Category Archives: Quote at Length

Sagan & Druyan: Propensities and Predispositions

Posted on 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, and it’s remarkable how its conclusions resemble my own recent observations about how certain forms of human morality align to conservative politics, and … Continue reading →

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Biblical Ignorance and Climate Change

Posted on 10 May 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

One of my emerging themes on this blog is my gradual, belated, realization of how many people believe so many things that simply aren’t true. Here’s an example in a religious vein: Bible believers who misunderstand their Bible, with potentially … Continue reading →

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Basic Principles: Passages from Shermer

Posted on 8 March 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

In the closing pages of Michael Shermer’s new book, he quotes Jonathan Rauch’s list, from his book The Constitution of Knowledge, about social rules for turning disagreement into knowledge. Shermer expands upon them, and for one of them provides a … Continue reading →

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Readings: Margaret Atwood and Jared Diamond

Posted on 13 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Margaret Atwood on the people banning her book The Handmaid’s Tale; Jared Diamond on the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, and long-term disaster planning. Margaret Atwood, The Atlantic, 12 Feb 2023: Go Ahead and Ban My Book, subtitled “To those … Continue reading →

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Fauci

Posted on 10 December 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

NY Times, Anthony Fauci opinion guest essay, 10 Dec 2022: A Message to the Next Generation of Scientists

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LQCs: Fringe Conspiracy Theories Becoming Mainstream; Duplicity; Sharpening of Focus

Posted on 16 May 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

NYT, 15 May 2022: A Fringe Conspiracy Theory, Fostered Online, Is Refashioned by the G.O.P., subtitled, “Replacement theory, espoused by the suspect in the Buffalo massacre, has been embraced by some right-wing politicians and commentators.”

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Quote: David McRaney

Posted on 3 August 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

From his 2011 book YOU ARE NOT SO SMART, which I blogged here about in 2013. One particular idea came to mind again recently (which I managed to track down to this book, though it’s likely discussed in others), considering … Continue reading →

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Pinker and Crane: Quotes and Comments about Faith and Religion

Posted on 30 October 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Still working my way, slowly, through Steven Pinker’s THE BETTER ANGELS OF OUR NATURE. In Chapter 4, The Humanitarian Revolution, he discusses various kinds of violence over human history, beginning with human sacrifice, and then to violence “against blasphemers, heretics, … Continue reading →

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Salman Rushdie, Two Quotes

Posted on 28 September 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Yesterday’s (print) New York Times Book Review, the Inside the List commentary, discussing Salman Rushdie’s new novel. (Paul Di Filippo’s review, posted last Friday, was seen by Rushdie himself, who tweeted it to his 1M+ followers — you can see … Continue reading →

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Revisiting Carl Sagan’s The Cosmic Connection

Posted on 26 June 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

The Cosmic Connection, published in 1973, was the first popular book by Carl Sagan, after some academic tomes and an anthology of essays about UFOs, who later gained much fame as the author and host of the 1980 book and … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Evolution, Personal history, Quote at Length, Science, Space | Comments Off on Revisiting Carl Sagan’s The Cosmic Connection