Category Archives: Human Nature

A World We Can’t Trust

Posted on Tuesday 29 September 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Bill McKibben on how we weren’t built for a world like this; Locus server issues today; More destruction: Trump scales back fuel emission standards, and removes supports for LGBTQ+ folks; How Trump’s new AI-powered America.gov tells truths that counter Trump’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Nature, Psychology, Technology | Leave a comment

Abdication

Posted on Thursday 24 September 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

History runs in cycles, sorta. The US has gone through isolationist periods before. Though this time it may be part of general reaction against modernity and complexity. Salon, Heather Digby Parton, today: Donald Trump abdicates as leader of the free … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Nature, Politics | Leave a comment

It’s Not Just MAGA

Posted on Monday 21 September 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

There’s right-wing rejection of modern values in Europe, too; The end of American exceptionalism, which has been going on for some time; Who does Trump want to shoot with snipers on his Triumphal Arch? A study about children exposed to … Continue reading →

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Science, Ultimate Questions, and Belief

Posted on Sunday 20 September 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Scientific American on whether some questions may never be answered, with my thoughts on humanity’s cognitive limitations; David Brooks interviews astrophysicist Priyamvada Natarajan about humanity’s place in the cosmos: we’re significant because we can shape our realm, even though we … Continue reading →

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AI and Human Nature

Posted on Saturday 19 September 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Considering whether doomers and skeptics about AI are both a little bit right (I remain agnostic); What ‘misalignment’ means; Istvan Csicsery-Ronay on what to expect if AI is built on human literature. – – – It’s usually not true that … Continue reading →

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Possibilities of Apocalypse

Posted on Friday 18 September 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

An essay about how the dangers of technology, like AI, have been avoided before (e.g. with nuclear technology), through various kinds of government regulations (not to mention international cooperation); And yet there are more incidents of bad AI behavior; Now … Continue reading →

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Peter Singer: A DARWINIAN LEFT

Posted on Wednesday 16 September 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: Politics, Evolution and Cooperation (UK 1999; Yale University Press, 2000, 70pp, including 7pp notes and references) What’s interesting about this book is the background of progressive idealism that is not widely acknowledged, or perhaps has simply been forgotten. That … Continue reading →

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The Conservative Denial of Existential Threats

Posted on Monday 14 September 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Trump thinks concerns about AI are a hoax; Paul Krugman relates AI to climate change: the MAGA plot(s) to destroy humanity. – – – Trump thinks concern about AI is a hoax. CNN, today: Trump dismisses AI alarms as a … Continue reading →

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Hiking is a Modern Invention

Posted on Sunday 13 September 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

The idea of hiking was not a thing until relatively recently; How Trump is stifling free speech; Brief items about hurricanes and methane; Nice Bruckner 6 performance by Myung-Whun Chung. – – – First, a think piece. About how the … Continue reading →

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How the Terrorists Won, in a Sense

Posted on Saturday 12 September 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Passing through airport security is an example of how the terrorists won, and maybe what led to MAGA and Trump; Jonathan V. Last on how terrorism sometimes works; (And how terrorists are motivated by religion); The reflecting pool contractor admits … Continue reading →

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