Rituals of Coexistence: Bodies and Technology during Pandemics

Pandemics not only challenge health systems and the economy, they also deeply transform our everyday lives and the ways in which we coexist. People have to find new definitions of what it means to be close to one another, to show empathy and to comfort each other. With social distancing, we must learn how to use digital technologies to create novel forms of closeness. Viruses becomes the new other, alien forces that invisibly permeate social life. They find hosts predominantly in the places where humans get close to each other. Rituals such as eating, drinking, and dancing are the links that hold an otherwise largely disembodied culture together. I will combine a perspective on human cognitive evolution as an embodied process, the hedonist drive towards bodily encounter in Sigmund Freud’s sense and the development of technology and the current tendency toward a culture of disembodiment. The article asks what the role of bodily ritual is in public space. Here I will argue that this is a vital role because it is the only way to create feelings of resonance and connectedness amongst larger groups of people. The pandemic prohibits these rituals, so we need to ask further: Does the pandemic lead to new forms of being together? This is closely linked to the accelerated development of technology. The more precise question is: Does technology afford new forms of embodiment? My aim is to introduce ideas of philosophical posthumanism to think in a productive way about incorporating technology in order to satisfy human needs for contact and resonance

Colorear por números: la tecnología digital y el arte de vivir

The digital relies on computation. Programming uses algorithms. Algorithms are sets of rules that solve problems in a finite number of steps. In this sense, the digital world is governed by quantities, numbers, fixed rules. The degree of freedom seems to be very limited. Artistic agency and creativity, on the other hand, rely on openness, freedom, and qualitative experiences. Such experiences are not only vital to artistic expression but also to everyday life. Technological life-worlds as they are represented through current technologies (e.g. smart homes or automated driving) and science fiction do not seem to accommodate such open structures. The philosophy of technology is divided: Many hold that to a large extent technology determines human cognition (such as Mark B.N. Hansen, Bernard Stiegler) and thus subordinate human cognition to mechanical organizations. Others take a different approach and reflect on the creative potential of new technologies (e.g. Erin Manning, Jaime del Val). This article discusses theories that address the human-machine relationship as complex structures that go beyond the dystopian idea of humans being transcended or incorporated by technology. Such approaches are central to the discussion on the future of human beings and cultural-political shaping of life-worlds. To understand how human-machine relationships can be framed as open and creative processes, I present epistemological accounts of embodied cognition, artistic examples of performance strategies with algorithmic set-ups, and finally embed these aspects within a broader picture of conceptualizing technology and human life as a continuum rather than standing in opposition or being determined by the other.Lo digital descansa en la computación. La programación utiliza algoritmos. Los algoritmos son el conjunto de reglas que resuelven problemas en un número finito de pasos. En este sentido, el mundo digital está regido por cantidades, números, reglas fijas. El grado de libertad parece muy limitado. Por el contrario, la actividad artística y la creatividad descansan en la apertura, la libertad y en experiencias cualitativas. Estas experiencias no solo son vitales para la expresión artística, sino para la vida cotidiana. Los mundos-vitales tecnológicos tal como se representan en tecnologías actuales (por ejemplo, en las casas inteligentes o en la conducción automática) o en la ciencia ficción no parecen dar cabida a estas estructuras abiertas. La filosofía de la tecnología está dividida: muchos sostienen que la tecnología determina en gran medida la cognición humana (como Mark B. N. Hansen, Bernard Stiegle) y, consiguientemente, subordina la cognición humana a las organizaciones maquinales. Otros adoptan una aproximación diferente y reflexionan sobre el potencial creativo de las nuevas tecnologías (Erin Mannig, Jaime del Val). Este artículo discute teorías que abordan la relación humano-máquina en tanto que estructuras complejas que van más allá de la visión distópica del ser humano siendo trascendido o incorporado por la tecnología. Estas aproximaciones son centrales para discutir el futuro del ser humano y la conformación político-cultural de los mundos vitales. Para entender cómo las relaciones humano-máquina pueden considerarse como procesos abiertos y creativos, presento narrativas de cognición corporalizada, ejemplos artísticos de estrategias de performance con sistemas algorítmicos, y finalmente engarzo estos aspectos en un panorama más amplio sobre la conceptualización de la tecnología y la vida humana como un continuo, en vez de una sostenida oposición o un estar determinado por el otro

МОДА МЕЖДУ КУЛЬТУРОЙ И ИСКУССТВОМ – ПЕРЕСЕЧЕНИЕ ГРАНИЦ

The development of human society has historically taken place in the process of devel-opment of its socio-cultural sphere. Fashion in this context can be considered as a kind of ubiquitous phenomenon of modern culture. At the same time, fashion is a highly global-ized phenomenon, one of the most dynamic facets of social and individual life and one of the few cultural goods we deal with on a daily basis, influencing changes within the dif-fusion of culture in the process of cultural globalization in the twentieth century.In stating all these patterns, despite the enormous influence of fashion on contemporary culture, philosophical discussion of this phenomenon remains rare. The translation of the scientific article examines the relationship between fashion design and art, the interaction of philosophy and fashion, fashion and corporeality and substantiates the position that conceptual fashion is not only a form of cultural expression, but also a kind of artistic form of free play with the body and aimed at it cultural techniques, which involve: scien-tific theory, art, design, social utopia, and various forms of historical and specific body experience.Развитие человеческого общества исторически происходило в процессе развития его социокультурной сферы. Моду в этом контексте можно рассматривать как своего рода вездесущее явление современной культуры. В то же время мода – это высоко глобализированное явление, одна из наиболее динамичных граней социаль-ной и индивидуальной жизни и один из немногих культурных товаров, с которыми мы ежедневно имеем дело, оказывающего влияние на изменения в рамках диффу-зии культуры в процессе культурной глобализации в ХХ столетии. При констата-ции всех этих закономерностей, несмотря на огромное влияние моды на современ-ную культуру, философские дискуссии об этом феномене остаются редкими. В статье рассматриваются вопросы взаимоотношений между модой, дизайном и ис-кусством, взаимодействие философии и моды, моды и телесности и обосновывает-ся положение о том, что концептуальная мода представляет собой не только одну из форм культурного самовыражения, но и своего рода художественную форму свободной игры с телом и направленными на него культурными приемами, в кото-рые вовлечены: научная теория, искусство, дизайн, социальная утопия, а также различные формы исторического и конкретного телесного опыта

Buchstaben der Welt – Welt der Buchstaben

In der Gestalt von Buchstaben und anderen Schriftzeichen manifestieren sich Denktraditionen und Schreibhorizonte: Indem Buchstaben Zeichen figurieren, machen sie implizit kulturelles Wissen lesbar. Der Unicode-Standard bietet heute die umfassendste Codierung in der Kultur der Menschheit; das Verhältnis von universeller Lesbarkeit und der phänomenalen Gestalt prinzipiell aller Schriftzeichen wird hier neu verhandelt. In Zeiten weltweiter Kommunikationstechnologien stellt sich auf der einen Seite die Frage nach kulturellen und phänomenalen Besonderheiten von „Buchstaben der Welt“ auch in vergleichender Hinsicht daher neu: Wie entstehen die Schriftzeichen, die wir schreiben, das heißt, was sind die technischen, semiotischen, linguistischen oder ästhetischen Bedingungen für ihre Form in verschiedenen Sprachsystemen? Auf der anderen Seite eröffnet sich eine „Welt der Buchstaben“ im Sinne einer Innenwelt, die phänomenologisch philosophisch analysiert werden kann. – Beiträge, die philosophische Denkräume und die Erscheinungsformen von Kultur als Buchstaben ausloten, bilden einen Schwer punkt des Bandes. Komparative Betrachtungen zu fernöstlichen Zeichen und Schreibweisen, wie in der japanischen Kalligraphie, erlauben einen erweiterten Blick auf die unterschiedlichen Ausformungen von Zeichen und hiermit verbundene Funktionen. Grundlegende Erörterungen zur Buchstabengestalt runden den Band ab: aus Sicht der Semiologie, der Linguistik und des Schriftgestalters

Strangeness Production close to Threshold in Proton-Nucleus and Heavy-Ion Collisions

We discuss strangeness production close to threshold in p+A and A+A collision. Comparing the body of available K+, K0, K-, and Lambda data with the IQMD transport code and for some key observables as well with the HSD transport code, we find good agreement for the large majority of the observables. The investigation of the reaction with help of these codes reveals the complicated interaction of the strange particles with hadronic matter which makes strangeness production in heavy-ion collisions very different from that in elementary interactions. We show how different strange particle observables can be used to study the different facets of this interaction (production, rescattering and potential interaction) which finally merge into a comprehensive understanding of these interactions. We identify those observables which allow for studying (almost) exclusively one of these processes to show how future high precision experiments can improve our quantitative understanding. Finally, we discuss how the K+ multiplicity can be used to study the hadronic equation of state.Comment: 134 pages, pdf 3.3MB, version to be published in Physics Report

Determination of Transport Properties From Flowing Fluid Temperature LoggingIn Unsaturated Fractured Rocks: Theory And Semi-Analytical Solution

Flowing fluid temperature logging (FFTL) has been recently proposed as a method to locate flowing fractures. We argue that FFTL, backed up by data from high-precision distributed temperature sensors, can be a useful tool in locating flowing fractures and in estimating the transport properties of unsaturated fractured rocks. We have developed the theoretical background needed to analyze data from FFTL. In this paper, we present a simplified conceptualization of FFTL in unsaturated fractured rock, and develop a semianalytical solution for spatial and temporal variations of pressure and temperature inside a borehole in response to an applied perturbation (pumping of air from the borehole). We compare the semi-analytical solution with predictions from the TOUGH2 numerical simulator. Based on the semi-analytical solution, we propose a method to estimate the permeability of the fracture continuum surrounding the borehole. Using this proposed method, we estimated the effective fracture continuum permeability of the unsaturated rock hosting the Drift Scale Test (DST) at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Our estimate compares well with previous independent estimates for fracture permeability of the DST host rock. The conceptual model of FFTL presented in this paper is based on the assumptions of single-phase flow, convection-only heat transfer, and negligible change in system state of the rock formation. In a sequel paper [Mukhopadhyay et al., 2008], we extend the conceptual model to evaluate some of these assumptions. We also perform inverse modeling of FFTL data to estimate, in addition to permeability, other transport parameters (such as porosity and thermal conductivity) of unsaturated fractured rocks

Häusliche Trinkwasserinstallation von Fällen mit Legionärskrankheit: Effizient ermitteln – systemisch sanieren

Im Rahmen der von 2016-2020 durchgeführten Berliner LeTriWa-Studie (LeTriWa = Legionellen in der Trinkwasserinstallation) wurden 19 nach Trinkwasserverordnung untersuchungspflichtige Trinkwasserinstallationen untersucht, wo im zugehörigen Haushalt eine Fallperson wohnhaft war. Im Beitrag wird dargestellt, an welchen Stellen in der Trinkwasserinstallation des Gebäudes und des betroffenen Haushalts monoklonale Antikörper (MAb) Typ 3/1-positive (virulenzassoziierte) Stämme mit welcher Wahrscheinlichkeit zu finden waren und ob auch Kaltwasserproben positiv waren. Wir untersuchten, welche Konsequenzen sich aus den Ergebnissen von Standard-Haushaltsproben sowie den Ergebnissen aus einer weitergehenden Untersuchung für die Ermittlung von Fällen von Legionärskrankheit generell ableiten lassen