Search Results for: how the mind works

I do not think this study means what this writer thinks it means

Posted on Saturday 25 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

(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 →

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Two Philosophical Bits

Posted on Friday 24 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Are you the same person you were last week? How long should you shop?

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The Myth of the Perfect Past

Posted on Thursday 16 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

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 →

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Evolution Understood and Not Understood

Posted on Thursday 9 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

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 →

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More About the 747

Posted on Monday 6 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

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 →

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Varieties of Fantasy, and Book Notes

Posted on Saturday 4 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Today’s three topics: A conservative’s take on a fantasy novel; A Le Guin fantasy novel; And insights into books by Heinlein and Brockman.

Posted in Book Notes, Culture, Religion | Comments Off on Varieties of Fantasy, and Book Notes

Recent Book Lists

Posted on Wednesday 1 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Three items for today: a list of “influential” science fiction works, a list of nonfiction books that changed minds, and Elon Musk’s books he thinks everyone should read.

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Things That Are Not True, and Immorality

Posted on Tuesday 24 January 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Catching up on interesting items from the past few days, about the Christian right’s embrace of a “lying libertine,” how faith healers who kill their children get away with it in some states, how Republicans who lose elections react to … Continue reading →

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Michael Shermer: THE MORAL ARC

Posted on Monday 23 January 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: How Science and Reason Lead Humanity toward Truth, Justice, and Freedom (Henry Holt, January 2015, 541pp, including 55pp of notes, 30pp of bibliography, and 15pp of acknowledgments and index) This is Michael Shermer’s magnus opus, perhaps, culminating a running … Continue reading →

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More About Stories v. Reality

Posted on Monday 9 January 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Yet another item about that anthology of historical essays. Plus items about pandemics, bestseller lists, wokeness in the military, the attraction of conspiracy theories, and violence on TV.

Posted in Book Notes, Conservative Resistance, Narrative | Comments Off on More About Stories v. Reality