Category Archives: Psychology

The Range of Human Perception

Posted on Tuesday 29 April 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Alternet, Chris Mooney: Why Right-Wingers Think the Way They Do: The Fascinating Psychological Origins of Political Ideology These experiments suggest that conservatives actually do live in a world that is more scary and threatening, at least as they perceive it. … Continue reading →

Posted in Cosmology, Culture, Psychology, Science | Comments Off on The Range of Human Perception

Kalam Cosmological Argument

Posted on Tuesday 22 April 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

The Kalam Cosmological Argument is one of the traditional, philosophical, arguments for the existence of God. The idea is that everything must have a beginning; therefore the universe must have a beginning, therefore God. (Which those who use this argument … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Cosmology, Psychology, Science, Thinking | Comments Off on Kalam Cosmological Argument

Steven Pinker: Work Habits

Posted on Wednesday 12 March 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

When I remember a passage from something I read a day or two before, I think it’s worth capturing. From that Steven Pinker interview last week (originally at Mosaic), two paragraphs about work habits, and his book The Better Angels … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Psychology, Thinking | Comments Off on Steven Pinker: Work Habits

Panic and Alarm (and Why This Is About Science Fiction)

Posted on Thursday 27 February 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Salon: I lost my dad to Fox News: How a generation was captured by thrashing hysteria Sad case study of a man whose father disappeared into the paranoid, outraged worldview of Fox News. Like certain kinds of religious extremists, Fox … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Philosophy, Psychology, Religion, Science, science fiction | Comments Off on Panic and Alarm (and Why This Is About Science Fiction)

Mooney on our not-to-scientific minds

Posted on Saturday 8 February 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s an article by Chris Mooney that captures the essence of my own interest in matters of evolution and cosmology and their religious detractors. (These matters aren’t ‘debates’ or ‘controversies’ except in the minds of those blinkered by religious indoctrination. … Continue reading →

Posted in Evolution, Psychology, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Mooney on our not-to-scientific minds

Comments about the Ken Ham/Bill Nye Debate

Posted on Wednesday 5 February 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

A selection of comments about the Ken Ham/Bill Nye debate (which I didn’t watch). I think this is a demonstration about how some people think, and others don’t — they ‘believe’. (This divide between thinking and being is in a … Continue reading →

Posted in Evolution, Lunacy, Philosophy, Psychology, Religion, Thinking | Comments Off on Comments about the Ken Ham/Bill Nye Debate

Link Dump: Sites and Resources

Posted on Saturday 25 January 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

I’m going through a whole bunch of links that I’ve bookmarked over the past couple years — some of which I should link as ‘resources’ in my right sidebar, perhaps — but for now will note in this post. Sites: … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Culture, Evolution, Lunacy, Psychology, Religion, Science, The Gays | Comments Off on Link Dump: Sites and Resources

Two Interesting Articles

Posted on Friday 27 December 2013 by Mark R. Kelly

Adam Lee looks at the current political climate and what may be coming next. The Rising of the Sun The cause of these convulsions is privileged distress on a massive scale, as white Christian conservatives realize they’re losing their power … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Philosophy, Psychology, Quote at Length, Religion, Uncategorized | Comments Off on Two Interesting Articles

Getting Along without Knowing

Posted on Sunday 8 December 2013 by Mark R. Kelly

Interesting interview with Patricia Churchland, UCSD ‘neurophilosopher’ in Slate today, originally from New Scientist, about the dismay some people feel at the notion that, to quote the interview’s intro, “our hopes, loves and very existence are just elaborate functions of … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Psychology, Science, Thinking | Comments Off on Getting Along without Knowing

Applying the Lessons

Posted on Friday 6 December 2013 by Mark R. Kelly

Skeptic Blog has a post on the topic that has fascinated me in recent months, the psychological biases of the human mind that guide our behavior but hide our understanding of what is real. http://www.skepticblog.org/2013/12/02/champagne-tasting/ The blogger writes: One of … Continue reading →

Posted in Psychology | Comments Off on Applying the Lessons