Category Archives: Science

Links and Comments: Reality as a Common Ground

Posted on 19 February 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

“Common ground,” false balance, reality and science, coronavirus evolution, Heinlein on facts, Tucker C still spreading alarmist lies.

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Links and Comments: Astronomical Photos from APOD

Posted on 17 February 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

After seeing links to the site Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) occasionally on my Facebook friends’ posts over the past few months, I added it to my morning regimen of sites to check every day. Here’s today’s. Click for … Continue reading →

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Nonfiction Notes: Alex Rosenberg’s THE ATHEIST’S GUIDE TO REALITY

Posted on 12 February 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Alex Rosenberg, The Atheist’s Guide to Reality: Enjoying Life Without Delusions (2001, Norton) Here’s another book I’ve had since it was published but only got around to reading this past year. This is a book about taking reality at face … Continue reading →

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Nonfiction Notes: Michael Shermer: WHY PEOPLE BELIEVE WEIRD THINGS

Posted on 6 February 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Michael Shermer: Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time. (W.H. Freeman, 1997) Here’s one of the earliest books that address human irrationality in terms of both the evidence against various pseudoscientific beliefs, and the … Continue reading →

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Nonfiction Notes: Neil F. Comins, HEAVENLY ERRORS: Misconceptions about the real nature of the universe (2001)

Posted on 4 February 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

This is a book I’ve had for nearly 20 years, since its publication in 2001, and finally I sat down last year, 2020, and read it. I had thought it would be a book about common misconceptions of the universe … Continue reading →

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Notes and Quotes: Frank Wilczek’s FUNDAMENTALS: TEN KEYS TO REALITY

Posted on 30 January 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Frank Wilczek is a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, whose earlier book A BEAUTIFUL QUESTION: Finding Nature’s Deep Design (2015) I have but have not yet read. (It looks fascinating – the kind big picture book, that tries to understand history or … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Liars, Fear, Motivated Reasoning, Science Denial, Conservatives

Posted on 26 January 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Slate’s William Saletan on Republicans vs. liars; NPR on vaccine resistance; Salon on reactions of QAnon to Biden’s inaurguration; a long NYT piece about what goes on inside QAnon chatrooms; how science denial is a form of conspiracy theory; why … Continue reading →

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Link and Comments: Dawkins, via Coyne, on Science and Truth

Posted on 19 December 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

Today Jerry Coyne’s site (even though it’s a blog, with chronological posts every day, sometimes several a day, he’s obstinate about not calling it a blog, but a site) links an article by Richard Dawkins at the UK magazine The … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Trying to Be Smarter; Faith vs Fact

Posted on 16 December 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

NYT: How Do We Get to Herd Immunity for Fake News?, subtitled, “We need to match our focus on the supply of misinformation with a focus on the demand for it.” Yet the chorus of angst over misinformation has focused … Continue reading →

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Links, Comments, and Memoirs: Republicans from Reagan Forward

Posted on 15 December 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

Paul Krugman’s NYT column today is When Did Republicans Start Hating Facts?, subtitled “A straight line runs from Reagan to the Trump dead-enders.” I’ll quote from this and comment, and then discuss my own attendance at a Reagan rally way … Continue reading →

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