Category Archives: Psychology

Dishonesty? Or Cognitive Decline?

Posted on Monday 11 March 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

About Katie Britt’s response to Joe Biden’s SOTU speech, from Amanda Marcotte, AlterNet, The New Republic, Heather Cox Richardson, Saturday Night Live, and Paul Krugman; Trump’s cognitive decline, and how ‘polarization’ in the US is due to GOP’s radicalization; And … Continue reading →

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Cosmic and Psychological Lessons

Posted on Friday 8 March 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Phil Plait on the scale of the cosmos; Beware of pluralistic ignorance; How math education can be better taught with examples about money. – – –   Today’s cosmic lesson. Scientific American, Phil Plait, 8 Mar 2024: The Scale of … Continue reading →

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Philosophy, Science, and Politics

Posted on Monday 4 March 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

First of all, I refined and polished my discussion of the Thomas Nagel book, posted here, and identified my key takeaway. (Sometimes you have to mull things for a few days before your thoughts gel.) Currently revisiting E.O. Wilson’s CONSILIENCE, … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Philosophy, Politics, Psychology | Comments Off on Philosophy, Science, and Politics

Steven Pinker, HOW THE MIND WORKS, post 4

Posted on Monday 26 February 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Chapter 8, “The Meaning of Life,” is the last 45 page chapter of this 565 page (counting only text) book. Here he covers matters of human culture, much as Wilson did at the end of his 1978 book. Given that … Continue reading →

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Steven Pinker, HOW THE MIND WORKS, post 3

Posted on Sunday 25 February 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Chapter 7, “Family Values,” about the psychology of social relations, is the longest chapter in the book, and second-to-last. The author begins by recalling that period in the 1960s when activists and folk singers called for peace and understanding, a … Continue reading →

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Steven Pinker, HOW THE MIND WORKS, post 2

Posted on Saturday 24 February 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

The last few chapters are especially rich and fascinating. Here’s Chapter 6, about human emotions. Ch6, Hotheads

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Steven Pinker, HOW THE MIND WORKS, post 1

Posted on Friday 23 February 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

I mentioned this book a few days ago and quoted from it. Now I’ve finished it and will summarize and highlight. As I said earlier, I’ve had this book since it was published in 1997 (I have a first edition, … Continue reading →

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Looking Up Instead of Down

Posted on Monday 19 February 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Two pieces today about how humanity is progressing, in its understanding of the world and in its social progress, rather than regressing, as conservative movements around the world are striving to do. Richard Dawkins on science as a jewel in … Continue reading →

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Evidence Maximalism, Pluralism, Seasonality

Posted on Friday 16 February 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Charlie Warzel on how everything on the Internet can be taken to support one’s preconceived ideas, given motivated thinking and confirmation bias, amplified by the Internet; David Brooks on pluralism as a solution to democracy’s ills, the opposite of what … Continue reading →

Posted in Psychology | Comments Off on Evidence Maximalism, Pluralism, Seasonality

Catching Up on Items from Facebook, about Conspiracy Theories and Religion

Posted on Wednesday 14 February 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

“If you don’t know how anything works, everything looks like a conspiracy.” The conspiracy theory about Taylor Swift and the Super Bowl, which seems not to have happened, today; Facebook posts about American accents, how the Bible and Quran contain … Continue reading →

Posted in Psychology, Religion | Comments Off on Catching Up on Items from Facebook, about Conspiracy Theories and Religion