Daily Details and Existential Threats

Posted on Sunday 4 December 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Perhaps I should start with daily details? Chilly today but sunny, in between storms. Despite yesterday’s post, I decided to walk around the house for 30 or 40 minutes last night (while the TV showed Jeopardy or whatever) in order to hit my 5000 step mark, and keep up my 25 some day record. Moreover, we went out for a walk today, up and down the Montclair Railroad Trail (which I blogged about back in February), two full miles, which gained me another 5000 steps all by itself. So as of right now, I have 6456 steps for the day.

(Below this break, discussion of an article about how Western philosophy has ruined the world.)

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Rainy Saturday; Current Affairs

Posted on Saturday 3 December 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

It’s early December, a Saturday, and it’s been raining all day here in the Bay Area, another cold rain like the storm two days ago. We need the rain; we’re still behind average rainfall for the season. Still, the rain lasting throughout the entire day is unusual here. In California rainstorms last a few hours, typically, and recently in the Bay Area they’ve begun early morning and cleared by early afternoon. Not today.

This has disrupted my walking schedule, which I’ve been doing much better at in the past couple months than before. With a goal of 5000 steps a day set on my iPhone, I’ve achieved my goal for over three weeks currently, even though a couple times they were done by walking around the house, back and forth and around and around, while watching Jeopardy or the news. Today? Well…

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Big Sky, Deep Sky

Posted on Friday 2 December 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s an Astronomy Picture of the Day, for 2022 November 29, that shows how big some nebulae and galaxies are on the scale of the night sky, in a way that we never realize. The highlight here is “The Gum Nebula Supernova Remnant.” Continue reading →

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A Chilly December Evening

Posted on Thursday 1 December 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Topics for today: A French take on Americans; How a Narcissist Knows Nothing.

No photo from either of the two linked items here seemed appropriate, so here is tonight’s sunset. In the aftermath of a rainstorm that lasted from before dawn to about 2pm today, this sunset. It’s chilly today, the high just 47F, and a predicted low by morning of 35F.

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Ancient Apocalypse, Odds and Ends

Posted on Wednesday 30 November 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

The “Ancient Apocalypse” nonsense; Movie trailers; Political headlines.
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Change and Survival: A Refined Conception of Science Fiction

Posted on Tuesday 29 November 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

A couple items today have perhaps led me to a new formulation of the idea of “science fiction.” Continue reading →

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Extreme vs. Necessary Solutions

Posted on Monday 28 November 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

To the imminent destruction of the planet. Allow the human race to go extinct? Cut back on capitalist consumption? (Which would be worse?)

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Maps of the Universe

Posted on Sunday 27 November 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

More things in heaven and earth. As a palette cleanser from my 26th, 23rd, and 16th November posts (and many previous), here’s a status check on the latest of what human beings have discovered, through systematic investigation (i.e. science), of the actual extent of our universe.

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Stories People Tell

Posted on Saturday 26 November 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Why pecan pie is quintessentially American; how Thanksgiving is supposedly about free enterprise vs. communism; why people don’t believe crime rates are down in big cities; how the TV show Yellowstone appeals to the conservative narrative about big government; why good guys don’t need guns to bring down the bad guys.

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Bertrand Russell on the Philosophical Outlook

Posted on Thursday 24 November 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

If you wish to become a philosopher, you must try, as far as you can, to get rid of beliefs which depend solely upon the place and time of your education, and upon what your parents and school- masters told you. Continue reading →

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