Practicing concrete universality : psychoanalysis as a political method : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Sociology, Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

Lacanian psychoanalysis, embodied in contemporary thought by Slavoj Žižek's dialectical materialist rehabilitation of universality, enables a form of political analysis based on the possibility of structural change. Many political theorists argue that because psychoanalysis stresses the negative ontological base of the social (the Real) it is fundamentally conservative and nihilistic. Conversely, the very political value of psychoanalysis lies in its accent on the Real. However, there are two separate psychoanalytic perspectives on the Real. The idealist approach, which contends that every social construction is essentially conditional, is politically and theoretically limited. In contrast, Žižek's materialist perspective emphasises the fundamental fixity which lies in the necessary exclusion from a universal horizon. Thus, the main political insight of Lacanian psychoanalysis is not to reveal the contingency of the social, but rather the disavowed foundation on which these constructions are based; the concrete universal. This thesis argues for a Žižek-inspired psychoanalytic approach to the political which 'practices concrete universality'. Conversely, while Žižek himself considers his own theoretical endeavours as an application of this task, his work can appear to be at times abstract and obscure, such that the reader is not sure exactly what it is that Žižek is arguing. As such, this thesis seeks to develop a methodological position that practices concrete universality, taking on the fundamental insights of Žižek's position whilst grounding them in a methodology which can be applied for political intervention. The methodology analyses both the manner in which universal imaginaries domesticate the effect of the symptom (that which represents the concrete universal) and the possibilities for practicing concrete universality and in doing so evoking radical structural change. These possibilities are considered against global capital, which Žižek describes as a modality of the Real. Capital has produced a paradoxical and pressing condition in humanity is living both well beyond and beneath its material needs and the finite capacity of the planet to provide for those needs. Rather than seeking an impossible utopian revolution (the removal of all lack), by evoking the concrete universal it is hoped that humanity can rid itself of that lack which is historical contingent; global capital

Fast Cross-Polytope Locality-Sensitive Hashing

We provide a variant of cross-polytope locality sensitive hashing with respect to angular distance which is provably optimal in asymptotic sensitivity and enjoys $\mathcal{O}(d \ln d )$ hash computation time. Building on a recent result (by Andoni, Indyk, Laarhoven, Razenshteyn, Schmidt, 2015), we show that optimal asymptotic sensitivity for cross-polytope LSH is retained even when the dense Gaussian matrix is replaced by a fast Johnson-Lindenstrauss transform followed by discrete pseudo-rotation, reducing the hash computation time from $\mathcal{O}(d^2)$ to $\mathcal{O}(d \ln d )$. Moreover, our scheme achieves the optimal rate of convergence for sensitivity. By incorporating a low-randomness Johnson-Lindenstrauss transform, our scheme can be modified to require only $\mathcal{O}(\ln^9(d))$ random bitsComment: 14 pages, 6 figure

Ward's solitions

Using the `Riemann Problem with zeros' method, Ward has constructed exact solutions to a (2+1)-dimensional integrable Chiral Model, which exhibit solitons with nontrivial scattering. We give a correspondence between what we conjecture to be all pure soliton solutions and certain holomorphic vector bundles on a compact surface.Comment: 12 pages. Published copy, also available at http://www.maths.warwick.ac.uk/gt/GTVol1/paper2.abs.htm

Search, bioprospecting, and biodiversity conservation

To what extent can private-sector bioprospecting incentives be relied upon for the protection of biological diversity? The literature contains dramatically different estimates of these incentives from trivial to quite large. We resolve this controversy by isolating the fundamental source of the discrepancy and then providing empirically defensible estimates based on that analysis. Results demonstrate that the bioprospecting incentive is unlikely to generate much private-sector conservation. Thus, other mechanisms are likely required to preserve the public good of biodiversity.Bioprospecting, biodiversity, conservation, efficient search, information

Review of Shifting the Ground of Canadian Literary Studies edited by Smaro Kamboureli and Robert Zacharias

Review of Shifting the Ground of Canadian Literary Studies edited by Smaro Kamboureli and Robert Zacharia

Stratigraphy, Petrology, and Paleontology of the Late Cretaceous Campanian Mesaverde Group in Northeastern Utah

This project examines a poorly studied sandstone ridge called Snake John Reef located 22 miles southeast of Vernal, in northeastern Utah. Previously this ridge was mapped as exposures of late Cretaceous, undifferentiated Mesaverde Group, and recently unidentified dinosaur fossils have been found along the ridge by the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum. Stratigraphic sections, petrographic thin sections, and collection and study of fossils from Snake John Reef were undertaken to understand the stratigraphic relationship as well as to reconstruct the depositional environment of the dinosaur bearing units. Snake John Reef represents exposures of three late Cretaceous formations, the lower Sego Sandstone, middle Iles Formation, and upper Williams Fork Formation which can be diagnosed on differences in lithology. The units are capped by an unconformity with the Eocene Colton Formation. Fossil shark teeth (Scapanorhynchus, Cretolamna, and Squalicorax) are found in the lower Sego Sandstone, while dinosaur bones are located in the middle Iles Formation, and represent fragmentary but provisionally identified bones of ornithischian and tyrannosaurid dinosaurs. Fossil conifers (Geinitzia sp.) were also found in the Iles Formation, while fossil wood bored by Teredo (shipworms) is found in the upper Williams Fork Formation indicating close proximity to the ocean. This shows a marine to terrestrial transitional sequence, and an overall regression of the coastline. Petrographic study of the sandstone units indicate that they are best classified as calclithites composed of crystalline limestone with bituminous coal clasts. The absence of quartz grains indicate that the area represented a localized sediment starved coastal system, that may have been protected by barrier islands along a forested coastline. The presence of coal beds in the upper Williams Fork Formation indicate the presence of swamps higher in the section. Angularity of grains, abundance of poorly sorted fossil wood fragments, as well as sedimentary and paleontological evidence supports the interpretation that the coastline was prone to tropical storms that may have frequented the Western Interior Seaway during the Cretaceous Period. A major sequence boundary is found at the contact between the Sego Sandstone and Iles Formation representing a subaerial unconformity with an abundance of bioturbation 175.5 meters above the lower contact with the Mancos Shale. The Iles Formation represents a low stand system tract during a forced regression, with the upper Trout Creek Sandstone Member of the Iles Formation representing a short term transgressive system tract. In conclusion, the ridge along Snake John Reef presents a unique coastal depositional system during the final regression of the Western Interior Seaway that preserves dinosaur and plant fossils along a storm prone coastline during the Cretaceous