Progressions

Posted on Wednesday 29 March 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Topics in this post:

  • The success of wokeness.
  • How the least religious nations are among the healthiest along many measures.
  • Partha Dasgupta on how the GDP should account for the cost of what we use.
  • Julian Baggini on philosophy and how to think better.
  • Sarah Bakewell on the history of humanism.
  • Carl Sagan on humanity’s urge to wander.
  • Adrian Chiles on the secret of happiness.
  • Alan Lightman on the transcendent brain.
  • Nicholas Humphrey on why consciousness evolved.

Despite conservative histrionics and paranoia:

Washington Post, Eugene Robinson, 27 Mar 2023: Opinion | ‘Wokeness’ is winning

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Posted in Philosophy, Reviews, Science, Social Progress | Comments Off on Progressions

Regressions

Posted on Wednesday 29 March 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Topics in this post:

  • Why do “parents’ rights” only seem to involve requests to suppress and ban?
  • The power of a single conservative snowflake.
  • Undermining democracy.
  • An authoritarianism quiz.
  • Phony scandals.
  • Banning non-existent vaccine microchips.
  • Religion as the solution to gun violence.
  • The New Yorker on Christian Nationalism.
  • Vox explains America’s enduring gun problem; plus, how conservatives are winning, graphics of what AR-15 bullets do, and how prayer does nothing.
  • Christians who helped Uganda criminalize homosexuality.
  • The 15-Minute city conspiracy theory.

(And these are just the left-over links after several weeks of addressing such issues at higher levels.)

NY Times, Jamelle Bouie, 28 Mar 2023: What the Republican Push for ‘Parents’ Rights’ Is Really About

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Posted in Conservative Resistance, Politics, Religion | Comments Off on Regressions

Max Richter Deconstructs and Recomposes Antonio Vivaldi

Posted on Tuesday 28 March 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

On Sunday evening, March 26th, we went a concert on the UC Berkeley Campus, at Zellerbach Hall, to see the Zurich Chamber Orchestra. The concert included an extraordinary piece by contemporary composer Max Richter, a re-imagining of Vivaldi’s ever-popular The Four Seasons.

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Posted in Music | Comments Off on Max Richter Deconstructs and Recomposes Antonio Vivaldi

Five Planets Visible in the Sky

Posted on Monday 27 March 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

I missed seeing that greenish comet that was visible in the sky a few weeks ago. The latest sky event being discussed in the media — at least on TV and on websites — is a fairly rare conjunction of five naked-eye-visible planets (all except Saturn, and including Uranus, which will require binoculars to see) in recent days, with tonight, March 27th, having a prime view.

I happen to have a perfectly clear view of the western horizon from my house, and there are no major clouds today, so I’m hoping to see it.

What strikes me in the coverage of this story is the scientific illiteracy, at worst, or simply journalistic sloppiness, at best, in how this event is described. Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Science | Comments Off on Five Planets Visible in the Sky

Wokeness and History

Posted on Sunday 26 March 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Today: some better descriptions of wokeism; how wokeness undermines the idea of eternal conservative values; and if so many other books are banned from public schools, why not the Bible?

Today’s NY Times website has this letter column: A Conservative’s View of What ‘Woke’ Means

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Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture | Comments Off on Wokeness and History

Another Chatbot Shoe Drops

Posted on Saturday 25 March 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

The latest about chatbots, why they would be biased one way or another, and how there is now a conservative version of them; and recalling Conservapedia.

Our story so far: Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture, Lunacy, Technology | Comments Off on Another Chatbot Shoe Drops

Correction to Earlier Oscar Post

Posted on Friday 24 March 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

It turns out that a tune I liked, which I described as having “a relentless three note descending theme, underlying colorful violin lines,” in one of the Oscar nominated films, Triangle of Sadness, that I discussed in my post of March 14th, was not an original composition by the film’s composer, but a Baroque piece by one Marin Marais, called “The Bells of St Genevieve.”

I had the local classical music station, KDFC, on in the background this afternoon, set at a fairly low volume, yet noticed this piece and thought, doesn’t that sound a lot like that track from….? *Is* it that track from…? And checked it out. The KDFC host didn’t mention the connection of this piece to that film. But I’m guessing that’s why they played it.

Posted in Movies, Music | Comments Off on Correction to Earlier Oscar Post

Harari on the Dangers of AI

Posted on Friday 24 March 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Also: reflecting on Arthur C. Clarke and John Brockman, wondering if there is a permanent limit to human cultural education.

NY Times, Yuval Noah Harari, Tristan Harris, and Aza Raskin, 24 March 2023: You Can Have the Blue Pill or the Red Pill, and We’re Out of Blue Pills

Harari and his collaborators discuss the dangers of AI, specifically the recent chatbots, which dangers I am coming to understand quite differently than the way such presumed dangers of AI have been described until recently. The current problem is that these new AI apps *aren’t* intelligent — they’re merely reflecting back everything, wisdom and nonsense, that they absorb from the web. Continue reading →

Posted in Arthur C. Clarke, Culture, Technology | Comments Off on Harari on the Dangers of AI

Last Questions and Possible Answers, 1

Posted on Friday 24 March 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

When I was browsing through several John Brockman books a few weeks ago, I decided to buy the last one he published in that series, from 2019. It’s called The Last Unknowns, and instead of gathering answers from many contributors to a single question for each book, this one is a collection of questions, the deepest, most profound questions that remain unanswered, according to the contributors. Just questions.

Typically there’s one question per contributor on each page. So you can flip through the book in about a hour. In this and a subsequent post or two, I’ll list what I think are the most interesting questions, and then give my take on the nature of their answers.

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Posted in Book Notes, Philosophy, Science | Comments Off on Last Questions and Possible Answers, 1

Negative News, Conspiracy-Minded Customers, Conservative Traditions

Posted on Thursday 23 March 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Three items for today.

  • How the negativity bias in news reporting is partly a matter of demand and supply;
  • How “the customer is always right” thinking leads Fox News and Republican congressmen to pursue outlandish conspiracy theories, because that what their audiences and constituents want;
  • And how a conservative professor wants students to honor traditional conservative wisdom, presumably excluding traditional conservative defenses of slavery and the subjugation of women and gays.

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Posted in Conservative Resistance, Politics, Psychology | Comments Off on Negative News, Conspiracy-Minded Customers, Conservative Traditions