Beyond words: Aesthetic knowledge and knowing in design

Aesthetic knowledge comes from practitioners understanding the look, feel, smell, taste and sound of things. It is vital to work in many organizational contexts. In this paper, we explore aesthetic knowledge and knowing in organizations through detailed observation of design work in the architectural practice Edward Cullinan Architects. Through our research, we explore aesthetic knowledge in the context of architectural work, we unpack what it is, how it is generated, and how it is applied in design projects, shared between practitioners and developed at the level of the organization. Our analysis suggests that aesthetic knowledge plays an important part in organizational practice, not only as the symbolic context for work, but as an integral part of the work that people do. It suggests that aesthetic reflexivity, which involves an opening up and questioning of what is known, is experienced as part of practice as well as a `time out' from practice

Beyond binary thinking, knowing and teaching mathematics

This presentation provides a framework for engaging binary thinking, knowing and teaching of mathematics (e.g., teacher-centred/ student-centred, transmission/discovery, explicit teaching/ inquiry). The framework proposes three general positions (1) oppositional, (2) equipositional, and (3) parapositional ways of thinking, knowing and teaching mathematics (Adam & Chigeza, 2014). Like grid points on a map the three general positions offer navigational markers in the complex terrain of mathematics education. The presentation illustrates potential strengths and weaknesses of these three general positions in regards to teaching measurement in Year 5 and Year 8 mathematics classrooms. The presentation calls for dissolving the binary teaching approaches that have proven divisive in mathematics education

Immersive systemic knowing : rational analysis and beyond

Applied systems thinking has rapidly developed through successive waves of development, and the current reigning paradigm is the revisioned approach to critical systems thinking.This research scrutinizes systemic intervention. It employs the methods of second-order science to apply some of its principles reflexively back on to the domain to discover two gaps: one between the espoused aims of systemic intervention and the adequacy of its methods, the other about its dependence on dialogic rationality. It also delves into its philosophical underpinnings to trace the reason for this gap to the ‘ghosts’ of rationalism. This is because modern Western thinking equates consciousness with intentionality. I argue that there is another well-recognised mode of consciousness, that of non-intentionality. I name these two modes as the becoming-striving and the being-abiding orientations.To address the gap, firstly, a characterisation of the systemic ontology is attempted. Three basic features are identified: mindful interconnectedness, enactive cognition and teleonomy. I also describe plausible political, epistemic and pragmatic goals for systems thinking arising from this ontology.Four methods from adjacent disciplines are examined in detail to show that these address the systemic ontology in better fashion than existing systemic approaches. These mature global contemporary approaches access knowings corresponding to the being-abiding orientation, absent in systems thinking.A suitable ontoepistemology for systemic knowing must comprise of two ontologies and epistemologies corresponding to each of the two consciousness modes: four component elements. Suitable conceptual models from other disciplines serve the purpose of these four components. Thus, a model of immersive systemic knowing is assembled, which meets the requirements of a framework for systems thinking in terms of the goals posited.A key feature of this research is the espousal of experiential knowing: not in a phenomenological sense, but in terms of a radical empiricism. It argues for the value of practical knowings that go beyond rationalistic formulation, which are always held in the margins (in the language of boundaries). Systemists must actively seek such experiential knowing to enact truly creative improvement. The only answer to the problem of knowing the world better is to know the shadow aspects of the knowledge generating system. This requires truly radical methods and an extended epistemology, all shown to be available plentifully in other practices and cultures. Testimony is provided from two field projects that were a part of these inquiries, and from practitioner accounts

Crying Over the Cache: Why Technology Has Compromised the Uniform Application of Child Pornography Laws

As thousands of individuals surf the internet daily, every image on every web page is saved automatically to their computer’s cache, absent user direction. Sections 2252(a)(2) and 2252(a)(4)(B) of Title 18 of the U.S. Code criminalize knowing possession and knowing receipt of child pornography images. For the defendant who intentionally saves illicit images to his computer, the cache simply verifies already-proven knowing possession or receipt. However, for the defendant who only views child pornography online, the presence of images in the cache may not be enough to prove knowledge beyond a reasonable doubt. How can the prosecution prove a defendant knowingly received an image he has potentially never seen? How can a prosecutor prove a defendant knowingly possessed an image that may have been a pop-up? Questions like these have split circuit courts over the application of § 2252(a)(2). Several circuit courts have confronted cases with defendants who undoubtedly viewed child pornography images online, but who only left one clue as to their “knowing” receipt—the presence of images in the cache. The Tenth Circuit found that absent direct proof that a defendant viewed the image, the presence of a file in the cache is not enough to meet the “knowing receipt” standard. The Eleventh and Fifth Circuits disagreed, holding that a pattern of seeking out images satisfies the knowledge requirement. This Note analyzes the split and concludes that the presence of images in the cache proves a defendant’s knowing receipt. The Tenth Circuit’s demand of “direct proof of viewership of the image in question” imposes impossible evidentiary requirements. Defendants who view child pornography online have satisfied § 2252(a)(2)’s mens rea requirement even without direct proof of viewership of the image in question

On the Naturalness of Higgs Inflation

We critically examine the recent claim that the Standard Model Higgs boson ${\cal H}$ could drive inflation in agreement with observations if $|{\cal H}|^2$ has a strong coupling $\xi\sim 10^4$ to the Ricci curvature scalar. We first show that the effective theory approach upon which that claim is based ceases to be valid beyond a cutoff scale $\Lambda=m_p/\xi$, where $m_p$ is the reduced Planck mass. We then argue that knowing the Higgs potential profile for the field values relevant for inflation ($|{\cal H}|>m_p/\sqrt{\xi}\gg \Lambda$) requires knowledge of the ultraviolet completion of the SM beyond $\Lambda$. In absence of such microscopic theory, the extrapolation of the pure SM potential beyond $\Lambda$ is unwarranted and the scenario is akin to other ad-hoc inflaton potentials afflicted with significant fine-tuning. The appealing naturalness of this minimal proposal is therefore lost.Comment: 9 pages. Replaced with published version, plus a footnote clarifying the use of power counting estimate

Beyond conscious: the knowing of self-owned anxiety

To achieve recognition of when we might under anxiety attack, the first step is to introduce the practice of expressing ourselves with wearable devices- Nudo for users to say “no”, “I am not in a good condition” with no words, gently reveal your emotional status and give you the sense of support. Nudo works like the defense mechanism of humans and gathers our body signals that are triggered from anxiety as a recording piece that allows users to track what’s happening during every specific moment. It also works as a reminder for those who might not recognize their own anxiety. Nudo connects to several sensors including the GSR sensors and heart rate sensors, the motors that can pull the string which is being inserted into its own structure. When those sensors detect the changing of your body conditions such as heart rate goes up, cold sweat, those sensors will send out the signal that triggers the motors to pull the string to achieve the movement of the Nudo. Eventually, Nudo will breathe, shrink and tighten when your body experiences anxiety. And whenever it moves, that’s the moment you need to pay attention to. Because at this moment, your body tries to inform you and take action to protect you. Now Nudo will softly inform this world including you, focusing and listening to your heart. Try to clean your thoughts a bit, by following its temple. Like breathing, a deep breath. It’s a soft, playable wearable cushion, it creates a small space for you to hide part of your body away, it demonstrates and expresses yourself to the world softly, silently. It gently soothes and accompanies you when you need it. You are welcome to recognize the pattern of how your emotion functions with Nudo. Eventually, every small moment when we feel weird, even we don\u27t recognize it, is still important and worthy to be awarded. After all, rolling stones gather no moss, with the full understanding of ourselves, we can finally know when and how things affect us, and face it, toggle it. Empower yourself, embrace yourself

Should physical activity be on the healthy ageing agenda?

Physical activity makes a notable contribution to one’s independence, ability to perform everyday tasks and quality of life in the later years, but engagement in this health-related behaviour decreases with age. It is therefore not surprising that numerous intervention strategies have been applied in many settings to encourage a physically active lifestyle. Nonetheless, these have little long-lasting effect. Knowing how best to promote such behaviour to people over 65 years old in a way that makes them feel I want to engage is still in its infancy. This paper reflects on how ageing influences the decisions people in later life make in relation to adopting a physically active lifestyle, and how any advocacy needs to look beyond the physical experience. Knowing of the potential benefits to be gained from this self-regulating behaviour means it warrants a more prominent place on the promoting healthy ageing agenda

Finding What You Need, and Knowing What You Can Find: Digital Tools for Palaeographers in Musicology and Beyond

This chapter examines three projects that provide musicologists with a range of resources for managing and exploring their materials: DIAMM (Digital Image Archive of Medieval Music), CMME (Computerized Mensural Music Editing) and the software Gamera. Since 1998, DIAMM has been enhancing research of scholars worldwide by providing them with the best possible quality of digital images. In some cases these images are now the only access that scholars are permitted, since the original documents are lost or considered too fragile for further handling. For many sources, however, simply creating a very high-resolution image is not enough: sources are often damaged by age, misuse (usually Medieval ‘vandalism’), or poor conservation. To deal with damaged materials the project has developed methods of digital restoration using mainstream commercial software, which has revealed lost data in a wide variety of sources. The project also uses light sources ranging from ultraviolet to infrared in order to obtain better readings of erasures or material lost by heat or water damage. The ethics of digital restoration are discussed, as well as the concerns of the document holders. CMME and a database of musical sources and editions, provides scholars with a tool for making fluid editions and diplomatic transcriptions: without the need for a single fixed visual form on a printed page, a computerized edition system can utilize one editor’s transcription to create any number of visual forms and variant versions. Gamera, a toolkit for building document image recognition systems created by Ichiro Fujinaga is a broad recognition engine that grew out of music recognition, which can be adapted and developed to perform a number of tasks on both music and non-musical materials. Its application to several projects is discussed

FRW barotropic zero modes: Dynamical systems observability

The dynamical systems observability properties of barotropic bosonic and fermionic FRW cosmological oscillators are investigated. Nonlinear techniques for dynamical analysis have been recently developed in many engineering areas but their application has not been extended beyond their standard field. This paper is a small contribution to an extension of this type of dynamical systems analysis to FRW barotropic cosmologies. We find that determining the Hubble parameter of barotropic FRW universes does not allow the observability, i.e., the determination of neither the barotropic FRW zero mode nor of its derivative as dynamical cosmological states. Only knowing the latter ones correspond to a rigorous dynamical observability in barotropic cosmologyComment: 10 pages, 0 figure