Search Results for: adam grant

Recently Read

Posted on Sunday 15 December 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Sloman, Steven, & Fernbach, Philip. 2017. The Knowledge Illusion: Why We Never Think Alone. Riverhead. *** 1/2 We live in a complex world, no one can know everything, and we depend on the knowledge of others. (I recall that Heinlein … Continue reading →

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Psychology and Narrative

Posted on Saturday 14 December 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Ahn, Woo-Kyoung. 2022. Thinking 101: How to Reason Better to Live Better. Flatiron. ** Yet another book about cognitive biases, mixing psychology and self-help. The one distinction between this and similar books is that the author supplies suggestions for overcoming … Continue reading →

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Politics as Aspects of Human Nature

Posted on Wednesday 4 December 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

An early post on this blog quoted Robert Reich about how most progressives live in cities and on the coasts, and most regressives live in rural areas far removed from ports and cities. It’s a widely noted pattern. “Our problem … Continue reading →

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The Anticipation of Unintended Consequences

Posted on Friday 22 November 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Many are predicting that the new administration’s plans, especially concerning deportations and tariffs, will backfire and wreck the economy, or at least raise prices in ways they apparently cannot anticipate. But one guesses that the Republicans will not admit it … Continue reading →

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Lessons and Narratives

Posted on Friday 8 November 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Everyone has theories and lessons to be drawn from the election results; Robert Reich rejects several and offers his own; The focus on the current economy is just another example of short-term thinking, at the expense of bigger issues; Disinformation … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Economics, Politics, progress | Comments Off on Lessons and Narratives

Good Questions, Interesting Answers

Posted on Friday 18 October 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

David Brooks wonders, Why isn’t she running away with this? Adam Gopnik wonders why even his opponents don’t recognize the extent of Trump’s villainy; Jill Filipovic wonders why NYT softens headlines about Trump; David French wonders if Trump’s policies make … Continue reading →

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Out of Commission

Posted on Wednesday 16 October 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

More examples of Trump as the rambling, incoherent traitor; How people trust Trump on the economy because he oversimplifies things, and conservatives don’t do complexity or nuance; Thomas B. Edsall on Trump’s appeal to racists; A Florida Republican who thinks … Continue reading →

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Further Notes from Our Report on the Third Planet

Posted on Friday 4 October 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

What would alien spectators taking notes on modern American society observe? Society is unsettled, and political compromises are fragile; yet those advocating actual violence are a minority (Adam Lee) Society has developed high principles to overcome tribal conflicts, but while … Continue reading →

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Reality v Tribal Solidarity

Posted on Thursday 26 September 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

How Fox News denies reality, because that’s what their fans want to hear; NYT on Trump and the condemnations by those who’ve known him; How Trump’s promise to round up immigrants echoes what Putin is doing; Adam Lee on historical … Continue reading →

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Once You See It

Posted on Saturday 6 July 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

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 →

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