Category Archives: Psychology

The Assertions of Ideologues; Common Enemies

Posted on Friday 16 June 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

How the Republicans’ budget plan ignores the record of history; How conservatives don’t mind Muslims as long as they’re all against LGBTQ rights; Another review of the book about a conservative “regime change” for the “common good” — a Christian … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Psychology, Religion | Comments Off on The Assertions of Ideologues; Common Enemies

Donald Trump, Owen Gingerich, Heather Cox Richardson

Posted on Monday 12 June 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

A neuroscientist on why Trump loyalists are unbreakable; Why the astronomer Owen Gingerich saw God in the Cosmos; How Heather Cox Richardson dismantles the Republican charges that the DOJ is “weaponized” to take down Donald Trump. So why does a … Continue reading →

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America’s Crackpots vs. Its Foundational Strength

Posted on Saturday 10 June 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Items today: 12m people support violence to keep Trump in office; Kari Lake threatens violence to keep Trump in office; Florida wants immigrants to stay and work, despite the state’s anti-immigrant policies; Families in Florida who feel unsafe are leaving … Continue reading →

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Then They Came for the Meteorologists

Posted on Monday 29 May 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Today’s items. How conspiracy theorists are attacking meteorologists; Naomi Oreskes on how the right attacks Social Security because it’s a “big government” program that actually works; The connection between American Christians and Uganda’s “kill the gays” policy And today’s music: … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Music, Psychology | Comments Off on Then They Came for the Meteorologists

Three from SciAm

Posted on Wednesday 24 May 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Scientific American is a magazine I’ve read intermittently for 50 years. A new take on the difference between liberals and conservatives; How most Americans think they are better than most people, but people in Asian countries do not; How there … Continue reading →

Posted in Mathematics, Psychology, Science | Comments Off on Three from SciAm

More Examples of What MAGA Really Means

Posted on Monday 22 May 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Items today: How Florida has been designated a dangerous state for blacks, Latinos, and sexual minorities to visit, with Tennessee close behind Florida and Texas on implementing similar policies; Marjorie Taylor Greene’s hypocrisy about drag (she condemns it, except when … Continue reading →

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Today’s Fantasy vs. Reality Watch

Posted on Sunday 21 May 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Items today about How Americans feel so negative about the economy, despite actual statistics; How Christian Nationalism is working in Wyoming — the usual evocations of concerns that are not real; How to determine truth, with an aside about science-fictional … Continue reading →

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Budgeting, Firearms, Walls, and Executing Trans People

Posted on Thursday 18 May 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Several items today. How family and government budgeting are more unalike than similar; How firearms training teaches you that you are in constant danger, and should shoot at once; Thomas L. Friedman on building bigger walls, but also allowing in … Continue reading →

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Motivated Reasoning, and Vigilantism

Posted on Wednesday 17 May 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Two themes today. A prime example of motivated reasoning, from today’s NY Times font page (as if on cue from yesterday’s post), about conservative opposition to transgenders And several examples of the increasing Republican approval of vigilantism NY Times, 16 … Continue reading →

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Skepticism, Beliefs, and Cognitive Biases

Posted on Tuesday 16 May 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Familiar topics, but worth another look, especially since if they were broadly understood it would make so many of America’s partisan controversies go away. (But conservatives will never allow concepts like skeptical thinking to be taught in schools, for precisely … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture, Psychology | Comments Off on Skepticism, Beliefs, and Cognitive Biases