Search Results for: how the mind works

More About Good People vs. Bad, and (Gottschall) the Ubiquity of Conspiracy Theories

Posted on Saturday 4 July 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

Slate, June 26, Jordan Weissman: The GOP’s One Big Excuse for Cutting Off Unemployment Benefits Isn’t Even True This topic echoes comments in recent posts about whether people are generally good or generally bad; conservatives presume the former (in particular, … Continue reading →

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Notes for the Book? Certainly Excerpt from the Memoirs. Hierarchy of Process Management: CMMI

Posted on Wednesday 1 July 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

I’m frequently fascinated by trying to recreate my train of thought — or perhaps I should say, I occasionally realize how my train of thought came about and am fascinated by the realization. For five or six weeks now I’ve … Continue reading →

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Frederik Pohl, THE GOLD AT THE STARBOW’S END (1972)

Posted on Saturday 27 June 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

This is a nice companion book to Pohl’s novel GATEWAY, because one of the five stories here is a prelude that novel. That story and three of the others were all published in various magazines in 1972; the fifth was … Continue reading →

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Frederik Pohl: GATEWAY (1977)

Posted on Tuesday 23 June 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

[expanded 24jun20 5pm] I need to catch up on book notes. I’m not a fast reader, and am busy with other things throughout the week, reading perhaps 3 hours a day at best, but still get through about 2 books … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Nature and Human Brains; Science Fiction and Mental Resiliency

Posted on Friday 19 June 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

Scientific American, Caleb A. Scharf: A Failure of Imagination, subtitled, “Nature does not have to play fair with our puny human brains.” A favorite theme of mine: how there’s more to the universe than humans are aware of; how there … Continue reading →

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Notes for the Book: Hierarchy of Science Fiction

Posted on Wednesday 3 June 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

(updated 8jul20, with additional para’s at the end) What is science fiction? Many things, and what interests me about science fiction is not reflected in all its forms, any more than any particular music fan, interesting in dance, say, or … Continue reading →

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Silverberg, DYING INSIDE (1972)

Posted on Sunday 31 May 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

This is Silverberg’s most highly-regarded novel, and one of his most unusual. It was published in 1972, near the end of a period during which Silverberg wrote one or two critically acclaimed novels a year, from roughly 1967 to 1976. … Continue reading →

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Notes for the Book: Hierarchy of Knowledge and Human Affairs

Posted on Saturday 30 May 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

[updated 8 Jul 2020] [updated 26 Jun 2020] Everything you need to understand the reality of the world, as discovered over centuries, and especially in the past century and past few decades, is out there, available to you. All the … Continue reading →

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My History with Pseudo-Science (Briefly) and Science

Posted on Monday 13 April 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

I went through a brief phase of interest in pseudo-science. Beginning at that 7th grade book fair when I bought (in addition to Blish’s Star Trek), an early edition of Ripley’s Believe It or Not, and a book by Frank … Continue reading →

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My History with Science Fiction

Posted on Sunday 12 April 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s another autobiographical post, probably repetitious with some of the others, about specific events or circumstances that triggered interests or beliefs, some brief, some that have lasted a life. 3500 words just today—a draft. Science Fiction There are several phases … Continue reading →

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