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
- Status on a Gloomy Day; Why Anyone Should Care
- Richard Dawkins, THE GOD DELUSION, post 4
- MAGA Doesn’t Understand What Makes America Great
- Richard Dawkins, THE GOD DELUSION, post 3
- Conservative Principles vs. Reality
- Richard Dawkins, THE GOD DELUSION, post 2
- Richard Dawkins, THE GOD DELUSION, post 1
- Intentional Ignorance
- Discipline, Lies, Ignorance, and Consensus Truth
- Cruelty, Nonsense, and Reality-Checks
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Meta
Category Archives: Psychology
Links and Comments: Pandemic Responses and Routines
The Atlantic, 24 Nov: Your Individually Rational Choice Is Collectively Disastrous, subtitled “Stopping the virus from spreading requires us to override our basic intuitions.” This isn’t about haywire individual thinking (cognitive biases, the appeal of simplistic stories to explain the … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Psychology
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Links and Comments: Politics and Conspiracy Theories; Epistemology
Another batch of links and comments, again on topics of politics and conspiracy theories, not because I’m trying to dissuade anyone in particular of any such beliefs (let alone supernatural ones), but because all these examples (more and more of … Continue reading
Posted in Lunacy, Politics, Psychology
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Links and Comments: Obama; Conspiracy Theories; Big Government; Liberty
Guardian: review of Barack Obama’s new book. Obama makes clear he believes the whiplash from the 44th to 45th president is no accident. On the contrary, the mere fact that an accomplished, intelligent, scandal-free black man inhabited the White House … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Psychology, Social Progress
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Principles and Moral Guidelines, Update
I polished my Principles page today, tightening a bit, and adding a section at the end listing my favorite alternatives to the Biblical Ten Commandments.
Posted in Humanism, Morality, Philosophy, Psychology
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Link and Comments: Cory Doctorow on Story
Slate: Cory Doctorow: The Dangers of Cynical Sci-Fi Disaster Stories, subtitled, I’m changing how I write fiction—for the benefit of the real world. The essay is on occasion of the publication of Doctorow’s latest novel, Attack Surface, a follow-up to … Continue reading
Posted in Narrative, Psychology
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Links and Comments: Make-Believe worlds and Donald Trump and his supporters
As evidence for my thoughts, in this post Notes for the Book: Magical Thinking, Cognitive Dissonance, Group-Thinking, about how many people live in a kind of make-believe world, for reasons of group solidarity, and despite the inevitable cognitive dissonance with … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Psychology
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Links and Comments: Cognitive Dissonance and Fox News
As if on cue, following my past few posts, here’s a NY Times columnist today on Why Fox News Is Still in a Coronavirus Bubble. Subtitle: “Humans will do figure eights to make facts suit their fictions. Laura Ingraham and … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Psychology
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Links and Comments: Republican denial of coronavirus; Trump’s narcissism; Cults and cognitive dissonance
Washington Post: The GOP’s coronavirus denialism finally catches up with its leaders, by traditionally conservative writer Max Boot. He responds to a tweet, by a Republican. “Does anyone else find it odd,” she wrote Friday, “that no prominent Democrats have … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Psychology
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Links and Comments: The Debate; Trump and Christians; No Back to Normal
So much to keep up with! The debate last Tuesday. NYT Editorial: A Debate That Can’t Be Ignored. Subtitle: “Americans need to face the man who is their president.” The debate was excruciating to watch for anyone who loves this … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Psychology, Religion
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Group-Think and Conformity: Solomon Asch
As a follow-up to the previous post, I came across a reference to a famous psychological experiment (from 1951) that demonstrates the power of conformity over independent thinking. I read about this case once before…. turns out it was in … Continue reading
Posted in Psychology
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