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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Meta
Author Archives: Mark R. Kelly
Estate Matters
Busy with estate matters today. It’s not easy being an executor. So many things to take care of. People who do not respond to your emails. One pic for today, almost full-sized, of books he left behind.
Posted in Personal history
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Can Education Account for Evolutionary Change?
Steven Pinker on education, and how it might prioritize overcoming base intuitions that don’t apply in the modern world; The naturalistic fallacy and DeSantis’ and Fetterman’s objections to lab-grown meat. This month I’m working my way through the last ‘big’ … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Education, Evolution, Psychology
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Trust in Science, Bertrand Russell, and Religious “Truth”
An item about restoring trust in science, which doesn’t say very much except to improve education; A reading from Bertrand Russell, about religion, morals, and science; How a religious thinker thinks historians should only tell history that is “inspiring and … Continue reading
Posted in Epistemology, Philosophy, Religion, Science
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Another Gloss on Philosophy
I think I mentioned this book before. It’s a compilation of rough summaries of twelve general topics, from American Studies to World History, with literature, music, philosophy, religion, science, and others in between, written for people who worry that their … Continue reading
Posted in Cosmology, Philosophy, Religion
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Illiberalism, and the Wood Age
“Illiberalism” and its history in the US; How perhaps the “Stone Age” is perhaps better described as the “Wood Age” — how science can update stale conclusions; How some “smart people” hold noxious conspiracy theories too; Kristi Noem would have … Continue reading
Posted in History, Morality, Philosophy, Politics
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Photos from Austin
I’ll post these without explanation, for now.
Posted in Personal history
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How Art and Education are Not about Making People Feel Comfortable
Today’s reading is about art and education and how they’re not intended to make students feel comfortable, but rather to challenge their parochial assumptions and expand their worldviews; And a bunch of everyday items, today mostly about the right’s conspiracy … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture
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Progress and Retreat
A reading from Steven Pinker, about progress the MAGA folks are reacting against; Double standards about Trump and presidential immunity; J.D. Vance and protesters; DeSantis and woke banks; the National Day of Prayer; another Republican taking advantage of a bill … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, progress, Steven Pinker
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Ideology, Principles, and Fantasy
How Project 2025 is based on misconceptions; Heather Cox Richardson on Trump’s plans and how many people seem to welcome them; Slate on how Trump waffles on the abortion issue; And how Arizona’s repeal of the 1864 abortion ban undermines … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Morality, Politics
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Monoculture and Tribalist Thinking
Travel perspectives; Is everything a cult now? If so, the word has lost all meaning; Is religion just a tribal marker? Then why do so many Christian zealots want to impose their beliefs on others, to the point of executions? … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Psychology, Travel
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