Category Archives: Philosophy

Quote of the Day: Recovering from Madness

Posted on 12 November 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Charles Mackay was a Scottish poet who lived from 1818 to 1889. He was the author of the book Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, in 1841.

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Bertrand Russell on World History

Posted on 28 October 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Palette cleanser.

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Jim Al-Khalili, The Joy of Science

Posted on 12 October 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s a short little book that is basic but substantive. Familiar yet essential. Frankly, if I had seen it in a bookstore, I would have glanced through it and likely set it back down. Seeing it online made it difficult … Continue reading →

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Recent Features and Headlines, 14 Sept 2022

Posted on 14 September 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Ockham’s Razor; Randall Munroe; The best time to be alive; nephew of longtermism; political headlines.

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Son of Longtermism

Posted on 22 August 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Some 14 days ago, in this post, I linked and quoted from a NYT guest essay by William MacAskill about valuing the future as much as we value the present. Which struck me as a reasonable position to take, a … Continue reading →

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Recent Doonesbury and Utopian Ideologies

Posted on 31 July 2022 by Mark R. Kelly
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LQCs: News, Propaganda, Ideologies, and a Modern Wise Man

Posted on 25 April 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

First, two items that follow-up the last item in yesterday’s post. Following, a modern wise one about ideologies.

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LQCs: The Self-Righteousness of “Authentic” Americans

Posted on 22 March 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

And: Republican victim-hood and their desire to discriminate against people they don’t like. And why the Supreme courts keeps discovering “new” rights.

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Ls&Cs: Human Are Animals; The Yuck Factor

Posted on 15 November 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

I’ve kept up with posting current links to articles and essays in recent weeks (since I’ve been posting once a day, for two months now) so well that this evening I am mining links I captured back in March and … Continue reading →

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Sam Harris, LYING (2013)

Posted on 5 November 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Summary and comments about this 2011 essay and 2013 book. With an aside about my belief in Santa Claus.

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