Monthly Archives: December 2015

On Seeing The Nutcracker ballet

Posted on Sunday 20 December 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

As I mentioned on Facebook yesterday, we saw a production of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker ballet at the San Francisco Ballet (click link for a 1-minute video sample), on Saturday 12/19, and had the good luck to snag first row seats, with … Continue reading →

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Elizabeth Kolbert on Climate Change and Florida

Posted on Sunday 20 December 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Fine essay by Elizabeth Kolbert — whose 2014 book The Sixth Extinction I greatly admired — in the current New Yorker, The Siege of Miami, about how rising sea levels are already affecting that city. This dovetails with my previous … Continue reading →

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Chris Mooney’s THE REPUBLICAN BRAIN

Posted on Friday 18 December 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

As I alluded in my previous post, I’ve been reading Chris Mooney’s 2012 book The Republican Brain: The Science of Why They Deny Science — and Reality, which explores how psychology can inform the obvious fact that different people react … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments from Sunday’s New York Times

Posted on Tuesday 15 December 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

I’m finishing up a book by Chris Mooney that explores motivated reasoning and how we are all subject to seeking out evidence that confirms our pre-existing views, and disputing evidence that challenges those views. And that nevertheless claims that conservatives/Republicans … Continue reading →

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Spotlight

Posted on Monday 14 December 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

We saw Spotlight on Sunday, a film about the 2001 Boston Globe investigation into child abuse within the Catholic Church in that city, a film that just ranked #1 on the best movies of the year lists in both Time … Continue reading →

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Harper’s on Environmentalism, etc.

Posted on Friday 11 December 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

More from the November Harper’s. Fascinating article by James K. Boyce, Rethinking Extinction, subtitled “Toward a less gloomy environmentalism”. This is best-read in the context of understanding the impact of humanity on the planet, not just in recent decades, but … Continue reading →

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John Crowley on Narrative

Posted on Friday 11 December 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

From the November issue of Harper’s magazine, a lovely essay on narrative by [the acclaimed sf/fantasy author] John Crowley: A Ring-Formed World. It begins (my bold): I have recently developed a crank theory, for which I can adduce no real … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments from last Sunday’s New York Times

Posted on Thursday 10 December 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

First, a Sunday Review front page essay by Maria Konnikova, Born to Be Conned. It’s about how people are “suckers for belief”, about confidence games, with insights into human nature, e.g. Monte operators, like all good con men, are exceptional … Continue reading →

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Jonathan Haidt’s THE RIGHTEOUS MIND: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion, 3

Posted on Wednesday 9 December 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

First, an aside that I didn’t mention earlier, in the chapter about how people are more concerned about reputation than actually being virtuous. In the discussion about how you can use ‘reason’ to reach any conclusion (based on whatever you … Continue reading →

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More notes and comments about Haidt’s THE RIGHTEOUS MIND

Posted on Tuesday 8 December 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

I like the way Haidt outlines his thesis in the introduction, provides central metaphors for each of the three main sections, and provides a 1-2 page summary at the end of each of the 12 chapters. (Academic books do this … Continue reading →

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