Category Archives: Science

Links and Comments: Reactions to Art; the Eclipse; Christianity and PKD

Posted on 16 September 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Saved from Facebook… A post by Adam-Troy Castro: Noted in a thread: Somebody (I forget who) told the story of leaving A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE as one of two teenage couples, being absolutely gobsmacked by it, and listening to his … Continue reading →

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Bertrand Russell: Why I Am Not a Christian: Summary and Comments

Posted on 14 September 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

This is a famous essay/lecture by one of the 20th century’s most influential philosophers. I first read the book containing this essay in 1979, when I was 24, and happened to pick it up again today, and thought it worth … Continue reading →

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Link and Comments: The 3% Climate Change Deniers

Posted on 12 September 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

You know how 97% of climate scientists agree that climate change is real, and due to human causes? So what about the 3% that don’t? A new study examined those. Quartz: Those 3% of scientific papers that deny climate change? … Continue reading →

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Link and Comment: Elizabeth Kolbert spells it out

Posted on 11 September 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

The New Yorker, September 11th issue. Elizabeth Kolbert: Hurricane Harvey and the Storms to Come. Subtitle: “In the leadup to the historic flood, Texas Republicans abetted Trump’s climate-change delusions.” Print title: “Coming Storms” Elizabeth Kolbert, author of one of the … Continue reading →

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Link and Comments: SF and Science

Posted on 11 September 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Slate has an interesting essay by Lawrence Krauss that covers basic points about how science fiction doesn’t/can’t truly predict the future, with an interesting point how the internet arose as a tool to coordinate very complex scientific experiments: Indeed, perhaps … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Science and Science Fiction

Posted on 26 July 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Harvard Business Review: Why Business Leaders Need to Read More Science Fiction. Science fiction can help. Maybe you associate it with spaceships and aliens, but science fiction offers more than escapism. By presenting plausible alternative realities, science fiction stories empower … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Tribal Loyalty and Values v. Reality

Posted on 23 June 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

NY Times: The 15 Best-Educated Congressional Districts in the U.S.. All but two of which, including the just contested Georgia district north of Atlanta, are solidly Democratic. Hmm. \\ Also: Trump’s Lies, a comprehensive, up-to-date list. It’s not surprising that … Continue reading →

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Carl Sagan’s “Baloney Detection Kit”

Posted on 16 June 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Carl Sagan, one of the great scientist-communicators to the general public of the past century, author of the 1980 book Cosmos and host of the 1980 TV series of that name, has a list of ideas for how to evaluate … Continue reading →

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Linkdump: Science, society, conspiracy theories, the fear of NRA conventioneers

Posted on 12 June 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Science: The Atlantic: Are We Living in a Giant Cosmic Void?. Maybe. Scientific American: How the Science of “Blue Lies” May Explain Trump’s Support. Subtitle: “They are a very particular form of deception that can build solidarity within groups” Guardian: … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Tyson v. Douthat

Posted on 24 May 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

I started writing up a few notes about the new (small) Neil deGrasse Tyson book, ASTROPHYSICS FOR PEOPLE IN A HURRY, and got sidetracked by a passage that reminded me of a Ross Douthat column from a few weeks ago. … Continue reading →

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