Enid Blyton via Sarah Bakewell

Posted on Monday 10 April 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

I mentioned Sarah Bakewell in my post of March 29th, for two reviews of her new book on the history and meaning of humanism, Humanly Possible, a very long book on one of my primary interests, but so long that I haven’t decided yet whether to buy it or read it.

In the Sunday New York Times Book Review published on April 2nd — which I didn’t catch up on until several days after returning from the wedding trip to LA that weekend — published its weekly “By the Book” interview column with one about Sarah Bakewell. And it includes this passage. Continue reading →

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The Latest Political Outrages and Shenanigans

Posted on Saturday 8 April 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Today’s topics:

  • Conservative outrage (so easily triggered) against Bud Light;
  • Anti-democratic shenanigans in Tennessee, and the backlash; and how Tennessee places last among all states on democracy, and crushes dissent;
  • About Republican indoctrination;
  • MAGA’s worst week ever;
  • How Medicare expenditures are running below projections, because so many people died of Covid in red states;
  • How the fight against ‘woke’ is conservative gaslighting with a long history of same using other terms;
  • How a secretive Christian religious group, “The Family,” who runs the National Prayer Breakfast, is behind the “kill the gays” legislation in Uganda;
  • And music by Helen Jane Long.

Salon, Ashlie D. Stevens, 7 Apr 2023: “The groomer of beers”: Conservatives vow to boycott Bud Light over partnership with trans activist, subtitled “Clad in a MAGA hat, Kid Rock went so far as to shoot cases of the light beer. He had tears in his eyes”

Continue reading →

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Math, Literature, and Maps

Posted on Friday 7 April 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Today’s topics:

  • A curious new geometric shape;
  • The connections between math and literature;
  • A new perhaps better map projection of the world

NY Times, Siobhan Roberts, 28 Mar 2023: Elusive ‘Einstein’ Solves a Longstanding Math Problem, subtitled “And it all began with a hobbyist ‘messing about and experimenting with shapes.'”

CNN, Jacopo Prisco, 6 Apr 2023: Newly discovered ‘einstein’ shape can do something no other tile can do

Continue reading →

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Theory of Mind, UFOs, and Music

Posted on Thursday 6 April 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Three items today.

  • Do Chatbots have a “theory of mind”? Probably not.
  • Why fascination about UFOs has lingered; my own brief fascination with them when I was 13; and David Brin’s current take on them;
  • How music does not “mean” anything, per Leonard Bernstein in 1958. Also —  earworm warning! — Have a Lark.

NY Times, Oliver Whang, 27 Mar 2023: Can a Machine Know That We Know What It Knows?, subtitled “Some researchers claim that chatbots have developed theory of mind. But is that just our own theory of mind gone wild?”
Continue reading →

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Rules of Law, and Gods, and Politicians

Posted on Wednesday 5 April 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Topics in this post:

  • How MAGAites think their god (Trump) is above the law, with wise insights from John Scalzi;
  • how Republicans want the dumbest parents to control school curricula;
  • the link between white supremacy and anti-abortion politics;
  • how owners of AR-15s see opportunities to battle everywhere, and how this aligns with the decline of traditional hobbies;
  • and Bart Ehrman’s take on two kinds of Christians.

Back from a weekend in LA, as described previous post. What happened while we were gone? Oh, yes, the former president was charged with 34 felonies. Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Psychology, Religion | Comments Off on Rules of Law, and Gods, and Politicians

Trip Report: LA to Attend Michael & Honey’s Wedding

Posted on Tuesday 4 April 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

This past weekend Y and I drove down to Los Angeles to attend his younger son Michael’s wedding. (Thus the absence of daily posts here for five days.) It was our first trip out of town in 3 1/2 years, since December 2019, the last time we drove to LA. (Y has been on a couple business trips over the past couple years, but I haven’t left the Bay Area in that time.)

We left Thursday morning Continue reading →

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Progressions

Posted on Wednesday 29 March 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Topics in this post:

  • The success of wokeness.
  • How the least religious nations are among the healthiest along many measures.
  • Partha Dasgupta on how the GDP should account for the cost of what we use.
  • Julian Baggini on philosophy and how to think better.
  • Sarah Bakewell on the history of humanism.
  • Carl Sagan on humanity’s urge to wander.
  • Adrian Chiles on the secret of happiness.
  • Alan Lightman on the transcendent brain.
  • Nicholas Humphrey on why consciousness evolved.

Despite conservative histrionics and paranoia:

Washington Post, Eugene Robinson, 27 Mar 2023: Opinion | ‘Wokeness’ is winning

Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Reviews, Science, Social Progress | Comments Off on Progressions

Regressions

Posted on Wednesday 29 March 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Topics in this post:

  • Why do “parents’ rights” only seem to involve requests to suppress and ban?
  • The power of a single conservative snowflake.
  • Undermining democracy.
  • An authoritarianism quiz.
  • Phony scandals.
  • Banning non-existent vaccine microchips.
  • Religion as the solution to gun violence.
  • The New Yorker on Christian Nationalism.
  • Vox explains America’s enduring gun problem; plus, how conservatives are winning, graphics of what AR-15 bullets do, and how prayer does nothing.
  • Christians who helped Uganda criminalize homosexuality.
  • The 15-Minute city conspiracy theory.

(And these are just the left-over links after several weeks of addressing such issues at higher levels.)

NY Times, Jamelle Bouie, 28 Mar 2023: What the Republican Push for ‘Parents’ Rights’ Is Really About

Continue reading →

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Max Richter Deconstructs and Recomposes Antonio Vivaldi

Posted on Tuesday 28 March 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

On Sunday evening, March 26th, we went a concert on the UC Berkeley Campus, at Zellerbach Hall, to see the Zurich Chamber Orchestra. The concert included an extraordinary piece by contemporary composer Max Richter, a re-imagining of Vivaldi’s ever-popular The Four Seasons.

Continue reading →

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Five Planets Visible in the Sky

Posted on Monday 27 March 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

I missed seeing that greenish comet that was visible in the sky a few weeks ago. The latest sky event being discussed in the media — at least on TV and on websites — is a fairly rare conjunction of five naked-eye-visible planets (all except Saturn, and including Uranus, which will require binoculars to see) in recent days, with tonight, March 27th, having a prime view.

I happen to have a perfectly clear view of the western horizon from my house, and there are no major clouds today, so I’m hoping to see it.

What strikes me in the coverage of this story is the scientific illiteracy, at worst, or simply journalistic sloppiness, at best, in how this event is described. Continue reading →

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