Remembering Y2k; a Political Commentator admits he was wrong; Fallibilism; Reading Lakoff

Posted on Thursday 2 January 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Back to interesting ideas.

Heather Cox Richardson recalls Y2K, 25 years ago on January 1st, and how since the problem was fixed (by the scientists and tech guys) some people felt the problem had never been real. As always, she provides straightforward discussion of the background and circumstances, including the religious doomsayers who thought — as they did the previous millennium — that the world was about to end. Key point:

Heather Cox Richardson: January 1, 2025

Crises get a lot of attention, but the quiet work of fixing them gets less. Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Human Nature, Politics, Technology | Comments Off on Remembering Y2k; a Political Commentator admits he was wrong; Fallibilism; Reading Lakoff

Consolidations and Resolutions

Posted on Wednesday 1 January 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

More discussion today of what I got done in 2024, and about my ongoing project that will extend into 2025. This is to start consolidating all my writing ideas from the past decade into some overall framework. I’ve been doing that in one way or another in various files for a decade now. More seriously, I began that in a couple ways in 2024.

First, the essay I wrote for Gary Westfahl in 2023, Continue reading →

Posted in Personal history, The Book | Comments Off on Consolidations and Resolutions

End of Year 2024

Posted on Tuesday 31 December 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

I don’t do this every year, but today I’m inclined to write about what’s gone on this past year, what if anything I’ve “accomplished,” and what if any “progress” I’ve made toward long-term goals.

About books read, settling Larry’s estate, current health and projects in work, music listened to, Y’s trip to China, and our two new cats.

First, a metric I’ve tracked for decades: how many books did I read this year? Continue reading →

Posted in Personal history | Comments Off on End of Year 2024

Why People Believe True Things

Posted on Monday 30 December 2024 by Mark R. Kelly
  • A deep inspection of an essay linked by David Brooks in his essay linked yesterday, much aligned with my current themes, with a key takeaway about the idea of “misinformation”;
  • And links to two other pieces I’ll explore later.
——

Let’s look at this piece directly.

Dan Williams, 28 Jul 2024: Why do people believe true things?, subtitled “Ignorance and misperceptions are not puzzling. The challenge is to explain why some people see reality accurately.”

Continue reading →

Posted in Psychology | Comments Off on Why People Believe True Things

End of Year Summaries

Posted on Sunday 29 December 2024 by Mark R. Kelly
  • David Brooks’ favorite essays include one about how Trump’s people have no clue about how to fix complex problems, and one about why people believe *true* things;
  • Two pieces from The Atlantic about 77 facts from 2024, and important breakthroughs in 2024;
  • And Heather Cox Richardson’s take on the civil war among MAGA Republicans.
– – –

NY Times, Opinion by David Brooks, 26 Dec 2024: The Sidney Awards

These are “awards” that Brooks personally announces for his favorite essays of the past year, from “small and medium-size publications,” i.e. avoiding the big papers and magazines. I’m noting this to note a couple of his selections that appeal to me and my big themes. First this:

Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Politics, Science, Social Progress, Technology | Comments Off on End of Year Summaries

Driving the I5, and Varieties of Dining Experience

Posted on Saturday 28 December 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Another quick trip from the Bay Area to LA over the past few days of the Christmas Holiday, constrained as usual by work schedules.

It’s a 370 mile trip, from our place in Oakland to the West LA area where we stayed. We had good fortune in that our drives there and back slipped between the series of rainstorms that have hit Northern California over the past couple weeks. Continue reading →

Posted in Personal history | Comments Off on Driving the I5, and Varieties of Dining Experience

Muddling Through Somehow

Posted on Tuesday 24 December 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Since today is Christmas Eve, yesterday must have been Christmas Adam, right? (First I’ve heard about this.)

NY Times, 22 Dec 2024: Behold! ‘Christmas Adam’ Is Born., subtitled “First there was Christmas Eve … and then a new celebration was created.”

This is how religion works. Similar to the way everyone knows that Jesus was born on December 25th.

Continue reading →

Posted in Human Nature, Religion, Social Progress | Comments Off on Muddling Through Somehow

The Certitude of the Religious

Posted on Monday 23 December 2024 by Mark R. Kelly
  • David French asks and tries to explain why Christians are so cruel;
  • David Brooks writes about his experience of faith;
  • And Kurt Gray about misunderstanding human nature.
– – –

Of course I’m sure they would deny this. Passing the truth along to other people, even imposing it on them, isn’t cruel, it’s kind, to their way of thinking. This is what all the missionaries thought, and still think.

NY Times, Opinion by David French, 22 Dec 2024: Why Are So Many Christians So Cruel?

Continue reading →

Posted in Human Nature, Religion | Comments Off on The Certitude of the Religious

Children, Adults Who Think Like Children, and Adults Who Don’t

Posted on Saturday 21 December 2024 by Mark R. Kelly
  • Trump doesn’t need to keep his promises because he’ll just claim that he has, and blame his enemies when it’s obvious he has not;
  • How the threat of government shutdown reveals the Republicans as the party of “no”, recalling William F. Buckley;
  • In Louisiana, don’t say vaccine;
  • How to reduce crime via proven solutions, and not prayer.
– – –

 

NY Times, Frank Bruni, 19 Dec 2024: What if Trump Doesn’t Need to Keep Any of His Promises?

Short answer: all Trump has to do is tell his fans that he *has* kept his promises, and they’ll believe him. Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Politics, Psychology, Religion | Comments Off on Children, Adults Who Think Like Children, and Adults Who Don’t

So Are We to Live in an Authoritarian Oligarchy?

Posted on Friday 20 December 2024 by Mark R. Kelly
  • The un-elected Elon Musk seems to be running the country this week;
  • How the Drone Panic reveals a need to believe, in *something*.

So not only is our incipient administration authoritarian, it’s authoritarian and being run by an oligarch!

NY Times, 19 Dec 2024: Elon Musk Flexes His Political Strength as Government Shutdown Looms, subtitled “The world’s richest man led the charge to kill a bipartisan spending deal, in part by promoting false and misleading claims about it.”
Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Politics, Psychology, Religion, Supernatural | Comments Off on So Are We to Live in an Authoritarian Oligarchy?