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
Narratives, Vanity, and Empathy
A writer named Alissa Quart has a new book out, Bootstrapped: Liberating Ourselves from the American Dream, that challenges the American myth that one can “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” to succeed all on your own. It’s a fantasy … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Psychology
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Michael Shermer: CONSPIRACY: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational
Michael Shermer’s latest book, a thorough account of why people believe conspiracy theories, why it might be beneficial (for evolutionary reasons) to give them the benefit of the doubt (even if they’re not true), with some deep dives into several … Continue reading
Posted in Book Notes, Psychology
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SF and AI in MSM
Items about Isaac Asimov and AI, Adrian Tchaikovsky and octopuses and AI, SF magazines and AI-generated stories. The Atlantic, Jeremy Dauber, 3 Mar 2023: What Isaac Asimov Can Teach Us About AI, subtitled “The science-fiction writer imagined artificial intelligence—and what … Continue reading
Posted in science fiction, Technology
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Mehdi Hasan on Arguing
Two interviews with and a book by Mehdi Hasan, about how to argue, and win arguments, using emotional connections over facts and figures, critical thinking skills, with the difficulty in conducting “good-faith” arguments with the right. How some victims of … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture
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There are “Theories” and then there are “Theories”
I have an idea I haven’t heard or read anyone express before: that some of the confusion about science on the one hand, and the legitimacy of crazy, sometimes deliberately fabricated, nonsensical ideas about what’s going on in the world … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Psychology, Science
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I do not think this study means what this writer thinks it means
(Added Sunday: another take on the same study from a writer at Vox.) NYT, Bret Stephens, 21 Feb 2023: The Mask Mandates Did Nothing. Will Any Lessons Be Learned? A conservative columnist for the NY Times claims a meta-study on … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Science
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Two Philosophical Bits
Are you the same person you were last week? How long should you shop?
Posted in Philosophy, science fiction
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The Myth of the Perfect Past
When life was simple and everything you were supposed to know was contained in a single book. Also: why The Lord of the Rings is so appealing to the right; media libel laws; policing; and a lagniappe about a real … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Philosophy, Politics
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Evolution Understood and Not Understood
I mentioned those John Brockman anthologies of science essays back on Feb 4th. They’re associated with the website Edge.org, one of those fascinating websites I’ve noticed over the years but have not followed regularly (others are Big Think, Quanta, Aero, … Continue reading
Posted in Evolution, Science
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More About the 747
For decades the Boeing 747 was the largest passenger airliner in the world, and it debuted (in 1968) just a few years before I had occasion to take a plane flight anywhere, or pay attention to different kinds of planes. … Continue reading
Posted in Personal history, Technology
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