Category Archives: Human Nature

Lukianoff & Haidt, THE CODDLING OF THE AMERICAN MIND

Posted on 1 September 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s a book that was published six years ago this month, and which I read one year ago last month. Subtitle: “How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting Up a Generation for Failure” (Penguin Press, Sept. 2018, 338pp, including … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Culture, Human Nature, Psychology | Comments Off on Lukianoff & Haidt, THE CODDLING OF THE AMERICAN MIND

Human Nature, Morality, Politics

Posted on 28 August 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

I think the title here is the name for the broad category of my interests. They all blend together. They connect. For today: Would conservatives ever allow a revision of the US Constitution? No matter how dysfunctional it’s become, no … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Nature, Morality, Politics | Comments Off on Human Nature, Morality, Politics

Examining The Techno-Humanist Manifesto

Posted on 24 August 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s a piece that challenges my challenge to the assumption, especially in America, than more is better, that the economy must always expand, that the population should continue to increase indefinitely. My point has been that this literally cannot continue … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Nature, Philosophy, progress | Comments Off on Examining The Techno-Humanist Manifesto

Brian Greene: UNTIL THE END OF TIME, post 5

Posted on 10 August 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Final post summarizing this Brian Greene book. Earlier: post 1, post 2, post 3, post 4. The final three chapters return to the cosmic scope of the book’s overall theme, exploring what we’ve concluded about the far future and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Evolution, Human Nature, Meaning | Comments Off on Brian Greene: UNTIL THE END OF TIME, post 5

Steven Pinker: THE BLANK SLATE, post 10

Posted on 2 August 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Finally: the last topic chapter, about The Arts, and then the final chapter. Earlier posts about this book: post 1, post 2, post 3, post 4, post 5, post 6, post 7, post 8, post 9. – – – –Ch20, … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Human Nature, Psychology, Steven Pinker | Comments Off on Steven Pinker: THE BLANK SLATE, post 10

Steven Pinker: THE BLANK SLATE, post 9

Posted on 1 August 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

This time: Children. The old nature vs. nurture debate is too simplistic and binary. Given implications of our innate human nature, the (by now unsurprising) takeaway here is that parents have far less influence on their children than people have … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Children, Culture, Human Nature, Psychology, Steven Pinker | Comments Off on Steven Pinker: THE BLANK SLATE, post 9

Today’s Post About How Politics Illustrates Human Nature, For Better or Worse, Mostly Worse

Posted on 29 July 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

How Republicans cheer mass deportation; How JD Vance’s comments reflect conservative values that prioritize children over adults; Two pieces about how Republican values have been abandoned their traditional core values, in the service of a tyrant; Items about the deliberate … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Nature, MInd, Politics | Comments Off on Today’s Post About How Politics Illustrates Human Nature, For Better or Worse, Mostly Worse

The Need for a Fantasy Past

Posted on 28 July 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

There are two problems with MAGA. First, it’s regressive in that it’s trying to reimpose primitive tribal values onto a complex, global world. Second, more practically, it’s simply not possible to return to conditions of the past. Today’s items: Why … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, Economics, Human Nature | Comments Off on The Need for a Fantasy Past

The Resurgence of Tribal Human Nature

Posted on 27 July 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Again, one theme of this blog is the resurgence of tribal human nature and morality, at the expense of the achievements of the Enlightenment: Science and Democracy; With examples today beginning with “childless cat ladies” from the right; How Trump … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, Human Nature, Morality | Comments Off on The Resurgence of Tribal Human Nature

Tribal Human Nature Fights Back

Posted on 26 July 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Thomas L. Friedman asks Trump and Vance: What is wrong with you people? Republican attacks against Kamala Harris as being childless reveal base tribal motivations for how society ought to be run; And who’s brainwashing whom? Do children ‘belong’ to … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Nature, Politics, Religion | Comments Off on Tribal Human Nature Fights Back