An Investigation of cultural complexity via memetics: Methodological rationale and its operationalisation

After introducing the background and motivation for my work a portion of my PhD research is presented which considers issues related to the nature of my literature review and the subsequent decisions I have made in respect of an appropriate methodology for empirical work. Literature related to a neo-Darwinian view of human culture is discussed and a number of difficulties related to an absence of consensus amongst theorists are highlighted. The neo-Darwinian perspective demands a replicator in culture which is analogous to the gene in biology and the candidate for that replicator has become know as the meme. The abduction of a narrative orientated methodology for searching for such a replicator is explained and its application demonstrated through an example of coded data. The analysis is based on a structural narrative approach and in particular on the notion of narrative programmes which interact and perhaps compete in social environments. Following concluding remarks the next steps of my PhD work are described. KEY WORDS: Meme, Memetics, Narrative, Complexit

Verbal analogy problem sets: An inventory of testing materials.

Analogical reasoning is an active topic of investigation across education, artificial intelligence (AI), cognitive psychology, and related fields. In all fields of inquiry, explicit analogy problems provide useful tools for investigating the mechanisms underlying analogical reasoning. Such sets have been developed by researchers working in the fields of educational testing, AI, and cognitive psychology. However, these analogy tests have not been systematically made accessible across all the relevant fields. The present paper aims to remedy this situation by presenting a working inventory of verbal analogy problem sets, intended to capture and organize sets from diverse sources

Heroes and Victims:Fund Manager Sense-making, Self-legitimation and Storytelling

This paper explores how fund managers continue to do their job when on one level they know they cannot all be exceptional. They do this by telling stories, constructing satisfying narratives to explain to themselves, as well as others, why their investments work out and providing equally plausible reasons for when they underperform. Using the story typology of Gabriel (2000. Storytelling in Organizations: Facts, Fictions, and Fantasies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.) – epic, tragic, comic and romantic, we explore two sets of fund manager narratives. First, we analyse the transcripts of interviews with 50 equity fund managers in some of the world's largest investment houses. Second, we examine a similar number of published fund manager reports to their investors. In both cases, we show how storytelling is used by asset managers to make sense of what they do and justify their value to themselves as well their clients and employers. Similar processes are employed in both sets of narratives, one verbal and informal, the other written and formal. Our study serves to highlight how storytelling is an integral part of the work of the professional investor

Linking Legacies: Realising the Potential of the Rothamsted Long-Term Agricultural Experiments

Long-term agricultural experiments are used to test the effects of different farm management practices on agricultural systems over time. The time-series data from these experiments is well suited to understanding factors affecting soil health and sustainable crop production and can play an important role for addressing the food security and environmental challenges facing society from climate change. The data from these experiments is unique and irreplaceable. We know from the Rothamsted experience that the datasets available are valued assets that can be used to address multiple scientific questions, and the reuse and impact of the data can be increased by making the data accessible to the wider community. However, to do this requires active data stewardship. Long-term experiments are also available as research infrastructures, meaning external researchers can generate new datasets, additional to the routine data collected for an experiment. The publication of the FAIR data principles has provided an opportunity for us to re-evaluate what active data stewardship means for realising the potential of the data from our long-term experiments. In this paper we discuss our approach to FAIR data adoption, and the challenges for refactoring and describing existing legacy data and defining meaningful linkages between datasets

Desenvolvimento e temporalidade do intercâmbio: Como um povoado do leste de Yucatán avalia as promessas das transferências monetárias

This paper explores how three temporalities of exchange amend the reception of cash transfers for development in a village in Eastern Yucatan, Mexico. Based on participant observation and in-depth interviews of recipients of cash transfers from Procampo and Oportunidades, this study reveals that ritual promising functions as a means of temporal regulation in most transactions of this sort, and that the recipients hold their government accountable for promises and commitments regarding cash transfers. In assessing the temporal ranges and effectiveness of these transfers by alluding to previous stipulations that sustain the exchange and make it understandable and bearable as a promise, the people in this village consider the objectives of the Procampo and Oportunidades programs to be implausible. Accountability with respect to the long-term effects of these transfers is not, however, based only on local impressions of a state that procrastinates in its “engagement” with peasants. As the timetable established for the accumulation of human capital also exceeds the time limits of responsible promising, these cash transfer programs cannot be evaluated in terms of their fulfilled or unfulfilled promises.Este artículo explora cómo tres temporalidades del intercambio modifican la recepción de transferencias monetarias en un pueblo del oriente de Yucatán, México. Con base en observación participante y entrevistas a profundidad a los beneficiarios de Procampo y Oportunidades, esta investigación revela como las promesas rituales funcionan como regulaciones temporales para la mayoría de las transacciones que las transferencias monetarias implican. Sus destinatarios hacen responsable al gobierno de sus promesas y compromisos. Al calificar sus rangos temporales y su efectividad aludiendo a estipulaciones previas, que subyacerían al intercambio y que lo harían comprensible como promesa, la gente de este pueblo evalúa como improbables los objetivos de Procampo y de Oportunidades. La evaluación con respecto los efectos a largo plazo de estos programas de transferencias no se basa, sin embargo, solamente en las impresiones locales sobre un estado que pospone su “compromiso” con los campesinos. En la medida en que el calendario establecido para la acumulación de capital humano también excede los límites temporales de las promesas responsables, estos programas de transferencias monetarias no pueden ser evaluados en términos de promesas cumplidas o incumplidas.Este artigo explora como três temporalidades de intercâmbio comprometem a recepção de transferências monetárias num povoado do leste de Yucatán (México). Com base na observação participante e nas entrevistas em profundidade com os beneficiários do Procampo e do Oportunidades, esta pesquisa sugere que as promessas rituais funcionam como regulações temporais para a maioria das transações que as transferências em dinheiro implicam. Seus destinatários tornam o governo responsável por suas promessas e compromissos. Ao qualificar seus intervalos temporais e sua efetividade aludindo a estipulações prévias que se submeteriam ao intercâmbio e que o fariam compreensível como promessa, as pessoas deste lugar avaliam os objetivos do Procampo e do Oportunidades como improváveis. A prestação de contas dos efeitos em longo prazo dessas transferências não somente se baseia em impressões locais sobre um estado que adia seu “compromisso” com os camponeses do povoado, mas também que, ao exceder a consecução de capital humano, os limites temporais das promessas responsáveis, as promessas das transferências monetárias não podem ser avaliadas em termos de promessas cumpridas ou não cumpridas.Fil: Dapuez, Andres Francisco. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Player agency in interactive narrative: audience, actor & author

The question motivating this review paper is, how can computer-based interactive narrative be used as a constructivist learn- ing activity? The paper proposes that player agency can be used to link interactive narrative to learner agency in constructivist theory, and to classify approaches to interactive narrative. The traditional question driving research in interactive narrative is, ‘how can an in- teractive narrative deal with a high degree of player agency, while maintaining a coherent and well-formed narrative?’ This question derives from an Aristotelian approach to interactive narrative that, as the question shows, is inherently antagonistic to player agency. Within this approach, player agency must be restricted and manip- ulated to maintain the narrative. Two alternative approaches based on Brecht’s Epic Theatre and Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed are reviewed. If a Boalian approach to interactive narrative is taken the conflict between narrative and player agency dissolves. The question that emerges from this approach is quite different from the traditional question above, and presents a more useful approach to applying in- teractive narrative as a constructivist learning activity