Category Archives: Science

The Proper Study

Posted on Monday 24 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

The proper study of mankind, if not in the way Alexander Pope meant; Powers of Ten, and the range of human intuition and understanding; If Pluto is a planet, so are dozens of other spherical bodies. A passionate performance of … Continue reading →

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Kevin, Sean, Darline

Posted on Sunday 23 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Noting Kevin Kelly’s substack; David French, Sean Duffy, Harvard, and fear of corruption; World hunger is declining; How is Sharia Law worse than Christian Nationalism? (asking for a friend); Ignoramous Darline Graham pivots to a safe conservative target: trans kids. … Continue reading →

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Faith Excuses Everything; Process Models Accomplish Things

Posted on Monday 10 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

By way of Jerry Coyne and Jason Arday, comments from Richard Dawkins about physics, natural selection, and human intuition; To JD Vance, a tumbling glass is evidence of God; Conservatives hate social responsibility, e.g. they would repeal helmet laws; A … Continue reading →

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Understanding vs. Blaming, Bad-Faith Arguments, Religion as Rank Tribalism, and Short-term vs Long-Term Thinking

Posted on Saturday 8 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Conservatives attacking Fauci aren’t interested in learning; Paul Krugman on how a bad-faith government is also an incompetent government; MAGA prophet is sure God is going to start killing people he doesn’t like; Democratic policy goals are hard sells against … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, Politics, Science | Comments Off on Understanding vs. Blaming, Bad-Faith Arguments, Religion as Rank Tribalism, and Short-term vs Long-Term Thinking

Little House on the Prairie, and Presumptions

Posted on Thursday 6 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

About the new Little House on the Prairie; Short items: GOP melts down over Abdul El-Sayed; Trump is learning to be embarrassed; MSM covers heat events without mentioning climate change; Heritage Foundation thinks Fauci proves we should ignore experts; an … Continue reading →

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Tearing Down, and Tricksters

Posted on Wednesday 5 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

How Big Business is abandoning climate commitments; Attacks on the Endangered Species Act, and critical thinking; Trump thinks blue states are a threat to the nation; and about his irrationality; How to deal with uncertainty (and the conservatives who refuse … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Human Nature, Philosophy, Science | Comments Off on Tearing Down, and Tricksters

We’re Not Asking the Right Questions, Perhaps

Posted on Monday 20 July 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

How the deep questions in life may not be the right questions, and a long essay by Jim Palmer about the crucial function religion served in human evolution; Trump’s latest corruption: insider trading; World Cup: Trump makes it about himself … Continue reading →

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Conservative Priorities

Posted on Wednesday 15 July 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Conservative principles: none. Priorities: power, and money; More about Lindsey Graham and those who are most against gay rights; The recurring nonsense about “Daylight Saving Time”; Brief items about how facts are stubborn things, and Hegseth’s ongoing campaign to enforce … Continue reading →

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Motivated Reasoning and Human Gullibility. UFOs!

Posted on Monday 13 July 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

UFO fans aren’t impressed by the latest government doc’s; More about supposed geo-engineering. – – – This is funny. And sad. NY Times, 11 Jul 2026 (though in today’s print paper): Non-Disclosure: In Roswell, New U.F.O. Docs Are a Declassified … Continue reading →

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Human Limitations and Potential

Posted on Friday 10 July 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Rethinking categories and provisional conclusions; XKCD on holes; A new Atlantic column on The Wonder of Everyday Life; A Star Talk video about the limits of human intelligence. – – – Rethinking again the categories of posts I do here, … Continue reading →

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