Category Archives: Science

Scientific Reality and Ideological Imagination

Posted on Friday 21 July 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Reality check about warp drives; Reality perspective about the Kardashev ladder; My evolving ideas about traditional vs. honest science fiction; How the latest conservative panic appears in the new film Sound of Freedom; How House Republicans are openly discriminating against … Continue reading →

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Conservative Politics and the Flaws of Human Nature

Posted on Wednesday 19 July 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

How linguistic anthropology and narrative psychology explain the appeal of Trump and other right-wing authoritarians; Why that everyone, not just conservatives, is pessimistic about the world, despite the evidence, is more evidence of how human nature, shaped in humanity’s ancestral … Continue reading →

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They’re Telling Us Who They Are, and What They Will Do

Posted on Monday 17 July 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Maya Angelou: “When people show you who they are, believe them the first time.” (source and source) How Trump and his acolytes are openly planning to set up an authoritarian government, should he rewin the Presidency; Similarly, Republicans in Ohio … Continue reading →

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The Current State of the World

Posted on Sunday 16 July 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Two items about the current state of the world: the economy is good; climate change is getting worse, and how conservatives won’t believe either; How Big Oil is more concerned with profits than with long-term consequences; How the Mission: Impossible … Continue reading →

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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 →

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Some Sciency Bits

Posted on Tuesday 11 July 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Richard Dawkins on the ancestral language of DNA; How humans have interpreted fossils throughout history; Recalling the scientifically inaccurate and intellectually hostile movie Armageddon, from 1998; How an article about a refinement to our understanding of human evolution overstates its … Continue reading →

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Follow-up Links on Current Themes

Posted on Monday 10 July 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Let’s catch up on links from the past couple weeks that I haven’t already used, beginning with some follow-ons to topics already covered. Climate Change: Scientists have reached the “I told you so” moment; The DeSantis video: Republicans are now … Continue reading →

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Ignoring Evidence vs Paying Attention

Posted on Thursday 6 July 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

The hottest day on Earth, as scientists have anticipated; David French on the mindset of MAGA America As the scientists have been predicting for decades. NY Times, 6 Jul 2023: Heat Records Are Broken Around the Globe as Earth Warms, … Continue reading →

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Summer Solstice; Reality and Illusions

Posted on Friday 23 June 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

The summer solstice is a consequence of basic facts about the Earth and the solar system, which apparently few people understand; Another example of how debates are usually pointless, including political debates; Another take on the false idea that people … Continue reading →

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Debate Is Not the Way to Do Science

Posted on Thursday 22 June 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Because debate is all about winning an argument toward a preconceived conclusion, not trying to identify truth. Vox, 22 Jun 2023: Joe Rogan wants a “debate” on vaccine science. Don’t give it to him., subtitled “How to have better conversations … Continue reading →

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