Category Archives: Psychology

Ls&Cs: Meaning and Happiness

Posted on Monday 25 October 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Kant’s take on happiness; Arthur C. Brooks’ three bite-sized dimensions to the meaning of life; Thomas B. Edsall on whether conservatives are happier than liberals.

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L&Cs: Christakis on COVID and Altruism

Posted on Saturday 23 October 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

A Big Picture item: what does our COVID response say about humanity’s capacity for altruism?

Posted in Culture, Evolution, Politics, Psychology | Comments Off on L&Cs: Christakis on COVID and Altruism

Ls&Cs: Prayer Breakfasts, Social Bubbles, and Talking Too Much

Posted on Friday 22 October 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Why is there a National Prayer Breakfast? Why do some Christians think death is such a good thing? Is COVID to blame on Maine lobsters? Is the answer to misinformation tighter social bubbles, or simply to stop talking so much?

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Ls&Cs: Problem-Solving, Ethics, Out-Group Prejudice, and Padding Bestseller Lists

Posted on Monday 11 October 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Several links that I collected on April 20th, the day I went to the hospital for what led to my heart transplant.

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture, Links & Comments, Psychology, Technology | Comments Off on Ls&Cs: Problem-Solving, Ethics, Out-Group Prejudice, and Padding Bestseller Lists

Science Ls&Cs: Time for Critical Blue Ozone Fitness

Posted on Sunday 3 October 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

The unfittedness of the universe for life; languages that do or don’t have a word for the color blue; telescopes as time machines; how scientists solved the ozone layer; critical thinking.

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Shankar Vedantam: USEFUL DELUSIONS (2021)

Posted on Thursday 23 September 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s a book I read recently, just a week or so after returning from the hospital in late June, and which I’ve skimmed again in the past week to take notes and write up this summary. It’s one of two … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Psychology | Comments Off on Shankar Vedantam: USEFUL DELUSIONS (2021)

Ls&Cs: Training, Education, Belief

Posted on Friday 17 September 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Two items today. The first is a post by Jerry Coyne about an article from Inside Higher Ed about the difference between training and education. Here’s his post: Training versus education.

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ICU Delusions

Posted on Saturday 14 August 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

When I was in the hospital for several weeks following my second heart attack, in April and May 2021, I retained no memories of the first week because I was on sedation while the doctors figured out what to do … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal history, Psychology | Comments Off on ICU Delusions

Ls&Cs: Changing Minds; Religions and Cults; Abortion; Wishful Thinking

Posted on Wednesday 14 July 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Catching up on some links from a few weeks ago.

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Ls&Cs: Other Ways of Knowing…What?

Posted on Monday 12 July 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

There have been debates for decades among scientists on the one hand and those with no interest in, or who are even hostile to, science, on the other. The latter insist that “other ways of knowing” are as valid as … Continue reading →

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