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Author Archives: N.S. Palmer
What Is Humanity?
Back in the 1960s, the great rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote Who Is Man? based on lectures he gave at Stanford University. But to ask “who is man?” assumes that we’ve’ previously answered the question “what is man?” If humans are … Continue reading
Posted in Jewish Philosophy, Judaism, Life
Tagged Fukayama, Heschel, Human Dignity, Human life, Human Rights, Human worth, Identity, Justice, Materialism, Morality, Scientism, The other, What is man
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Grokking Our Disagreements
I finally got around to reading Robert Heinlein’s science fiction novel Starship Troopers. When I was growing up, I read two or three science fiction novels a week. How I missed Starship Troopers, I don’t know. And one of my … Continue reading
Life is a Judgment Call
The bar patron asked the bartender, “Is life worth living?” The bartender replied, “It depends on the liver.”1 In other words, it’s a judgment call. Most of us crave simple patterns to explain life. We crave simple rules to guide … Continue reading
Posted in Human Relations, Life, Psychology
Tagged Driving, Duties, Judgment call, Moral judgment, Moral responsibilities, Risk, Roundabout, Traffic, Traffic accident, Traffic circle
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The Lowered Expectations Dating Service
Utopian schemes try to create a perfect society. They usually cause more suffering than they cure. It’s a bad bargain. Moreover, people seldom agree on what a perfect society would be like. No matter how good it is or in … Continue reading
You See What You Expect
Why do smart, sane, honest people sometimes disagree no matter how hard they try to find the truth? Name an issue: Abortion Feminism Immigration Islam President Trump Racism My friends and I often have stark disagreements about those issues. But … Continue reading
Posted in Human Relations, Life, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology
Tagged Ames room, Assumptions, Constructive disagreement, Disagreement, Illusion, Optical illusion, Perception
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History Bends Toward Chaos
Many people say that “the arc of history bends toward justice.” Pardon my French, but ce n’est pas vrai: It’s not true. It’s the opposite of the truth. If there is going to be justice in our world, we have … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Political Science, Society
Tagged American Revolution, Arc of history, Chaos, Disorder, Entropy, French Revolution, Justice, Order, Order versus chaos, Russian Revolution, Utopian, Utopianism
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Trick or Treat
Is it okay to “trick people” for their own good? That question comes up early in John Staddon’s book The New Behaviorism. I’ve just started reading it, and it’s a thought-provoking analysis. Behaviorism is a psychological approach that, true to … Continue reading
Posted in Human Relations, Life, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Society
Tagged B.F. Skinner, Behaviorism, Clickbait, Free Will, Freedom, Freedom of choice, John B. Watson, John Staddon, Operant conditioning, Power corrupts, Psychology, Staddon, The Fatal Conceit, Totalitarianism, Utopianism
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America and China Can Work It Out
Tensions between America and China are as predictable as they are, well, stupid. Their tensions are predictable for two reasons: The United States and China are rival world powers, vying with each other for status and influence in the world. … Continue reading
Too Centralized to Fail?
Google Cloud went down yesterday, and it took a big piece of the internet down with it. Large areas of the United States, Europe, and South America lost internet services until Google fixed the problem. But Google is just one … Continue reading
The Thousand-Year View 