Category Archives: MInd

Links and Comments from Sunday’s New York Times

Posted on Monday 19 October 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Front page article: Indian Writers Return Awards to Protest Government Silence on Violence File this under Conservative [religious] Resistance: …growing activism from conservative Hindu nationalists who seek to suppress forms of expression they view as offensive to their religion. They … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, MInd, Provisional Conclusions, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Links and Comments from Sunday’s New York Times

David Brooks: American Exceptionalism vs. Conservatism

Posted on Monday 28 September 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

David Brooks’ column in Friday’s (Sept. 25th) New York Times for once said something that completely resonates with me, without his usual waffling and obeisance to parochial religious sentiment: The American Idea and Today’s G.O.P.. He takes the idea of … Continue reading →

Posted in MInd, Morality, Provisional Conclusions | Comments Off on David Brooks: American Exceptionalism vs. Conservatism

Links and Comments: Autism and the Perception of Reality

Posted on Tuesday 18 August 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Two recent items about autism. First, at Alternet, Florida Principal Tries to Quietly Ban Book to Appease Christians, Sets off Sh*tstorm Instead, in which said principal responded to a “handful of Christian parents” who objected to the acclaimed 2003 novel … Continue reading →

Posted in Children, Conservative Resistance, Culture, MInd, Religion | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Autism and the Perception of Reality

Links and Comments: Biblical Literalism; the Manhattan Option; the excessive optimism of 2001; Neil de Grasse Tyson explains everything

Posted on Monday 3 August 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Adam Lee: So Wrong For So Long: On Liberal Biblical Reinterpretation Lee discusses the cognitive dissonance of those who espouse progressive social views while maintaining fealty to their Biblical-based religions. They rely on relativistic interpretation of scripture, as if the … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, MInd, Religion, Science, science fiction, Space | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Biblical Literalism; the Manhattan Option; the excessive optimism of 2001; Neil de Grasse Tyson explains everything

How Science Works, Concerning that Retracted Gay Marriage Survey, and the Ironies

Posted on Monday 25 May 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

New York Times op-ed: What’s Behind Big Science Frauds? Other links: SFGate: Study retracted: 20 minutes actually CAN’T change a homophobe’s mind The New Yorker, Maria Konnikova: How a Gay-Marriage Study Went Wrong This concerns a report from a few … Continue reading →

Posted in MInd, Psychology, Science, The Gays | Comments Off on How Science Works, Concerning that Retracted Gay Marriage Survey, and the Ironies

Bad Astronomy, 1

Posted on Tuesday 12 May 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

I’m currently reading through the eponymous book by the popular ‘Bad Astronomy’ blogger Phil Plait, now posting regularly at Slate.com, where he celebrates scientific breakthroughs and criticizes anti-science movements (anti-vaxxers, state-sanctioned teaching of creationism, etc.). His first book, which I’ll … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Book Notes, MInd | Comments Off on Bad Astronomy, 1

A Month’s Worth of Links and Comments

Posted on Friday 1 May 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

New York Times, March 20: In the Age of Information, Specializing to Survive The Internet makes it easy to learn almost anything. And yet And yet, even as the highbrow holy grail — the acquisition of complete knowledge — seems … Continue reading →

Posted in Children, Culture, Economics, Evolution, MInd, Morality, Narrative, Psychology, Religion, Science, The Gays | Comments Off on A Month’s Worth of Links and Comments

Once Again: Turn Away

Posted on Tuesday 17 February 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Via AZ Lyrics, the last verse [updated per comment below] Turn, turn away From the weight of your own words It’s magic for the devil And betray the lack of change Once you have spoken Turn away [Update 18feb15: listening … Continue reading →

Posted in MInd, Music, Narrative | Comments Off on Once Again: Turn Away

Links and Comments: Memory, Math, Church and State, Faith, Facts, Stories

Posted on Friday 5 December 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

New York Times: Why Our Memory Fails Us A fascinating NYT op-ed about the fallibility of memory, led by a notorious example from Neil DeGrasse Tyson. \/\/\/\/ Math Anxiety: Why Hollywood Makes Robots of Alan Turing and Other Geniuses How … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Culture, Lunacy, Mathematics, MInd, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Memory, Math, Church and State, Faith, Facts, Stories

Scientific fidelity vs narrative; anti-gay bigotry and socialism; the ecology of faith; Valerie Tarico on religion; Hans Zimmer and conceptual breakthrough

Posted on Tuesday 18 November 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s one of several articles in the past week or so about why we should not nitpick the science in Interstellar: Slate: Back Off, Scientists: Don’t be so nitpicky about the technical details of sci-fi movies like Interstellar I have … Continue reading →

Posted in Evolution, Films, MInd, Music, Psychology, Religion, The Gays | Comments Off on Scientific fidelity vs narrative; anti-gay bigotry and socialism; the ecology of faith; Valerie Tarico on religion; Hans Zimmer and conceptual breakthrough