Category Archives: Science

Institutions, Tribes, and Faith

Posted on Monday 9 December 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Paul Krugman’s last NYT column, in part about what has changed in the past 25 years, including the collapse of trust in the elites; Helen Lewis echoes Fareed Zakaria yesterday: the mainstream media is part of the “elite” system that … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, Epistemology, Religion, Science, Social Progress | Leave a comment

A Couple Interesting Things About Reality

Posted on Tuesday 26 November 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

After which, items about toxic masculinity and Trump, Elon Musk stifling news, and others. Let’s begin by noting a couple interesting things about reality, one from a hundred years ago, one new. AlterNet, via The Conversation, 22 Nov 2024: It’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Mathematics, Science | Comments Off on A Couple Interesting Things About Reality

False Realities

Posted on Monday 25 November 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts, as we’ve long heard; Historian Heather Cox Richardson dismantles claims of Trump’s “mandate”; Short items about MTG and NPR; Fox News personalities becoming America’s scientists and doctors; … Continue reading →

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Dispatches from the Real World

Posted on Thursday 21 November 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

My latest take on the true vs the real; A piece about RFK Jr identifies the three big reasons you’re alive today: clean water, antibiotics, and vaccines; How we know RFK Jr is wrong about vaccines; How red states lead … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Politics, Science | Comments Off on Dispatches from the Real World

Here’s a New One: Terrain Theory

Posted on Sunday 17 November 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Busy day today so just one item. We’ve had the flat-earthers, the chem-trailers, the vaccine deniers, and now there are those who deny the germ theory of disease. Boing Boing, Jennifer Sandlin, 10 Nov 2024: Germ theory denial is dangerous … Continue reading →

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A Little Knowledge… Is a Dangerous Thing

Posted on Saturday 16 November 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Imagine that you work for a company that does any kind of specialty work, anything at all — urban planning, furniture making, aerospace design — and for some reason the company’s owner dies and his aunt inherits the entire company … Continue reading →

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Notes About the Real World

Posted on Wednesday 23 October 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Let’s look at some non-political items today. Three critical thinking tools used by Daniel Dennett; Eight principles of lifelong learning from an astrophysicist; Adam Lee on our solarpunk future — technology that exists now, but isn’t widely distributed; Scientific American … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Nature, Human Progress, Science | Comments Off on Notes About the Real World

Chemophobia

Posted on Monday 30 September 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

How Rachel Carson’s groundbreaking Silent Spring led to fixing the environment, but also led to an irrational fear of “chemicals” and then the anti-vax movement; Short items about Vance and Wallnau, Trump’s threats of a violent purge of society, how … Continue reading →

Posted in Lunacy, Politics, Psychology, Science | Comments Off on Chemophobia

Changing Minds

Posted on Sunday 29 September 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Today’s theme: a couple items that illustrate when and how people have changed their minds. Erwin Chemerinsky, and Malcolm Gladwell. First, another piece about the new book by Erwin Chemerinsky (last discussed on 31 Aug), this time a review by … Continue reading →

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Today’s New Insight

Posted on Sunday 22 September 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

What ‘woke’ means, to different people; How the ancients overcame biases in understanding the world, in order to discover and navigate the world; How moderns have tried to overcome cognitive biases through constitutions and “political correctness” and being “woke,” and … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Science, Social Progress | Comments Off on Today’s New Insight