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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Category Archives: Science
Conspiracy Theories: Solar Eclipse Edition
Salon on how solar eclipses are a breeding ground for conspiracy theories; Rolling Stone on how the far right is subject to conspiracy theories; Free Inquiry on why solar eclipses are nowhere close to being evidence of a creator. While … Continue reading
Imagine Prioritizing Truth Over Being Right
Here’s an amazing notion: there are some people who would rather find the truth, than be right. These are the scientists — some of them, anyway. This concerns Daniel Kahneman, whose death I noted a week ago here. NY Times, … Continue reading
Putting Things Into Perspective: Science, Expertise, Liberalism
Items today are follow-ups to items from the past couple days, it turns out. Ethan Siegel at Big Think puts that dark matter claim into the perspective of how science works; Tom Nichols’ update of The Death of Expertise aligns … Continue reading
Posted in Astronomy, Science, science fiction
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That Potential Revolutionary Scientific Reinterpretation? Never Mind.
That Potential Revolutionary Scientific Reinterpretation I posted about four days ago does not seem to have played out (but that’s how science works); A nice summary of the top five astronomical discoveries of all time (so far); And a dicier … Continue reading
EO Wilson, CONSILIENCE, 11
Earlier posts: Post 1; Post 2; Post 3; Post 4; Post 5; Post 6; Post 7; Post 8; Post 9; Post 10. Chapter 12, To What End? Wilson’s final chapter ponders options for humanity’s future, and comes down on the … Continue reading
Posted in Book Notes, Human Progress, Morality, Psychology, Science, science fiction
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EO Wilson, CONSILIENCE, 10
Chapter 11, Ethics and Religion The chapter in the book that would most challenge conservatives, or anyone who thinks morality and religion are handed down from on high. Key points in this chapter: On ethics: Author summarizes arguments on both … Continue reading
Posted in Book Notes, Human Progress, Morality, Science
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A Potential Revolutionary Scientific Reinterpretation
No one thinks that all of physics, or cosmology, is solved; the reigning problems in cosmology include contradictory conclusions about the age of the universe, and the nature of “dark matter” and “dark energy,” both terms being placeholders for unknown … Continue reading
EO Wilson, CONSILIENCE, 9
Chapter 10, The Arts and Their Interpretation Here we have perhaps the area most resistant to the idea of biological or psychological interpretation. Because it doesn’t occur, especially to the artists themselves, why people tell certain kinds of stories and … Continue reading
Posted in Book Notes, Human Progress, Psychology, Science
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EO Wilson, CONSILIENCE, 8
Chapter 9, The Social Sciences Now Wilson begins takes his conclusions about human nature and searches for ways to bring insight, if not explanation, to various aspects of human culture, in particular studies in the humanities that are supposedly resistant to … Continue reading
Posted in Book Notes, Human Progress, MInd, Psychology, Science
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EO Wilson, CONSILIENCE, 7
Chapter 8, The Fitness of Human Nature This is perhaps the core chapter of the book, in that it brings together ideas about the mind, genes, and culture from the previous two chapters, and sets up a basis for the … Continue reading
Posted in Book Notes, Culture, Human Progress, MInd, Science, science fiction
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