Tag Archives: Empathy

Why Power Corrupts Us

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

Power tends to corrupt us. So do privilege and status. Of course, we like to believe that it happens only to other people. We could never be corrupted by power and privilege. We’re too good for that. Unfortunately, however, we’re … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Relations, Life, Psychology | Tagged Consideration for others, Courage, Empathy, Power, Power corrupts, Privilege, Serenity, Wisdom | 3 Comments

Can You Feel the Love?

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

Can you feel the love? It’s kind of a cliché, sometimes said as a joke. But it points to a real problem. For any society to survive, its people need to cooperate. That requires at least a minimum level of … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Relations, Life, Political Science, Psychology, Society | Tagged Diversity, Empathy, Homogeneous societies, Kipling, love, Mutual understanding, Social Conflict, Social harmony, The Stranger, Tolerance | Leave a comment

Are People Basically Good?

Posted on August 30, 2018 by N.S. Palmer

“People are neither basically good nor basically bad. They are basically free.” Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Judaism, Philosophy | Tagged Conscience, Dennis Prager, Empathy, Ernest Hemingway, Human Nature, Jonathan Haidt, Morality, Religion, Virtue | 4 Comments

Ending the Violence, Part 1

Posted on December 19, 2015 by N.S. Palmer

My latest blog post for The Jerusalem Post: “The road to disaster is paved with pleasant illusions, and the way to deal with evil is not to ignore it,”1 advised Abraham Joshua Heschel. The English philosopher Francis Bacon wasn’t Jewish, … Continue reading →