Monthly Archives: March 2015

Unpacking Books

Posted on Friday 20 March 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Still unpacking boxes of books. It’s curious that, whether I packed the boxes, or the moving service’s packers packed the boxes, you’d think that boxes would be packed and stacked in a relative order to what was on the shelves. … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal history | Comments Off on Unpacking Books

Jordan Ellenberg, How Not to Be Wrong, Post 3

Posted on Thursday 19 March 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: The Power of Mathematical Thinking. Third post (after this and then this) about this fascinating book, an examination of several basic principles (linearity, inference, expectation, regression, and existence) and how they apply to every-day, real world situations, situations that … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Economics, Mathematics | Comments Off on Jordan Ellenberg, How Not to Be Wrong, Post 3

Link and Comments: Common Core

Posted on Wednesday 18 March 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

I don’t have a horse in this race, at least not yet, but I’m fascinated by how conservative resistance to the Common Core educational standards have swung 180 degrees since the Obama administration signed on to them. Common Core standards … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Mathematics | Comments Off on Link and Comments: Common Core

Link and Comments: Slate on Rejection of Modernity

Posted on Wednesday 18 March 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Catching up on several items today. First, interesting article at Slate by Brad Allenby: The Return to Medievalism: Why is the world so troubled right now? Rejection of modernity and technology may be to blame. This consolidates many of my … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Religion | Comments Off on Link and Comments: Slate on Rejection of Modernity

Links and Comments: Pale Blue Dot; 10 Commandments; Evolution; Tribalistic thinking; Answers for Creationists

Posted on Friday 13 March 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

I have a batch of links with notes from almost a month ago that I never got around to posting. Let me catch up. On the theme in recent posts of awe-inspiring graphics or videos, here’s a piece by Phil … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Evolution, Psychology, Religion, Science, Ten Commandments | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Pale Blue Dot; 10 Commandments; Evolution; Tribalistic thinking; Answers for Creationists

Links and Comments: Fox News; Jonathan Haidt; Scientology; Paul Krugman; US and Israel

Posted on Thursday 12 March 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

First, an essay at Salon not just about Fox News and Bill O’Reilly but about Why the pundit’s fabrications are almost beside the point. Key point: there isn’t enough ‘real’ news to sustain a 24-hour new network. That is, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Religion | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Fox News; Jonathan Haidt; Scientology; Paul Krugman; US and Israel

Links and Comments: Powers of Ten; Nineteen Eighty-Four doublespeak; Climate change; Failed conservative predictions of doom

Posted on Tuesday 10 March 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Today’s persusing of websites. (I have more links and comments from newspapers and magazines, but not the time at this moment to post…) First, to complement yesterday’s link to Vox’s 40 maps that explain outer space, here is the earliest, … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Culture, Thinking | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Powers of Ten; Nineteen Eighty-Four doublespeak; Climate change; Failed conservative predictions of doom

Links and Comments: The Universe; Narratives and Conservatives; PW reviews; the Right-Wing Myth

Posted on Monday 9 March 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Catching up from the past week. First, refining the Provisional Conclusions, I’ve switched the order of the first two, and of the last two. This shifts the entire list to a more positive, rather than negative, spin, I think. \\ … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Culture, Narrative | Comments Off on Links and Comments: The Universe; Narratives and Conservatives; PW reviews; the Right-Wing Myth

Links and Comments: Perceiving Reality; Controlling the Narrative

Posted on Wednesday 4 March 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Several key posts from last week, that I want to capture before I’m on the road for another couple days. First, the viral dress thing is possibly the most widely circulated example ever of how you can’t always believe what … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Psychology, Religion | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Perceiving Reality; Controlling the Narrative

More about SF/F/H

Posted on Wednesday 4 March 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

The distinctions I suggested yesterday aren’t prescriptions; they’re characterizations or descriptions. In the broad field of SF and fantasy literature, there are deep-seated conventions about whether a given story is SF or fantasy (or horror), depending on its topic. Many … Continue reading →

Posted in science fiction, Thinking | Comments Off on More about SF/F/H