Learning from AI : new trends in database technology

Recently some researchers in the areas of database data modelling and knowledge representations in artificial intelligence have recognized that they share many common goals. In this survey paper we show the relationship between database and artificial intelligence research. We show that there has been a tendency for data models to incorporate more modelling techniques developed for knowledge representations in artificial intelligence as the desire to incorporate more application oriented semantics, user friendliness, and flexibility has increased. Increasing the semantics of the representation is the key to capturing the "reality" of the database environment, increasing user friendliness, and facilitating the support of multiple, possibly conflicting, user views of the information contained in a database

Society Culture and Environmental Adaptability in Central and South America

This paper constitutes an in-depth and comparative review of three recent anthropological studies of environmental adaptability in Central and South America. In an attempt to overcome the dualism of former ecological anthropology, Arizpe, Paz and Velßzquez (1996), Wilbert (1998), and Santos-Graneros and Barclay (1998) bring nature and society into a common framework aimed at understanding human adaptation, as well as the changing relations of human societies to natural environments. The paper discusses the ideas and arguments contained in these three books by focusing on the cultural dimensions of human adaptation to the environment. It then examines the local and global patterns of resource management. The paper concludes with a few remarks on how to link anthropological research on indigenous survival in the context of deforestation and modernization with policy recommendations.

Consuming Digital Debris in the Plasticene

Claims of customization and control by socio-technical industries are altering the role of consumer and producer. These narratives are often misleading attempts to engage consumers with new forms of technology. By addressing capitalist intent, material, and the reproduction limits of 3-D printed objects’, I observe the aspirational promise of becoming a producer of my own belongings through new networks of production. I am interested in gaining a better understanding of the data consumed that perpetuates hyper-consumptive tendencies for new technological apparatuses. My role as a designer focuses on the resolution of not only the surface of the object through 3-D printing, but the social implications to acknowledge consequential conditions of new forms of consumer technology

On Evolution of God-Seeking Mind: An Inquiry Into Why Natural Selection Would Favor Imagination and Distortion of Sensory Experience

The earliest known products of human imagination appear to express a primordial concern and struggle with thoughts of dying and of death and mortality. I argue that the structures and processes of imagination evolved in that struggle, in response to debilitating anxieties and fearful states that would accompany an incipient awareness of mortality. Imagination evolved to find that which would make the nascent apprehension of death more bearable, to engage in a search for alternative perceptions of death: a search that was beyond the capability of the external senses. I argue that imagination evolved as flight and fight adaptations in response to debilitating fears that paralleled an emerging foreknowledge of death. Imagination, and symbolic language to express its perceptions, would eventually lead to religious behavior and the development of cultural supports. Although highly speculative, my argument draws on recent brain studies, and on anthropology, psychology, and linguistics

Patina: a Method Oriented Design Environment for Parametric Analysis

The central issue to be addressed in this thesis is the provision of support for design tasks that require problem formation and evaluation and some inventive adaptation of products and design strategies. Hitherto, computer tools have failed to support the full range of design tasks. In particular, they have been focused upon solving previously formulated design tasks in well-defined domains where little inventiveness with materials or design strategies is required (Green, 1992a). A solution is offered in the form of an analysis that yields a new class of system, called Method Oriented Design Environments (MODEs), which provide support for some of these more complicated design tasks. An implementation of such a system is presented in the fom1 of Patina: a MODE to support parametric analysis. It is argued that the lack of support for design tasks involving problem formulation, evaluation and inventiveness with components and strategies has partly been due to usage of an overly narrow view of the design process as a basis for system development on the part of developers of knowledge aided design. To provide a more complete orientation for these developers, and 'to expand the theory of knowledge aided design, an alternative model of design tasks is developed in the form of a 'design activity space' by transferring knowledge from the field of design research to that of knowledge aided design. A mapping is constructed between this new design activity space and Green's model space of tools for knowledge aided design (Green, 1992a). The mapping is first used to analyse the range of utility of some recent alternatives to traditional knowledge based systems for design. It is then used to single out a 'niche' of design tasks that are not supported by traditional systems or their more recent alternatives. The design tasks which lie in this niche awaiting support from computer tools share the following characteristics: ( 1) they encompass the activities of analysis, synthesis and evaluation, (2) they require an intermediate degree of innovation with the product, and (3) they require an intermediate degree of innovation in design strategy. The class of tools that are proposed to offer support to tasks in this niche are named MODEs because their defining characteristic is that the majority of their constituent knowledge is derived from a design method or strategy. Therefore the main item that is being represented to the user of a MODE is such a structured method rather than an evolving artefact. This is radically different from the traditional knowledge based tools, where the item being represented is an artefact in a particular domain, and from a recent proposal for systems that depict an unstructured process (Blessing, 1994). To demonstrate the feasibility of implementing a MODE, the implementation of a system called Patina, to support designers in applying the technique of parametric analysis, is reported

The Adaptation of the Death Anxiety and Religious Belief Measures into Estonia A Pilot Study on the Supernatural Belief Scale and the Existential Death Anxiety Scale

This master’s thesis demonstrates an adaptation process of a survey research method that evaluates the relationship between death anxiety and religiosity into the Estonian setting. Three main objectives were set: (a) introduction of the theoretical reasoning, (b) preparation and execution of the pilot study, (c) exploration of the entire process to determine requirements for the main study. Theoretical and methodological basis are drawn from Jong and Halberstadt (2016) who’s central objective bases on the following questions: “are people afraid of death? Does death anxiety motivate religious belief? Does religious belief mitigate death anxiety?” (p. 47). In this paper two measures of survey questionnaire from the named authors were adapted (6 + 12 items) and an online pilot survey (n = 194) was executed. The intention of the pilot study was to test the reliability of the measures adapted. Satisfactory result was received—the adapted survey measures were found to be highly reliable. Cronbach’s alpha for the Existential Death Anxiety Scale was .939, and for the Supernatural Belief Scale .927. This shows that the main study is feasible.https://utlib.ut.ee

On the Nature of Knowledge: An evolutionary perspective

Knowledge comes in two opposed forms – as structural property and as a process. Their interaction - in the time dimension as well as along a logical dimension - characterizes the evolution of knowledge. Knowledge only works, i.e. evolutes, via its presence in carrier media; be it books, hard disks or human brains. Embedding specifications and development of carrier media in an understanding of knowledge evolution is a pivotal step towards an understanding of what could be considered as progress in human societies. Indeed the impact of the ICT revolution of the last decades is now just only surfacing; it will show how important scientific advance in this field is. Knowledge comes in pieces, in units of something that could be called language (in a wider sense). As an over boarding science of linguistics points out these pieces are organized, they form an evolutionary network. The opposing network element types, nodes and (directed) links, reflect the above mentioned opposed forms. In a sense language still is a natural phenomenon, one that provides knowledge about nature. Nature as process as well as natural structure comes into perspective as knowledge. The paper discusses these three aspects and will position them relative to major scientific contributions from various disciplines. In a final conclusion the consequences for the methodology of evolutionary economics will be drawn.information; knowledge; language; evolutionary economics

“Winning the Place for Jesus”: A Relational Perspective on Pentecostal Mission Encounters in Madagascar

Unter Bezugnahme auf theoretische Ansätze von Tim Ingold, Doreen Massey und ChristopherPowell entwickelt der Beitrag eine relationale Perspektive auf Ort und missionarische Praxis inMadagaskar. Im Mittelpunkt des Beitrags stehen gegenwärtige Süd-Süd-Missionskontakte unddie Versuche eines madagassischen Pastors, in einer kleinen Stadt im zentralen Hochland einenZweig seiner Kirche aufzubauen: Der Pastor arbeitet für Winners‘ Chapel, eine pfingstlich-charismatischeKirche aus Nigeria, und hat die Aufgabe, „den Ort für Jesus zu gewinnen“. Nach zahlreichenMisserfolgen soll ihm schließlich ein Ritual dabei helfen, die Verbindungen der Stadtmit territorialen Dämonen zu lösen, den Bund der Bewohner zu Gott zu erneuern und denPastor selbst in lokale Beziehungsgeflechte einzubinden.Der Artikel versteht „Ort“ nicht als gegebene Einheit, sondern als entstehendes und sich veränderndesProdukt relationaler Prozesse. Ein Ort ist demnach keine Arena für Geschichten, Identitätenund Begegnungen, die an ihn gebunden sind oder in ihm stattfinden. Vielmehr konstituiertsich der Ort erst als dynamisches Beziehungsgeflecht durch unterschiedliche Praktiken desBezugnehmens oder In-Beziehung-Setzens. Abschließend geht der Beitrag darauf ein, inwieferneine relationale Perspektive nicht nur eine neue Sicht auf „Gegenstände“ ethnographischerForschung ermöglicht, sondern auch auf die akademische Wissensproduktion selbst.In reference to theoretical approaches by Tim Ingold, Doreen Massey and Christopher Powell, the contribution develops a relational perspective on place and missionary practices in Madagascar. The article focuses on current South-South mission contacts and the attempts of a Malagasy pastor to establish a branch of his church in a small town in the central highlands: The pastor works for Winners’ Chapel, a Pentecostal-charismatic church from Nigeria, and is tasked with “winning the place for Jesus”. After numerous failures, a ritual is supposed to help him finally break connections with territorial spirits, renew the covenant of the inhabitants with God and bind himself to the local web of relationships. The article understands “place” not as a given entity, but as an emerging and changing product of relational processes. A place is therefore not a pre-set arena for stories, identities and encounters that are bound to it or take place in it. Rather, place constitutes itself as a dynamic meshwork of relationships through different practices of relating. In this way, place comes into being as a taking place of relations. Finally, the article shows that a relational perspective not only invites us to take a new look at the “objects” of ethnographic research, but also at academic knowledge production itself

Mind within the Body The Presence and Importance of Mental Health Within Traditional Tibetan Medicine

The purpose of this Independent Study Project was to identify aspects of mental health within the traditional Tibetan medical system that are both taught in the classroom and carried out in clinical practice, with a primary focus on the importance of maintaining mental health. Throughout the research process, aspects of illness etiology, diagnosis, treatment processes, and influence from Tibetan Buddhism were found to be deeply connected in maintaining mental health within patients of Traditional Tibetan medicine. As well, much emphasis was found on the mind\u27s influence on the physical wellbeing of an individual, suggesting that mental and physical health are not separate entities, but are constantly tied to one another. The researcher conducted a series of interviews within the Men-Tsee-Khang Tibetan Medical and Astrological Institute in Dharamsala, India, that also extended to the Tibetan community of Upper Dharamsala, and to a Men-Tsee-Khang branch clinic in Kathmandu, Nepal. Qualitative data from field research was then incorporated into information gained from literary sources, varying from ancient Tibetan medical texts to academic articles

A curriculum based on systems theory.

This paper describes an entry-level curriculum based on systems theory that was designed to promote integrated thinking and a shared image of practice among all of the members of an educational community that included students, faculty, and clinicians. Initiated in 1983, the program integrates occupational therapy theory, critical thinking, and knowledge about person-environmental transactions with traditional medical, biological, psychological, and sociological course work to create a unique educational experience. The curriculum model is based on a spiral learning process that encourages integrated thinking. Furthermore, all concepts are systematically tied to the occupation core, the central theme of the program. Fieldwork is used to reinforce ideas presented in the classroom and features discrete learning experiences where students demonstrate their integration of knowledge and skills. In an evaluation of the program, responses from 78 clinician, 51 alumni, and 132 student questionnaires; feedback from 132 fieldwork supervisors; and longitudinal data from 33 alumni confirmed that graduates are critical thinkers who appreciate the diverse needs of clients while demonstrating an appreciation for the curative effect of meaningful, goal-directed activities