Some Reflections about Wittgenstein´s Bezugssystem

Only a few months before his death, Wittgenstein invited us to imagine "that some propositions, of the form of empirical propositions, were hardened and functioned as channels for such empirical propositions as were not hardened but fluid�; nevertheless he warned "this relation altered with time, in that fluid propositions hardened, and hard ones became fluid� (OC 96). Those hardened propositions provide a certainty which is "like a mighty force whose point of application does not move, and so no work is accomplished by it� (Z 402). There are many things that seem to be fixed, things which are removed from the traffic: they are "so to speak shunted onto an unused siding� (OC 210). Those things just give "our way of looking at things, and our researches, their form� (OC 211). Maybe they were once disputed; but perhaps, for unthinkable ages, they have belonged to the scaffolding of our thoughts

Indiscernible Properties, Discernible Artworks

In this paper I will try to trace a discussion about status of art in some recent theories, which pay special attention to the fact that artworks are the kind of things to which representational, expressive, and aesthetic properties are ascribed. First, I will briefly mention some already established criticisms—developed by Richard Wollheim1—against the idea that artworks cannot be identified with physical objects. These criticisms have the further aim of providing an account of art experience that includes our perceiving representational and expressive properties as well as aesthetic ones in artworks. In Wollheim's view, a misconstruction of the nature of these properties and of our perception of them in artworks has been the main reason for the view he intensely criticizes. Thus, he offers a different understanding of these properties, which also involves a new account of perception that does not require an idealisation of our experience of art

A new approach to the optimization of the extraction of astrometric and photometric information from multi-wavelength images in cosmological fields

This paper describes a new approach to the optimization of information extraction in multi-wavelength image cubes of cosmological fields. The objective is to create a framework for the automatic identification and tagging of sources according to various criteria (isolated source, partially overlapped, fully overlapped, cross-matched, etc) and to set the basis for the automatic production of the SEDs (spectral energy distributions) for all objects detected in the many multi-wavelength images in cosmological fields.In order to do so, a processing pipeline is designed that combines Voronoi tessellation, Bayesian cross-matching, and active contours to create a graph-based representation of the cross-match probabilities. This pipeline produces a set of SEDs with quality tags suitable for the application of already-proven data mining methods. The pipeline briefly described here is also applicable to other astrophysical scenarios such as star forming regions.Comment: GREAT Workshop. This paper will be published in Springer as part of the proceedings for the GREAT Worksho

The Error of Thinking that the Picture of Actual Dreams can be Used in only one Way

In 1914, the Spanish novelist, dramatist, poet and philosopher Miguel de Unamuno published one of his well-known works, Niebla. Unamuno allows that his characters speak and speak although they say nothing at all: in this way the author begins believing he takes his characters by the hand, but in the end becomes his characters´ fiction. And not only does Unamuno give free rein to his characters´ dialogues but describes thoughts and feelings in great detail too; as a matter of fact, he uses expressions of the kind of (Unamuno 1996, 180) "si Augusto hubiera podido leer en el espíritu de Rosario� (`if Augusto could have read in Rosario´s spirit´), or (ib, 204) "¡Oh, si pudiesen verme por dentro, Víctor, te aseguro que no dirían tal cosa!� (`Oh Victor, if they could see inside me, I am sure they would not say such a thing!´). Up to this point there is nothing special about Niebla, but before committing suicide, Augusto decides to consult Unamuno: that is, the main character has a meeting with the author. But as soon as Augusto begins to tell his life and misfortune, Unamuno invites his character to save himself such a work because "de las vicisitudes de su vida sabía yo tanto como él� (`I [Unamuno] knew the ups and downs of his life as well as Augusto himself´). Unamuno proves his words quoting Augusto´s secrets; so the character, absolutely terrified, trembling and as if he were in front of an unbelievable being, murmurs: "puesto que usted parece saber sobre mí tanto como sé yo mismo, acaso adivine mi propósito� (`since you seem to know about my life as much as I do know, maybe you should guess my intention´)

Latitudinal trends in human primary activities: characterizing the winter day as a synchronizer

This work analyzes time use surveys from 19 countries (17 European and 2 American) in the middle latitude range from 38{\deg} to 61{\deg} latitude accounting for 45% of world population in that range. Time marks for primary activities (sleeping, working and eating) are systematically contrasted against light/dark conditions related to latitude. The analysis reveals that winter sunrise is a synchronizer for labor start time below 54{\deg} where they occur within the winter civil twilight region. Winter sunset is a source of synchronization for labor end times. Winter terminator also punctuate meal times in Europe with dinner times occurring 3h after winter sunset time within a strip of 1h, which is 40% narrower than variability of dinner local times. The sleep-wake cycle of laborers in a weekday is shown to be related to winter sunrise whereas standard population's cycle appears to be irrespective of latitude. The significance of the winter terminator depends on two competing factors average daily labor time (some 7h30m) and winter daytime ---the shortest photoperiod---. Winter terminator gains significance when shortest photoperiod roughly matches to daily labor time plus a reasonable lunch break. That is within a latitude range from 38{\deg} to 54{\deg}. The significance of winter terminator as a source of synchronization is also related to contemporary year round time schedules: the shortest photoperiod represents the worst case scenario the society faces. Average daily sleep times show little trend with the shortest photoperiod slope 5min/h for a Pearson coefficient $r^2=0.242$. Average labor time may have a weak coupling with the shortest photoperiod: slope 29min/h for $r^2=0.338$.Comment: Changes: Descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations added. Introduction, Results and Discussion largely modified. RevTeX4-1 27 pages, 6 figures, 13 tables. Data from Time Use Surveys, Hetus and Eurosta

Balanced centricity and triads: strategies to reach ecosystem equilibrium in the arts sector

The purpose of this paper is to analyze whether triads structure can facilitate or inhibit the evolution into a service ecosystem. The triad structure and the institutions that dominate the triads will determine the evolution into ecosystem, remain as triad or die. “Balanced centricity” in considered a desirable institution that increases the possibility for transforming triads into ecosystems through marketing equilibrium.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Precisión lectora de palabras en lenguas de distinta consistencia

El objetivo de este estudio consiste en analizar las diferencias entre la lectura de palabras en alumnos ecuatorianos y argelinos en Educación Primaria. La muestra está formada por un grupo de 128 alumnos de una escuela de Ecuador y por otro grupo de 113 alumnos de una escuela de Argel, pertenecientes a una clase social media y sin necesidades educativas especiales. Los participantes fueron evaluados en precisión lectora de palabras en primero y segundo curso de Educación Primaria. Las palabras utilizadas en español fueron adaptadas al árabe, teniendo en cuenta la longitud y frecuencia de cada una de ellas en esta lengua. Se llevó a cabo un diseño factorial mixto 2x2, donde el factor intersujeto fue el tipo de lengua según la consistencia ortográfica (transparente y opaca) y el factor intrasujeto el nivel educativo (primero y segundo curso de educación primaria). Para la medida de la precisión lectora de palabras se registró el número de respuestas correctas. Los resultados del ANOVA de medidas repetidas en un factor muestran efectos significativos de los dos factores y de su interacción, encontrándose mejor precisión lectora de palabras en los niños de lengua árabe y en ambas lenguas en segundo curso de primaria. Estos resultados van en la línea de aquellos estudios que defienden las diferencias en la adquisición de la lectura en lenguas de distinta consistencia, pero no concuerdan con aquellos que apuntan que las lenguas opacas son más difíciles y tardías de aprender. Estas diferencias encontradas con estos estudios pueden ser debidas al grado de consistencia ortográfica de las lenguas analizadas. En conclusión, se resalta la necesidad de analizar las diferencias en otras edades y en otras medidas lectoras, controlando el grado de consistencia lingüística.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech