55,458 research outputs found
Reclaiming human machine nature
Extending and modifying his domain of life by artifact production is one of
the main characteristics of humankind. From the first hominid, who used a wood
stick or a stone for extending his upper limbs and augmenting his gesture
strength, to current systems engineers who used technologies for augmenting
human cognition, perception and action, extending human body capabilities
remains a big issue. From more than fifty years cybernetics, computer and
cognitive sciences have imposed only one reductionist model of human machine
systems: cognitive systems. Inspired by philosophy, behaviorist psychology and
the information treatment metaphor, the cognitive system paradigm requires a
function view and a functional analysis in human systems design process.
According that design approach, human have been reduced to his metaphysical and
functional properties in a new dualism. Human body requirements have been left
to physical ergonomics or "physiology". With multidisciplinary convergence, the
issues of "human-machine" systems and "human artifacts" evolve. The loss of
biological and social boundaries between human organisms and interactive and
informational physical artifact questions the current engineering methods and
ergonomic design of cognitive systems. New developpment of human machine
systems for intensive care, human space activities or bio-engineering sytems
requires grounding human systems design on a renewed epistemological framework
for future human systems model and evidence based "bio-engineering". In that
context, reclaiming human factors, augmented human and human machine nature is
a necessityComment: Published in HCI International 2014, Heraklion : Greece (2014
Artificial life meets computational creativity?
I review the history of work in Artificial Life on the problem of the open-ended evolutionary growth of complexity in computational worlds. This is then put into the context of evolutionary epistemology and human creativity
Information and Design: Book Symposium on Luciano Floridiās The Logic of Information
Purpose ā To review and discuss Luciano Floridiās 2019 book The Logic of Information: A Theory of Philosophy as Conceptual Design, the latest instalment in his philosophy of information (PI) tetralogy, particularly with respect to its implications for library and information studies (LIS).
Design/methodology/approach ā Nine scholars with research interests in philosophy and LIS read and responded to the book, raising critical and heuristic questions in the spirit of scholarly dialogue. Floridi responded to these questions.
Findings ā Floridiās PI, including this latest publication, is of interest to LIS scholars, and much insight can be gained by exploring this connection. It seems also that LIS has the potential to contribute to PIās further development in some respects.
Research implications ā Floridiās PI work is technical philosophy for which many LIS scholars do not have the training or patience to engage with, yet doing so is rewarding. This suggests a role for translational work between philosophy and LIS.
Originality/value ā The book symposium format, not yet seen in LIS, provides forum for sustained, multifaceted and generative dialogue around ideas
Tracing the Biological Roots of Knowledge
The essay is a critical review of three possible approaches in the theory of knowledge while tracing the biological roots of knowledge: empiricist, rationalist and developmentalist approaches.
Piaget's genetic epistemology, a developmentalist approach, is one of the first comprehensive
treatments on the question of tracing biological roots of knowledge. This developmental approach is
currently opposed, without questioning the biological roots of knowledge, by the more popular
rationalist approach, championed by Chomsky. Developmental approaches are generally coherent
with cybernetic models, of which the theory of autopoiesis proposed by Maturana and Varela made
a significant theoretical move in proposing an intimate connection between metabolism and
knowledge. Modular architecture is currently considered more or less an undisputable model for
both biology as well as cognitive science. By suggesting that modulation of modules is possible by
motor coordination, a proposal is made to account for higher forms of conscious cognition within
the four distinguishable layers of the human mind. Towards the end, the problem of life and
cognition is discussed in the context of the evolution of complex cognitive systems, suggesting the
unique access of phylogeny during the ontogeny of human beings as a very special case, and how
the problem cannot be dealt with independent of the evolution of coding systems in nature
Philosophical foundations of the Death and Anti-Death discussion
Perhaps there has been no greater opportunity than in this āVOLUME FIFTEEN of our Death And Anti-Death set of anthologiesā to write about how might think about life and how to avoid death. There are two reasons to discuss ālifeā, the first being enhancing our understanding of who we are and why we may be here in the Universe. The second is more practical: how humans meet the physical challenges brought about by the way they have interacted with their environment.
Many persons discussing ālifeā beg the question about what ālifeā is. Surely, when one discusses how to overcome its opposite, death, they are not referring to another ālivingā thing such as a plant. There seems to be a commonality, though, and it is this commonality is one needing elaboration. It ostensibly seems to be the boundary condition separating what is completely passive (inert) from what attempts to maintain its integrity, as well as fulfilling other conditions we think ālifeā has. In our present discussion, there will be a reminder that it by no means has been unequivocally established what life really is by placing quotes around the word, namely, ālifeā. Consider it a tag representing a bundle of philosophical ideas that will be unpacked in this paper
Ontology as the core discipline of biomedical informatics: Legacies of the past and recommendations for the future direction of research
The automatic integration of rapidly expanding information resources in the life sciences is one of the most challenging goals facing biomedical research today. Controlled vocabularies, terminologies, and coding systems play an important role in realizing this goal, by making it possible to draw together information from heterogeneous sources ā for example pertaining to genes and proteins, drugs and diseases ā secure in the knowledge that the same terms will also represent the same entities on all occasions of use. In the naming of genes, proteins, and other molecular structures, considerable efforts are under way to reduce the effects of the different naming conventions which have been spawned by different groups of researchers. Electronic patient records, too, increasingly involve the use of standardized terminologies, and tremendous efforts are currently being devoted to the creation of terminology resources that can meet the needs of a future era of personalized medicine, in which genomic and clinical data can be aligned in such a way that the corresponding information systems become interoperable
Holistic, Ethical Leadership for the 21st Century
The New Oxford American Dictionary (2001) delineates two definitions for a leader: ā1) The person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country; a person followed by others. 2) A short strip of nonfunctioning material at each end of a reel of film or recording tape for connection to the spool.ā How often does the latter definition seem more applicable for many of our educational leaders than the former? What are the philosophical foundations of leadership? What does a modern, ethical leader look like? These are just a few questions that will be explored in this article. The challenge beset for the educational leaders of the present and the future is one that will require a bridging and blending of old and new paradigms. A mere paradigm shift may not be sufficientāthe term shift is still too mechanistic and linear to adequately describe this new approach. Rather, the modern ethical leader must create a paradigm blend. In the circular way of knowing, akin to the epistemology of the Lakota Sioux (Stolzman, 1986), this article will explore four aspects of modern educational leadership. First, the criticisms and attacks on the educational system will be addressed. Second, the aim of education will be analyzed through three lenses: axiology, epistemology, and ontology. Third, systemic education will be discussed. Fourth, the role of the modern/future educational leader will be explored: specifically regarding the need for him/her to address the concerns of the critics and bridge the divide between two paradigms of education. This essay is a brief exploration that delves into the shortcomings of the modern educational system, the core purposes of education, systemic educational paradigms, and the role of the 21st century ethical leader. The authorās goal is not to provide answers, nor propose a prescription for ethical leadership. Rather, the intent is to aid in focusing the direction which leaders must follow in order to be effective in this millennium. Similar to the manner in which Descartes shared his method of inquiry, the author will share part of his experience in learning and growing as an educational leader. āThus my purpose here is not to teach the method that everyone should follow in order to conduct his reason correctly, but merely to show how I have tried to conduct mineā (Descartes, 1637/1980, p. 2)
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