Author Archives: Mark R. Kelly

Saturday Updates

More from NY Times on Republican plans to let climate change wreck the planet; Updates on stories about DeSantis slitting throats and A.P. Psychology in Florida; Another story about a Republican claiming credit for a Biden initiative that he fought; … Continue reading

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Figuring Out Trump Voters

Two views to explain the loyalty of Trump voters. There was a long NYT op-ed by David Brooks posted a couple days ago and printed in today’s paper, offering an irresistible counter-intuitive thesis. And a response today by a writer … Continue reading

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Sagan & Druyan: Propensities and Predispositions

A couple hours ago I finished that Carl Sagan/Ann Druyan book I mentioned a couple days ago, and it’s remarkable how its conclusions resemble my own recent observations about how certain forms of human morality align to conservative politics, and … Continue reading

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More on the Latest Indictment

Goofy Republican responses to the latest indictment, about Federal employees, and to the teaching of psychology; The spectacle goes on and on, as the US experiences what some are saying is the most important legal indictment in its history: John … Continue reading

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Conservative Morality

Items today respond to the latest indictment of a certain former president, how his supporters respond, and me trying to wrap my mind around what his supporters think morality and law and order actually is. But I have an idea … Continue reading

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Vetting Online News Sources

About “critical ignoring”, vetting sources of news before you read them; The distractions of the internet; Today’s back-of-the-envelope timeline, from Savannah/tribal morality to Enlightenment values and now back to Savannah/tribal morality. Here’s a piece, which I probably stumbled upon via … Continue reading

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The Small Town Song and Human Morality, and other topics

More thoughts about that Small Town song, in that it reflects one stage (stage 3 of 6, actually) in a hierarchy of human morality; Facebook posts about religious claims, and Brian Cox’s take on the UFO hearings; And Republican plans … Continue reading

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Doomscrolling Climate Change; and Small Towns

The latest about climate change, and wondering when will the conservative deniers admit there is a problem; More about that vigilante justice country song, and Bruce Springsteen. Perhaps I should cut back on the doomscrolling. I don’t actually scroll looking … Continue reading

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My Uninterest in UFOs

No, I don’t mean disinterest. I’ve mentioned before that people who are unfamiliar with science fiction, or with science fiction writers and fans, tend to assume that SF folks are credulous along the lines of “believing” in UFOs, where “believing” … Continue reading

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Varieties of Psychological Illusions

Wokeness Wars and three Great Untruths; More on that study that explains why people think the past was better, despite evidence. – Jerry Coyne’s website today has this post: Andrew Doyle: The culture war is not fake, but real and … Continue reading

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