Search Results for: adam grant

Links and Comments: Changing Minds; GOP Economics; Liars; Taxonomy of Trump Supporters

Items from NYT (Adam Grant); NYT (David Leonhardt); Slate (William Saletan); The Week, NYT, and Salon about Trump and the GOP; and NYT (Michelle Goldberg).

Posted in Politics, Psychology | Leave a comment

Links and Comments: Psychology and Economics; SF and Fantasy

Several items from Sunday’s NYT. First a review of a new book by Steven Johnson, FARSIGHTED: How We Make the Decisions That Matter the Most; the review is by Adam Grant: How Do We Make the Long-Term Decisions That Matter?. … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Psychology, science fiction | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Psychology and Economics; SF and Fantasy

Item’s from Sunday’s New York Times: Pace of Change; Criticism; Religion in Politics; Creative Children

Most interesting, a review, by Paul Krugman, of a book by Robert J. Gordon, The Rise and Fall of American Growth, whose thesis is that the extraordinary growth and change brought about by technology over the past century has pretty … Continue reading

Posted in Book Notes, Culture, Human Progress, Religion | Comments Off on Item’s from Sunday’s New York Times: Pace of Change; Criticism; Religion in Politics; Creative Children

Links and Comments: Bruni on Cruz; Flip-flopping presidents are most effective; political persuasion; Republicans’ economic narrative; Lisa Randall, a new Trek

From last Sunday’s New York Times: Frank Bruni on Ted Cruz’s Laughable Disguise He emphatically recalls how his father’s embrace of Jesus Christ led him back to his mother — and to him — after his parents had separated. He … Continue reading

Posted in Narrative, Politics, Psychology, Science | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Bruni on Cruz; Flip-flopping presidents are most effective; political persuasion; Republicans’ economic narrative; Lisa Randall, a new Trek

Once You See It

How issues in politics 100 years ago resemble those of today; How Republicans and Democrats live in radically different universes; What the “genius” of the American Founders were thinking; Zbigniew Preisner’s film score for Damage Once you see it, or … Continue reading

Posted in Human Nature, Morality, Music, Politics, Religion | Comments Off on Once You See It

More About Regression Toward the Mean

Thought for the day. On the other hand, rather than thinking we must be living in the worst of times (see last Wednesday’s post), perhaps we are merely experience regression toward the mean. I’ve mentioned this notion several times. The … Continue reading

Posted in Politics, Religion, Science | Comments Off on More About Regression Toward the Mean

Understanding Human Nature

Ultimately, everything in the daily news makes sense through an honest understanding of human nature. (It is not there are two legitimate “sides” to every issue.) Two thought pieces for today, then a bunch of shorter items. About how macaques … Continue reading

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Evolution, Human Progress, Humanism, Philosophy | Comments Off on Understanding Human Nature

Robert Charles Wilson, OWNING THE UNKNOWN

This is a book about theology, atheism and the idea of God, from the perspective of a science fiction writer. Wilson is a significant contemporary SF writer whose fiction output has slowed in recent years; I reviewed his 2015 novel … Continue reading

Posted in Book Notes, Religion, science fiction | Comments Off on Robert Charles Wilson, OWNING THE UNKNOWN

How Rugged Individualists Cannot Solve Global Problems

A note about my trip tomorrow to Austin; How Mike Johnson characterizes Republicans as “rugged individualists,” yet who can still not get along to solve actual problems; How Trump’s policies would increase inflation, and his fans haven’t noticed; More about … Continue reading

Posted in Morality, Personal history, Politics, Psychology | Comments Off on How Rugged Individualists Cannot Solve Global Problems

Perspectives from Reality and Fantasy

How the first scene in Netflix’s “3 Body Problem” is seen differently by conservatives and progressives; Daniel Kahneman, RIP, who realized that people are not rational; More right-wing conspiracy theories about the Baltimore bridge collapse; And items about an earthquake, … Continue reading

Posted in conservatives, progress | Comments Off on Perspectives from Reality and Fantasy