Category Archives: Science

Cosmic and Psychological Lessons

Posted on 8 March 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Phil Plait on the scale of the cosmos; Beware of pluralistic ignorance; How math education can be better taught with examples about money. – – –   Today’s cosmic lesson. Scientific American, Phil Plait, 8 Mar 2024: The Scale of … Continue reading →

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The Anthropocene, or Not

Posted on 7 March 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Experts have declined to acknowledge “Anthropocene” as an official name for our current geological time; And how to some extent the decision was political, if not in the obvious sense; And wondering why Republicans continue to nominate candidates like Mark … Continue reading →

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Two Thought-Provoking Pieces, and Notes about the Fringe

Posted on 6 March 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Adam Frank on science and the need to account for human experience; How “entropy bagels” and other complex structures emerge from simple rules; Headlines about the fringe: that North Carolina GOP nominee; how Trump is degenerating; his empty pseudo-religion; his … Continue reading →

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Conservative Fantasies: Boogeymen and Groomers

Posted on 5 March 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Robert Reich on the resurgence of anti-science fundamentalism, recalling again that Scopes trial; A 60 Minutes interview with the founders of Moms for Liberty, which apparently did not go well; How Trump and his follows believe in dystopian fantasies; Short … Continue reading →

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Steven Pinker, HOW THE MIND WORKS, post 1

Posted on 23 February 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

I mentioned this book a few days ago and quoted from it. Now I’ve finished it and will summarize and highlight. As I said earlier, I’ve had this book since it was published in 1997 (I have a first edition, … Continue reading →

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Looking Up Instead of Down

Posted on 19 February 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Two pieces today about how humanity is progressing, in its understanding of the world and in its social progress, rather than regressing, as conservative movements around the world are striving to do. Richard Dawkins on science as a jewel in … Continue reading →

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Items about Science, Math, and Philosophy

Posted on 8 February 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

There are always looking glass items, as I described topics in yesterday’s post, but for today let’s look at more substantial items. It’s been 100 years since Hubble discovered that our own galaxy wasn’t the entirety of the universe; Steven … Continue reading →

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Three brief (non-political) items today.

Posted on 3 February 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

On entertaining new ideas; Reality and quantum mechanics; Nature as the great recycler. Here’s the first post in a new column that sounds interesting. Washington Post, Daniel Pink, 29 Jan 2024: Opinion | American imagination needs an adrenaline shot. Here’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Cosmology, Science, Thinking | Comments Off on Three brief (non-political) items today.

Edward Craig: PHILOSOPHY: A VERY SHORT INTRODUCTION

Posted on 25 January 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Proceeding with my foray into philosophy a bit discursively — not yet one of the big histories — I begin with the ‘very short introduction’ I displayed in my initial philosophy post back on 12 January. This is a volume … Continue reading →

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Adam Frank, THE LITTLE BOOK OF ALIENS

Posted on 24 January 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s what looked like a fun, occasional book: a popular summary of a popular topic that’s well-known among followers of science and of science fiction. I bought it to glance through, not necessarily read through. But then I heard the … Continue reading →

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