Category Archives: Science

Anthropology as another perspective on the world

Posted on Saturday 2 May 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Well, to the degree that any course of study expands your understanding of the world and the universe, and gets you out of your limited experience, and keep you from ossifying into the presumption that what you know is the … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Psychology, Science | Leave a comment

Change For the Better, vs. Sunk Cost

Posted on Friday 24 April 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

John McWhorter: Don’t pronounce the T in ‘often’; How an American living abroad realizes the problems with America; Why we’re stuck with a religious calendar. – – – My favorite pet peeve. NY Times, John McWhorter, yesterday: What’s Better Left … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Change For the Better, vs. Sunk Cost

Magicians and Evangelicals and Traditionalists

Posted on Friday 17 April 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Penn & Teller advise the Supreme Court about junk science, and the significance of how magicians are less easily fooled than lawyers, politicians, and even scientists; How most Americans think Trump isn’t religious, how MAGA doesn’t care, and the idea … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Nature, Religion, Science, Supernatural | Comments Off on Magicians and Evangelicals and Traditionalists

Those Who Do, Those Who Can’t

Posted on Friday 10 April 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

How some of us reach for the stars, while others are mired in oppressive religious fantasies; How both sides think God is on their side, and wondering what religions are trying to accomplish; Rebecca Boyle on what we’re seeing new … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, Human Progress, Religion, Science, Space | Comments Off on Those Who Do, Those Who Can’t

Can I? Must I?

Posted on Wednesday 25 March 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

RFK Jr. illustrates the hypocritical standards of conservative motivated thinking: “Can I believe it?” (one example is fine) vs. “Must I believe it?” (no amount of evidence will do); David Brin ridicules NASA’s new plan to build a Lunar base; … Continue reading →

Posted in Music, Psychology, Science, science fiction | Comments Off on Can I? Must I?

Bobby Azarian: THE ROMANCE OF REALITY

Posted on Tuesday 24 March 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: How the universe organizes itself to create life, consciousness, and cosmic complexity. (BenBella Books, June 2022, 306pp, including 26pp of acknowledgements, notes, and index) This is the third of three books I read this past January, all with vaguely … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Cosmology, Epistemology, Science | Comments Off on Bobby Azarian: THE ROMANCE OF REALITY

Misconceptions about Science and Predictions

Posted on Friday 20 March 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

How Jeffrey Epstein, obsessed with eugenics, was wrong; How Paul Ehrlich was not a villain, even though his predictions failed; John Pavlovitz wonders why anyone still supports Trump; I have another idea; Tom Nichols on no Plan B; the disappearing … Continue reading →

Posted in Evolution, Lunacy, Music, Politics, Science | Comments Off on Misconceptions about Science and Predictions

Whiteson & Warner, DO ALIENS SPEAK PHYSICS?

Posted on Thursday 12 March 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitle: “And other questions about science and the nature of reality” (Norton, 2025, 254pp, including 12pp of bibliography and index) Here’s a book that’s remarkable in an unusual way: I didn’t hear about it from anywhere, not in a review, … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Mathematics, Science | Comments Off on Whiteson & Warner, DO ALIENS SPEAK PHYSICS?

Leaving the US, Shalom, Worrying the Mind-Body Problem, the Latest Drake Equation analysis

Posted on Sunday 8 March 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

About Trump’s misguided “Christian” war, as more and more people are literally leaving the US; Peter Wehner on a word for our trouble times: shalom; Alan Lightman wonders, rhetorically, if our minds transcend the corporeal form (an issue long-since settled); … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Morality, Science | Comments Off on Leaving the US, Shalom, Worrying the Mind-Body Problem, the Latest Drake Equation analysis

Morality, War, Science, Persecution

Posted on Saturday 7 March 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Robert Reich on the moral basis of civilization, and how Trump is destroying it; And Reich on how Trump is paying for the war, and giving the rich a huge tax cut; More about the undermining of America’s scientific expertise; … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, Morality, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Morality, War, Science, Persecution