Category Archives: Psychology

Link and Comments: How to Change the Minds of People Who Are Wrong

Posted on Friday 5 March 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

NYT, 3 March, Nicholas Kistoff: How to Reach People Who Are Wrong, subtitled, In the post-Trump era, research suggests the best ways to win people over. A fine essay, that keys off Adam Grant’s new book THINK AGAIN, which I … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: 2 March 2021

Posted on Tuesday 2 March 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Too many choices; Republican deregulation; Free-market consequences in Texas; Conspiracy theory driven political parties.

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Link and Comments: A Better Way to Think About Conspiracies

Posted on Tuesday 2 March 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Ross Douthat suggests a tool kit for discriminating among conspiracy theories, which have always been among us.

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Links and Comments: Psychology; Texas; QAnon; Lying

Posted on Saturday 27 February 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

The psychology of Capitol rioters; Texas and Republicans; Climate change migration; QAnon as religion; The right to lie on the internet; The Big Lie and voter suppression.

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Links and Comments 19 Feb 2021

Posted on Friday 19 February 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Voter suppression; extremist behavior; “people are asking”; lack of predators; just world theory; covid revisionism; QAnon and Book of Revelations; radical women politicians; lousy tippers.

Posted in Politics, Psychology | Comments Off on Links and Comments 19 Feb 2021

Nonfiction Notes: Matthew Hutson’s The 7 Laws of Magical Thinking

Posted on Monday 15 February 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Matthew Hutson, The 7 Laws of Magical Thinking: How Irrational Beliefs Keep Us Happy, Healthy, and Sane (Penguin/Hudson Street Press, 2012) Yet another book about irrational beliefs and cognitive illusions! After the ones by Shermer, Duffy, and Rosenberg just discussed. … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Political Matters This Week: 11 Feb 2021

Posted on Thursday 11 February 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

This is the week Trump is being impeached for inciting a riot and invasion of the Capitol, and Republicans, supposedly the party of personal responsibility, are going to let him get away with it. Nothing to see here, they say. … Continue reading →

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Nonfiction Notes: Michael Shermer: WHY PEOPLE BELIEVE WEIRD THINGS

Posted on Saturday 6 February 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Michael Shermer: Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time. (W.H. Freeman, 1997) Here’s one of the earliest books that address human irrationality in terms of both the evidence against various pseudoscientific beliefs, and the … Continue reading →

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Nonfiction Notes: Neil F. Comins, HEAVENLY ERRORS: Misconceptions about the real nature of the universe (2001)

Posted on Thursday 4 February 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

This is a book I’ve had for nearly 20 years, since its publication in 2001, and finally I sat down last year, 2020, and read it. I had thought it would be a book about common misconceptions of the universe … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Changing Minds; GOP Economics; Liars; Taxonomy of Trump Supporters

Posted on Wednesday 3 February 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Items from NYT (Adam Grant); NYT (David Leonhardt); Slate (William Saletan); The Week, NYT, and Salon about Trump and the GOP; and NYT (Michelle Goldberg).

Posted in Politics, Psychology | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Changing Minds; GOP Economics; Liars; Taxonomy of Trump Supporters