Category Archives: Epistemology

Ideas That Have Harmed Humanity

Posted on May 2, 2020 by N.S. Palmer

The British philosopher and Nobel laureate (for literature) Bertrand Russell once wrote an essay titled “Ideas That Have Harmed Mankind.” Of course, when he wrote the essay in 1931, nobody would have taken offense at the word “mankind.” But we … Continue reading →

Posted in Epistemology, Human Relations, Philosophy, Psychology | Tagged Bertrand Russell, Humility, Knowledge, Models, Philosophy, Prediction, Rationalization, Social Conflict, Tolerance, Wisdom | Leave a comment

Language Does Not Equal Reality

Posted on February 15, 2020 by N.S. Palmer

Every Saturday, my friend Jim Grey publishes a “recommended reading” list of interesting blogs from the previous week. Today’s list linked to an article about the benefits of speaking multiple languages. Jim explained: “I used to speak German very well. … Continue reading →

Posted in Epistemology, Philosophy, Psychology | Tagged Chinese, English language, Language, Multilingual, Newspeak, Objective reality, Postmodernism | 4 Comments

Grokking Our Disagreements

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

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 →

Posted in Epistemology, Human Relations, Life, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Society | Tagged Assumptions, Disagreement, Fair Witness, Grok, Grokking, Handling disagreement, Heinlein, Social Conflict, Starship Troopers, Stranger in a Strange Land | Leave a comment

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 WMDs Make Religion Too Risky?

Posted on March 27, 2019 by N.S. Palmer

On his blog, philosopher Eric Kaplan posed a serious question (paraphrased here): If our weapons can destroy all life on earth, can we still afford to believe in a God who plays favorites? People sometimes claim that God is “… … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Christianity, Epistemology, Jewish Philosophy, Judaism, Philosophy, Psychology | Tagged Aggression, Atheism, Belief in God, Kin Selection, Philosophy of Religion, Religion, Sapolsky, Steven Weinberg, Theism, War | 3 Comments

Confucius Said: “Consider the Source”

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

I admit it: the ancient Chinese sage Confucius didn’t really say “consider the source.” At least it’s not in The Analects of Confucius, a collection of his teachings that were compiled and edited after his death. (The linked edition provides … Continue reading →

Posted in Epistemology, Human Relations, Political Science | Tagged Analects, Asian Studies, Charlie Chan, China, Chinese, Confucius, Confucius Institute, Mandarin, National interest | Leave a comment

Thought Experiments for Left and Right

Posted on January 31, 2019 by N.S. Palmer

Whether your politics lean left or right, a couple of thought experiments can help you understand people who lean the other way. History’s most famous thought experiment inspired Albert Einstein‘s theory of special relativity. In 1895, aged only 16, Einstein … Continue reading →

Posted in Epistemology, Human Relations, Political Science, Psychology, Society | Tagged Einstein, Gedankenexperiment, Neuroscience, Novelty Seeking, Social Change, Social stability, Thought Experiment | 2 Comments

They’re Not Lying

Posted on December 21, 2018 by N.S. Palmer

Do you have friends who say things that are obviously wrong? Maybe it’s politics, religion, gender, or some other touchy subject. This might help: Your friends aren’t lying. And they’re not evil, either, unless you have very bad judgment about … Continue reading →

Posted in Epistemology, Human Relations, Life, Psychology, Society | Tagged Beliefs, Debate, Error, Evolutionary Legacy Principle, Evolutionary Psychology, Fallible, Human judgment, Infallible, Knowledge, Lying, Mistake, Tolerance | Leave a comment

Can We Measure the Quality of Debates?

Posted on December 16, 2018 by N.S. Palmer

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 →

Posted in Epistemology, Human Relations, Life, Political Science, Psychology, Society | Tagged Einstein, Logical argument, Logical fallacy, Measurement, Operationalization, Political Debate, Special Relativity theory, Statistics | Leave a comment

Can We See Past Our Own Foundations?

Posted on October 15, 2018 by N.S. Palmer

You can’t understand anything in terms of nothing. That much is obvious. What’s less obvious is that it’s a barrier to communication and understanding. Each of us has a foundational viewpoint that biases how we see the world. It includes … Continue reading →