Don't Believe Everything You Hear : Preserving Relevant Information by Discarding Social Information

Integrating information gained by observing others via Social Bayesian Learning can be beneficial for an agent’s performance, but can also enable population wide information cascades that perpetuate false beliefs through the agent population. We show how agents can influence the observation network by changing their probability of observing others, and demonstrate the existence of a population-wide equilibrium, where the advantages and disadvantages of the Social Bayesian update are balanced. We also use the formalism of relevant information to illustrate how negative information cascades are characterized by processing increasing amounts of non-relevant informatio

Suffolk University Alumni News Bulletin, Summer 1976

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Environmentalism in Qatar: examining the influence of Islamic ethics on environmental thought and practice

This thesis examines environmental discourses of state and non-state actors in Qatar, with a particular focus on how Islamic ethical values and teachings influence environmental thought and practice. Aside from its economic value as a leading liquid natural gas exporter, Qatar holds significant status as one of the most affluent Arab Muslim states vying for political and economic power regionally and globally while facing numerous environmental vulnerabilities (e.g., water scarcity, rising temperatures, air/water pollution, desertification, biodiversity loss, and sea level rise). Despite its constitutional identity as an Arab Muslim country, gaping rifts exist between Qatar’s interest in preserving its cultural, religious, and natural heritage on one hand, and its environmental realities and practices on the other. This study investigates the apparent disconnect between state aspirations and industrial/energy praxis causing or exacerbating regional/global environmental risks and social inequities—especially between wealthy Qataris and migrant laborers. Utilizing an environmental governance framework and critical discourse analysis, this research unveils power asymmetries between state and non-state actors in Qatar and elucidates the ways in which non-state actors struggle to access environmental data, establish non-governmental organizations free from strict government oversight, and mobilize to resist the hegemony of state and corporate powers. This study also demonstrates how state authorities and their corporate allies adopt predominately technocratic and market-based approaches to resolving environmental problems and maintain control over environmental discourses and decisions while actively depoliticizing climate discourses. In aiming to bridge theoretical religious ideals with environmental practice, this research also investigates reasons why Islamic environmentalism does not feature more prominently in the country. Although some state-sponsored environmental initiatives inspired by religious values and teachings have yielded educational, scientific, and charitable benefits, this study reveals how most environmental activism of non-state actors remains highly state-controlled, apolitical, areligious, and dominated by non-Arab expatriates—with minimal to no representation from Qatari citizens. Based on these findings, this thesis argues that the rise of a successful and sustainable environmental movement in Qatar necessitates 1) greater contribution and public engagement from indigenous Qataris, 2) tactful and incremental politicization (particularly from citizens holding greater social/political influence than expatriates/migrants), 3) more intersectional approaches to tackling the country’s most pressing socio-environmental needs, and 4) greater synergistic collaboration between religious scholars, imams, and activists to advance ecological consciousness and environmental education based on Islamic ethical and scriptural paradigms echoing and bolstering noble Arab virtues. In centering the voices of indigenous, religious and non- state actors, this inter-/transdisciplinary research demonstrates the numerous ways in which environmental struggles to protect natural resources and habitats in an extractivist, monarchic Muslim state intersect with social struggles to secure people’s dignity, health, faith, and basic human rights

Bard Observer, Vol. 15, No. 4 (December 16, 2003)

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A phenomenological study of couples who pursue infertility and the impact on their lives

The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the lived experience of couples residing in Southeastern Louisiana who were diagnosed with infertility and underwent infertility treatments. The study was a phenomenological qualitative research design, with researcher-developed guiding questions to help direct interviews. The sample was purposeful and was drawn from the patient base of a local endocrinologist. The couples who participated were greater than 18 years of age and had discontinued treatment one year prior to implementation of the study. Two married couples participated in the study while only the women of the other three couples agreed to be a part of the study. All couples were Caucasian and were considered to be middle-class as all either had some college education or held a bachelor degree or Master of Science degree. A total of seven interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed within 24 hours of conducting the interviews. Confidentiality of the participants was maintained throughout the data collection and analysis process. Two methods were used to analyze the data collected: Moustakas and Van Kaam. The findings of the study were consistent with the findings of other qualitative studies that have been conducted in the past. All the women participants discussed having feelings of inadequacy, disappointment, and frustration. The women also engaged in behaviors that in some way seemed to help preserve their self-esteem. These included focusing on work, removing themselves from gatherings that reminded them of their infertility, and confiding in only a few friends and family. The men, on the other hand, seem to reflect two opposing positions with regards to the impact infertility had on their wives, their lives, and their feelings. Finally, the final analysis of the research indicated that infertility is a major life crisis that often results in numerous losses. Grieving their losses was a consistent theme that emerged. However, all the participants seemed to be at different stages of the grieving cycle. For those who were able to adopt a child, infertility no longer had any meaning to them

On the Truly Noncooperative Game of Island Life: Introducing a Unified Theory of Value & Evolutionarily Stable Island Economic Development Strategy

This discourse offers a solution to The Problem of Sustainable Economic Development on islands. This hypothesis offers a foundational, sub-game solution to The Island Survival Game, a counterintuitive, dominant economic development strategy for ‘islands’ (and relatively insular states). This discourse also tables conceptual building blocks, prerequisite analytical tools, and a guiding principle for The Earth Island Survival Game, a bounded delay supergame which models The Problem of Sustainable Economic Development at the global level. We begin our exploration with an introduction to The Principle of Relative Insularity, a postulate which informs ESS for ‘island’ and ‘continental’ players alike. Next, we model ‘island’ economic development with two bio-geo-politico-economic models and respective strategies: The Mustique Co. Development Plan, and The Prince Edward Island Federal-Provincial Program for Social and Economic Advancement. These diametrically opposed strategies offer an extraordinary comparative study. One island serves as a highly descriptive model for The Problem of Sustainable Economic Development; the other model informs ESS. The Island Survival Game serves as a remarkable learning tool, offering lessons which promote Darwinian fitness, resource holding power, self-sufficiency, and cooperative behaviour, by illuminating the illusive path toward sustainable economic development.Non-cooperative games, evolutionary game theory, relative insularity, islands, tragedy of the commons, sustainable economic development, resource holding power, evolutionarily stable strategy, long distance dispersal

Story as a Means to Distributed Cognition in Dispute Mediation

In spite of a long history and wide-spread usage, dispute mediation has developed largely in the absence of theories to corroborate its practices. Mediators are taught techniques during their training to help disputants communicate; however, the kinds, patterns and evocation of disputant discourse that may further advance the mediation process have received little attention. In particular, stories may have been overlooked as a means in the creation of mutual understanding and in the promotion of relationship. At the same time, some mediators disavow storytelling as an acceptable type of discourse as they believe that the focus of the activity is on the present and future. Framed in distributed cognition theory, this study considers mediation as an activity and examines functions served by storytelling, the relevance of past history to both the disputants and to the mediator; and the patterns of storytelling and story listening that appear to affect understanding, and subsequently, relationship. Data collected from interviews with 10 mediators approached ethnographically, and data derived from five videotaped mediation simulations viewed phenomenologically, represent the perspectives of mediators and disputants. In conclusion, story in mediation is the means in which understanding is created both within and between persons, and offers potential for intrapersonal and interpersonal growth. Past history as authored in the form of autobiographical, biographical and/or cultural stories of disputants, forms the lens through which each disputant views the conflict and the other person. Mediators also relate past history as story to reframe the understanding of the conflict for their clients. Story completeness, coherence and clarity, and opportunity as enabled by storyteller/mediator abilities and orientation towards the activity influence listening, understanding and relational outcomes. Consequently, a broader understanding of the ways in which mediators can encourage and support disputant stories may have implications for mediation as an activity directed towards fostering responsive, caring and interdependent relationships

Biblical Literalism And Implications For Learning

Given that everything we learn is scaffolded onto prior knowledge, how and what we learn is infinitely complex. There are many factors influencing learning, including environment, social and institutional attitudes, access, conditioning and biases. Among the social and environmental factors, religious affiliation is a powerful force which can either encourage educational pursuit, or discourage and demonize it. This study used Mezirow’s Transformative Learning Theory (2003) to examine the lived experiences of individuals who were raised in biblical literalist faith traditions. The researcher conducted loosely structured interviews with each participant to learn about their educational and spiritual journeys as they left the religion of their childhood in search of a more integrated approach to knowledge and spirituality. The study culminated in recommendations for educators teaching students from such a background