Mark R. Kelly
» Founder in 1997 and site-runner for 20 years of Locus Online (Hugo Award winner in 2002). Founder in 2012 and still site-runner of sfadb.com (Science Fiction Awards Database). Retired in 2012 after 30 years as a software engineer for a certain rocket engine factory.
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Meta
Search Results for: how the mind works
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
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A Table of Moral Polarities, Initial Take
I’ve been making notes over the past month for a table of moral polarities, in order to align and summarize some of the concepts and the many news examples I’ve compiled lately. Recall how I’ve mentioned that certain attitudes, especially … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, History, Meaning, Morality, Philosophy, Science, science fiction, Uncategorized
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Another Gloss on Philosophy
I think I mentioned this book before. It’s a compilation of rough summaries of twelve general topics, from American Studies to World History, with literature, music, philosophy, religion, science, and others in between, written for people who worry that their … Continue reading
Posted in Cosmology, Philosophy, Religion
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Monoculture and Tribalist Thinking
Travel perspectives; Is everything a cult now? If so, the word has lost all meaning; Is religion just a tribal marker? Then why do so many Christian zealots want to impose their beliefs on others, to the point of executions? … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Psychology, Travel
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Joshua Greene, MORAL TRIBES, post 2
Concluding summary and comments about this book. Some highlights: The author focuses on a modified utilitarianism, which he calls “deep pragmatism,” to solve tribal disputes in the modern world; He observes that “rights” are claims to end disputes, in order … Continue reading
Posted in Book Notes, Morality, progress
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Joshua Greene, MORAL TRIBES, post 1
Here is a substantial book about human morality that offers ideas that, to me, help to knit together the ideas of others. For chronological context, this 2013 book follows, of course, the 1997 Pinker book that I recently read (review … Continue reading
Posted in Book Notes, Morality, progress, Science
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Putting Things Into Perspective: Science, Expertise, Liberalism
Items today are follow-ups to items from the past couple days, it turns out. Ethan Siegel at Big Think puts that dark matter claim into the perspective of how science works; Tom Nichols’ update of The Death of Expertise aligns … Continue reading
Posted in Astronomy, Science, science fiction
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EO Wilson, CONSILIENCE, 10
Chapter 11, Ethics and Religion The chapter in the book that would most challenge conservatives, or anyone who thinks morality and religion are handed down from on high. Key points in this chapter: On ethics: Author summarizes arguments on both … Continue reading
Posted in Book Notes, Human Progress, Morality, Science
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Motivated Reasoning, Supreme Court Edition
Just one short, but provocative, item today. This is the opening piece in the “Talk of the Town” section in the March 18th issue of The New Yorker. It cuts to the core of Supreme Court, and conservative, thinking. The … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Psychology, Social Progress
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A Potential Revolutionary Scientific Reinterpretation
No one thinks that all of physics, or cosmology, is solved; the reigning problems in cosmology include contradictory conclusions about the age of the universe, and the nature of “dark matter” and “dark energy,” both terms being placeholders for unknown … Continue reading
