Sagan & Druyan: Propensities and Predispositions

Posted on Friday 4 August 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

A couple hours ago I finished that Carl Sagan/Ann Druyan book I mentioned a couple days ago, SHADOWS OF FORGOTTEN ANCESTORS, and it’s remarkable how its conclusions resemble my own recent observations about how certain forms of human morality align to conservative politics, and Trump worship.

Here are passages from the last three pages. Keep in mind the book is about the history of life on Earth and how the study of all life, but in particular the lives of other primates, illuminates our understanding of ourselves. Also keep in mind that the book was published in 1992. Yet from the middle of the third paragraph below, it could be about today.

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More on the Latest Indictment

Posted on Thursday 3 August 2023 by Mark R. Kelly
  • Goofy Republican responses to the latest indictment, about Federal employees, and to the teaching of psychology;
  • The spectacle goes on and on, as the US experiences what some are saying is the most important legal indictment in its history:
  • John Scalzi’s take, in particular about con men;
  • A meaty piece at Politico about how people who support authoritarian con men, like Trump and Putin and Orbán, are also susceptible to conspiracy theories.
  • And some thoughts about disruptive events and the sunken-cost fallacy.

These first three are from a site that obviously tracks such items.

Joe.My.God, 3 Aug 2023: Jordan: “Hillbillies Are So Sick Of Attacks On Trump”

The relevance of this item to my discussions in recent days about conservative morality is left as an exercise for the reader.

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Conservative Morality

Posted on Wednesday 2 August 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Items today respond to the latest indictment of a certain former president, how his supporters respond, and me trying to wrap my mind around what his supporters think morality and law and order actually is. But I have an idea about that, based on my recent reading about… chimps.

  • With citations of Tom Nichols, Carl Sagan & Ann Druyan, Jonah Goldberg

Tom Nichols, The Atlantic, 1 Aug 2023: This Is the Case, subtitled “Special Counsel Jack Smith has sounded the call, but voters must answer it if they wish to preserve American democracy.”

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Vetting Online News Sources

Posted on Tuesday 1 August 2023 by Mark R. Kelly
  • About “critical ignoring”, vetting sources of news before you read them;
  • The distractions of the internet;
  • Today’s back-of-the-envelope timeline, from Savannah/tribal morality to Enlightenment values and now back to Savannah/tribal morality.

Here’s a piece, which I probably stumbled upon via Facebook, with a provocative premise, that sounds like it might be aligned with the theme (and title) of the Rolf Dobelli book I read early last year, called STOP READING THE NEWS (review here). As I sometimes do, I haven’t actually read the article yet, but am sitting down to do so while writing this blog post.

The Conversation, Ralph Hertwig et al, 2 Feb 2023: When critical thinking isn’t enough: to beat information overload, we need to learn ‘critical ignoring’

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The Small Town Song and Human Morality, and other topics

Posted on Monday 31 July 2023 by Mark R. Kelly
  • More thoughts about that Small Town song, in that it reflects one stage (stage 3 of 6, actually) in a hierarchy of human morality;
  • Facebook posts about religious claims, and Brian Cox’s take on the UFO hearings;
  • And Republican plans to dismantle all climate change mitigations, leading me to wonder if they are alien agents bent on bringing about the end of the human race.
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This is my own thought, not something I’ve read — well, indirectly it’s about things I’ve read, but not concerning this song.

There’s a core of truth in the song’s justification of small town justice. Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Lunacy, Morality, Religion | Comments Off on The Small Town Song and Human Morality, and other topics

Doomscrolling Climate Change; and Small Towns

Posted on Sunday 30 July 2023 by Mark R. Kelly
  • The latest about climate change, and wondering when will the conservative deniers admit there is a problem;
  • More about that vigilante justice country song, and Bruce Springsteen.

Perhaps I should cut back on the doomscrolling. I don’t actually scroll looking for doom (and I’m not scrolling a Facebook or any other social media feed, but rather checking a dozen or so favorite news and opinion websites every day), but these are the kind of pieces that catch my eye. I look at articles like these to try to figure out, is humanity doomed by its psychology, fixed over hundreds of thousands of years in a relatively unchanging world? What will it take for the deniers — in the US, the conservatives, the Republicans — to acknowledge that there is a problem, a truly existential threat, and something dramatic needs to be done? (Like giving up fossil fuels ASAP?)

CNN, Ella Nilsen, 30 Jul 2023: Why Republicans can’t get out of their climate bind, even as extreme heat overwhelms the US

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My Uninterest in UFOs

Posted on Saturday 29 July 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

No, I don’t mean disinterest.

I’ve mentioned before that people who are unfamiliar with science fiction, or with science fiction writers and fans, tend to assume that SF folks are credulous along the lines of “believing” in UFOs, where “believing” means having reached the conclusion, or simply assuming, that they must be spacecraft run by extraterrestrial aliens. (Not to the mention assumptions of “belief” of claims about psychics, ancient astronauts, etc. etc.)

Nothing could be further from the truth. (Nonsense, all of it.) SF folks are in general far less credulous and gullible than the general population. In part because they (we) know more about science and reality, and know the difference between evidence-for-belief and wishing-to-believe.

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Varieties of Psychological Illusions

Posted on Friday 28 July 2023 by Mark R. Kelly
  • Wokeness Wars and three Great Untruths;
  • More on that study that explains why people think the past was better, despite evidence.

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Jerry Coyne’s website today has this post: Andrew Doyle: The culture war is not fake, but real and dangerous concerning the wokeness wars and a column by one Andrew Doyle, a political satirist.

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Sinéad O’Connor, and That Small Town Song

Posted on Thursday 27 July 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Recalling Sinéad O’Connor.

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Horror and Exasperation

Posted on Wednesday 26 July 2023 by Mark R. Kelly
  • How young people are progressive, a problem for the GOP;
  • Thomas Edsall on Republican and Democratic attitudes about masculinity;
  • Climate experts express “horror and exasperation as global predictions play out”.

Sometimes you have to wonder what conservatives are conserving.

On John Scalzi’s bog post yesterday, Various and Sundry, 7/25/23, he discusses several items he would have posted on “the Site Formerly Known as Twitter,” including his gradual withdrawal from the former Twitter. Another items is this, which I’ll quote in full:

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