Author Archives: Mark R. Kelly

Two Philosophical Bits

Posted on Friday 24 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Are you the same person you were last week? How long should you shop?

Posted in Philosophy, science fiction | Comments Off

Arguing to Win, Not to Be Right

Posted on Thursday 23 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Two books about how to argue; more on the “national divorce”; and items about the right-wing battle for the next century, train deregulation, a new target list of enemies, and buying your way onto bestseller lists. Here’s a review in … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Psychology | Comments Off

Red and Blue and Diversity

Posted on Wednesday 22 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

About a fringe notion to split the US into separate nations of red and blue states; and about the range of human nature and the value of diversity. Haven’t run this item yet; it seemed so fringe, a couple days … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Morality, Politics, Psychology | Comments Off

The Gaps Between Beliefs and Reality

Posted on Tuesday 21 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Items today about how Americans treat Presidents’ Day and other holidays; about more Republicans lying on their resumes; why Fox News viewers don’t care the network is lying to them; and why Putin’s fabulations about his war in Ukraine appeal … Continue reading →

Posted in Lunacy, Narrative, Philosophy, Politics | Comments Off

The Western Tradition

Posted on Monday 20 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Two related items today. Florida’s idea of a Christian, Western tradition that students should be tested to, instead of SAT; and a professor’s debunking of a “grand narrative of Western Civilization”, via a book review at PW. Hemant Mehta, Friendly … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, History | Comments Off

Political News, Ratings Forward

Posted on Sunday 19 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

How Fox News prioritizes ratings above truth or principles of journalism; How Florida is seeking to replace SAT with “Christian” testing; How and why to shame Republican judges; How the far-right is ascendant on college campuses. NY Times, Michelle Goldberg, … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Lunacy, Politics | Comments Off

Brockman, This Explains Everything, 1

Posted on Saturday 18 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Key topics so far: Evolution by means of natural selection. How life is a digital code. Reflective equilibrium and the evolution of non-objective morality. How evolution explains the conflicts in human social life. And how levels of such “variation-selection processes” … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Science | Comments Off

Stickiness of Nonbelief

Posted on Friday 17 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

How nonbelief is stickier than belief. Plus: Fox News lied! Who would have thought? And: how UFOs and CRT go together; the number of respectable Republicans. \ OnlySky, Andrew Fiala, 15 Feb 2023: What the stickiness of nonbelief says about … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Politics, Religion | Comments Off

The Myth of the Perfect Past

Posted on Thursday 16 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

When life was simple and everything you were supposed to know was contained in a single book. Also: why The Lord of the Rings is so appealing to the right; media libel laws; policing; and a lagniappe about a real … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Philosophy, Politics | Comments Off

Hypocrisy and Indoctrination

Posted on Wednesday 15 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

I’ve noted before how conservatives denounce “indoctrination” except when they’re the ones doing the indoctrinating. Examples include DeSantis imposing conservative values on a Florida college long known as a bastion of “free thinkers”. And examples of people believing things that … Continue reading →