Digital Parables

Eden izmed mejnikov sodobne kulture, prisotnih že od leta 2005 naprej, čeprav še zdaleč ne v današnjem obsegu in globini, je bila vseobsegajoča vključenost v digitalnih tehnologij in odvisnost od njih. Nikakor nismo mogli pričakovati, da bodo kibernetične naprave in ontologija v tako veliki meri ne zgolj prevzele komunikacije in sinteze, arhiviranja, oblikovanja ter priklice informacij, temveč tudi prevladale nad družbenoekonomskimi razmerji in interakcijami, spoznanjem in celo psihično-motoričnimi zmožnostmi. Iz perspektive leta 2015 lahko za nazaj vidimo, da »geeki«, ki so že v 70ih in 80ih letih prejšnjega stoletja zaznali razvoj in metafiziko kibernetičnega univerzuma, skupaj z akademsko sfero niso bili tako oddaljeni od tistih divjih in vselej subverzivnih kritičnih teoretikov, kot smo mislili. Tako je npr. Anthony Wilden, čigar delo System and Structure iz leta 1972 je začrtalo merila interakcije med analogno in digitalno organizacijo, isti kritik katerega prevod Language of the Self, je širšemu angleško govorečemu občinstvu predstavilo misel Jacquesa Lacana. Douglas R. Hofstadter je pri oblikovanju računalniškega znanstvenega učbenika, namenjenega širši javnosti (Gödel, Escher Bach, 1979), ustvaril tako literarno igrivo kot znanstveno metodično delo. Njegova opredelitev dosežkov, predvsem Kurta Gödela, ki je operacionaliziral kompleksne nize števil (kot v računalniških programih), nam prikažejo presenetljive vzporednice s »preskokovanjem« teoretičnih nivni, ki ga je omogočila prvotna, zelo vplivna dekonstrukcija (pa naj gre za prezenco, lastnost ali bit) Jacquesa Derridaja. Univerza se je leta 2015 pod vplivom lastne sistematične digitalizacije zapletla v seizmično tranformacijo brez konca. Desetletje pozneje nam je tako na voljo veliko univerzitetnih operativnih osnov iz leta 2005. »Digitalno nezavedno«, ki se utrjuje in širi ob neizmerno pospešeni hitrosti, predstavlja za kulturne kritike hkrati zastrašujoč izziv in kreativno priložnost. Vendar pa niti vzvišena distanca od omenjenih fenomenov in njihovih epifenomenov niti nekritično zagovarjanje tehnologije nista povsem ustrezna. Pričujoči prispevek razgrne več nepozabnih parabol, s pomočjo katerih so avatarji digitalne dobe javnost pripravili tako na kreativne tehnološke skoke kot tudi na njim vgrajene double-binds.One pivotal landmark of contemporary culture already in play by 2005 but by no means at its current scale or profundity was an all-absorbing involvement in and dependency on digital technologies. There was simply no way of anticipating the full degree to which cybernetic devices and ontology would not only overwhelm communications and the synthesis, archiving, formatting, and recall of information but also dominate socio-economic relations and interactions, cognition, and even psycho-motor capability. It turns out, in the hindsight afforded by 2015, that the geeks who, already in the 1970’s and 1980’s discerned the lineaments and metaphysics of the cybernetic universe, were not so far removed along the academic corridor from those wild and invariably subversive critical theorists as we might think. For one, the Anthony Wilden, whose 1972 System and Structure established definitive benchmarks for the interaction between analog and digital organization, is the same critic whose translations, e.g, of Language of the Self, introduced the English-speaking audience to the thought of Jacques Lacan. Douglas R. Hofstadter, in composing a Computer Science textbook for the general public (Gödel, Escher Bach, 1979), synthesized a work as literarily playful as scientifically methodical. His characterization of the advances, above all by Kurt Gödel, that enabled complex strings of numbers to become operational (as in computer programs), demonstrates striking parallels to the “jumping” of theoretical levels made possible by Jacques Derrida’s inaugural, profoundly influential deconstructions (whether of presence, propriety, or Being). The university itself, in 2015, is, by dint of its own systematic digitization, embroiled in seismic, open-ended transformation. Many of the university’s operational fundaments as of 2005 are nothing if not up for grabs a decade later. It is in this sense that a “digital unconscious” entrenching and expanding itself at an inconceivable rate of acceleration presents cultural critics both with a daunting challenge and a creative opportunity. Neither high-mindedly distancing ourselves from these phenomena and their epiphenomena nor unreservedly espousing the technologies will quite do. This paper unpacks several of the memorable parables through which the avatars of the digital age prepared the public both for the technology’s creative leaps and its embedded double-binds

Impasses of the Post-Global: Theory in the Era of Climate Change, Vol. 2

The diverse materials comprising Impasses of the Post-Global take as their starting point an interrelated, if seemingly endless sequence of current ecological, demographic, socio-political, economic, and informational disasters. These include the contemporary discourses of deconstruction, climate change, ecological imbalance and despoilment, sustainability, security, economic bailout, auto-immunity, and globalization itself. With essays by James H. Bunn, Rey Chow, Bruce Clarke, Tom Cohen, Randy Martin, Yates McKee, Alberto Moreiras, Haun Saussy, Tian Song, Henry Sussman, Samuel Weber, Ewa P. Ziarek, and Kryzsztof Ziarek

Taming the Business Cycles in Commercial Aviation: Trade-space analysis of strategic alternatives using simulation modeling

We investigate the effectiveness of strategic alternatives that are designed to dampen the cyclicality manifest in the commercial aviation related industries. The constituent enterprises of the commercial aviation system exhibit managerial and operational independence and have diverse value functions that often viewed the enterprises to view their competition as a zero-sum game. We argue that this need not always be the case; in the commercial aviation system both airline and airframe manufacturers constituents would benefit from a steadier influx of aircraft that counters the current situation that is characterized by relatively stable demand growth rate for air travel while airline profitability and aircraft ordering fluctuate intensely. In order to identify and evaluate the symbiotic potential, we use a system dynamics model of commercial aviation. After testing several individual strategic alternatives, we find that capacity management is key to cycle moderation for non-collusive strategies. Comparing faster aircraft deliveries to semi-fixed production schedules among other alternatives shows only the latter alternative to be Pareto efficient

Technopoïesis: Transmedia Mythologisation and the Unity of Knowedge

It is difficult to explain why different disciplines are drawn to similar problems. Inter-relations are not always explainable by direct influence. It has been argued that any common ground derives from the fact that people share certain kinds of everyday experiences. Is ‘consilience’ or the unification of knowledge a utopia or a possibility, as William Whewell Edward Wilson would have it? This thematic issue of Icono14 explores the common premise underlying all human disciplines: the confirmation that technology has a direct impact upon sign production, distribution and reception and, thus, upon the entire system of human thought, cultural representation and cognition. The collection examines transmedial representations of technological advance by looking at their mythical shades of meanings as strategic narratives. As practical knowledge engaged in the creation and use of tools and machines as well as in the development of techniques and methods of organization that perform specific functions in making human life easier, the technologies of the past can shed some light on the future that emerging media can bring about for human groups

Astroculture – Figurations of Cosmology in Media and Arts

Astroculture is a testament to the literary imagination and theoretical innovation of the late Sonja A.J. Neef, who devised the term as an expanding horizon of collaborative research – into the powerful gravitational force exerted on culture by astronomical phenomena and imagery. It is also the name of a conference on the topic inspired by Neef and held at the Center for Advanced Studies Morphomata at the University of Cologne in November, 2011. Indeed, Astroculture is a perfect instance of a morphome, the overall target of the Cologne College’s ongoing symposia: a persistent trope or topos of cultural fascination and transcription appearing across a gamut of civilizations and historical periods. Commentary in this volume ranges from Claudius Ptolemy’s mapping of the universe and the emergence of a pluralistic cosmology in seventeenth-century Europe to the spread of planetariums, the Whole Earth Catalog, and the contemporary artwork of Ingo Günter. With interventions by David Aubin, Lucía Ayala, Monika Bernold, Dietrich Boschung, Bruce Clarke, Gerd Graßhoff, Hans-Christian von Hermann, Martina Leeker, Patricia Pisters, and Henry Sussman

Literator 2010: Daniel Kehlmann. Dozentur für Weltliteratur

"Sollen doch die Literaturwissenschaftler sich damit beschäftigen, etwas Übersehenes zu finden, der Literat aber darf sich auch einmal den Luxus erlauben, über das Beliebteste zu sprechen, also jenes weltgewinnende Werk, das für immer das Bild eines Kontinents verändert hat. Südamerika, so ließ García Márquez einst jemanden in seiner frühen Novelle Der Oberst hat niemand, der ihm schreibt klagen, das sei für die meisten Menschen doch nur ein Mann mit Schnurrbart, Gitarre und Pistole. Das stimmte dereinst sicher, aber heute ist Südamerika eher ein unheimliches Haus, umgeben von Moor und buntem Regenwald, ein Land bizarrer und melancholischer Wunder. Unsere Vorstellungen sind hier so sehr durch einen einzigen Roman geprägt, dass wir es kaum mehr bemerken." Daniel Kehlman

Kreativität des Findens – Figurationen des Zitats

Manche Zitate sucht man nicht, sondern sie werden gefunden, wie man unversehens über einen Stein oder eine Baumwurzel stolpert. Solche Zufälle der Zitation ergeben Figuren des Ein- und Verrückens von Bedeutung, insofern Zitate immer zwischen Aussagekontexten, zwischen Texten stehen. Denn nicht der Urheber, den die Zitation zuschreibt, spricht, sondern der Zitierende, indem er seine eigene Autorschaft einklammert. Von hier aus ist der Titel einer ›Kreativität des Findens‹ gedacht. Theoretische oder systematische Aspekte einer Kreatologie sind weniger intendiert, wenngleich der Ansatz bei der konkreten Figur fürs Grundsätzliche offen ist – zumal bei ›ästhetischen Objekten‹, dem Gegenstandsbereich dieses Bandes. Das was Robert Musil ›induktive Gesinnung‹ nannte, ist hier Voraussetzung der Erschließung, denn ohne Insistenz des Beispiels gegenüber dem Gesetz entfällt die Relevanz des ästhetischen Objekts. – Drei Bereiche strukturieren den Band nach grundständigen Figuren des Zitats, Perspektiven einer Philologie des Zitats mit Blick auf literarische Zitation und nach Randgängen des Zitats mit medienspezifischen Problemstellungen; der Popliterat Thomas Meinecke erläutert seine Kreativität des Findens als literarisches Sampling

Measurement of red blood cell eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) levels in a randomised trial of EPA in patients with colorectal cancer liver metastases

We investigated red blood cell (RBC) PUFA profiles, and the predictive value of RBC EPA content for tumour EPA exposure and clinical outcomes, in the EMT study, a randomised trial of EPA in patients awaiting colorectal cancer (CRC) liver metastasis surgery (Cockbain et al., 2014). There was a significant increase in RBC EPA in the EPA group (n=43; median intervention 30 days; mean absolute 1.26 [±0.14]% increase; P<0.001), but not in the placebo arm (n=45). EPA incorporation varied widely in EPA users and was not explained by treatment duration or compliance. There was little evidence of ‘contamination’ in the placebo group. The EPA level predicted tumour EPA content (r=0.36; P=0.03). Participants with post-treatment EPA ≥1.22% (n=49) had improved OS compared with EPA <1.22% (n=29; HR 0.42[95%CI 0.16–0.95]). RBC EPA content should be evaluated as a biomarker of tumour exposure and clinical outcomes in future EPA trials in CRC patients

Successful and unsuccessful cannabis quitters: Comparing group characteristics and quitting strategies

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In order to improve treatments for cannabis use disorder, a better understanding of factors associated with successful quitting is required.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>This study examined differences between successful (<it>n </it>= 87) and unsuccessful (<it>n </it>= 78) cannabis quitters. Participants completed a questionnaire addressing demographic, mental health, and cannabis-related variables, as well as quitting strategies during their most recent quit attempt.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Eighteen strategies derived from cognitive behavioral therapy were entered into a principal components analysis. The analysis yielded four components, representing (1) Stimulus Removal, (2) Motivation Enhancement, (3) (lack of) Distraction, and (4) (lack of) Coping. Between groups comparisons showed that unsuccessful quitters scored significantly higher on Motivation Enhancement and (lack of) Coping. This may indicate that unsuccessful quitters focus on the desire to quit, but do not sufficiently plan strategies for coping. Unsuccessful quitters also had significantly more symptoms of depression and stress; less education; lower exposure to formal treatment; higher day-to-day exposure to other cannabis users; and higher cannabis dependence scores.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The findings suggest that coping, environmental modification, and co-morbid mental health problems may be important factors to emphasize in treatments for cannabis use disorder.</p