A Formalizable Proof of the No-Supervenience Theorem: A Diagonal Limitation on the Viability of Physicalist Theories of Consciousness

The no-supervenience theorem limits the capacity of physicalist theories to provide a comprehensive account of human consciousness. The proof of the theorem is difficult to formalize because it relies on both alethic and epistemic notions of possibility. This article outlines a formalizable proof using predicate modal logic in which the epistemic inferences are expressed in terms of an existing mathematical formalism, the inference device (Wolpert, 2008). The resulting proof shows definitely that any physicalist theory which describes a self-aware, intelligent system must be internally inconsistent.Comment: This is a formalizable proof of the theorem in Reason & Shah (2021) cited in the manuscrip

Generation and remote detection of THz sound using semiconductor superlattices

The authors introduce a novel approach to study the propagation of high frequency acoustic phonons in which the generation and detection involves two spatially separated superlattices $\sim 1 {\rm \mu m}$ apart. Propagating modes of frequencies up to $\sim 1 {\rm THz}$ escape from the superlattice where they are generated and reach the second superlattice where they are detected. The measured frequency spectrum reveals finite size effects, which can be accounted for by a continuum elastic model.Comment: Submitted to Applied Physics Letter

Epic Human Failure on June 30, 2013

Nineteen Prescott Fire Department, Granite Mountain Hot Shot (GMHS) wildland firefighters and supervisors (WFF), perished on the June 2013 Yarnell Hill Fire (YHF) in Arizona. The firefighters left their Safety Zone during forecast, outflow winds, triggering explosive fire behavior in drought-stressed chaparral. Why would an experienced WFF Crew, leave ‘good black’ and travel downslope through a brush-filled chimney, contrary to their training and experience? An organized Serious Accident Investigation Team (SAIT) found, “… no indication of negligence, reckless actions, or violations of policy or protocol.” Despite this, many WFF professionals deemed the catastrophe, “… the final, fatal link, in a long chain of bad decisions with good outcomes.” This paper is a theoretical and realistic examination of plausible, faulty, human decisions with prior good outcomes; internal and external impacts, influencing the GMHS; and two explanations for this catastrophe: Individual Blame Logic and Organizational Function Logic, and proposed preventive mitigations

A model investigation of interannual winter rainfall variability over southwestern South Africa and associated ocean-atmosphere interaction

We have investigated the variability of inter-annual winter rainfall over the southwestern Cape region of South Africa and associated large-scale atmosphere-ocean interaction upstream over the South Atlantic using the HadAM3 atmospheric general circulation model. This model was run for the period from 1990 to 1999 using mean monthly global sea-surface temperature (SST) as surface boundary condition over the global ocean. Diagnostics of winter (May to September) model output averaged over 1990-99 suggest that the HadAM3 model represents the general circulation in the South Atlantic / African sector reasonably well for this season at least. In addition, model years with wet and dry winters over the study area tended also to be those that were observed to be anomalously wet or dry. Wet minus dry season composite fields were used to investigate the model's inter-annual variability. The composite difference fields for low- and mid-level winds, sea-level pressure, and moisture flux all indicated wet winters being associated with increased inflow from tropical South America (originating in the equatorial western Atlantic at low levels) contributing relatively moist air to the westerly flow heading towards the southwestern Cape. A stronger jet over the South Atlantic promoted the passage of storms towards the Cape. Large areas of cyclonic vorticity anomalies, enhanced eddy activity, increased thickness in the lower atmosphere and low-level convergence near and upstream of the southwestern Cape in the model composite differences all favoured increased storm systems as well as their local intensification, implying enhanced rainfall. The results presented here suggest that the model can represent the interannual variability of winter rainfall over the study region and shed light on the mechanisms potentially associated with anomalously wet winters there

Beyond Realism: History in the Art of Thomas Eakins

Art historians often associate Thomas Eakins's realist depictions of modern life with the artist's most rational tendencies. In these images, Eakins's scrutiny of his subjects seems to verge on the scientific. Consequently, many of these works have been studied in terms of Eakins's devotion to understanding and replicating the tangible world around him, marshalling as evidence the artist's meticulous methods of preparation, his scrupulous study of anatomy, and his literal use of photographs. The sense that Eakins's creativity was always bounded by reason has contributed to the canonization of these modern life subjects. While these images reinforce the notion of Eakins's almost scientific faith in the real, they do not include many of the works that the artist deemed most important. Concurrent with these modern life subjects, Eakins also completed works that engage with historical subject matter. Although these images have often been dismissed as unimportant to Eakins's career, the artist numbered many of them among his best. Ranging from his colonial revival subjects of the 1870s and 80s to his reprisal of William Rush Carving His Allegorical Figure of the Schuylkill River in 1908, the historical works span the length of his career and engage in a dialogue with his more familiar realist images. This dissertation examines how in each decade of his career, Eakins used historical subject matter to assert his most deeply-held professional beliefs. A complex amalgam of tradition and modernity, each of these historical themes relates to Eakins's creation of a professional identity as an artist. I explore how Eakins's consciousness of the art historical tradition specifically influenced these works as well as guided the trajectory of his career. With respect to this tradition, Eakins believed that life study and hard work bound all great artists togetherpast, present, and future. Eakins advanced this notion by his insistent placement of the historical works in major venues alongside his powerful images of doctors and rowers. In his desire to become part of the art historical tradition himself, Eakins hoped that his historical subjects would continue to speak for him after his death