Mapping The Understanding Complex in Russell's Theory of Knowledge

Anyone familiar with Russell’s work on the multiple-relation theory of judgment will at some point have puzzled over the map of the five-term understanding complex at the end of Chapter 1, Part II of his Theory of Knowledge (1913). Russell presents the map with the intention of clarifying what goes on when a subject S understands the “proposition” that A and B are similar. But the map raises more questions than it answers. In this paper I present and develop some of the central issues that arise from Russell’s map, and I offer an interpretation of it that reflects his evolving views in the manuscript. I argue that multiple lines in the map are not meant to represent many relations, but rather one comprehensive multiple relation of understanding. And I argue that such a relation relates in a complex way due to the distinctive nature of its relata

Comunicación para el desarrollo y el cambio social: Influencia de las normas sociales para una sociedad inclusiva en Montenegro

UNICEF and the Government of Montenegro implemented a communication strategy “It’s about ability” to challenge the existing, exclusionary practices and promote new, inclusive social norms for children with disability. Drawing on communication for development principles and social norms theory, a 2010-2013 nation-wide campaign mobilized disability rights NGOs, parents associations, media and private sector to stimulate inclusive attitudes and practices towards children with disabilities. As a result, the percentage of citizens who find it acceptable for a child with disability to attend the same class with theirs increased from 35 before the campaign to 80 percent at the end of it. Similarly, the percentage of Montenegrin citizens who find it acceptable for a child with disability to be the best friend of their child increased from 22 before the campaign to 51 percent at the end of it. The campaign was participatory, audience-centred and guided by the key communication planning principles.UNICEF y el Gobierno de Montenegro implementaron la estrategia de comunicación “Se trata de la habilidad” para desafiar las prácticas existentes y excluyentes y promover nuevas normas sociales inclusivas para los niños con discapacidad. Basándose en los principios de la comunicación para el desarrollo y las normas sociales, una campaña nacional del 2010-2013 movilizó a las ONG de derechos de las personas con discapacidad, asociaciones de padres, los medios de comunicación y el sector privado para estimular las actitudes y prácticas inclusivas hacia los niños con discapacidades. Como resultado, el porcentaje de ciudadanos que encuentran aceptable para un niño con discapacidad asistir a la misma clase que los suyos aumentó de un 35%, antes de la campaña, a un 80% al final de la misma. Del mismo modo, el porcentaje de ciudadanos montenegrinos que encuentran aceptable que un niño con discapacidad pueda ser el mejor amigo de sus hijos incrementó de un 22% anterior a la campaña a un 51% al final de la misma. La campaña fue participativa, centrada en el público y guiada por los principios clave de planificación de la comunicación

Subjective Economic Well-being in Transition Countries: Investigating the Relative Importance of Macroeconomic Variables

In this paper we combine the data from surveys about life-satisfaction and macroeconomic data and analyse the (order of) importance of macroeconomic variables for one’s subjective economic well-being. This approach allows an analysis from a subjective view – that of the public, in contrast to the usually used objective view, whereby policy goals are assumed to reflect public opinion. We find that the key macroeconomic variables of inflation, unemployment and GDP (growth) matter for the public’s sense of economic well-being in transition countries. Moreover, improvements in national income lead to both temporary and permanent gains in subjective economic well-being in transition countries. Habituation effects are present, indicating that individuals become accustomed to an increase in national income, but not all the benefits of this increase dissipate over time. Furthermore, GDP growth and unemployment are found to be more important than inflation in transition countries. This suggests that achieving GDP growth is an important goal of economic policy not only from the point of view of policy-makers but also from that of the public, and that it should be pursued. On the other hand, given that unemployment is more important than inflation for the public’s economic well-being, policy-makers in transition countries might need to revise their exclusive focus on inflation. This is to say that more effort should be put into decreasing unemployment (which might have an adverse effect on inflation) rather than into restraining inflation.subjective economic well-being, surveys, transition countries, Croatia, macroeconomic variables

Cointegration Approach to Analysing Inflation in Croatia

The aim of this paper is to analyse the determinants of inflation in Croatia in the period 1994:6-2006:6. We use a cointegration approach and find that increases in wages positively influence inflation in the long-run. Furthermore, in the period from June 1994 onward, the depreciation of the currency also contributed to inflation. Money does not explain Croatian inflation. This irrelevance of the money supply is consistent with its endogeneity to exchange rate targeting, whereby the money supply is determined by developments in the foreign exchange market. The value of inflation in the previous period is also found to be significant, thus indicating some inflation inertia.inflation, Croatia, cointegration

Life Satisfaction in Croatia

In this paper we identify the factors that have influenced average life satisfaction for Croatians based on data collected in reports from 1999 and 2006. Our analysis of the data from the European Values Survey (EVS) reveals that in 1999 life satisfaction was higher for people who were married, those who were employed, and those who had an income between 5,001 and 8,000 Croatian kuna (HRK) per month. Life satisfaction was U-shaped in age, minimizing around the age of 50. There appeared to be little correlation between life satisfaction and education level. Based on our analysis of the 2006 data from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), we find that in 2006 life satisfaction was higher for people who were married, those who were employed, those who were out of the labor force, those with a university degree, and those with higher incomes. The impact of age in 2006 was U-shaped as it was in the 1999 data, minimizing around the age of 58. The data from both years strongly supports the view that life satisfaction rises with GDP per capita in the county in which a respondent resides.life satisfaction, counties, GDP per capita, Croatia

The Impact of User Effects on the Performance of Dual Receive Antenna Diversity Systems in Flat Rayleigh Fading Channels

In this paper we study the impact of user effects on the performance of receive antenna diversity systems in flat Rayleigh fading channels. Three diversity combining techniques are compared: maximal ratio combining (MRC), equal gain combining (EGC), and selection combining (SC). User effects are considered in two scenarios: 1) body loss (the reduction of effective antenna gain due to user effects) on a single antenna, and 2) equal body loss on both antennas. The system performance is assessed in terms of mean SNR, link reliability, bit error rate of BPSK, diversity order and ergodic capacity. Our results show that body loss on a single antenna has limited (bounded) impact on system performance. In comparison, body loss on both antennas has unlimited (unbounded) impact and can severely degrade system performance. Our results also show that with increasing body loss on a single antenna the performance of EGC drops faster than that of MRC and SC. When body loss on a single antenna is larger than a certain level, EGC is not a “sub-optimal” method anymore and has worse performance than SC

Why were two theories (Matrix Mechanics and Wave Mechanics) deemed logically distinct, and yet equivalent, in Quantum Mechanics?

A recent rethinking of the early history of Quantum Mechanics deemed the late 1920s agreement on the equivalence of Matrix Mechanics and Wave Mechanics, prompted by Schrödinger’s 1926 proof, a myth. Schrödinger supposedly failed to achieve the goal of proving isomorphism of the mathematical structures of the two theories, while only later developments in the early 1930s, especially the work of mathematician John von Neumman (1932) provided sound proof of equivalence. The alleged agreement about the Copenhagen Interpretation, predicated to a large extent on this equivalence, was deemed a myth as well. If such analysis is correct, it provides considerable evidence that, in its critical moments, the foundations of scientific practice might not live up to the minimal standards of rigor, as such standards are established in the practice of logic, mathematics, and mathematical physics, thereby prompting one to question the rationality of the practice of physics. In response, I argue that Schrödinger’s proof concerned primarily a domain-specific ontological equivalence, rather than the isomorphism. It stemmed initially from the agreement of the eigenvalues of Wave Mechanics and energy-states of Bohr’s Model that was discovered and published by Schrödinger in his First and Second Communications of 1926. Schrödinger demonstrated in this proof that the laws of motion arrived at by the method of Matrix Mechanics could be derived successfully from eigenfunctions as well (while he only outlined the reversed derivation of eigenfunctions from Matrix Mechanics, which was necessary for the proof of isomorphism of the two theories). This result was intended to demonstrate the domain-specific ontological equivalence of Matrix Mechanics and Wave Mechanics, with respect to the domain of Bohr’s atom. And although the full-fledged mathematico-logical equivalence of the theories did not seem out of the reach of existing theories and methods, Schrödinger never intended to fully explore such a possibility in his proof paper. In a further development of Quantum Mechanics, Bohr’s complementarity and Copenhagen Interpretation captured a more substantial convergence of the subsequently revised (in light of the experimental results) Wave and Matrix Mechanics. I argue that both the equivalence and Copenhagen Interpretation can be deemed myths if one predicates the philosophical and historical analysis on a narrow model of physical theory which disregards its historical context, and focuses exclusively on its formal aspects and the exploration of the logical models supposedly implicit in it

Niels Bohr’s Complementarity and Quantum Tunneling

Niels Bohr’s complementarity principle is a tenuous synthesis of seemingly discrepant theoretical approaches (the wave mechanical approach, and that of Heisenberg and early Bohr) based on a comprehensive analysis of relevant experimental results. Yet the role of complementarity, and the experimentalist-minded approach behind it, were not confined to a provisional best-available synthesis of well-established experimental results alone. They were also pivotal in discovering and explaining the phenomenon of quantum tunneling in its various forms. The core principles of Bohr’s method and the ensuing complementarity account of quantum phenomena remain highly relevant guidelines in the current controversial debate and in experimental work on quantum tunneling times