{"id":27174,"date":"2026-03-08T17:48:27","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T00:48:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/?p=27174"},"modified":"2026-03-13T14:29:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T21:29:41","slug":"leaving-the-us-shalom-worrying-the-mind-body-problem-the-latest-drake-equation-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/2026\/03\/08\/leaving-the-us-shalom-worrying-the-mind-body-problem-the-latest-drake-equation-analysis\/","title":{"rendered":"Leaving the US, Shalom, Worrying the Mind-Body Problem, the Latest Drake Equation analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>About Trump&#8217;s misguided &#8220;Christian&#8221; war, as more and more people are literally leaving the US;<\/li>\n<li>Peter Wehner on a word for our trouble times: shalom;<\/li>\n<li>Alan Lightman wonders, rhetorically, if our minds transcend the corporeal form (an issue long-since settled);<\/li>\n<li>About Iranian scientists and their take on the Drake Equation: 5000 years.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div align=\"center\">&#8211; &#8211; &#8211;<\/div>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.salon.com\/app\/uploads\/2024\/03\/donald_trump_holding_bible_1290368831.jpg\" width=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Salon, Kirk Swearingen, 8 Mar 2026<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.salon.com\/2026\/03\/08\/trumps-misguided-christian-war-is-anything-but\/\">Trump\u2019s misguided \u201cChristian\u201d war is anything but<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;Some commanders claim the Iran war is serving Christ. Haven&#8217;t they noticed the fake Christian in the White House?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>What struck me here is the reference to a news item I saw elsewhere, just a day or two ago. Third para.<br \/>\n<!--more--><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>One of the obvious ironies of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.salon.com\/topic\/donald-trump\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s ill-conceived war of choice with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.salon.com\/topic\/iran\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Iran<\/a> \u2014 and his statement to its citizen-protesters that this is their moment to overturn an authoritarian theocracy that is making them live in misery and destroying their economy \u2014 is that his MAGA movement is doing all it can to create a Christian white nationalist theocracy at home while cheering on the beating and killing of citizen-protesters.<\/p>\n<p id=\"aa03\" class=\"pw-post-body-paragraph od oe hp of b in og oh oi iq oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox oy hi bg\" data-selectable-paragraph=\"\">Trump and his handpicked team of the worst people you can imagine (his incompetent, mewling\u00a0<a class=\"z oc\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Kakistocracy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener ugc nofollow\">kakistocracy<\/a>) are gleefully attacking women, immigrants, universities, public education, scientists, LGBTQ+ folks and our historic allies, as well as nonpartisan experts in economics and governance and foreign affairs \u2014 everything, in fact, that has made America creative, prosperous and secure.<\/p>\n<p id=\"5c76\" class=\"pw-post-body-paragraph od oe hp of b in og oh oi iq oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox oy hi bg\" data-selectable-paragraph=\"\">It\u2019s gotten so dire under Trump that\u00a0good people of all sorts are <a class=\"z oc\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/americans-leaving-the-us-in-record-numbers-under-donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener ugc nofollow\">leaving the country<\/a>\u00a0in numbers not seen since the Depression.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The article goes on about its title theme, which is of course obvious.<\/p>\n<p>\\\\<\/p>\n<p>We see lots of studies and essays about our troubled times, the crisis of masculinity, and so on, that I&#8217;m beginning to think they are based on cherry-picked data by those who, like MAGA, reflexively think the past was better than the present. Was it really? Aren&#8217;t there always people living fragmented lives? Sure they do surveys, but you always have to inspect what kinds of questions they&#8217;re asking.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.theatlantic.com\/thumbor\/wNwbP1OguR0B0A48efY1gZ1MXVI=\/0x0:1200x1500\/665x831\/media\/img\/2026\/03\/06\/2026_3_6_Shalom\/original.jpg\" width=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Atlantic, Peter Wehner, 8 Mar 2026<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/ideas\/2026\/03\/us-conflict-society-unity\/686274\/\">A Word for Our Troubled Times<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;Too many people are living fragmented lives.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Beginning:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span class=\"smallcaps\">IN HIS 2024<\/span> book <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Age-Grievance-Frank-Bruni\/dp\/1668016435\/ref=sr_1_1?adgrpid=187377532258&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.CXARDGE2oH4jF76Ku_d2J_pe-pqkPwMn8PcwGOJXBDbCj_xgo4A5aBOC8e3zeRU4kJM5tPNjJi5MpDIYQPdpdA6U2bDydw3DQDXWqKfd5ZWwEg7b8OTIbLs3SSzEno-qof2FQH90I1jJoAn9NES0TqdiWEc_d81l4JTZZlsneqxKXATbyjuHR7zvtdb4PXCzawKPKRGdXXzNPsXJ-PD3cCVoDTenZp9Awyw0df9PH38.VwbE_kx7EBvrqGOBypi-DqWt04gsQwqPPrhLqzuNep8&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;hvadid=779529527442&amp;hvdev=c&amp;hvexpln=0&amp;hvlocphy=9008142&amp;hvnetw=g&amp;hvocijid=10362634509660579036--&amp;hvqmt=e&amp;hvrand=10362634509660579036&amp;hvtargid=kwd-2227041564845&amp;hydadcr=20583_13321868_2282042&amp;keywords=the+age+of+grievance&amp;mcid=c4c94ca94a19305490a899235c5967af&amp;qid=1771891185&amp;sr=8-1\" data-event-element=\"inline link\" data-gtm-vis-first-on-screen31117857_899=\"54477\" data-gtm-vis-total-visible-time31117857_899=\"100\" data-gtm-vis-has-fired31117857_899=\"1\"><i>The Age of Grievance<\/i><\/a>, Frank Bruni argues that America is suffering from a cultural sickness. We are angry, acrimonious, and indignant, he observes, consumed by resentments and committed to retaliation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW\" data-flatplan-paragraph=\"true\">Plenty of empirical data supports Bruni\u2019s assessment. A record high of adults\u201480 percent\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/news.gallup.com\/poll\/650828\/americans-agree-nation-divided-key-values.aspx\" data-event-element=\"inline link\" data-gtm-vis-first-on-screen31117857_899=\"54495\" data-gtm-vis-total-visible-time31117857_899=\"100\" data-gtm-vis-has-fired31117857_899=\"1\">believes<\/a> that Americans are divided on the most important values. National pride, trust in government, and confidence in institutions are near record lows. The Princeton University historian Sean Wilentz <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2021\/01\/19\/politics\/trump-divided-america-civil-war\" data-event-element=\"inline link\" data-gtm-vis-first-on-screen31117857_899=\"54558\" data-gtm-vis-total-visible-time31117857_899=\"100\" data-gtm-vis-has-fired31117857_899=\"1\">says<\/a> the United States hasn\u2019t been this divided since the Civil War. Nearly half of Americans <a href=\"https:\/\/maristpoll.marist.edu\/polls\/a-nation-divided\/\" data-event-element=\"inline link\" data-gtm-vis-first-on-screen31117857_899=\"54564\" data-gtm-vis-total-visible-time31117857_899=\"100\" data-gtm-vis-has-fired31117857_899=\"1\">think<\/a> another civil war is likely in their lifetime. Affective polarization\u2014our distaste for those who do not share our politics\u2014is at an all-time <a href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC7550884\/#:~:text=A%20defining%20feature%20of%2021,affective%20polarization%20affect%20our%20politics?\" data-event-element=\"inline link\" data-gtm-vis-first-on-screen31117857_899=\"54579\" data-gtm-vis-total-visible-time31117857_899=\"100\" data-gtm-vis-has-fired31117857_899=\"1\">high<\/a>, and shapes everything from where we shop to whom we wed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW\" data-flatplan-paragraph=\"true\">Individually, Americans are suffering from an \u201cepidemic of loneliness and isolation,\u201d according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hhs.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf\" data-event-element=\"inline link\" data-gtm-vis-first-on-screen31117857_899=\"54583\" data-gtm-vis-total-visible-time31117857_899=\"100\" data-gtm-vis-has-fired31117857_899=\"1\">2023 report<\/a> by former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. Depression rates have <a href=\"https:\/\/news.gallup.com\/poll\/505745\/depression-rates-reach-new-highs.aspx\" data-event-element=\"inline link\" data-gtm-vis-first-on-screen31117857_899=\"63090\" data-gtm-vis-total-visible-time31117857_899=\"100\" data-gtm-vis-has-fired31117857_899=\"1\">skyrocketed<\/a>; instances for adults under 30 have <a href=\"https:\/\/news.gallup.com\/poll\/694199\/u.s.-depression-rate-remains-historically-high.aspx\" data-event-element=\"inline link\" data-gtm-vis-first-on-screen31117857_899=\"63169\" data-gtm-vis-total-visible-time31117857_899=\"100\" data-gtm-vis-has-fired31117857_899=\"1\">doubled since 2017<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/suicide\/facts\/data.html#:~:text=Suicide%20rates,data%20for%20the%20chart%20figure\" data-event-element=\"inline link\" data-gtm-vis-first-on-screen31117857_899=\"63180\" data-gtm-vis-total-visible-time31117857_899=\"100\" data-gtm-vis-has-fired31117857_899=\"1\">Suicide rates<\/a> have increased by 37 percent since 2000. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.psychiatry.org\/news-room\/news-releases\/annual-poll-adults-express-increasing-anxiousness\" data-event-element=\"inline link\" data-gtm-vis-first-on-screen31117857_899=\"63188\" data-gtm-vis-total-visible-time31117857_899=\"100\" data-gtm-vis-has-fired31117857_899=\"1\">Anxiety<\/a> is rising. America is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.anxiousgeneration.com\/research\/the-evidence\" data-event-element=\"inline link\" data-gtm-vis-first-on-screen31117857_899=\"63190\" data-gtm-vis-total-visible-time31117857_899=\"100\" data-gtm-vis-has-fired31117857_899=\"1\">facing<\/a> a youth-mental-health crisis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW\" data-flatplan-paragraph=\"true\">It seems at times as if America is a \u201ctwilight kingdom,\u201d in <a href=\"https:\/\/poets.org\/poem\/hollow-men\" data-event-element=\"inline link\" data-gtm-vis-first-on-screen31117857_899=\"63384\" data-gtm-vis-total-visible-time31117857_899=\"100\" data-gtm-vis-has-fired31117857_899=\"1\">the words of T. S. Eliot<\/a>, in \u201cthis valley of dying stars.\u201d Too many people are living fragmented lives: \u201cShape without form, shade without colour.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>OK, well, I have that Frank Bruni book, and I&#8217;ll take a look at it. Going on:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>What we lack, in a single word, is <i>shalom<\/i>. I think <i>shalom <\/i>is among the most beautiful words in the Bible. In the New Testament, which was written in Greek rather than Hebrew, the word used is <i>eirene<\/i>. <i>Shalom<\/i> is often translated into English as \u201cpeace,\u201d which many people take to mean the absence of conflict. But its fuller meaning is something closer to human flourishing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>And this connects to the ideas of Sam Harris and others about the goal of human morality: to maximize human flourishing, however that might be measured. (Certainly not about following tribal rules in ancient holy books.) And it connects to the ideas of Pinker and Norberg and others that the world really is better than it&#8217;s ever been, but people, blinkered by their reflex to detect bad things around every corner, simply don&#8217;t realize it. What&#8217;s the solution? Education, perhaps. Understanding those biases and why they exist. Getting out in the world.<\/p>\n<p>\\\\\\<\/p>\n<p>Every once in a while you wonder why a reputable journal runs an article like this. To lure in those who don&#8217;t understand the extent to which this question has been answered? At the same time, the writer (several of whose books I&#8217;ve read) is exactly the type who wants the answer to this question to be yes. (But it&#8217;s almost certainly no.)<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.theatlantic.com\/thumbor\/43ckWI4cshNNerQzTMGYyPeHUUQ=\/0x0:2160x2700\/665x831\/media\/img\/2026\/03\/07\/2026_03_06_My_Body_My_Self_13\/original.jpg\" width=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Atlantic, Alan Lightman, 8 Mar 2026<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/ideas\/2026\/03\/body-mind-self-material-philosophy\/686176\/\">The Mind-Body Question<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;Are we all material\u2014tissues and veins\u2014or is there some nonmaterial substance, some essence, that transcends the corporeal form?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Second paragraph:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Modern neuroscience has largely overthrown the classical view that the mind and the body are fundamentally different substances, and it has shown that all of our thoughts and mental experiences are rooted in the material brain. But even granting that scientific view, there remains a profound disconnect between our conscious self-awareness\u2014rooted in the three pounds of gooey stuff in our skulls\u2014and the rest of our body.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The writer understands this yet acknowledges his &#8220;belief that I am more than just a jumble of tissues and nerves.&#8221; He surveys the history of philosophical thoughts on this issue, and the viewpoint of Christianity and other religions. Yet,<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I must again confess that I am a materialist. I respect the belief in an immortal soul. I respect the belief in a nonphysical mind. But, despite my predilection for some transcendent element, I do not share those beliefs. Still, I am baffled by the disconnect I feel between body and mind. &#8230;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>It&#8217;s this bafflement that bothers him, like a sore tooth he can&#8217;t help poking. The essay goes on; he pokes it some more. But the answer is never &#8220;yes.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\\\\\\<\/p>\n<p>There are scientists in every nation; the world has become saturated with the conclusions of Western science, because they work, because they stand up to testing and retesting. And so this item is apropos given most Americans believe that Iranians, or Muslims in general, are backward, heathen people who should be exterminated, or at least banished from US soil. Just listen to the current administration.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/boingboing.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/NASA-Apollo8-Dec24-Earthrise.jpg?fit=1&amp;quality=60&amp;ssl=1&amp;resize=620%2C4000\" width=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Boing Boing, Rob Beschizza, 3 Mar 2026<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/boingboing.net\/2026\/03\/03\/iranian-physicists-estimate-advanced-civilizations-last-5000-years-or-less.html\">Iranian physicists estimate advanced civilizations last 5,000 years or less<\/a><\/p>\n<p>And this seems to be the latest take on the eternal question posed by Fermi&#8217;s Paradox.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fermi_paradox\">Fermi Paradox<\/a> describes a contradiction: stars and planets are abundant, but there is no obvious evidence of life beyond our solar system. The <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Drake_equation\">Drake equation<\/a> presented a method for calculating the number of active civilizations there <em>should<\/em> be, but its components (such as the probability of planets capable of supporting life) remained mysterious. As technology fills in these blanks (we have<a href=\"https:\/\/phl.upr.edu\/hwc\"> identified 61 potentially habitable worlds<\/a> among the 5200 or so observed &#8220;near&#8221; our own, implying 6 to 20 billion in our galaxy) Enrico Fermi&#8217;s question becomes more pointed: <em>&#8220;Where is everybody?&#8221;<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The lede here is their re-analysis of the Drake equation:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Our analysis suggests that if intelligent life is common, technological civilizations must be relatively short-lived, with lifetimes constrained to \u22725\u00d710\u00b3 years under our most optimistic scenario.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The writer notes: &#8220;That&#8217;s five thousand years. The good news is we&#8217;re just a century and change into being a broadcasting civilization.&#8221; But also: &#8220;5,000 years might be a generous estimate considering what&#8217;s happening to the civilization on <em>this<\/em> planet.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>And:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>My preferred resolution is that the brief timeframe represents the impossibility of life to remain &#8220;lifelike&#8221; once technologically disengaged from the evolutionary processes that led to it. If nuclear, chemical or biological annihilation are obviously likely exits, there&#8217;s always &#8220;everyone becomes <a href=\"https:\/\/memory-alpha.fandom.com\/wiki\/Q_(species)\">John De Lancie<\/a>.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>(Referring to the Q character in ST:TNG.)<\/p>\n<p>My thoughts, repeated here regularly, are that reasons human civilization might not last very long are apparent every day. The inability of humanity to move past tribalism; the eagerness of conservatives to roll back such technological and moral progress as we&#8217;ve made in the past few hundred years, as noted in the first item above.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>About Trump&#8217;s misguided &#8220;Christian&#8221; war, as more and more people are literally leaving the US; Peter Wehner on a word for our trouble times: shalom; Alan Lightman wonders, rhetorically, if our minds transcend the corporeal form (an issue long-since settled); &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/2026\/03\/08\/leaving-the-us-shalom-worrying-the-mind-body-problem-the-latest-drake-equation-analysis\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,41,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conservative-resistance","category-morality","category-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27174"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27227,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27174\/revisions\/27227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}