Anatomical information science

The Foundational Model of Anatomy (FMA) is a map of the human body. Like maps of other sorts – including the map-like representations we find in familiar anatomical atlases – it is a representation of a certain portion of spatial reality as it exists at a certain (idealized) instant of time. But unlike other maps, the FMA comes in the form of a sophisticated ontology of its objectdomain, comprising some 1.5 million statements of anatomical relations among some 70,000 anatomical kinds. It is further distinguished from other maps in that it represents not some specific portion of spatial reality (say: Leeds in 1996), but rather the generalized or idealized spatial reality associated with a generalized or idealized human being at some generalized or idealized instant of time. It will be our concern in what follows to outline the approach to ontology that is represented by the FMA and to argue that it can serve as the basis for a new type of anatomical information science. We also draw some implications for our understanding of spatial reasoning and spatial ontologies in general

Social Objects

One reason for the renewed interest in Austrian philosophy, and especially in the work of Brentano and his followers, turns on the fact that analytic philosophers have become once again interested in the traditional problems of metaphysics. It was Brentano, Husserl, and the philosophers and psychologists whom they influenced, who drew attention to the thorny problem of intentionality, the problem of giving an account of the relation between acts and objects or, more generally, between the psychological environments of cognitive subjects and the different sorts of external (physical, geographical, social) environments which they inhabit. The present essay addresses this environmental version of the problem of intentionality. It draws not only on the work of Husserl and Scheler but also on the Gestalt psychological writings of Kurt Koffka and Kurt Lewin. It considers the influential subjective idealist theory of animal environments put forward by J. von Uexküll and contrasts this with a realist theory of organism-environment interaction based on the work of the ecological psychologists J. J. Gibson and Roger Barker. This realist theory is then exploited as a basis for an ontology of social objects of a range of different sorts. (This is the English original of the French translation.

Drawing Boundaries

In “On Drawing Lines on a Map” (1995), I suggested that the different ways we have of drawing lines on maps open up a new perspective on ontology, resting on a distinction between two sorts of boundaries: fiat and bona fide. “Fiat” means, roughly: human-demarcation-induced. “Bona fide” means, again roughly: a boundary constituted by some real physical discontinuity. I presented a general typology of boundaries based on this opposition and showed how it generates a corresponding typology of the different sorts of objects which boundaries determine or demarcate. In this paper, I describe how the theory of fiat boundaries has evolved since 1995, how it has been applied in areas such as property law and political geography, and how it is being used in contemporary work in formal and applied ontology, especially within the framework of Basic Formal Ontology

Wholeness as a Hierarchical Graph to Capture the Nature of Space

According to Christopher Alexander's theory of centers, a whole comprises numerous, recursively defined centers for things or spaces surrounding us. Wholeness is a type of global structure or life-giving order emerging from the whole as a field of the centers. The wholeness is an essential part of any complex system and exists, to some degree or other, in spaces. This paper defines wholeness as a hierarchical graph, in which individual centers are represented as the nodes and their relationships as the directed links. The hierarchical graph gets its name from the inherent scaling hierarchy revealed by the head/tail breaks, which is a classification scheme and visualization tool for data with a heavy-tailed distribution. We suggest that (1) the degrees of wholeness for individual centers should be measured by PageRank (PR) scores based on the notion that high-degree-of-life centers are those to which many high-degree-of-life centers point, and (2) that the hierarchical levels, or the ht-index of the PR scores induced by the head/tail breaks can characterize the degree of wholeness for the whole: the higher the ht-index, the more life or wholeness in the whole. Three case studies applied to the Alhambra building complex and the street networks of Manhattan and Sweden illustrate that the defined wholeness captures fairly well human intuitions on the degree of life for the geographic spaces. We further suggest that the mathematical model of wholeness be an important model of geographic representation, because it is topological oriented that enables us to see the underlying scaling structure. The model can guide geodesign, which should be considered as the wholeness-extending transformations that are essentially like the unfolding processes of seeds or embryos, for creating beautiful built and natural environments or with a high degree of wholeness.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, 2 table

Scientific iconoclasm and active imagination: synthetic cells as techo-schientific mandalas

Metaphors allow us to come to terms with abstract and complex information, by comparing it to something which is structured, familiar and concrete. Although modern science is “iconoclastic”, as Gaston Bachelard phrases it, scientists are at the same time prolific producers of metaphoric images themselves. Synthetic biology is an outstanding example of a technoscientific discourse replete with metaphors, including textual metaphors such as the “Morse code” of life, the “barcode” of life and the “book” of life. This paper focuses on a different type of metaphor, however, namely on the archetypal metaphor of the mandala as a symbol of restored unity and wholeness. Notably, mandala images emerge in textual materials related to one of the new “frontiers” of contemporary technoscience, namely the building of a synthetic cell: a laboratory artefact that functions like a cell and is even able to replicate itself. The mandala symbol suggests that, after living systems have been successfully reduced to the elementary building blocks and barcodes of life, the time has now come to put these fragments together again. We can only claim to understand life, synthetic cell experts argue, if we are able to technically reproduce a fully functioning cell. This holistic turn towards the cell as a meaningful whole also requires convergence at the “subject pole”: the building of a synthetic cell as a practice of the self, representing a turn towards integration, of multiple perspectives and various forms of expertise

My Favorite Number is the Color Green: Implementing Green Walls in a Residential Setting to Improve Childhood Development

The modern world is characterized by human expansion, resource consumption, and technological advances. Rampant development has created a rift in the human-nature connection, a relationship once coveted during the earliest days of mankind. This kinship must be reestablished to ensure a healthy lifestyle. Immersion in the natural world provides the ideal environment for childrearing. Natural surroundings supply various stimuli to serve as catalysts for educational theories and environmental psychology. These benefits promote better childhood development and reinforce the principles of biophilic design. One solution for rekindling the human-nature connection and promoting a healthier lifestyle is through the implementation of green walls in a residential setting

Space time event motion (STEM) – A better metaphor and a new concept

The content of this paper is primarily the product of an attempt to understand consciousness by working through the Gestell - conventionalised epistemology, at least some of several foundational concepts. This paper indirectly addresses the ancient question: “How is objective reference – or intentionality, possible? How is it possible for one thing to direct its thoughts upon another thing?” (Chisholm, 1981:1) As such, I have adopted a holistic methodology; one in which I develop a framework based on a form of process philosophy and descriptive emergentism (1). Many of the problems associated within the philosophy of mind arise because of a failure to understand the interrelations among the concepts we employ when we talk about consciousness and perception. These concepts are generally associated with certain structural features of reality. Hence, the paper advances through a series of attempts at defining the concept of time, moving through to some of the central figures, their thoughts and arguments and problems associated within the philosophy of time. Given the intertwined nature of the associated concepts (i.e. space, time, event and motion), I have expanded on these to a level of conceptual integration

Understanding the Biophilia Hypothesis through a Comparative Analysis of Residential Typologies in Phoenix, São Paulo, and Tokyo

abstract: ABSTRACT Recent studies indicate that there is a positive influence of nature and nature integrated built environments on human health and wellness in various physical, physiological and social domains. This thesis critically reviews formally and contextually three distinct residential typologies designed by renowned architects Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959), Lina Bo Bardi (1914-1992), and Ryue Nishizawa (1966-), in different periods and countries; the United States of America (USA), Brazil and Japan. Yet, the buildings analyzed in the research are relatively connected by means of nature and the natural elements in their constructed essence. This research focuses on the features of the buildings that characterize the Biophilic Design, along with theoretical and practical ideas of the architects behind each building in their own process of formation. The Biophilic Design Framework has been developed out of the Biophilia Hypothesis (Fromm, 1973; Wilson, 1984) which puts forward an explanatory suggestion that human affinity and affiliation with nature are based on genetic and environmental adaptation processes. This research is designed to display how specific natural phenomena apply to the built environment within the Framework of Biophilic Design (Kellert, & Calabrese, 2015) and how the Biophilia Hypothesis translates into the built environment. To accomplish this, two primary and three secondary research questions were developed for the study. The research will provide an understanding of the Biophilia Hypothesis and its impact on the built environment through the evaluation of research variables on the case studies using the ‘twenty-four attributes’ indicated in the ‘three experiences’ of Biophilic Design. These architects’ approaches and the methods applied theoretically and practically to these research sites were unveiled and analyzed through three case studies. A positive correlation regarding the success of the case studies and their Biophilic characteristics is found by analyzing the research sites and critiques from the authorities in written literature. The applicability of the ‘Biophilic Design Framework’ was found and evidenced by the findings from these case studies designed by master architects and located in different climates, regions and contexts.Dissertation/ThesisMasters Thesis Architecture 201