Category Archives: Evolution

Jerry Coyne on Deepak Chopra, Alex Ross on Max Richter, and others

Posted on Wednesday 12 April 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Jerry Coyne on Deepak Chopra And on the latest argument for the compatibility of science and faith A misleading article on the recent “paradigm” shift in the understanding of human evolution Reviews of new books by Sarah Bakewell and Sarah … Continue reading →

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Evolution Understood and Not Understood

Posted on Thursday 9 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

I mentioned those John Brockman anthologies of science essays back on Feb 4th. They’re associated with the website Edge.org, one of those fascinating websites I’ve noticed over the years but have not followed regularly (others are Big Think, Quanta, Aero, … Continue reading →

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Yuval Noah Harari, UNSTOPPABLE US

Posted on Thursday 12 January 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s a book I read near the end of last year that, like the Dawkins book recently reviewed, is a book directed at young people. Like the Dawkins, it’s heavily illustrated; unlike that, Harari’s book is essentially a rewrite of … Continue reading →

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Richard Dawkins, FLIGHTS OF FANCY: Defying Gravity by Design & Evolution

Posted on Wednesday 4 January 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

This book was released in the UK in November 2021 — here’s its Amazon UK page — and was announced for US release in May 2022. I ordered the latter when it came out; here is its Amazon.com page. Turns … Continue reading →

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Doom and Existential Dread

Posted on Sunday 11 December 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

About the stages of the Republican Party’s terminal illness (doom); and about why conservatives disapprove of same-sex relationships more than any number of other supposed Biblical sins (existential dread); and my explanation for the latter.

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Extreme vs. Necessary Solutions

Posted on Monday 28 November 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

To the imminent destruction of the planet. Allow the human race to go extinct? Cut back on capitalist consumption? (Which would be worse?)

Posted in Culture, Evolution, Human Progress | Comments Off on Extreme vs. Necessary Solutions

Ari Wallach, LONGPATH: Becoming the Great Ancestors Our Future Needs

Posted on Saturday 5 November 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

This is a modest little book with great ambitions to change the way people think. And more power to it if it does. But for anyone who reads science fiction, for example, or is familiar with big issues and long-term … Continue reading →

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Intuitive Justice

Posted on Thursday 3 November 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Reading: Salon, Daniel Sznycer (and Carlton Patrick), 2 Nov 2022: Intuitions about justice are a consistent part of human nature across cultures and millennia Subtitled: “Two professors explain that a moral compass — which appraises right and wrong — is … Continue reading →

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Prognostic Myopia: More about Justin Gregg

Posted on Thursday 22 September 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Picking up from where I left off yesterday. My basic summary of this book is: humans are not “stupid”; the issue is that human intelligence has both good and bad consequences, and apparently we can’t have the good without the … Continue reading →

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Justin Gregg: IF NIETZSCHE WERE A NARWHAL (2022)

Posted on Wednesday 21 September 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s a recent nonfiction book with a provocative thesis and some interesting points which nevertheless I give a mixed review of. Perhaps helpful to consider scoring the book along several independent parameters, like on some of those cooking shows, e.g. … Continue reading →

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