Category Archives: Philosophy

Last Questions and Possible Answers, 4

Posted on Tuesday 28 November 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

This is my fourth and likely last post, following this one in March and this one in June, and this one eight days ago, in which I consider the John Brockman book The Last Unknowns, in which he gathers deep … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Culture, Human Progress, Philosophy, Religion, Science, science fiction | Comments Off on Last Questions and Possible Answers, 4

I Don’t Know. Not Everything has Meaning. And Nihilism. Not What You Think.

Posted on Monday 27 November 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Essay by Anne Lamott about what she’s learned at age 69; NYT’s Brad Stulberg about traumatic experiences and finding, or not, new meaning; A summary of my recent thinking about the narrative bias, metaphor, and “meaning”; Considering what “nihilism” is … Continue reading →

Posted in Meaning, Philosophy | Comments Off on I Don’t Know. Not Everything has Meaning. And Nihilism. Not What You Think.

Last Questions and Possible Answers, 3

Posted on Monday 20 November 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

This is my third post, following this one in March and this one in June, in which I consider the John Brockman book The Last Unknowns, in which he gathers deep unanswered questions about “the universe, the mind, the future … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Culture, Evolution, Human Progress, Mathematics, Philosophy, Physics, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Last Questions and Possible Answers, 3

Conservative Epistemology

Posted on Monday 6 November 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

The core belief that explains extremism on the right; Peter Wehner on how Republicans have chosen nihilism; My wondering what the deep explanation is for what’s happened on the right; Short items about GOP tax cheats, Trump’s latest outrageous lies, … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, Epistemology, Philosophy | Comments Off on Conservative Epistemology

How “Meaning” is just another example of the Narrative Bias

Posted on Saturday 28 October 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Three pieces from Big Think. How history is told by story-tellers, and cannot be taken literally; How philosophy advances science by asking forbidden questions; How questions about the “meaning of life” reveal the narrative bias. —— Three sciency links, all … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Meaning, Narrative, Philosophy, Science | Comments Off on How “Meaning” is just another example of the Narrative Bias

Deep Questions and Tribal Answers

Posted on Friday 6 October 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Science fiction and philosophy; The next frontier of book bans; Ken Ham rues the difficulty of indoctrinating children; Paul Krugman on voters, and why conservatives still think the economy is bad. Big Think, Jonny Thomson, 3 Oct 2023: Apocalypse philosophy: … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Politics, Religion, science fiction | Comments Off on Deep Questions and Tribal Answers

Change, and Conservative Retribution

Posted on Monday 4 September 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

A NY Times essay about why to stop resisting change; How the Republicans intend to impeach President Biden purely as a matter of retribution, without any evidence of any crimes committed. Here’s a curious piece from Sunday’s NY Times, though … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Philosophy, Politics | Comments Off on Change, and Conservative Retribution

Items about the 20% and the 1%

Posted on Sunday 27 August 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Vivek Ramaswamy’s simplistic 10 “truths” includes one about the primacy of the nuclear family (compare my post two days ago); E.J. Dionne Jr. about how Republicans are focused on three different “yesterdays,” all since the 1980s, and not the future; … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Politics, Religion | Comments Off on Items about the 20% and the 1%

Three Philosophical/Scientific Matters

Posted on Sunday 23 July 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

I’m spending most of today’s blog hour doing some housekeeping on the blog itself. For today’s post, just one item, sorta deep, sorta light. Big Think, Scotty Hendricks, 18 Jul 2023: 3 advances in philosophy that made science better, subtitled … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Science, Website Issues | Comments Off on Three Philosophical/Scientific Matters

Consciousness and Choices

Posted on Thursday 13 July 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

The problem of consciousness, and the resolution to a 25-year-old debate, via Vox and NYT’s Carl Zimmer; The paradox of choice, in supermarkets and everywhere else, in our abundant, materialistic world. Vox, Oshan Jarow, 30 Jun 2023: Why scientists haven’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Philosophy, Psychology, Science | Comments Off on Consciousness and Choices