Category Archives: Culture

Link and Quotes: Frank Bruni on the pandemic and freedom

Posted on Wednesday 22 July 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

I saw this via Facebook, and I can’t just now find a cleaner URL: NYT: Frank Bruni, So This Is Your Idea of Freedom? He’s says more eloquently what I was trying to say a couple days ago. What does … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Science | Comments Off on Link and Quotes: Frank Bruni on the pandemic and freedom

Andrew Sullivan: Inspiration for this Blog; essay on Pandemics

Posted on Tuesday 21 July 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

[draft] Trying to look away from all the stories about crazy protesters who object to wearing masks and who think the pandemic is all a conspiracy theory they can blame on people they don’t like… To look at long thought-pieces … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Coronavirus, Climate Change, Risk Assessment

Posted on Wednesday 8 July 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

(updated 9jul20, 11jul20) Salon, Amanda Marcotte: Climate-change denial and the coronavirus “hoax” are the same conspiracy theory. The worldwide conspiracy is vast — so vast that most of the world’s scientists, journalists and political leaders are in on it. Somehow, … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Psychology | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Coronavirus, Climate Change, Risk Assessment

Notes for the Book: Timelines

Posted on Sunday 5 July 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

I love timelines, especially those scaled depictions of the progress of time from left (the past) to right (the present and the future). Back in the 8th grade, I think it was, I constructed such a timeline on a scroll … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Jonathan Haidt; Religious presumption; Hanlon’s razor; H.L. Mencken; Mark Lilla on prophecy

Posted on Wednesday 17 June 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

The Atlantic: Jonathan Haidt Is Trying to Heal America’s Divisions: The psychologist shares his thoughts on the pandemic, polarization, and politics. Great profile, though long, of Jonathan Haidt, author of one of the best books I’ve ever read, The Righteous … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Religion | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Jonathan Haidt; Religious presumption; Hanlon’s razor; H.L. Mencken; Mark Lilla on prophecy

Rutger Bregman’s Ten Rules to Live By

Posted on Monday 15 June 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

I do love lists, especially of principles, and a new one comes with a book called HUMANKIND: A HOPEFUL HISTORY, by Rutger Bregman, whose previous book was the provocative UTOPIA FOR REALISTS (which discussed, among other things, the idea of … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Loners, Law and Religion, Our Anti-Science Leaders, the Roots of Science Denial

Posted on Saturday 23 May 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

Atlantic: How Loners Are an Evolutionary Insurance Policy This echoes my comments about how diversity is needed in the human race because different attitudes and skills may be needed in situations that require different ways to survive. Though the article … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Evolution, Science | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Loners, Law and Religion, Our Anti-Science Leaders, the Roots of Science Denial

Links and Comments: Socialism, Conspiracy Theories, Religion, Rationality, Liberalism, William Barr, Republicans

Posted on Friday 20 March 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

First, a David Brooks column from back in December: I Was Once a Socialist. Then I Saw How It Worked. I was a socialist in college. I read magazines like The Nation and old issues of The New Masses. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture, Humanism, Psychology, Religion | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Socialism, Conspiracy Theories, Religion, Rationality, Liberalism, William Barr, Republicans

Sam Harris, THE END OF FAITH (2004)

Posted on Wednesday 18 March 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

Sam Harris, The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason. Norton, 2004. In the 2000s, in the aftermath of 9/11, several well-known intellectuals wrote books examining the bases and legitimacy of religion in general. Four of them—Sam … Continue reading →

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Hans Rosling: FACTFULNESS (2018)

Posted on Wednesday 11 March 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

This is a book that explores why most people are wrong on key facts about the world, thinking it worse than it is, e.g. concerning poverty, life expectancy, etc. In a sense it’s a modern-day counterpart to Steven Pinker’s THE … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Changing One's Mind, Culture, Social Progress | Comments Off on Hans Rosling: FACTFULNESS (2018)