Search Results for: adam grant

Nonfiction Notes: Adam Grant’s THINK AGAIN

Posted on Friday 26 March 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Adam Grant, THINK AGAIN: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know (2021) This is a recent book, still on the bestseller lists, by an author I had not previously encountered. He’s a professor and TED talker. The book seems … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Psychology, Science | Comments Off on Nonfiction Notes: Adam Grant’s THINK AGAIN

Adam Frank, THE LITTLE BOOK OF ALIENS

Posted on Wednesday 24 January 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s what looked like a fun, occasional book: a popular summary of a popular topic that’s well-known among followers of science and of science fiction. I bought it to glance through, not necessarily read through. But then I heard the … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Book Notes, Science | Comments Off on Adam Frank, THE LITTLE BOOK OF ALIENS

Tim Urban, WHAT’S OUR PROBLEM?, post 1

Posted on Tuesday 13 May 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

(Wait But Why, 2024, 584pp, including 112pp of characters, acknowledgements, notes, bibliography, and bio) I wrote about this book back in December, before deciding to buy it. Which I did despite some cautionary signs: it’s apparently self-published, it’s enormous, it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, conservatives, Culture, Human Nature, Human Progress | Comments Off on Tim Urban, WHAT’S OUR PROBLEM?, post 1

Musk, History, Science, Education

Posted on Monday 14 April 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Adam Grant on the wrong lesson to take from Elon Musk; David Remnick on the conservative urge to rewrite the past in simplistic terms; RFK Jr.’s contempt of science; And the conservative war against education. – – – Adam Grant … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, History, Politics, Psychology | Comments Off on Musk, History, Science, Education

Perhaps Humanity Has Hit a Conceptual Ceiling

Posted on Sunday 13 April 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Alternate title: America was supposed to be better than this. Perhaps MAGA is about making America *simpler* again; perhaps what we’re seeing is a rejection of the complexity of the modern world; Why is it Americans love watching crime shows? … Continue reading →

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On This July 4th

Posted on Thursday 4 July 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

It’s worth paying attention from time to time what conservatives really want, and more importantly, their rationales. NY Times, Ruth Graham, 4 Jul 2024: Why a New Conservative Brain Trust Is Resettling Across America, subtitled “Pro-Trump professionals aren’t just talking … Continue reading →

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Conservatives and Mental Health

Posted on Monday 21 August 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

How Republican fears reveal their own mental health crisis; How Trump voters trust him more than family, friends, or clergy; How the worst people run for office (from Adam Grant), and how SF has anticipated this (from Isaac Asimov). This … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Social Progress | Comments Off on Conservatives and Mental Health

Things That Are Not True, and Immorality

Posted on Tuesday 24 January 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Catching up on interesting items from the past few days, about the Christian right’s embrace of a “lying libertine,” how faith healers who kill their children get away with it in some states, how Republicans who lose elections react to … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Morality, Science | Comments Off on Things That Are Not True, and Immorality

David McRaney, HOW MINDS CHANGE

Posted on Thursday 4 August 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

How Minds Change: The Surprising Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion (Portfolio/Penguin, June 2022, 330pp) Almost a decade ago I discovered two books by David McRaney, YOU ARE NOT SO SMART (2011) and YOU ARE NOW LESS DUMB (2013) that … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Psychology | Comments Off on David McRaney, HOW MINDS CHANGE

Ls&Cs: Facebook quotes; More about book banning; The crazies

Posted on Saturday 29 January 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Jesse Bering; Adam Grant; Rod Serling; Dr. Seuss and cancel culture; crazies Sherri T and Candace O.

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture | Comments Off on Ls&Cs: Facebook quotes; More about book banning; The crazies