Category Archives: Science

And How Science Fiction Is Both a Symptom and a Solution

Posted on Monday 13 October 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Further thoughts on how science fiction informs current social ills; Republican doublethink about “No Kings” rallies; Columbus Day, and Trump’s veneration of Columbus vs the realities of history; Heather Cox Richardson’s perspective on Columbus, and the origin of Columbus Day. … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Human Nature, Human Progress, Philosophy, Psychology, Science, science fiction | Leave a comment

More on why what’s going on is going on

Posted on Friday 3 October 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Paul Krugman on the decline of American democracy, since Nixon; Francis Fukuyama blames social media and the internet as the prime cause, over eight others, for the global populist wave; Adam Frank on why young men are losing faith in … Continue reading →

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How to Understand How the World Actually Works

Posted on Friday 26 September 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

How pediatricians deal with Trump’s advice; How the shooters aren’t necessarily right-wing or left-wing, but simply internet trolls (and anyway, Trump is lying); While there are right-wingers vowing to take out “progressive leftism”; Headlines about Trump’s corruption, Hegseth’s warrior culture … Continue reading →

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Most Beliefs Aren’t About What’s Real, They’re About Conforming to Tribal Mythology

Posted on Monday 22 September 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Three more core principles today, illustrated by an essay by a “former creationist” and how she found “following the science” clashed with her culture — and how this conflict is born of ancient biology; How universities would like to teach … Continue reading →

Posted in Evolution, Psychology, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Most Beliefs Aren’t About What’s Real, They’re About Conforming to Tribal Mythology

Jerry A. Coyne: FAITH VS. FACT, post 5 and last

Posted on Monday 15 September 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled “Why Science and Religion are Incompatible” (Viking, May 2015, xxii + 311pp, including 46pp of acknowledgements, notes, references,and index) (Earlier: post 1; post 2; post 3; post 4) Comments first this time: The final chapter of this book asks, … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Jerry A. Coyne: FAITH VS. FACT, post 5 and last

Jerry A. Coyne: FAITH VS. FACT, post 4

Posted on Saturday 13 September 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled “Why Science and Religion are Incompatible” (Viking, May 2015, xxii + 311pp, including 46pp of acknowledgements, notes, references,and index) (Earlier: post 1; post 2; post 3) Summary: Chapter 4: Faith Strikes Back Faith sometimes claims that it can deduce … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Jerry A. Coyne: FAITH VS. FACT, post 4

Jerry A. Coyne: FAITH VS. FACT, post 3

Posted on Thursday 11 September 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled “Why Science and Religion are Incompatible” (Viking, May 2015, xxii + 311pp, including 46pp of acknowledgements, notes, references,and index) (Earlier: post 1; post 2) Summary: Chapter 3: Why Accommodationism Fails This chapter explains why you can’t have your religion … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Jerry A. Coyne: FAITH VS. FACT, post 3

Jerry A. Coyne: FAITH VS. FACT, post 2

Posted on Wednesday 10 September 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled “Why Science and Religion are Incompatible” (Viking, May 2015, xxii + 311pp, including 46pp of acknowledgements, notes, references,and index) (Earlier: post 1) Summary: Chapter 2: What’s Incompatible? This chapter considers science, religion, their incompatibility, and their conflicts of method, … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Jerry A. Coyne: FAITH VS. FACT, post 2

Jerry A. Coyne: FAITH VS. FACT, post 1

Posted on Tuesday 9 September 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled “Why Science and Religion are Incompatible” (Viking, May 2015, xxii + 311pp, including 46pp of acknowledgements, notes, references,and index) For this next book, I’m going to split summary and notes up into multiple posts. And include some general comments … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Jerry A. Coyne: FAITH VS. FACT, post 1

Suicide of American Greatness

Posted on Monday 8 September 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Stephen Greenblatt on how a scientific superpower is destroying itself; Scientists demolish Trump’s DOE report; Short items about the search for anti-Christian bias that’s turned up only petty grievances; Jim Wright wonders what Trump or MAGA actually *like* about America; … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Human Nature, Science | Comments Off on Suicide of American Greatness