Published March 18, 2019
University of Louisiana Monroe professor Dr. Jack Palmer was a panel discussant at the evolutionary ethics workshop for the 70th Louisiana
Psychological Association conference that was held in New Orleans in late 2018.
The keynote speaker at the event was the world-renowned scientist Dr. Robert Trivers,
who discussed the evolution of reciprocal altruism and proclivities toward deception
and self-deception.
Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker calls Trivers, "One of the great thinkers in the
history of Western thought,” and Time magazine named him one of the greatest scientists
and thinkers of the 20th Century.
Palmer commented on the workshop, saying, “Our understanding of social behavior, both
human and non-human, comes from the insights provided by three brilliant theorists,
Charles Darwin, William Hamilton and Robert Trivers. Of these three, Robert Trivers
remains among the living and I had the honor and privilege to be given the opportunity
to discuss evolutionary science with him as well as contribute to the program.”
Palmer has been at ULM since 1989 and is in the School of Behavioral and Social Sciences.
Palmer teaches positive psychology, physiological psychology, neurophysiology, and
evolutionary psychology. His current research focuses on investigating altruism and
empathy and determining which variables have the greatest influence on critical decision
making.
