Author Archives: N.S. Palmer

About N.S. Palmer

N.S. Palmer is an American mathematician.

Is Racism a Useful Concept?

Posted on July 2, 2021 by N.S. Palmer

I recently participated in an academic discussion about whether or not “racism” is a useful concept. Amazingly, the discussion was cordial and rational except for the moderator and one participant who was a graduate student in some version of victims’ … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Relations, Psychology | Tagged Kendi, Lysenko, Race relations, Racism, Self-reliance | 2 Comments

Three Tales from Amtrak

Posted on April 14, 2021 by N.S. Palmer

In the early 2000s, I worked for a year as an IT contractor at Amtrak’s headquarters in Washington DC. My experience there showed one of America’s greatest problems, as well as its solution. The U.S. federal government created Amtrak in … Continue reading →

Posted in Psychology, Society | Tagged Affirmative Action, Amtrak, Communication, Cultural difference, Diversity, H1-Bs, India, Merit, Productivity, Quota hiring, Replacement, Unemployment | 2 Comments

Good Advice from George Washington

Posted on March 29, 2021 by N.S. Palmer

Until quite recently, U.S. President George Washington was considered the ideal American: honest, brave, wise, and patriotic. None of that has changed. Washington offered some good advice about how to have a healthy society and a just government: “We must … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Relations, Political Science | Tagged Community, Evolution, George Washington, In-Group, Kin Selection, Out-Group, Social Conflict, Social trust | Leave a comment

Celebrating Pi Day

Posted on March 14, 2021 by N.S. Palmer

Today, March 14, is “Pi Day.” The date matches the first three digits of pi, 3.14. On the Nerd Calendar, Pi Day is even more important than Festivus or G.H. Hardy‘s birthday. Pi is the ratio between a circle’s circumference … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Philosophy, Science | Tagged Ancient Egypt, Ancient mathematics, Geometry, Irrational numbers, Pi, Pi Day, Pythagoreans, Rhind Papyrus | Leave a comment

Why The News Is So Bad

Posted on February 27, 2021 by N.S. Palmer

Why is the news so bad? I’m not talking about biased news. Yes, there’s bias, and it’s getting worse. But that’s not the issue here. I’m also not talking about why the news is full of so many evil and … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Psychology, Society | Tagged Accuracy, Corporate media, Corporate politician, Incompetence, Joseph Pulitzer, Journalism, News, News Media | Leave a comment

Drug Policy: Good Is Better Than Perfect

Posted on February 23, 2021 by N.S. Palmer

American laws about recreational drug use are a mess. Americans rot in prison for using or selling marijuana, which is relatively harmless. They rot in prison for selling cocaine and heroin, which aren’t harmless but harm mainly heavy users, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Political Science, Psychology, Science, Society | Tagged Addiction, Cocaine, Corruption, DEA, Drug policy, Heroin, Marijuana, Perfectionism | 6 Comments

Don’t Live Thoughtlessly

Posted on February 19, 2021 by N.S. Palmer

The American philosopher John Dewey argued that for most people, most of the time, thinking is a last resort. They only think when a problem or obstacle blocks their path. And he wasn’t wrong. Most of the time, we live … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Political Science, Psychology, Society | Tagged Conformity, Cruelty, Customs, Groupthink, Herd behavior, Independent thought | Leave a comment

Beware of “Exceptions” to Freedom

Posted on January 30, 2021 by N.S. Palmer

Yale University historian Timothy Snyder wrote a short book called On Tyranny that’s quite good. Each of its 20 chapters explains a way to preserve freedom and civilized society in the face of attacks by tyrannical government. The book came … Continue reading →

Posted in Political Science, Psychology | Tagged America, American ideals, Community, Courage, COVID-19, Emergency powers, Freedom, Lockdowns, Patriotism, Tyranny | 2 Comments

For The Chinese, Context Is Everything

Posted on January 23, 2021 by N.S. Palmer

It ain’t much, but it’s the first story I’ve written in Chinese. I’d wanted to write about Chinese political philosophy, but I found that my vocabulary was too limited to do it. Surprisingly, some Chinese ideas about governmental legitimacy are … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Psychology | Tagged China, Chinese, Culture, Diplomacy, Language learning, Languages, Mandarin | 3 Comments

Character Is Destiny — For Nations, Too

Posted on January 14, 2021 by N.S. Palmer

China is our geopolitical adversary, but the ancient Chinese philosopher Mencius had some advice that might help us in these difficult times. He said: “Only after a person has demeaned himself will others demean him. Only after a great family … Continue reading →