Are low testosterone and sex differences in immune responses causing mass hysteria during the coronavirus pandemic?

By integrating the entire body of research in human sexual dynamics, immune responses, and sociocultural behavior, we can conclude that the mass hysteria our society is currently experiencing originates in our evolved psychological adaptations to pandemic conditions[i]. A lack of hormonal balance[ii], due to a collapse in testosterone levels, may cause a disproportionate immune response that leads to the destruction of our cherished sociopolitical institutions—the very institutions that are design to protect human liberty and prosperity. What is playing out at a societal level is similar to an excessive immune response that causes the body to attack itself: decreased testosterone causing the kind of auto-immune response that is more prevalent in females.[i] Barzilai, R. (2020). Low Solar Activity, Winter Flu Conditions, Pandemics and Sex Wars: A Holistic View of Human Evolution. Science & Philosophy, 8(1). Doi: 10.23756/sp.v8i1.514 [ii] Barzilai, R. (2019). Solar cycles, light, sex hormones and the life cycles of civilization: Toward integrated chronobiology. Science & Philosophy, 7(2). doi: 10.23756/sp.v7i2.48

Low Solar Activity, Winter Flu Conditions, Pandemics and Sex Wars: A Holistic View of Human Evolution

The current spread of coronavirus has caught our modern world by surprise, which leads to widespread panic, fear and confusion. However, if we view the unfolding of these events from a scientific historical perspective of past human evolution, we may discover the reoccurring patterns of the environmental conditions that give rise to such epidemics. Hence, we can figure out better methods to prepare and react to the infectious agents that spread diseases that have shaped the course of human history before. Here, I propose a holistic view of human evolution, with an interdisciplinary approach that studies how cyclic variation in solar UV energy affects the evolution of viruses and shapes the symbiotic dynamics of human life on earth

The testosterone paradox: how sex hormones shape the academic mind

In my work I argue that sexual differences in the brain seem to shape the ideological gulf between the respective social groups each side represents. And most significantly, it is the male sex hormone testosterone that is the primary hormone affecting our sexual evolution. Not only does testosterone fuel the passion for reproduction and play a critical role in the length of human lives, it is an integral component to the mechanism of human civilization—its triumphs and its tragedies. In order to understand the forces that drive the life cycles of human cultures and form the engine of history, it is important to look at the most fundamental building blocks of human neuroscience. Our hormones are the impetus for our history. Hormones regulate and control the way the human mind perceives the world and forms social organizations and political order accordingly. Hormones drive waves of social mood, shaping the evolution of our social life, the fluctuations of religious doctrines, cultural crusades, and sexual norms

The interplay between ethics and aesthetics in intelligent systems-users interaction

In this paper, I address the interplay between ethics and aesthetics, in the context of everyday interaction with smart systems. This study is the result of a year’s time development of my PhD research, whose general aim is to understand how people’s beliefs and behaviours come to be shaped by the aesthetic experience with smart things. The expected outcome is a set of design strategies to integrate moral reasoning in the framework of design for behaviour change, relying on aesthetics in interaction. Preliminary results are presented, based on a literature review in the area of aesthetics of interaction. Although basic, these findings are helpful for they suggest that ethics and aesthetics in users-smart systems interaction are interdependent. This insight holds promise for the development of an aesthetics of moral reasoning, in the context of users-smart systems interaction. A researchthrough- design approach will be adopted in the remaining two years, with the aim of testing assumptions by means of working prototypes

An Integrated Approach for the Design of a New Braille Printing System

The braille production system is a slow and antiquated process. The end product is expensive, heavy, and bulky. A new, more efficient braille production system was designed, using computerized transcription, thermographic printing, and automated binding and finishing. Computerized transcription programs are readily available from a variety of sources; automated binding and finishing is a common feature of modern printing technology. A series of experiments was performed to evaluate the physical qualities of the braille cells produced by thermography. An internal tearing resistance test and machinability test were also performed to study the effect of heat on the paper stock. The strength of embossed and thermographed braille dots was studied and a comparison made. A literature search was also conducted to study the chemical characteristics of the resin used to produce the raised braille cells. A newspaper article was transcribed into braille and printed by thermography. Braille readers were asked to evaluate the readability and the overall quality of the material produced. The result of the experiments indicated that it was possible to produce braille by thermography, and that in certain aspects the product obtained was superior to embossed braille. Thermographic braille was found to be of a quality level acceptable to the Dlajor1ty of the braille population sampled

Clique of functional hubs orchestrates population bursts in developmentally regulated neural networks

It has recently been discovered that single neuron stimulation can impact network dynamics in immature and adult neuronal circuits. Here we report a novel mechanism which can explain in neuronal circuits, at an early stage of development, the peculiar role played by a few specific neurons in promoting/arresting the population activity. For this purpose, we consider a standard neuronal network model, with short-term synaptic plasticity, whose population activity is characterized by bursting behavior. The addition of developmentally inspired constraints and correlations in the distribution of the neuronal connectivities and excitabilities leads to the emergence of functional hub neurons, whose stimulation/deletion is critical for the network activity. Functional hubs form a clique, where a precise sequential activation of the neurons is essential to ignite collective events without any need for a specific topological architecture. Unsupervised time-lagged firings of supra-threshold cells, in connection with coordinated entrainments of near-threshold neurons, are the key ingredients to orchestrateComment: 39 pages, 15 figures, to appear in PLOS Computational Biolog

Phonetic & Phonological Salience Effects in Different Speech Processing Tasks

This paper provides evidence for both effects of both phonetic and phonological salience in speech processing. Results from three experiments are presented, each examining the relative processing of two speech sounds by speakers of two different languages. In each experiment, one of the two sounds is more phonetically salient and the other is more phonologically salient given the morphophonological patterning of one of the langauges. Phonetic salience effects emerged in shorter-term tasks and phonological salience effects emerged in tasks that were longer-term and that required more phonological processing