Search Results for: how the mind works

Notes for a Series of Essays About Science Fiction

Posted on Tuesday 16 November 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

The essays I plan to write will be about science fiction — the nature of science fiction with discussion of many individual science fiction works — and the things science fiction is about. Which is most things.

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Ls&Cs: Human Are Animals; The Yuck Factor

Posted on Monday 15 November 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

I’ve kept up with posting current links to articles and essays in recent weeks (since I’ve been posting once a day, for two months now) so well that this evening I am mining links I captured back in March and … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Psychology | Leave a comment

Ls&Cs: Religion vs Science; Freedom; Feudalism

Posted on Tuesday 9 November 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Plain speaking about the obvious conflict between science and religion; about the idea of freedom without responsibility; about the odd attraction of feudalism in fantasy and science fiction.

Posted in Religion, Science, Social Progress | Leave a comment

Ls&Cs: Science, Detection, and Narrative

Posted on Tuesday 2 November 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Aspirin: Why do scientists keep changing their minds? How science is like detective work. How conspiracy theorists exploit the provisional nature of science. Can history be overturned, or just refined? And KSR, aliens, the new telescope, and existential crises.

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Lc&Cs: The Sad State of Education in America

Posted on Sunday 31 October 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

“Civilization is in a race between education and catastrophe.” —H.G. Wells

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Human Progress, Religion | Leave a comment

Ls&Cs: Two from Free Inquiry

Posted on Monday 18 October 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

From the October/November 2021 issue, articles about Christian Morality and about how understanding COVID does not depend on a Kuhnian paradigm shift.

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Thinking About SF: Classic Erosion

Posted on Wednesday 6 October 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

What do Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Star Trek TOS, and Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series have in common?

Posted in Narrative, science fiction | Leave a comment

Ls&Cs: Just a Few Rocks to Look At

Posted on Tuesday 5 October 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Catching up on one last batch of links and comments collected but not yet posted since I came home from the hospital in June. Not all of them political. And, let’s try something new: placing some kind of relevant photograph … Continue reading →

Posted in Links & Comments, Philosophy, Politics | Leave a comment

Shankar Vedantam: USEFUL DELUSIONS (2021)

Posted on Thursday 23 September 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s a book I read recently, just a week or so after returning from the hospital in late June, and which I’ve skimmed again in the past week to take notes and write up this summary. It’s one of two … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Psychology | Leave a comment

ICU Delusions

Posted on Saturday 14 August 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

When I was in the hospital for several weeks following my second heart attack, in April and May 2021, I retained no memories of the first week because I was on sedation while the doctors figured out what to do … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal history, Psychology | Leave a comment