The Angels Won't Help You

The Angels Won’t Help You is a book about the uniqueness and primacy of help, particularly in relation to care, love, and caritas. It relies heavily on psychoanalytic and philosophical accounts of help and care and finds that help requires the establishment of a real relationship between persons, where help is given and received in a transitional space that is collapsed by care, unity, or love, which are mental constellations that, while profound, remain within the individuals involved. It contains reflections, memoir, and prose poetry, with an emphasis on psycho-philosophical examinations of help. In trying to understand help, especially in the ways that it is not a synonym for care, Bowker turns to diverse sources and topics, including treatments of children in a helpless world, as featured in the literature of Kathy Acker and Jerzy Kosiński, a first-person account of help in psychiatric hospitals, an analysis of the phenomenon of Japanese hikikomori (“shutting oneself in”), anxiety and helplessness, an exploration of the nature of help and helplessness in Wilfred Bion’s “Attacks on Linking,” a rethinking of trauma in light of the circuital structure of the self, and more. *** Put differently, The Angels Won’t Help You is a cruel helpless hopeless book raised in Texas roped ridden waddled clowned it developed catastrophic methods of coping. Angels’ mama split her tongue and hissed her words like silent / soldier / crisis in the torment of her sunken trailer in the summer where Angels practiced lighting cigarettes with her eyes fetching fireflies making tinctures of dead tissue becoming extraordinarily promiscuous. Angels’ nature was to hide in dark places to ride with abandon to sink in the spurs to gnash silver teeth to kick up tipped boots ruining every square dance. Angels, you make me need like a choke rope dream of being sick from head to foot. You are the petaled froth on every steep lapel. You are original and dilapidated depilatory and inflationary ovulary and delusional. O Angels, the scholars will say I failed to know you address you presage you protect you protest you, but we know the truth

Rethinking Critical Thinking: A Relational and Contextual Approach

Contemporary discussions of critical thinking lack serious consideration of students’ thinking-processes as phenomena embedded within the contexts of psychological and interpersonal relationships. This paper departs from past and present approaches to critical thinking pedagogy by analogizing thinking and critical thinking with forms of relating: to self, to others, to objects of thought, and to what we describe as “thinking-relationships.” The analogy of thinking with relating permits us to examine more closely the connections between self, psyche, student, teacher, and learning institution, and to apply valuable insights from the fields of social philosophy and psychoanalytic theory to critical thinking pedagogy and practice. This paper introduces the metaphor of critical thinking as relating to one’s thinking-relationships, explores the contexts in which such critical thinking-relationships are embedded, identifies hidden desires, defenses, and fantasies that may hinder the development of critical thinking, and concludes by reflecting upon the link between the ethical development of the person and the ideal of critical thinking

Albert Camus and the Political Philosophy of the Absurd

Compared to the unmistakable impact of absurd theatre, literature, and art on contemporary European and American cultures, the philosophy, morality, and politics of the absurd have remained relatively obscure. Few interpretations of Albert Camus' philosophic contribution have successfully defined the meaning of absurdity, its components and dynamics, or its moral and political consequences. This dissertation attempts to clarify these areas of absurd thought by applying the logic of ambivalence to Camus' philosophy of the absurd, revealing its compelling diagnosis of extremism and indifference, its experiential grounding for post-traditional values, and its unique appeal for moral and political maturity. After reviewing the recent history of the concept of absurdity in Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Sartre, Nagel, and elsewhere (Chapter 2), I offer detailed analyses of Camus' absurd and the contributions of his scholarly critics (Chapter 3). I introduce the concept of ambivalence in the work of Eugen Bleuler, Sigmund Freud, Melanie Klein, Otto Kernberg, and relevant sociological and political researchers (Chapter 4) to argue that the absurd is best understood not in skeptical or existential terms, but as an ambivalent 'position' with respect to countervailing desires, primarily a desire for unity and a kind of principium individuationis (Chapter 5). These ambivalent desires are implicated in the moral and political tensions between self and others, absolutes and limits, creation and destruction, even good and evil. Applying this interpretation to Camus' The Stranger and its main character, Meursault (Chapter 6), and to The Myth of Sisyphus, The Rebel, The Plague, and other works (Chapters 7 and 8), I argue that the destructive ideologies Camus decried may be understood as defenses against the ambivalence of the absurd, while an absurd morality demands mature and creative resolutions of contradiction, resistance against defensive reactions, and deliberate moral and emotional identifications with others and enemies. Analyses of two controversial cases, Camus' defense of Kaliayev and the 'fastidious' Russian assassins of 1905 and Camus' unpopular stance on the Algerian War (1954-1962), are offered as miniature case-studies to ground conclusions about the meaning of absurd morality and politics (Chapter 9)

Rapidly Restoring Biological Soil Crusts and Ecosystem Functions in a Severely Disturbed Desert Ecosystem

Restoring biological soil crusts (biocrusts) in degraded drylands can contribute to recovery of ecosystem functions that have global implications, including erosion resistance and nutrient cycling. To examine techniques for restoring biocrusts, we conducted a replicated, factorial experiment on recently abandoned road surfaces by applying biocrust inoculation (salvaged and stored dry for two years), salvaged topsoil, an abiotic soil amendment (wood shavings), and planting of a dominant perennial shrub (Ambrosia dumosa). Eighteen months after treatments, we measured biocrust abundance and species composition, soil chlorophyll a content and fertility, and soil resistance to erosion. Biocrust addition significantly accelerated biocrust recovery on disturbed soils, including increasing lichen and moss cover and cyanobacteria colonization. Compared to undisturbed controls, inoculated plots had similar lichen and moss composition, recovered 43% of total cyanobacteria density, had similar soil chlorophyll content, and exhibited recovery of soil fertility and soil stability. Inoculation was the only treatment that generated lichen and moss cover. Topsoil application resulted in partial recovery of the cyanobacteria community and soil properties. Compared to untreated disturbed plots, topsoil application without inoculum increased cyanobacteria density by 186% and moderately improved soil chlorophyll and ammonium content and soil stability. Topsoil application produced 22% and 51% of the cyanobacteria density g−1 soil compared to undisturbed and inoculated plots, respectively. Plots not treated with either topsoil or inoculum had significantly lower cyanobacteria density, soil chlorophyll and ammonium concentrations, and significantly higher soil nitrate concentration. Wood shavings and Ambrosia had no influence on biocrust lichen and moss species recovery but did affect cyanobacteria composition and soil fertility. Inoculation of severely disturbed soil with native biocrusts rapidly restored biocrust communities and soil stability such that restored areas were similar to undisturbed desert within three years. Using salvaged biocrust as inoculum can be an effective tool in ecological restoration because of its efficacy and simple implementation. Although salvaging biocrust material can be technically difficult and potentially costly, utilizing opportunities to salvage material in planned future disturbance can provide additional land management tools

Severe Social Withdrawal: Cultural Variation in Past Hikikomori Experiences of University Students in Nigeria, Singapore, and the United States

Hikikomori (social withdrawal that lasts six months or longer) is a growing problem among Japanese adolescents and young adults, with recent estimates that approximately 1% of Japanese youths will suffer from an episode of hikikomori in their lifetimes. What remains unclear is whether hikikomori is a culture-bound syndrome or a condition impacting youths around the globe. Hence, the self-reported prevalence and psychosocial correlates of past experiences with hikikomori were examined in cross-sectional samples of university students from Singapore (n = 147), Nigeria (n = 151), and the United States (n = 301). Following tests of measurement invariance, comparisons showed that past experiences with hikikomori were related to elevated levels of current loneliness and depressive symptoms in each sample. However, analyses also revealed evidence of cultural variation in both the prevalence and the psychosocial correlates associated with past experiences of hikikomori, which taken together, provide preliminary evidence that the culture-bound characterization of hikikomori may not be appropriate

Mechanical Mastication Showed Fewer Negative Above-and Belowground Impacts Than Slash Pile Burning

Management designed to reduce wildfire risk must consider both above- and belowground factors in order to promote native plant growth and reduce soil erosion. This goal is challenging because current methods, such as tree thinning and burning the resulting slash, can create soil disturbances that favor exotic plants. We compared mechanical mastication to slash pile burning (both 6-months and 2.5-years post treatment) and untreated controls in pinyon-juniper (Pinus edulis-Juniperus osteosperma) woodland and measured soil properties, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and understory plant composition. Our results showed slash pile burns had severely degraded soil properties, low plant and AMF abundance and richness and a dominance of exotic plant species compared to untreated or mastication plots. Only two variables differed between mastication and untreated plots 6-months post treatment: mastication had lower soil temperature and higher soil moisture. Mastication plots 2.5-years post treatment had more plant cover and richness than untreated plots or pile burns, although exotic plant richness and Bromus tectorum cover were also greater and AMF spore biovolume and richness were lower than untreated plots. In the short term, mastication is a preferable method as it creates fewer disturbances than pile burning, however long-term impacts of mastication need further study as they could affect native communities. Our results showed the manner in which woody debris is treated has an important influence on sustaining soil stability and native biodiversity

Selectivity determinants for dual function catalysts: applied to methanol selective oxidation on iron molybdate

Evolution of the IRAS spectrum with temperature after adsorbing methanol at room temperature. The bands at 2930 and 2820 cm− 1 are due to the methoxy species C–H stretches, while that at 2870 is due to the formate. Here, we report a simple, quantitative model to describe the behaviour of bi-cationic oxide catalysts, in terms of selectivity variation as a function of increased loading of one cation into a sample of the other. We consider its application to a particular catalytic system, namely the selective oxidation of methanol, which proceeds with three main C1 products, namely CO2, CO, and H2CO. The product selectivity varies in this order as Mo is added in increasing amounts to an iron oxide catalyst, and the product selectivity is determined by the distribution of dual sites and single sites of each species

Adsorption of formate species on Cu(h,k,l) low index surfaces

We report a density functional theory study on the relative stability of formate species on Cu(h,k,l) low index surfaces using a range of exchange-correlation functionals. We find that these functionals predict similar geometries for the formate molecule adsorbed on the Cu surface. A comparison of the calculated vibrational transition energies of a perpendicular configuration of formate on Cu surface shows an excellent agreement with the experimental spectrum obtained from inelastic neutron spectroscopy. From the calculations on adsorption energy we find that formate is most stable on the Cu(110) surface as compared to Cu(111) and Cu(100) surfaces. Bader analysis shows that this feature could be related to the higher charge transfer from the Cu(110) surface and optimum charge density at the interfacial region due to bidirectional electron transfer between the formate and the Cu surface. Analysis of the partial density of states finds that in the –5.5 eV to –4.0 eV region, hybridization between O p and the non-axial Cu dyz and dxz orbitals takes place on the Cu(110) surface, which is energetically more favourable than on the other surfaces