Category Archives: Psychology

Links and Comments: Science, Religion, and Biases

Posted on 20 April 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Neil deGrasse Tyson, creationists, religion and the intelligentsia, risk assessment. And tarantulas.

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Passages: How the World Works

Posted on 12 April 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

My favorite news magazine, The Week, is celebrating 20 years of publication with its current April 16th issue, which has retrospectives of cover images, editorial essays, and so on. Here’s one of the latter, by editor-in-chief William Falk.

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Links and Comments: About Gun Violence

Posted on 29 March 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

I’m narrowing in on a Provisional Conclusion that most people live their daily lives without any perspective or context about what happens in the outer world. (And, for many issues, that’s just fine. But not for all issues.) Thus, Americans … Continue reading →

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Nonfiction Notes: Adam Grant’s THINK AGAIN

Posted on 26 March 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Adam Grant, THINK AGAIN: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know (2021) This is a recent book, still on the bestseller lists, by an author I had not previously encountered. He’s a professor and TED talker. The book seems … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Confessed Liars, Their Targets, Right-Wing Political Spin

Posted on 25 March 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Confessed liars Sidney Powell (and Tucker Carlson); gullibility for conspiracy theories; Right-wing misinformation campaigns.

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Link and Comments: Covid skeptics and critical thinking

Posted on 15 March 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Slate, 11 March, Rebecca Onion: COVID Skeptics Don’t Just Need More Critical Thinking, subtitled, Without a shared approach to scientific expertise, “trusting the data” won’t lead us to the same conclusions. This entails the question, What is science? Not everyone … Continue reading →

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Link and Comments: How to Change the Minds of People Who Are Wrong

Posted on 5 March 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

NYT, 3 March, Nicholas Kistoff: How to Reach People Who Are Wrong, subtitled, In the post-Trump era, research suggests the best ways to win people over. A fine essay, that keys off Adam Grant’s new book THINK AGAIN, which I … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: 2 March 2021

Posted on 2 March 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Too many choices; Republican deregulation; Free-market consequences in Texas; Conspiracy theory driven political parties.

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Link and Comments: A Better Way to Think About Conspiracies

Posted on 2 March 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Ross Douthat suggests a tool kit for discriminating among conspiracy theories, which have always been among us.

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Links and Comments: Psychology; Texas; QAnon; Lying

Posted on 27 February 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

The psychology of Capitol rioters; Texas and Republicans; Climate change migration; QAnon as religion; The right to lie on the internet; The Big Lie and voter suppression.

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