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Author Archives: N.S. Palmer
Don’t Mistake Hate for Logic
We’ve probably all made the error of mistaking hate for logic. Of course, we didn’t realize it at the time. But that’s what we were doing. Yesterday’s blog post got me thinking about the problem. On my “Top 10” list … Continue reading
Posted in Epistemology, Human Relations, Life, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology
Tagged Affirming the consequent, Belisarius, Bias, Byzantine Empire, Empress Theodora, Hate, Hatred, History, Justinian, Logic, Logical fallacies, Loyalty, Modus Ponens, Ostrogorsky, Rationality, Reason, Social Conflict, Syllogism
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Do Great Individuals Shape History?
Is human history driven mainly by the actions of “great men”? It’s called the great man theory of history. Of course, the problem is that word “mainly.” Lots of things cause historical events. To say that a specific person was … Continue reading
Posted in Judaism, Life, Philosophy, Psychology, Society
Tagged Adam and Eve, Aristotle, Buddha, Calculus, Confucius, Einstein, Empress Theodora, Gilgamesh, Great Man Theory, Greatness, Hammurabi, Historiography, History, Isaac Newton, Jesus, Leibniz, Moses, Theories of History, Winston Churchill
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Don’t Pass Over History
Who are you? What are you? The answers define your identity and give you a sense of place in the universe. The “who” question has a simple answer: your name. But the “what” question has many answers. You are a … Continue reading
Posted in Christianity, Judaism, Political Science, Psychology, Society
Tagged Community, Easter, Exodus, Group identity, Historiography, History, Legitimacy, Morality, Moses, Passover, Personal Identity, Social order
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Two Views of Life — and Government
Your parents lied to you. So did mine. They told us: “You can do anything if you make up your mind to do it.” Nope. Not true. Don’t be too hard on parents. It’s a well-meaning lie. It’s arguably even … Continue reading
Cher Channels Ambrose Bierce
Cher, a pop singer who I loved for her 1990s music video featuring the animated characters Beavis and Butt-Head, has a new talent. Her April 14th statement channels the spirit of the 19th-century American writer Ambrose Bierce. His book The … Continue reading
Posted in Christianity, Judaism, Political Science, Psychology, Society
Tagged Immigration, Open borders, Hypocrisy, Cher, Illegal migrants, NIMBY, Immigration policy, Beavis and Butt-Head
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Don’t Wait: Be Happy Now
Empiricism is the idea that beliefs should be based on observable evidence. It’s one of the main reasons that our civilization has been successful. Empiricism has given us science, medicine, and technology. It’s given us choices and luxuries that people … Continue reading
Posted in Life, Philosophy, Psychology
Tagged Constructive attitude, Croesus, Empiricism, Happiness, Herodotus, Philosophy jokes, Positive attitude, Positive thinking, Solon, Stoic, Stoicism
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How To Be Crazy — Constructively
A while back, I wrote about “How Not To Be Crazy.” And if you must choose between being totally crazy and being totally sane, it’s better to be sane. But let’s face it: total sanity is kind of a barren … Continue reading
