Category Archives: Psychology

George Gamow: One Two Three… Infinity

Posted on Wednesday 10 August 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s an oldie, not just for first being published in 1947 (see Wikipedia) but also for being one of the first science nonfiction books I ever read, back when I bought this copy in 1969. (Seen here is the Bantam … Continue reading →

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David McRaney, HOW MINDS CHANGE

Posted on Thursday 4 August 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

How Minds Change: The Surprising Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion (Portfolio/Penguin, June 2022, 330pp) Almost a decade ago I discovered two books by David McRaney, YOU ARE NOT SO SMART (2011) and YOU ARE NOW LESS DUMB (2013) that … Continue reading →

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Bothsidesism and Media Bias

Posted on Tuesday 2 August 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s an odd headline. What could this be about? Slate, Savannah Jacobson, 1 Aug 2022: Why the New York Times’ Post-Roe Abortion Coverage Has Felt a Little Off, subtitled, “It’s the same problem that always plagues the Times.”

Posted in Politics, Psychology | Comments Off on Bothsidesism and Media Bias

What People Know, Think They Know, or Believe, vs. How They Act

Posted on Tuesday 26 July 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

In particular, about a GOP congressman’s hypocrisy concerning his son’s gay marriage, how the Republican witnesses at the Jan. 6th hearing abandoned their jobs only at the last possible minute, and how people in red states have a distorted view … Continue reading →

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Home

Posted on Wednesday 15 June 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Home is the place where, when you have to go there, They have to take you in. Robert Frost

Posted in Personal history, Psychology | Comments Off on Home

LQCs: Law & Order, Prayer

Posted on Thursday 9 June 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Who exactly is for law and order? And who thinks prayer really works, and why?

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LQCs: Preferring Simple Answers to Complex Problems

Posted on Wednesday 8 June 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

First for today, a blast from the past. From 2009. This is a song from Les Miz, which we watched on PBS last week. Susan Boyle. Watch the clip above from the beginning, until at least about 1:15 when she … Continue reading →

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LQCs: Mass Shootings and Logical Fallacies

Posted on Saturday 4 June 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

More causes of mass shootings revealed, in just the past couple days!

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LQCs: Moral Collapse, the Paranoid Style, Deflection

Posted on Tuesday 17 May 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

(With an endpiece.) Paul Krugman is back from vacation. NYT, Paul Krugman, 16 May 2022: From Voodoo to MAGA to Buffalo I never thought I’d say this, but I miss voodoo economics.

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Endless Polarization, Ideology, and What MAGA Means

Posted on Sunday 8 May 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

David French on polarization; the inevitability of endless political arguments; how MAGA is about white Christian men.

Posted in Politics, Psychology | Comments Off on Endless Polarization, Ideology, and What MAGA Means