Mark R. Kelly
» Founder in 1997 and site-runner for 20 years of Locus Online (Hugo Award winner in 2002). Founder in 2012 and still site-runner of sfadb.com (Science Fiction Awards Database). Retired in 2012 after 30 years as a software engineer for a certain rocket engine factory.
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Monthly Archives: March 2024
Emotional Intelligence and Con Men
Robert Reich on Trump’s stupidity — except for his emotional intelligence, which manifests as his being a con man; Peter Wehner on “Fifth Avenue Republicans”; Tom Nichols about why Trump shouldn’t be given security briefings; Music: Neil Finn’s “Into the … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Music, Politics, Psychology
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EO Wilson, CONSILIENCE, 7
Chapter 8, The Fitness of Human Nature This is perhaps the core chapter of the book, in that it brings together ideas about the mind, genes, and culture from the previous two chapters, and sets up a basis for the … Continue reading
Posted in Book Notes, Culture, Human Progress, MInd, Science, science fiction
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More Dispatches from Alternative Realities
How Katie Britt, like other clueless Republicans, claims victimhood, and pleads for cash; Robert Wright on how the Trump-Biden choice won’t solve anything; Short items about Trump’s obsession with Hitler; how violent crime is down but you wouldn’t know it … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Culture, MInd, Politics
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EO Wilson, CONSILIENCE, 6
Chapter 7, From Genes to Culture This chapter is about “gene-culture coevolution.” Also, this is the point in the book where Wilson mentions C.P. Snow’s “Two Cultures” (which I discussed here almost six years ago.) Key points in this chapter: … Continue reading
Posted in Book Notes, Human Progress, MInd, Science
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Alternative Realities? Or The Twilight Zone?
Political links as views into an alternative reality, or perhaps the Twilight Zone; Michelle Goldberg about Mark Robinson; Peter Wehner about how Christians support a morally depraved ex-president; hypocrisy in Alabama; two pieces about Christian nationalist Matt Schaefer; Short items … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture, Politics, Religion
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Dishonesty? Or Cognitive Decline?
About Katie Britt’s response to Joe Biden’s SOTU speech, from Amanda Marcotte, AlterNet, The New Republic, Heather Cox Richardson, Saturday Night Live, and Paul Krugman; Trump’s cognitive decline, and how ‘polarization’ in the US is due to GOP’s radicalization; And … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Psychology, science fiction
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EO Wilson, CONSILIENCE, 5
Chapter 6: The Mind Here’s the chapter in Wilson that corresponds to Pinker’s entire book. There are ideas here that reflect some of Nagel‘s topics, as well, and some of the thoughts I had while reading his book. Key points … Continue reading
Posted in Book Notes, Human Progress, MInd, Science
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EO Wilson, CONSILIENCE, 4
Having finished reading that long Steven Pinker book, and blogging about it, I’m now returning to a contemporaneous book, published just a year after Pinker, E.O. Wilson’s CONSILIENCE, from 1998. After sampling it for years I read it through in … Continue reading
Posted in Book Notes, Human Progress, Science
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Cosmic and Psychological Lessons
Phil Plait on the scale of the cosmos; Beware of pluralistic ignorance; How math education can be better taught with examples about money. – – – Today’s cosmic lesson. Scientific American, Phil Plait, 8 Mar 2024: The Scale of … Continue reading
Posted in Astronomy, Cosmology, Mathematics, Psychology, Science
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The Anthropocene, or Not
Experts have declined to acknowledge “Anthropocene” as an official name for our current geological time; And how to some extent the decision was political, if not in the obvious sense; And wondering why Republicans continue to nominate candidates like Mark … Continue reading
