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Author Archives: N.S. Palmer
Have Happy Relationships in 2019
Human beings are social animals. To be our best selves, we need other people. But those relationships demand work, patience, and understanding. How can you make your relationships as happy as possible in 2019? Think about three things: You, the … Continue reading
Posted in Human Relations, Life, Psychology
Tagged Benjamin Franklin, Bertrand Russell, Forgiveness, Friendship, Happiness, Happy marriage, How to be happy, love, Marriage, Relationships
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Create a Better Life in 2019
Want to create a better life in 2019? In “Emily’s Five Things,” a Taiwanese television series, Emily finds a bottle at the beach. It contains a paper with an enigmatic message: Be Yourself Reconcile Bid Farewell Go Home Rewind The … Continue reading
Embrace the Paradox of Self-Improvement
Are you good enough as you are, or do you think you can do better? That question highlights the paradox of self-improvement. Before you can make your life better, you must believe you’re worthy of something better. That means accepting … Continue reading
Posted in Human Relations, Life, Psychology
Tagged Motivation, Personal growth, Positive attitude, Psychology, Self-acceptance, Self-improvement
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Can We Measure the Quality of Debates?
As an undergraduate mathematics major, I had to take three semesters of statistics. I’m pretty good at mathematics, but statistics is a different animal. To adapt the famous last words of English actor Edmund Gwenn, “Mathematics is easy. Statistics is … Continue reading
Why My Father Was Never Sick
In “Unbreakable” (2000), Bruce Willis played a middle-aged man who discovered that he was an invulnerable superhero. Obviously, superhero movies require our suspension of disbelief. In “Unbreakable,” the hardest thing to believe was not that Willis’s character was invulnerable, or … Continue reading
Posted in Life, Psychology, Society
Tagged Attitude, Constructive attitude, Courage, Determination, Good luck, Grit, Luck, Lucky
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Making Peace with “the Passions”
“But what about the passions?” It was another philosophy class in college. We were discussing some abstruse intellectual topic. And my classmate Dave was interjecting — again — a lot of irrelevant chatter about “the passions.” The passions were a … Continue reading
A Tool’s Got to Know Its Limitations
What do DNA, psychological questionnaires, and my new car have in common? DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is a molecule in which plants and animals encode the basic characteristics of their bodies. It’s what makes a rose a rose instead of a … Continue reading
Visit a Foreign Country
“The past is a foreign country,” advised British novelist L.P. Hartley. And it’s true: Most of us have quite enough trouble keeping up with the present. We’re too busy to think much about the past. Of course, there are different … Continue reading
Posted in Bible, Christianity, Human Relations, Judaism, Political Science, Psychology, Society
Tagged Classic radio, Common good, Courage, Heroism, Lone Ranger, Morality, Patriotism, Rule of law, Self-reliance, Westerns, Wisdom
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Abnormal Isn’t Normal, But It’s OK
“Abnormal” is not an insult. And “normal” is not a compliment. People bend over backwards these days to avoid calling anything “abnormal.” Apparently they think it might hurt someone’s feelings. For example, Robert Plomin’s recent book about human DNA argues … Continue reading
The Thousand-Year View 