The ultimate tactics of self-referential systems

Mathematics is usually regarded as a kind of language. The essential behavior of physical phenomena can be expressed by mathematical laws, providing descriptions and predictions. In the present essay I argue that, although mathematics can be seen, in a first approach, as a language, it goes beyond this concept. I conjecture that mathematics presents two extreme features, denoted here by {\sl irreducibility} and {\sl insaturation}, representing delimiters for self-referentiality. These features are then related to physical laws by realizing that nature is a self-referential system obeying bounds similar to those respected by mathematics. Self-referential systems can only be autonomous entities by a kind of metabolism that provides and sustains such an autonomy. A rational mind, able of consciousness, is a manifestation of the self-referentiality of the Universe. Hence mathematics is here proposed to go beyond language by actually representing the most fundamental existence condition for self-referentiality. This idea is synthesized in the form of a principle, namely, that {\sl mathematics is the ultimate tactics of self-referential systems to mimic themselves}. That is, well beyond an effective language to express the physical world, mathematics uncovers a deep manifestation of the autonomous nature of the Universe, wherein the human brain is but an instance.Comment: 9 pages. This essay received the 4th. Prize in the 2015 FQXi essay contest: "Trick or Truth: the Mysterious Connection Between Physics and Mathematics

Emergent Letter Perception: Implementing the Role Hypothesis

Empirical psychological experimentation (very briefly reviewed here) has provided evidence of top-down conceptual constraints on letter perception. The role hypothesis suggests that these conceptual constraints take the form of structural subcomponents (roles) and relations between subcomponents (r-roles). In this paper, we present a fully-implemented computer model based on the role hypothesis of letter recognition. The emergent model of letter perception discussed below offers a cogent explanation of human letter-perception data — especially with regard to error-making. The model goes beyond simple categorization by parsing a letter-form into its constituent parts. As it runs, the model dynamically builds (and destroys) a context-sensitive internal representation of the letter that it is perceiving. The representation emerges as by-product of a parallel exploration of possible categories. The model is able to successfully recognize (i.e., conceptually parse) many diverse letters at the extremes of their categories

Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations

In the present contribution we examine the link between societal crisis situations and belief in conspiracy theories. Contrary to common assumptions, belief in conspiracy theories has been prevalent throughout human history. We first illustrate historical incidents suggesting that societal crisis situations—defined as impactful and rapid societal change that calls established power structures, norms of conduct, or even the existence of specific people or groups, into question —have stimulated belief in conspiracy theories. We then review the psychological literature to explain why this is the case. Evidence suggests that the aversive feelings that people experience when in crisis—fear, uncertainty, the feeling of being out of control—stimulate a motivation to make sense of the situation, increasing the likelihood of perceiving conspiracies in social situations. We then explain that after being formed, conspiracy theories can become historical narratives that may spread through cultural transmission. We conclude that conspiracy theories originate particularly in crisis situations, and may form the basis for how people subsequently remember and mentally represent a historical event

Nucleon Structure and Parity-Violating Electron Scattering

We review the area of strange quark contributions to nucleon structure. In particular, we focus on current models of strange quark vector currents in the nucleon and the associated parity-violating elastic electron scattering experiments from which vector- and axial-vector currents are extractedComment: 40 pages including 7 figures; review article to be published in Int. J. Mod. Phys.

Quantum Hall states for α=1/3\alpha = 1/3 in optical lattices

We examine the quantum Hall (QH) states of the optical lattices with square geometry using Bose-Hubbard model (BHM) in presence of artificial gauge field. In particular, we focus on the QH states for the flux value of $\alpha = 1/3$. For this, we use cluster Gutzwiller mean-field (CGMF) theory with cluster sizes of $3\times 2$ and $3\times 3$. We obtain QH states at fillings $\nu = 1/2, 1, 3/2, 2, 5/2$ with the cluster size $3\times 2$ and $\nu = 1/3, 2/3, 1, 4/3, 5/3, 2, 7/3, 8/3$ with $3\times 3$ cluster. Our results show that the geometry of the QH states are sensitive to the cluster sizes. For all the values of $\nu$, the competing superfluid (SF) state is the ground state and QH state is the metastable state.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. This is a pre-submission version of the manuscript. The published version is available online in "Quantum Collisions and Confinement of Atomic and Molecular Species, and Photons, Springer Proceedings in Physics 230, pp 211--221 (2019)". The final authenticated version is available online at : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-9969-5_2

Making sense of theory construction: Metaphor and disciplined imagination

This article draws upon Karl Weick’s insights into the nature of theorizing, and extends and refines his conception of theory construction as ‘disciplined imagination’. An essential ingredient in Weick’s ‘disciplined imagination’ involves his assertion that thought trials and theoretical representations typically involve a transfer from one epistemic sphere to another through the creative use of metaphor. The article follows up on this point and draws out how metaphor works, how processes of metaphorical imagination partake in theory construction, and how insightful metaphors and the theoretical representations that result from them can be selected. The paper also includes a discussion of metaphors-in-use (organizational improvisation as jazz and organizational behavior as collective mind) which Weick proposed in his own writings. The whole purpose of this exercise is to theoretically augment and ground the concept of ‘disciplined imagination’, and in particular to refine the nature of thought trials and selection within it. In doing so, we also aim to provide pointers for the use of metaphorical imagination in the process of theory construction

Prediction and Topological Models in Neuroscience

In the last two decades, philosophy of neuroscience has predominantly focused on explanation. Indeed, it has been argued that mechanistic models are the standards of explanatory success in neuroscience over, among other things, topological models. However, explanatory power is only one virtue of a scientific model. Another is its predictive power. Unfortunately, the notion of prediction has received comparatively little attention in the philosophy of neuroscience, in part because predictions seem disconnected from interventions. In contrast, we argue that topological predictions can and do guide interventions in science, both inside and outside of neuroscience. Topological models allow researchers to predict many phenomena, including diseases, treatment outcomes, aging, and cognition, among others. Moreover, we argue that these predictions also offer strategies for useful interventions. Topology-based predictions play this role regardless of whether they do or can receive a mechanistic interpretation. We conclude by making a case for philosophers to focus on prediction in neuroscience in addition to explanation alone

Understanding the rift, the (still) uneasy bedfellows of History and Organization Studies

Although the use of History has become increasingly discussed and more widely applied within Organization Studies (OS), its relevance for OS still remains far from centrally accepted. This article historicizes the relationship between Sociology and History as a means of better understanding the tensions, perceived and real, that exist between History and Organization Studies. In particular we analyse three differences of epistemological standpoint (method, objectivity and usefulness) that are commonly seen as the foundation stones to incompatibility. Perhaps surprisingly for an analysis of apparent disciplinary differences, we find that these distinctions in terms of approach, once closely examined, are rarely clear-cut and historians and OS scholars are frequently closer in intention and method than they are distant. However, despite their large intersection of interests, we argue that important distinctions between the two fields should be acknowledged. Our contribution to the debates over the need for more historical approaches within OS therefore centrally rests on abandoning aspirations for fully integrative models of working together, in favour of cooperative modes that concede the fields’ differences. This subtle shift of emphasis will, we believe, greatly benefit OS scholars who hope to include historical perspectives in their work