System Design as a Creative Mathematical Activity

This paper contributes to the understanding of rational systems design and verification. We give evidence that the rôle of mathematics in development and verification is not limited to useful calculations: Ideally, designing is a creative mathematical activity, which comprises finding a theorem, if necessary strengthening its assumptions until it can be proven. A canonical form of this ‘verification theorem’ is introduced and illustrated with informal and formal examples. Although for good reasons most systems are designed without use of formal methods it may be a source of useful insight to understand all design as an ‘approximation’ of such a mathematical activity. This leads amongst others to a taxonomy of design decisions, and it may help to relate paradigms, theories, methods, languages, and tools from different areas of computer science to each other to make optimal use of them

Managing depression through needlecraft creative activities: A qualitative study

This qualitative study explored the personal meanings of needlecrafts and their role in the self-management of depression. Written and spoken narratives from 39 women were studied. Respondents described themselves as experiencing chronic or episodic depression (e.g. associated with stressful work situations, bereavement or caring for an ill relative). Some had received treatment for depression but most had not. When analysing the therapeutic effects of creative activity, most women described the experience of intense concentration in the task as providing distraction from worry and relief from depressive thoughts. Creative activity was often described as enhancing self-esteem. The adaptability of the occupation to suit time available, mood and other factors facilitated a sense of empowerment or control. Creative arts activities could also challenge depression from enabling social contacts. Most respondents had taken up their favoured creative activity in adulthood, commonly in response to stressful life events and with some self-awareness of its therapeutic potential. The diversity of subjective benefits support further research into the self-management of depression through creative activities, in both patient and non-patient groups. Managin

Cultural and creative activity satellite accounts, Australia 2013

In Australia and internationally, there is strong interest in the role of ‘cultural’ and ‘creative’ activity in the economy, such as highlighted recently by Australia’s National Cultural Policy, Creative Australia. These terms are often used to describe activities connected with the arts, media, heritage, design, fashion and information technology. To advance the development of economic measures for these activities, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has conducted a study on the feasibility of producing cultural and creative activity satellite accounts for Australia. The feasibility study concludes it is possible for the ABS to construct Australian cultural and creative activity satellite accounts with a reasonable level of quality using currently available data. The purpose of this discussion paper is to present the findings of the study and invite comment on the proposed approach, data and investment priorities. The feasibility study was undertaken in consultation with federal and state government organisations comprising the Cultural Ministers’ Statistics Working Group, and with Australian academics

Rethinking business models as value creating systems

The generic notion of a business model is well understood by investors and business managers and implies a number of anticipations; chiefly that it is a replicable process that produces revenues and profits. At its heart is some replicable process, artefact or proposition around which the everyday practices are formed. There are a number of reasons why this conception is weak in the Creative Industries. We have identified that the rationale for ‘business models’ in the Creative Industries include providing an attractor for non goal oriented creative activity, for stabilising emergent properties from creative activities and for maintaining the stability of these by anticipating revenues

Hobson’s choice? Constraints on accessing spaces of creative production

Successful creative production is often documented to occur in urban areas that are more likely to be diverse, a source of human capital and the site of dense interactions. These accounts chart how, historically, creative industries have clustered in areas where space was once cheap in the city centre fringe and inner city areas, often leading to the development of a creative milieu, and thereby stimulating further creative production. Historical accounts of the development of creative areas demonstrate the crucial role of accessible low-cost business premises. This article reports on the findings of a case study that investigated the location decisions of firms in selected creative industry sectors in Greater Manchester. The study found that, while creative activity remains highly concentrated in the city centre, creative space there is being squeezed and some creative production is decentralizing in order to access cheaper premises. The article argues that the location choices of creative industry firms are being constrained by the extensive city centre regeneration, with the most vulnerable firms, notably the smallest and youngest, facing a Hobson’s choice of being able to access low-cost premises only in the periphery. This disrupts the delicate balance needed to sustain production and begs the broader question as to how the creative economy fits into the existing urban fabric, alongside the competing demands placed on space within a transforming industrial conurbation

Wind them up, let them go : the primacy of stimulus in the classroom

A consideration of the stimulation of creative writing in young people. especially in the upper stages of secondary school. The author considers his experiences as a teacher and as a professional creative writer. The author suggests that more process-strategy approaches need to be employed to develop a writing culture in the classroom, and offers an exemplar activity with pupil responses for discussion

E-methods in literary production: integrating e-learning in creative writing

This paper discusses the integration of e-learning in creative writing. The online approach to the teaching of creative writing takes into account today’s Malaysian youth and their fascination with computer technology. It is this appeal of innovation in electronics and knowledge that leads an educator to design an on-line approach to a creative writing course. The theoretical construct used to support the discussion is Anderson’s theory that on-line learning is knowledge-, community-, assessment-, and learner-centered. The writer, who is also the course developer, analyses a poetry-writing activity, which students undertake, and the e-portfolio used in the course. To analyze the processes involved in this creative writing exercise Macherey’s (1978) Theory of Literary Production is adapted and utilized. This theory, which regards literary production as a process imitating that of a production line, provides the methodology and conceptual framework for analyzing the raw materials collected by the students and their transformation during the writing process. This paper thus addresses the benefits of e-learning in a creative writing context

"... in God only one infinite act can be thought...": The Ambiguity of Divine Agency and the Diversity of Evil

The paper argues that God does not act but is creative activity, which helps to overcome evil by the possibilities of the good that it opens up for creatures in the face of evil

Creative destruction and asset prices

This paper introduces Schumpeter's idea of creative destruction into asset pricing. The key point of our model is that small and value firms are more likely destroyed during technological revolutions, resulting into higher expected returns for these stocks. A two-factor model including market return and patent activity growth - the proxy for creative destruction risk - accounts for a large portion of the cross-sectional variation of size and book-to-market sorted portfolios and prices HML and SMB. The expected return difference between assets with the highest and lowest exposure to creative destruction risk amounts to 8.6 percent annually. --creative destruction,asset pricing,size and value premium,patents