy Theorists and Rationalist Control

Posted on Sunday 21 November 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Anti-Conspiracy Theorists aren’t always right either; headlines from The Guardian about White reasoning and how facts don’t change minds.

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Ls&Cs: Human Are Animals; The Yuck Factor

Posted on Monday 15 November 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

I’ve kept up with posting current links to articles and essays in recent weeks (since I’ve been posting once a day, for two months now) so well that this evening I am mining links I captured back in March and … Continue reading →

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Ls&Cs: Infrastructure; Insurrection; Safety; Radicals; Birthdays

Posted on Wednesday 10 November 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

When voting for infrastructure means betraying your country; how dying from Covid is sacrifice in the war against Joe Biden; when safety measures give false confidence; how QAnon and Pakistani radicals are similar; when birthdays were not a thing.

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Ls&Cs: Imaginary Crises, Race-Baiting, Anti-Civility, CNN’s crisis reporting; and ‘When do we get to use those guns?’

Posted on Thursday 4 November 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

One more round of Links and Comments for today, then promise will do some different kinds of posts for a while.

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