Author Archives: N.S. Palmer

About N.S. Palmer

N.S. Palmer is an American mathematician.

Morality Needs Both Logic and Feeling

Posted on November 17, 2016 by N.S. Palmer

My new blog post for The Jerusalem Post: As a child, I was a big “Star Trek” fan. I never wanted to be like Captain Kirk. The world was full of Kirk wannabes. My hero was Mr. Spock: stoic, brilliant, … Continue reading →

Posted in Jewish Philosophy, Judaism, Philosophy, The Jerusalem Post | Tagged Adam Smith, B.F. Skinner, Descartes' Error, Ethics, Feeling, Heschel, Hillel, Logic, Moral judgment, Morality, Mr. Spock, Psychology, Star Trek | 1 Comment

Ben Franklin’s Jewish Values

Posted on November 6, 2016 by N.S. Palmer

My latest blog post for The Jewish Journal: American founder Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) wasn’t Jewish, but he might as well have been. He shared many of Judaism’s key moral values. One of our most central values is moral seriousness: the … Continue reading →

Posted in Jewish Philosophy, Judaism, The Jewish Journal | Tagged Ben Franklin, Benjamin Franklin, Deism, Dennis Prager, Jewish morals, Jewish Values, Jonathan Sacks, Moral virtues | Leave a comment

The UNESCO Vote Mystery

Posted on October 17, 2016 by N.S. Palmer

My latest blog post for The Jewish Journal: There’s a mystery about UNESCO’s denial last week of Jewish connections to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall in Jerusalem. The mystery is not that the resolution was proposed by some … Continue reading →

Posted in Judaism | Tagged Belief, Cognitive Science, Confirmation Bias, Conflict of belief, Epistemology, Hilary Putnam, Israel, Jerusalem, Memes, Propaganda, Temple Mount, UNESCO, Western Wall | 1 Comment

Twin Holidays of Creation

Posted on October 7, 2016 by N.S. Palmer

My latest blog post for The Jewish Journal: Rosh Hashanah celebrates the creation of the world. Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement. They seem quite different. But what if they’re not so different after all? I’m not a rabbi … Continue reading →

Posted in Judaism, The Jewish Journal | Tagged Exodus, Genesis, High Holidays, Kabbalah, Moral Choice, Nahum Sarna, Number Mysticism, Rosh Hashanah, Sefirot, Tikkun Olam, Yom Kippur | Leave a comment

Never Give Up Hope

Posted on September 28, 2016 by N.S. Palmer

My latest blog post for The Jewish Journal: War. Terrorism. Riots. Crime. Unemployment. Political corruption. Intolerance. There are many reasons to give up hope. Don’t. If you give up hope, then you give up on the future. If you give … Continue reading →

Posted in Judaism, The Jewish Journal | Tagged Einstein, Fate, Freedom, Hope, Jonathan Sacks, Perseverance, Utilitarianism, William Penn | Leave a comment

Are We Free to Choose?

Posted on September 14, 2016 by N.S. Palmer

Do you have free will? That’s an easy question. Of course you do. Here’s a harder question: What is free will? That’s where most of us get into trouble. Common sense tells us that we have free will, but doesn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Jewish Philosophy, Judaism, Philosophy, The Jewish Journal | Tagged Autonomy, Divine foreknowledge, Exodus, Free Will, Freedom, Jewish Philosophy | 5 Comments

Solve the Right Problem

Posted on September 6, 2016 by N.S. Palmer

My latest blog post for The Jewish Journal: Define the problem right, and you’re halfway to a solution. Define the problem wrong, and you’ll probably never solve it. You’ll waste all your time looking for a solution that doesn’t exist. … Continue reading →

Posted in Judaism, Philosophy, The Jewish Journal | Tagged Faith benefits, Garbage in garbage out, GIGO, Moral reasoning, Morality, Nonviolence, Problem solving, Religion, Religious extremism, Tolerance | 1 Comment

God, Science, and Objective Reality

Posted on August 31, 2016 by N.S. Palmer

My latest blog post for The Jerusalem Post: “If God does not exist, then everything is permitted.” Dostoyevsky didn’t write exactly those words in The Brothers Karamazov, but he came pretty close. The character Ivan Karamazov says: “For every person … Continue reading →

Posted in Jewish Philosophy, Judaism, Modern Orthodoxy, Philosophy, The Jerusalem Post | Tagged Individual will, Metaphysics, Natural Law, Objective reality, Objectivity, Polytheism, Science, Theism | 1 Comment

The Weirdest Torah Theory You Never Heard

Posted on August 29, 2016 by N.S. Palmer

My latest blog post for The Jewish Journal: It’s a weird theory about the Torah. You’ve never heard of it. And it’s really a thing. Of course, you’ve heard of other theories. The documentary hypothesis says that ancient editors assembled … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Jewish Philosophy, Judaism, The Jewish Journal | Tagged Ancient History, Bicameral Mind, Documentary Hypothesis, Jonathan Sacks, Julian Jaynes, Minds of the Bible, Psychology, Torah, Torah min Hashamayim | Leave a comment

Organizing the Bible and the Talmud

Posted on August 22, 2016 by N.S. Palmer

My latest blog post for The Jewish Journal: Do you know what it says in the Book of Deuteronomy, Chapter 8, verse 3? Unless you’re a rabbi or a savant, you probably don’t. Neither do I. But we know how … Continue reading →