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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Meta
Search Results for: how the mind works
Pretty to Think So
One of my running themes — here on this blog, in the reviews I’ve written of SF novels and stories in recent years, in my essay for Gary Westfahl awaiting publication, and in my book if I manage to write … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Politics, science fiction
Comments Off on Pretty to Think So
Religion
On this page titles are sorted by rating. Grayling, A. C.. 2013. The God Argument: The Case Against Religion and for Humanism. Bloomsbury. ***** British philosopher Grayling’s book is a worthy, graceful companion to the relatively incendiary books of the … Continue reading
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Or for Worse
We took both our cars into the indie BMW shop we’ve been going to, for routine maintenance. In my case, I needed my car to be ship-shape before driving down to LA in a couple weeks. \ Infrastructure note. In … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Human Nature, Politics, Website Issues
Comments Off on Or for Worse
Institutions, Tribes, and Faith
Paul Krugman’s last NYT column, in part about what has changed in the past 25 years, including the collapse of trust in the elites; Helen Lewis echoes Fareed Zakaria yesterday: the mainstream media is part of the “elite” system that … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Epistemology, Religion, Science, Social Progress
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Politics as Aspects of Human Nature
An early post on this blog quoted Robert Reich about how most progressives live in cities and on the coasts, and most regressives live in rural areas far removed from ports and cities. It’s a widely noted pattern. “Our problem … Continue reading
Posted in History, Politics, Psychology
Comments Off on Politics as Aspects of Human Nature
People Would Rather Believe Than Know
How conservatives distrust science because it does not accommodate “moral and religious values”, thus missing the point of science; Mark Lilla on the allure of ignorance; Dinesh D’Souza admits 2000 Mules was flawed; Heather Cox Richardson on how government institutions … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Politics, Psychology, Religion
Comments Off on People Would Rather Believe Than Know
Wrecking Crews and Historical Cycles
Once again, considering current politics as the ways human nature plays out. Today’s topics: Efforts in several states to replace general education with Christian education; The reality of the “deep state,” and how they plan to survive Trump and MAGA; … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, History, Politics
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The Overton Window of Deviance
Amanda Marcotte on how Christians seem not bothered by the immorality of Trump or his Cabinet picks; Bret Stephens on defining deviancy down; Timothy Snyder on how Trump is actually a fascist — and how fascists use narratives; David French … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Human Nature, Lunacy, Politics
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A Little Knowledge… Is a Dangerous Thing
Imagine that you work for a company that does any kind of specialty work, anything at all — urban planning, furniture making, aerospace design — and for some reason the company’s owner dies and his aunt inherits the entire company … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Politics, Science
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The Parochial and the Cosmic
Our mistake was thinking we lived in a better country than we do; The US has lost faith in the American dream; Connie Willis’s detailed daily political summaries are now at CW Daily on Facebook; With today a dozen or … Continue reading
Posted in Astronomy, conservatives, Cosmology, Politics
Comments Off on The Parochial and the Cosmic