Category Archives: Psychology

About Yesterday’s Protests

Posted on Sunday 6 April 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Against Trump and Musk; Anti-DEI is whitewashing the history of the Underground Railroad; Jill Lepore on Elon Musk and his retro ideas; A Vox piece about astrology that panders to believers; And about Brandolini’s Law, in which debunking misinformation takes … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Psychology | Comments Off on About Yesterday’s Protests

How Long Can Humans Live in Fantasy Worlds Before Reality Kicks In and Fights Back?

Posted on Saturday 5 April 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Mike Lofgren on the nonsensical cult that now rules America; Peter Wehner on how Trump is gaslighting us; Rachel Maddow points out how Peter Navarro’s go-to expert is fake; And about critical thinking; Two short items about how insurers are … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Lunacy, Psychology | Comments Off on How Long Can Humans Live in Fantasy Worlds Before Reality Kicks In and Fights Back?

I read the news today, oh boy.

Posted on Sunday 30 March 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

How mold is taken as a miracle, another example in an endless series throughout history; Short items about Trump, tariffs, and auto prices; lying about American history; how “make America healthy again” means the opposite; how a vaccine expert has … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Nature, Psychology, Religion | Comments Off on I read the news today, oh boy.

Adolescence of Boys, and of the Species

Posted on Saturday 29 March 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

For once we happened to watch a much-discussed current show only a week after it debuted (instead of months later or years later). This is the Netflix show Adolescence (Wikipedia link). It’s four hour-long episodes, about a 13-year-old boy in … Continue reading →

Posted in Evolution, Human Nature, Psychology | Comments Off on Adolescence of Boys, and of the Species

“The Wholesale Destruction of the United States Government”

Posted on Friday 21 March 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Heather Cox Richardson on the dismantling of the US government, on libraries and museums, and on the rule of law; WaPo’s Dana Milbank on Musk’s ignorance of the government he’s dismembering, on what judges do, and on the administration’s bows … Continue reading →

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More Ticks Off the Dictator Playbook List

Posted on Monday 17 March 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

There will be no calm still point. Trump defying the Court; a Constitutional crisis, perhaps; The next phase of Trump’s dictatorship era; Following the dictator playbook; Concern about discrimination against whites, and how MAGA is about white supremacy; How narratives … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Narrative, Politics, Psychology | Comments Off on More Ticks Off the Dictator Playbook List

Dispatches from Reality

Posted on Saturday 15 March 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Taking a day off from political posts, for posts about reality. Or at least, the exploration of reality. Mathematicians solve a 125-year-old problem, perhaps; OnlySky’s Dale McGowan about the evolutionary mismatch between the world we evolved in, and the modern … Continue reading →

Posted in Evolution, Mathematics, Music, Psychology, Science | Comments Off on Dispatches from Reality

Simplicity and Idiocy

Posted on Friday 7 March 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

American idiocy; War images flagged for removal in Pentagon DEI purge; Why are conservatives obsessed with the debunked link between vaccines and autism? Trump and Musk are ungoverning; I admit that I follow a Facebook group called America’s Cultural Decline … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Psychology | Comments Off on Simplicity and Idiocy

Tom Nichols, OUR OWN WORST ENEMY

Posted on Friday 7 March 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled “The Assault From Within on Modern Democracy” (Oxford, August 2021, xvii + 245pp, including 25pp notes and index) Here’s the last of several books about current issues that I read in December and January. I read this one because … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Culture, Psychology | Comments Off on Tom Nichols, OUR OWN WORST ENEMY

Annalee Newitz, STORIES ARE WEAPONS

Posted on Thursday 6 March 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: “Psychological Warfare and the American Mind” (Norton, June 2024, xxv + 246pp, including 42pp of acknowledgements, notes, and notes.) Here’s a book that offers a different spin on the ideas of misinformation, fake news, and narratives, than earlier books … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Culture, Human Nature, Psychology | Comments Off on Annalee Newitz, STORIES ARE WEAPONS