Flexible information retrieval: some research trends

In this paper some research trends in the field of Information Retrieval are presented. The focus is on the definition of flexible systems, i.e. systems that can represent and manage the vagueness and uncertainty which is characteristic of the process of information searching and retrieval. In this paper the application of soft computing techniques is considered, in particular fuzzy set theory

Approaching Vagueness: Teaching Critical Thinking With Sustainability as Metaphor

Students need to be prepared for a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) world. This paper is situated at the intersection of heuristics and pedagogy to answer the pressing question of how to teach in light of definitional vagueness. We build on Searle’s (1986) Open-ended Metaphorical Utterance Model and demonstrate through a systemic expert analysis that linguistic sense-making is derived via fuzzy logic. We discuss how metaphor can be a tool to teach critical thinking in the class room and apply the sustainability concept as metaphor. We conclude with a discussion for approaching vagueness in the classroom through teaching critical thinking with metaphor

Topological Foundations of Cognitive Science

A collection of papers presented at the First International Summer Institute in Cognitive Science, University at Buffalo, July 1994, including the following papers: ** Topological Foundations of Cognitive Science, Barry Smith ** The Bounds of Axiomatisation, Graham White ** Rethinking Boundaries, Wojciech Zelaniec ** Sheaf Mereology and Space Cognition, Jean Petitot ** A Mereotopological Definition of 'Point', Carola Eschenbach ** Discreteness, Finiteness, and the Structure of Topological Spaces, Christopher Habel ** Mass Reference and the Geometry of Solids, Almerindo E. Ojeda ** Defining a 'Doughnut' Made Difficult, N .M. Gotts ** A Theory of Spatial Regions with Indeterminate Boundaries, A.G. Cohn and N.M. Gotts ** Mereotopological Construction of Time from Events, Fabio Pianesi and Achille C. Varzi ** Computational Mereology: A Study of Part-of Relations for Multi-media Indexing, Wlodek Zadrozny and Michelle Ki