Can History Teach Us Peace?

The idea that we can learn from history is a recurring one and this essay examines dialectically the arguments for and against the proposition that history can teach us peace. Eight objections to the proposition that we can teach peace through history are discussed: 1) the problem that history implies a social inevitability, 2) the difficulty in ascribing moral or ethical responsibility in historical explanation, 3) the reliance on counterfactual history in attempting to teach peace through history, 4) the war-centred nature of history, 5) the violence-centred nature of history, 6) the depersonalized construction of war in history, 7) the past-centred nature of history, 8) the problem of despair. The conclusion to this essay is that the teaching of peace is possible, although one does need to be mindful of the limitations to such a project and to have a deliberately open view of the future

Education and Acculturation on Malaita: An Ethnography of Intraethnic and Interethnic Affinities

One of the central issues in educational anthropology is the changing nature of intraethnic and interethnic conflict and relationships. Conventional modernization theory suggests that the acculturation process will tend to diminish traditional allegiances and affinities. There are, however, indications that the opposite may occur. This essay reports on research into this issue undertaken on Malaita, in the Solomon Islands. The research method was sociometric and involved examination of the ethnic identity and affinities of individuals within the Malaitan language-groups, namely, the AreAre, Baegu, Baelelea, Dorio, Fataleka, Kwai Island, Kwaio, Kwara’ae, Langalanga, Lau, Sa’a and To’abaita language-groups. From this, I draw some conclusions on the acculturation process on Malaita, as well as what individuals in mass societies might learn from such language-group societies

The Australian National Commission for Unesco: Some Proposals for Reform

Unesco (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) was established in 1946 and the Australian government organisation responsible for advising on the implementation and coordination of Unesco policies and programs in Australia is the Australian National Commission for Unesco. Working from a Rawlsian notion of a public institution, a range of reforms are suggested for the commission: 1) development of a charter, 2) publication of an Annual Report, 3) widening the membership of the Commission, 4) funding reforms, 5) training of the membership of the Commission, 6) establishing a right of appeal against Commission decisions, and 7) developing programs for public participation. It is suggested that the above reforms may assist in establishing and strengthening the Australian Commission for Unesco as a significant and independent public institution in Australia, and thus assist in the implementation of Unesco programs and projects in the future

Cyber-pseudepigraphy: A New Challenge for Higher Education Policy and Management

There is no lack of critical literature dealing with cyber-plagiarism and the implications for assessment in higher education. The practice of the selling of academic papers through the Internet is generally included under the category of plagiarism, although it is suggested that this ought to be considered under the separate category of cyber-pseudepigraphy. Pseudepigraphy is defined in this essay as the deliberate ascription of false authorship to a piece of writing, and cyber-pseudepigraphy is defined as using the Internet to have another person write an academic essay or paper, without this authorship being acknowledged. It is suggested that cyber-pseudepigraphy has widespread implications, and five critical issues are discussed. The essay finally raises the prospect of a return to some form of unseen examination as a method of student assessment as a way of dealing with this problem

Australian Universities and International Standards: Compliance with the 1997 UNESCO Recommendation Concerning the Status of Higher Education Teaching Personnel

Soft law, that is, regulation which is technically unenforceable, is one means whereby international ethical and professional standards are now increasingly enunciated. This paper looks at one specific standard-setting instrument, the 1997 UNESCO Recommendation Concerning the Status of Higher Education Teaching Personnel, and compliance with this standard by Australian universities. It is concluded that this specific standard-setting instrument is routinely ignored by Australian universities, specifically on the issues of commensurability of pay and recognition of research work for casual academics. There are many possible reasons for this failure to comply with the 1997 Recommendation, although three suggested reasons are 1) ignorance within Australian higher education regarding international standards and the ethical obligations associated with such standards, 2) the dominance of a neo-liberal agenda within higher education in Australia, and 3) a trend towards disregarding international standards and institutions generally by Australia. It is suggested that the solution to this is situation is not simple, although education and publicity may be two starting points. Through this it may be possible to encourage a greater degree of ethical and professional commitment on the part of Australian universities, and possibly within the universities of other countries

Dedication of the Palomar Observatory and the Hale Telescope

The dedication of the Palomar Observatory, if it were being held in England, would be accompanied by brilliant pageantry both of the state, with its knights, heralds, pursuivants, kings at arms, admirals and captains, and of the church with its bishops, priests and deacons, crucifiers and choirs; and I am sure that we feel the quality of religion in this ceremony. We would hear the choirs chanting in antiphony that great canticle which so delights the choir boys: Benedicite, omnia opera Domini

Diversity-induced resonance in a system of globally coupled linear oscillators

The purpose of this paper to analyze in some detail the arguably simplest case of diversity-induced reseonance: that of a system of globally-coupled linear oscillators subjected to a periodic forcing. Diversity appears as the parameters characterizing each oscillator, namely its mass, internal frequency and damping coefficient are drawn from a probability distribution. The main ingredients for the diversity-induced-resonance phenomenon are present in this system as the oscillators display a variability in the individual responses but are induced, by the coupling, to synchronize their responses. A steady state solution for this model is obtained. We also determine the conditions under which it is possible to find a resonance effect.Comment: Reported at the XI International Workshop "Instabilities and Nonequilibrium Structures" Vina del Mar (Chile

No-Bang Quantum State of the Cosmos

A quantum state of the entire cosmos (universe or multiverse) is proposed which is the equal mixture of the Giddings-Marolf states that are asymptotically single de Sitter spacetimes in both past and future and are regular on the throat or neck of minimal three-volume. That is, states are excluded that have a big bang or big crunch or which split into multiple asymptotic de Sitter spacetimes. (For simplicity, transitions between different values of the cosmological constant are assumed not to occur, though different positive values are allowed.) The entropy of this mixed state appears to be of the order of the three-fourths power of the Bekenstein-Hawking A/4 entropy of de Sitter spacetime. Most of the component pure states do not have rapid inflation, but when an inflaton is present and the states are weighted by the volume at the end of inflation, a much smaller number of states may dominate and give a large amount of inflation and hence may agree with observations.Comment: 18 pages, LaTeX, updated with a few new qualifications and reference

Prospects of Detecting Baryon and Quark Superfluidity from Cooling Neutron Stars

Baryon and quark superfluidity in the cooling of neutron stars are investigated. Observations could constrain combinations of the neutron or Lambda-hyperon pairing gaps and the star's mass. However, in a hybrid star with a mixed phase of hadrons and quarks, quark gaps larger than a few tenths of an MeV render quark matter virtually invisible for cooling. If the quark gap is smaller, quark superfluidity could be important, but its effects will be nearly impossible to distinguish from those of other baryonic constituents.Comment: 4 pages, 3 ps figures, uses RevTex(aps,prl). Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let