Category Archives: Technology

SF as Luddite Literature?

Posted on Thursday 13 January 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Today’s counter-intuitive notion is from novelist and long-time Locus columnist Cory Doctorow. This essay is in the January 2022 issue, and posted (for free) online, here: Locus, Cory Doctorow, posted 3 Jan 2022: Science Fiction is a Luddite Literature

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Ls&Cs: Democrats and Republicans and Car Designs

Posted on Saturday 4 December 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

About the changing identities of Democrats and Republicans, over the past century and a half; about the logic of abortion, from a philosopher; about the dismal history of infrastructure (and how this relates to conspiracy theories); and two items about … Continue reading →

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Ls&Cs: Problem-Solving, Ethics, Out-Group Prejudice, and Padding Bestseller Lists

Posted on Monday 11 October 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Several links that I collected on April 20th, the day I went to the hospital for what led to my heart transplant.

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture, Links & Comments, Psychology, Technology | Comments Off on Ls&Cs: Problem-Solving, Ethics, Out-Group Prejudice, and Padding Bestseller Lists

Afternoon Drive: M440i

Posted on Sunday 10 October 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Yesterday we took a three-hour drive, with a lunch stop part-way through, but since I didn’t take any photos along the way, it didn’t happen, by some internet standards.

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Ls&Cs: Computer world views; science fiction vs. fantasy

Posted on Friday 24 September 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

A couple non-political posts today.

Posted in Links & Comments, Philosophy, science fiction, Technology | Comments Off on Ls&Cs: Computer world views; science fiction vs. fantasy

Link and Comment: The Pace of Change

Posted on Tuesday 13 October 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

Guardian: 25 years of His Dark Materials: Philip Pullman on the journey of a lifetime. Pullman reflects on the quarter decade since he began writing the sequence of novels about Lyra that began with Northern Lights, aka The Golden Compass. … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: America’s Reputation; Facebook; Cognitive Dissonance

Posted on Wednesday 30 September 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

NY Times, 25 Sept.: I Feel Sorry for Americans’: A Baffled World Watches the U.S.. Subtitle: “From Myanmar to Canada, people are asking: How did a superpower allow itself to be felled by a virus? And why won’t the president … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Psychology, Technology | Comments Off on Links and Comments: America’s Reputation; Facebook; Cognitive Dissonance

Links and Comments: Sapiens; Leaving Religion; Conspiracy Theories; Weather Forecasting

Posted on Monday 22 July 2019 by Mark R. Kelly

1. From yesterday’s NYT Book Review. Chuck Klosterman likes Harari: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/18/books/review/chuck-klosterman-likes-writers-who-arent-self-absorbed-sociopaths.html What’s the last great book you read? I picked up “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind,” by Yuval Noah Harari. I thought: “This will probably be O.K. I’ll probably … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Progress, Psychology, Religion, Technology | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Sapiens; Leaving Religion; Conspiracy Theories; Weather Forecasting

Keen: HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE

Posted on Sunday 10 February 2019 by Mark R. Kelly

Andrew Keen’s How to Fix the Future (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2018) is a breezy book in the Thomas L. Friedman mode, as the author travels the world speaking to various experts, and describing his trips and circumstances as he goes. … Continue reading →

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Perspectives: Dozois and Bryson

Posted on Friday 24 November 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Recently on Facebook, Gardner Dozois quotes from At Home, by Bill Bryson (author of A Short History of Nearly Everything), on the closing years of the 19th century: “From the perspective of domesticity, there has never been a more interesting … Continue reading →

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