Monthly Archives: May 2020

Silverberg, DYING INSIDE (1972)

Posted on Sunday 31 May 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

This is Silverberg’s most highly-regarded novel, and one of his most unusual. It was published in 1972, near the end of a period during which Silverberg wrote one or two critically acclaimed novels a year, from roughly 1967 to 1976. … Continue reading →

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Notes for the Book: Hierarchy of Knowledge and Human Affairs

Posted on Saturday 30 May 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

[updated 8 Jul 2020] [updated 26 Jun 2020] Everything you need to understand the reality of the world, as discovered over centuries, and especially in the past century and past few decades, is out there, available to you. All the … Continue reading →

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Heinlein’s First: For Us, the Living

Posted on Saturday 30 May 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

Almost on a lark, I picked up the first novel by Robert A. Heinlein a few days ago, and read it through. It’s a fascinating book on several levels. First, it’s Heinlein first novel in that it’s the first one … Continue reading →

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Notes for the Book: A Hierarchy of Understanding

Posted on Thursday 28 May 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

Next, a hierarchy of stages about the extent to any of us understands the universe. (Which is distinct from simply being aware of it, though it overlaps it somewhat.) At the base level is the understanding of primitive tribes about … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Wars on Science; Epistemology; Conspiracy Theories

Posted on Wednesday 27 May 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

A facebook friend comments: “Research” isn’t just googling to find someone saying what you want to hear. That’s confirmation bias, and cherry picking. \\ My own thought, a week ago: The big political conflicts aren’t about asking the same questions … Continue reading →

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Link and Comments: Ezra Klein on the Psychology of Coronavirus Response

Posted on Saturday 23 May 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

Vox: Why are liberals more afraid of the coronavirus than conservatives?: Covid-19 and the complex politics of fear. By Ezra Klein, co-founder and editor-at-large of Vox (and whose recent book, WHY WE’RE POLARIZED, I’ve just begun reading). Good question. You’d … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Loners, Law and Religion, Our Anti-Science Leaders, the Roots of Science Denial

Posted on Saturday 23 May 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

Atlantic: How Loners Are an Evolutionary Insurance Policy This echoes my comments about how diversity is needed in the human race because different attitudes and skills may be needed in situations that require different ways to survive. Though the article … Continue reading →

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Notes for the Book: a Hierarchy of Awareness

Posted on Friday 22 May 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s another theme that will inform my book, if I survive to write it. Our understanding of the universe, our understanding of physics and biology, of deep history, is biased by the way we learn to understand and think about … Continue reading →

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Notes for the Book: Simplex, Complex, Multiplex

Posted on Thursday 21 May 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

Several themes are starting to gel, so perhaps I’ll record some of my current thoughts as they now stand. Just the act of writing a blog post helps me organize and clarify them. I still find myself learning: almost every … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Conspiracies! Conspiracies!

Posted on Wednesday 20 May 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

Over the past several weeks there’s been an outbreak of stories and articles in the various legitimate media (New York Times, NPR, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, et al) about conspiracy theories related to the coronavirus pandemic. So many articles! … Continue reading →

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