Mark R. Kelly
» Founder in 1997 and site-runner for 20 years of Locus Online (Hugo Award winner in 2002). Founder in 2012 and still site-runner of sfadb.com (Science Fiction Awards Database). Retired in 2012 after 30 years as a software engineer for a certain rocket engine factory.
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Meta
Category Archives: Philosophy
Nonfiction Notes: Alan Lightman’s PROBABLE IMPOSSIBILITIES
Alan Lightman: PROBABLE IMPOSSIBILITIES (2021) This is a new book of essays by a professor at MIT, author of earlier books including the well-regarded novel Einstein’s Dreams (Wikipedia, way back in 1993) and most recently of essay collection Searching for … Continue reading
Posted in Book Notes, Philosophy, Science
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Links and Comments: Science Matters, 18 Mar 2021
Catching up on things that have caught me eye the past week or two. How humans have remade the Earth; about Daylight Saving Time; Dark Matter; How time might flow in two directions; the Nature of mathematics.
Posted in Mathematics, Philosophy
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Thinking On Blog: Wise Men
(This is a blog post version of the process of “thinking out loud.”) In a book I read recently – it was Michael Shermer’s first book, WHY PEOPLE BELIEVE WEIRD THINGS, my comments posted here) — the author made the … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Religion
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A Hierarchy of Human Needs
Like the hierarchy of morality (discussed here), this one is not mine. It’s an idea first proposed by psychologist Abraham Maslow in 1943. Wikipedia has this entry about it. It runs like this, from the most basic:
Posted in Philosophy
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Link and Comments: Dawkins, via Coyne, on Science and Truth
Today Jerry Coyne’s site (even though it’s a blog, with chronological posts every day, sometimes several a day, he’s obstinate about not calling it a blog, but a site) links an article by Richard Dawkins at the UK magazine The … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Science
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Principles and Moral Guidelines, Update
I polished my Principles page today, tightening a bit, and adding a section at the end listing my favorite alternatives to the Biblical Ten Commandments.
Posted in Humanism, Morality, Philosophy, Psychology
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Notes for the Book: Simplex, Complex, Multiplex
Several themes are starting to gel, so perhaps I’ll record some of my current thoughts as they now stand. Just the act of writing a blog post helps me organize and clarify them. I still find myself learning: almost every … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, science fiction, The Book
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Bertrand Russell: Why I Am Not a Christian: Summary and Comments
This is a famous essay/lecture by one of the 20th century’s most influential philosophers. I first read the book containing this essay in 1979, when I was 23; I was thrilled to find someone so eminent unapologetically spell out the … Continue reading
Posted in Book Notes, Philosophy, Religion, Science
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More on the Enlightenment and Its Critics
An essay by Damon Linker at The Week. (I’ve seen Linker’s work on various website for years; he’s an interesting commentator, though one perhaps without any consistent philosophy; he seems to enjoy playing the contrarian role.) The Enlightenment’s legacy is … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Science, science fiction
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Thought Leaders
A couple days ago I was dipping into Peter Singer’s latest book, Ethics in the Real World: 82 Brief Essays on Things That Matter, and saw him mention something about his being a “thought leader” according to some German outfit … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Links, Philosophy, Thinking
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