Category Archives: Culture

Salon on Cosmos, Neil deGrasse Tyson, science, and conservative denialism

Posted on Monday 9 June 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Several posts at Salon lately about “Cosmos”, Neil deGrasse Tyson, science, and conservative denialism. 5 Most Important Lessons from “Cosmos” Which are: It’s OK to not know all the answers Climate change is happening, and it’s made-made. Evolution: How did … Continue reading →

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No One Can Be An Expert on Everything

Posted on Friday 6 June 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

This post by Andrew Sullivan, about GOP denialism of climate change, raises fundamental epistemological questions about how we know *anything*. I’m not a scientist either. I have no expertise in measuring carbon levels back thousands of years; I have no … Continue reading →

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Sean Carroll: The Meaning of Life

Posted on Saturday 31 May 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

I was checking out Sean Carroll’s blog today, and saw this post with a YouTube excerpt of comments he made during a debate with Michael Shermer, Dinesh D’Souza, and Ian Hutchinson. Can’t resist quoting extensively, since he summarizes much of … Continue reading →

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Believers, the Bible, the Internet, and Humanity’s Future

Posted on Friday 30 May 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

The writer is a blogger who deconverted from Christianity and is frustrated by discussions he has on the internet: Why don’t theists admit they’re wrong? He’s reacting as I did earlier to the New Yorker article about how no evidence … Continue reading →

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Assorted Links and Quotes: Selective Thinking, Southern Atheists, Creationist Logic, Fox News, Neuroscience

Posted on Tuesday 27 May 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Assorted links from the past couple days: Neil deGrasse Tyson vs. the right: “Cosmos,” Christians, and the battle for American science, by Sean McElwee. About the selective thinking of the religious right in denying those Enlightenment values that threaten their … Continue reading →

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Noah and Science

Posted on Sunday 25 May 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

The ever incisive David Brin has a recent post on his blog, Noah, the Tower of Babel… and Science, which, somewhat analogously to the scientific argument (see previous post) that DNA analysis undermines the idea of a literal Adam and … Continue reading →

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It’s in the DNA

Posted on Sunday 25 May 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

The controversy about the revised “statement of belief” professors at the evangelical Bryan College, in Tennessee (named after Scopes trial prosecutor William Jennings Bryan), are being asked to sign, gets a fairly even-handed coverage in the New York Times: Bryan … Continue reading →

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What Would Make Someone Change Their Mind

Posted on Friday 23 May 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Fascinating essay in The New Yorker by Maria Konnikova, I Don’t Want to Be Right, which addresses the various results that show you just can’t change people’s minds with evidence. Could various pro-vaccination campaigns change parental attitudes toward vaccines? They … Continue reading →

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Climate Change, Denialism, and History’s Judgment: With a Prediction

Posted on Saturday 17 May 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

I love Andrew Sullivan’s blog, The Dish, since he gathers comments about many topics as well as responses to them, and is willing to post long reader comments that challenge earlier posts. (Sullivan is gay, but he’s also a self-described … Continue reading →

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Amateur Astronomy and Cultural Mythology

Posted on Saturday 3 May 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Since my post the other day about the my trigger to amateur astronomy in my youth, a grade-school textbook called A Dipper Full of Stars, I picked up the copy of that book I bought for a few dollars over … Continue reading →

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