Seven properties of self-organization in the human brain

The principle of self-organization has acquired a fundamental significance in the newly emerging field of computational philosophy. Self-organizing systems have been described in various domains in science and philosophy including physics, neuroscience, biology and medicine, ecology, and sociology. While system architecture and their general purpose may depend on domain-specific concepts and definitions, there are (at least) seven key properties of self-organization clearly identified in brain systems: 1) modular connectivity, 2) unsupervised learning, 3) adaptive ability, 4) functional resiliency, 5) functional plasticity, 6) from-local-to-global functional organization, and 7) dynamic system growth. These are defined here in the light of insight from neurobiology, cognitive neuroscience and Adaptive Resonance Theory (ART), and physics to show that self-organization achieves stability and functional plasticity while minimizing structural system complexity. A specific example informed by empirical research is discussed to illustrate how modularity, adaptive learning, and dynamic network growth enable stable yet plastic somatosensory representation for human grip force control. Implications for the design of “strong” artificial intelligence in robotics are brought forward

Mapping Big Data into Knowledge Space with Cognitive Cyber-Infrastructure

Big data research has attracted great attention in science, technology, industry and society. It is developing with the evolving scientific paradigm, the fourth industrial revolution, and the transformational innovation of technologies. However, its nature and fundamental challenge have not been recognized, and its own methodology has not been formed. This paper explores and answers the following questions: What is big data? What are the basic methods for representing, managing and analyzing big data? What is the relationship between big data and knowledge? Can we find a mapping from big data into knowledge space? What kind of infrastructure is required to support not only big data management and analysis but also knowledge discovery, sharing and management? What is the relationship between big data and science paradigm? What is the nature and fundamental challenge of big data computing? A multi-dimensional perspective is presented toward a methodology of big data computing.Comment: 59 page

Open education: common(s), commonism and the new common wealth

Open Education, and specifically the Open Education Resources movement, seeks to provide universal access to knowledge, undermining the historical enclosure and increasing privatisation of the public education system. An important aspect of this movement is a reinvigoration of the concept of ‘the commons’. The paper examines this aspiration by submitting the implicit theoretical assumptions of Open Education and the underlying notion of ‘the commons’ to the test of critical political economy. The paper acknowledges the radical possibility of the idea of ‘the commons’, but argues that its radical potentiality can be undermined by a preoccupation with ‘the freedom of things rather than with the freedom of labour’. The paper presents an interpretation of ‘the commons’ based on the concept of ‘living knowledge’ and ‘autonomous institutionality’ (Roggero, 2011), and offers the Social Science Centre in the UK, as an example of an ‘institution of the common’1. The paper concludes by arguing the most radical revision of the concept of ‘the common’ involves a fundamental reappraisal of what constitutes social or common wealth

Training of the Educators of Preschool Educational Institutions to the Authenticity Formation of the Preschoolers

The development of the personality-oriented model of the Ukrainian education system based on the principle of child-centeredness, maximum consideration of the abilities, needs and interests of each child, its age-specific features of physical, mental and mental development actualizes the problem of the formation and development of authenticity of preschoolers. The essence of the author's technology of authenticity facilitation of the preschooler's personality as a system of scientifically substantiated procedures for the gradual development of the educational process in the unity of content, principles, methods, forms, organizational and pedagogical conditions for the interaction of its subjects, the purpose of which is the ability of the preschooler's personality to live in harmony with its inner world, to act without changing your true "I". The technology is aimed at helping each child to realize itself as a self-worth, knowledge of its capabilities and natural potential in all spheres of life. The totality of the motivational-value, cognitive, operational and reflexive-personal criteria and their corresponding indicators for diagnosing the level of readiness of teachers of pre-school education institutions to form the authenticity of pupils are presented. The results of approbation of the author's elective course for the system of postgraduate pedagogical education "Theoretical and practical bases for the authenticity formation of preschoolers" are presented for the training of teachers of pre-school institutions for the effective implementation of this process