Trip Report: Preservation Park and the Locus Awards

Posted on Sunday 25 June 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

No blog post yesterday; I was busy from about 2pm to around 8pm attending one day of the Locus Awards Weekend (this link might expire soon) in downtown Oakland, about 10 miles down the hills from our house.

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Summer Solstice; Reality and Illusions

Posted on Friday 23 June 2023 by Mark R. Kelly
  • The summer solstice is a consequence of basic facts about the Earth and the solar system, which apparently few people understand;
  • Another example of how debates are usually pointless, including political debates;
  • Another take on the false idea that people were better in the past;
  • And how the MAGA movement’s doomsday fears may simply anticipate its own demise.

The Summer Solstice as an example of how some people understand reality, and others simply ignore it.

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Vox, Brian Resnick, 20 Jun 2023: The summer solstice is Wednesday: 7 things to know about the longest day of the year, subtitled “Why do we have a summer solstice, anyway?”

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Debate Is Not the Way to Do Science

Posted on Thursday 22 June 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Because debate is all about winning an argument toward a preconceived conclusion, not trying to identify truth.

Vox, 22 Jun 2023: Joe Rogan wants a “debate” on vaccine science. Don’t give it to him., subtitled “How to have better conversations about contentious scientific subjects.”

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Primitive Priorities of Survival: The Conservative Mindset

Posted on Wednesday 21 June 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

There’s something going on with the conservative mindset that isn’t what they say it is.

Salon, Amanda Marcotte, 21 Jun 2023: “Too stupid to know better”: MAGA eats up Trump’s idiot president defense, subtitled “Evangelicals, in particular, feel a flock should follow leaders who are neither smart nor moral”

Note in particular the subtitle.

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The Biggest Thing Conservatives Believe That Is Wrong

Posted on Tuesday 20 June 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

That there was a golden age.

NY Times, Adam Mastroianni, 20 Jun 2023: Your Brain Has Tricked You Into Thinking Everything Is Worse

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The Understanding of Human Nature, and Its Relationship to Science Fiction

Posted on Monday 19 June 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s a draft of another essay trying to summarize my take on science fiction and my provisional conclusions on the topics I’ve been reading about over the past couple decades.

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The Broadest Possible Terms

Posted on Sunday 18 June 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Let’s return to yesterday’s item from OnlySky, which strikes me as a way to expand one of my key themes. In fact, perhaps we can build one of my hierarchies to begin with the most basic conception of what science fiction is, and then step by step expand on that scope. [[ revised 19jun23 ]]

Begin at the most basic.

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Today’s Links

Posted on Saturday 17 June 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Only time today for a few quick links, which I may or may not expand upon in future posts.

OnlySky: The methadone of the people, subtitled “As long as the human condition is characterized by suffering, the vulnerable will seek solutions”

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The Assertions of Ideologues; Common Enemies

Posted on Friday 16 June 2023 by Mark R. Kelly
  • How the Republicans’ budget plan ignores the record of history;
  • How conservatives don’t mind Muslims as long as they’re all against LGBTQ rights;
  • Another review of the book about a conservative “regime change” for the “common good” — a Christian common good, that is.

Heather Cox Richardson explains how the Republican’s 2024 budget plan is built upon false premises, and an ignorance of history.

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Today’s Examples of Tribal Loyalty

Posted on Thursday 15 June 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Examples today of:

  • Defunding the IRS, mostly to benefit the wealthy;
  • Tax cuts, benefiting mostly the wealthy;
  • A party of law & order anxious to pardon its member for crimes against law & order;
  • Defenses of Trump that are a master-class of irrational thinking;
  • Why long-term threats like climate change are dismissed.

Is there a common theme here?

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