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
- 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
- Jonathan Haidt, THE HAPPINESS HYPOTHESIS, post 5 (conclusion)
- Busy Weekend: Quick Summary
- The Absence of Empathy
- Jonathan Haidt, THE HAPPINESS HYPOTHESIS, post 4
- Cave Man Morality and the Normalizing of Racism
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Meta
Category Archives: Psychology
The Disappearance of Linus
Distracted the past couple days by the disappearance of Linus. I mentioned this on Facebook last night. Maybe he’ll come back. Click for much larger image. I posted this on Facebook, yesterday the 26th. Our beloved Linus, who appeared exactly … Continue reading
Posted in authoritarianism, Human Nature, Politics, Psychology
Comments Off on The Disappearance of Linus
Conservative Motivations and Magical Thinking
Recalling how conservative motivations echo Hutson’s 7 laws of magical thinking; Examples of banning flag burning, removing the rainbow crosswalk in Orland, and French Gallic culture; Hemant Mehta examines why the Jehovah’s Witnesses have relaxed their prohibition against higher education; … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Music, Politics, Psychology
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Everything Old and Simple; Conservatives, the Conceptual Ceiling, and Cognitive Dissonance
Conceptual ceiling and conservatives; Thoughts about how humanity might survive, via deliberate cognitive dissonance: “One mindset to maintain the tribe and ensure near-term survival; another to solve problems that threaten long-term survival.” Which one is right? Both are, in different … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Psychology
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Liberal and Conservative Goals
Why conservatives inculcate young thinkers, and liberals don’t (need to); Christian pastors in Kentucky want to shield children from LGBTQ books; why not shield them from the Bible? Which influence is worse? It depends on your goals, which are driven … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Psychology, Religion
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Further Reports on the Current Crisis
Robert Reich on groveling and inept and unprincipled people; Heather Cox Richardson on our idiot-child president; By wanting to banish mail-in ballots nationwide, Trump attacks states’ rights, a conservative principle for centuries; On the same theme, Thomas B. Edsall looks … Continue reading
Posted in Lunacy, Politics, Psychology
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The Ultimate Cognitive Bias, and Political News
Steve Stewart-Williams about an attempt to identify the one cognitive bias to rule them all: the confirmation bias; Political notes: How Trump claims victory yet again; how even Fox News noticed that not much was accomplished at that summit; And … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Psychology
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Distracted by Politics, Again
Eventually I’ll get to more serious subjects. Though arguably politics is the most serious subject, because politics is about psychology and that involves how humans perceive and believe everything else. But there is a reality beneath politics (or should it … Continue reading
Posted in Music, Politics, Psychology
Comments Off on Distracted by Politics, Again
Nostalgia Bias, and Christian Intolerance and Hypocrisy
Trump’s worldview is stuck in 1989; Thinking the 1990s were better than today is nostalgia bias; D.C. is not the hellscape Trump claims it is (of course); More about that annoying busybody who opposes gay marriage and has nothing better … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Psychology, Religion
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Short-Term Thinking As the Problem, As I’ve Been Saying
Ben Rhodes at NYT on the perils of short-term thinking; A Facebook comment about intellectual loneliness; And how Trump is lying about crime in DC in order to, what? distract from the Epstein crisis? Or show random totalitarian power? – … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Human Nature, Politics, Psychology
Comments Off on Short-Term Thinking As the Problem, As I’ve Been Saying
TV, Juan Crow, Facts and Nonexistent Things, Alfred Schnittke
Trump trusts only TV; Heather Cox Richardson on how Republicans are digging into positions that are contradicted by facts; How the Trump administration’s “Juan Crow” echoes “John Crow”; More nonexistent things that can be banned; Short items about disabling hurricane … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, conservatives, Music, Politics, Psychology
Comments Off on TV, Juan Crow, Facts and Nonexistent Things, Alfred Schnittke
