Author Archives: N.S. Palmer

About N.S. Palmer

N.S. Palmer is an American mathematician.

Note to Self

Posted on May 2, 2019 by N.S. Palmer

What advice would you, as an adult, give to your 10-year-old self? Yes, a lot of people have written about that. The latest is psychologist Damon Ashworth, whose blog I read. Dr. Ashworth’s advice to himself is good, but rather general. … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Relations, Life, Psychology | Tagged Advice, Child psychology, Childhood, Growing up, Human Relations, Kindness, Life experience, Note to Self, Respect, Wisdom | 4 Comments

Rise of the Machines

Posted on April 30, 2019 by N.S. Palmer

“We’re not trying to schedule our workers more efficiently. We’re trying to replace them altogether.” — An executive of a fast-food company Andrew Yang, a 2020 presidential candidate, reports that quote about automation in his book The War on Normal … Continue reading →

Posted in Political Science, Society | Tagged Andrew Yang, Artificial intelligence, Automation, Knowledge workers, Minimum-wage workers, Retail workers, The War on Normal People, Unemployment | 6 Comments

Lucky You

Posted on April 29, 2019 by N.S. Palmer

You’re lucky. So am I. I’ve written in previous blogs that believing we’re lucky is a helpful attitude: It makes us happier because we look for the good in situations. It helps us achieve because we see problems as opportunities … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Philosophy, Political Science, Society | Tagged Andrew Yang, Automation, Evolution, Guaranteed annual income, Heredity, Rawls, The War on Normal People, Unemployment, Universal basic income | Leave a comment

Sliding Toward Infinity

Posted on April 26, 2019 by N.S. Palmer

When you’re a kid, you look forward to your birthdays. When you’re on the wrong side of 40, not so much. But here we are again. As the Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius said, our lives are circumscribed in space, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Life | Tagged Birthdays, Marcus Aurelius, Mathematics, Slide rules, Stoicism | 2 Comments

Don’t Mistake Hate for Logic

Posted on April 23, 2019 by N.S. Palmer

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 | Leave a comment

Do Great Individuals Shape History?

Posted on April 22, 2019 by N.S. Palmer

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 | Leave a comment

Don’t Pass Over History

Posted on April 19, 2019 by N.S. Palmer

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 | Leave a comment

Two Views of Life — and Government

Posted on April 18, 2019 by N.S. Palmer

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 →

Posted in Life, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology | Tagged Democracy, Determination, Encouragement, History, Nature vs. nurture, Noble lie, Parenting, Persistence, Positive thinking, Social contract | Leave a comment

Cher Channels Ambrose Bierce

Posted on April 15, 2019 by N.S. Palmer

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 Beavis and Butt-Head, Cher, Hypocrisy, Illegal migrants, Immigration, Immigration policy, NIMBY, Open borders | Leave a comment

Don’t Wait: Be Happy Now

Posted on April 12, 2019 by N.S. Palmer

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 →