Inflationary schism after Planck2013

Classic inflation, the theory described in textbooks, is based on the idea that, beginning from typical initial conditions and assuming a simple inflaton potential with a minimum of fine-tuning, inflation can create exponentially large volumes of space that are generically homogeneous, isotropic and flat, with nearly scale-invariant spectra of density and gravitational wave fluctuations that are adiabatic, Gaussian and have generic predictable properties. In a recent paper, we showed that, in addition to having certain conceptual problems known for decades, classic inflation is for the first time also disfavored by data, specifically the most recent data from WMAP, ACT and Planck2013. Guth, Kaiser and Nomura and Linde have each recently published critiques of our paper, but, as made clear here, we all agree about one thing: the problematic state of classic inflation. Instead, they describe an alternative inflationary paradigm that revises the assumptions and goals of inflation, and perhaps of science generally.Comment: 7 pages, 2 table

The Crisis of Self-Understanding in Dostoevsky

This paper seeks to explain the characterization of Raskolnikov in Dostoevsky\u27s Crime and Punishment. It makes the argument that Raskolnikov exemplifies the inexhaustible depth of the human consciousness, the quest for self-understanding, and the radical schism of the psyche which Dostoevsky wrote about in other works such as Notes From Underground. Contrasting Crime and Punishment with Joseph Conrad\u27s Heart of Darkness, this paper concludes that Conrad\u27s main character Marlow loses himself in the schism and that Raskolnikov finds peace through confession and repentance

A lived experience theory of schism (LETS): Exploring the complex social dynamics powering factionalised conflict in nonprofit organisations

Schism is a widespread phenomenon of social groups which has persisted over centuries. An intense form of factionalised conflict, schism can be distressing for people to experience and challenging for groups to navigate. Schism research has roots in anthropology, organisation studies, and social psychology, and has been studied in societies, religions, social movements, political parties, nonprofit organisations, and other contexts. Despite broad and enduring relevance to social organising, schism research is surprisingly scant. Across disciplines and contexts, findings are disjointed and contradictory. No widely accepted definition or theory of schism was found in the literature. The aim of the current research was to gain insight into the social dynamics powering the incidence, progression, and lived experience of schism. The goal was to increase human agency and control in schism based on emerging theoretical knowledge, and thereby improve experiences and outcomes for people and organisations. A qualitative study of schism in nonprofit organisations in Western Australia was undertaken using an exploratory qualitative research design and a lived experience lens. Participant-centred interviews were conducted, typically of 1 hour, with 41 people who described schisms in 24 organisations. Sampling was initially by convenience then purposive snowball sampling, enabling a range of organisations, roles, and experiences to be represented. Interviews were transcribed to form a rich primary data set. Systematic coding and thematic analysis complemented immersion in individual stories. Data collection, data analysis, and theory development were iterative and interdependent. Emerging themes forced problematisation of prior knowledge. The ongoing process of theory construction employed both inductive and abductive reasoning. A novel conceptualisation of schism emerged from this research project, representing schism as a complex social construction in an open system rather than a linear process in a bounded system, and privileging the human experience over the organisation as the entity of concern. A new definition of schism is proposed which provides a foundation for the lived experience theory of schism (LETS) presented in this thesis. Together, the definition and theory contribute to knowledge of schism in organisations and other social systems, and provide a foundation for future schism research. Findings from this project have implications for nonprofit sector policy and practice, especially in group leadership and governance

Get the fuck out for a positive identity

The present work examined the conditions under which political partisans would desire to schism from their political party. Drawing on uncertainty-identity theory, the social identity theory of leadership, and the literature on schism, this thesis predicted that under conditions of high uncertainty, partisans would be less likely to schism from their party because they would be willing to accept limits to their voice from political leaders. A broad sample of California Republicans (N = 218) and Democrats (N = 249) were examined using the pretense of either support for or opposition to legislation on DACA enacted by the leader of their respective party. The results did not support the primary research hypotheses that people who experience elevated levels of self-uncertainty will have less of a desire to schism relative to people lower in self-uncertainty when they are denied voice from a political leader. However, the experimental design and exploratory analyses suggest a novel way to examine schism with respect to uncertainty

Risk Assessment and Risk Management: Mending the Schism

The authors suggest that giving different individuals the responsibility for assessing and managing Risk may sometimes be counterproductive

Medieval Universities, Legal Institutions, and the Commercial Revolution

We present new data documenting medieval Europe’s Commercial Revolution” using information on the establishment of markets in Germany. We use these data to test whether medieval universities played a causal role in expanding economic activity, examining the foundation of Germany’s first universities after 1386 following the Papal Schism. We find that the trend rate of market establishment breaks upward in 1386 and that this break is greatest where the distance to a university shrank most. There is no differential pre-1386 trend associated with the reduction in distance to a university, and there is no break in trend in 1386 where university proximity did not change. These results are not affected by excluding cities close to universities or cities belonging to territories that included universities. Universities provided training in newly-rediscovered Roman and Canon law; students with legal training served in positions that reduced the uncertainty of trade in medieval Europe. We argue that training in the law, and the consequent development of legal and administrative institutions, was an important channel linking universities and greater economic activity

New Testament Considerations on Unity and “Amicable Separation” in the United Methodist Church

This paper explores the proposal of “Amicable Separation” in The United Methodist Church through the lens of New Testament teaching on Church unity and schism. First, the concept of ecclesial oneness is examined closely in the Gospel of John, Ephesians, and other related passages. Second, every instance of schism or threat of schism is studied in Acts, I Corinthians, Galatians, Colossians, I Timothy, and I and II John to see how separation is understood and addressed. After a summary of the study is given, application is made finally to the “Amicable Separation” proposal

THE GREAT SCHISM: The Great Divide of the West, the East and Christianity

The historical tapestry of Medieval Europe was woven together with numerous profoundly influential threads. One of the most fundamental woven threads in the tapestry of this era was the thread of religion, the church and the Christian faith. An intrinsic part to this religious thread in the Medieval tapestry was the immensely profoundly transforming event of the Great Schism in 1054. The Great Schism in its own religious right was one of the most single profoundly fundamental and influential events that resulted in the transformation of a religion, culture and history. Moreover the Great Schism laid the foundation, paved the way and was the religious prequel of Martin’s Luther’s Protestant Reformation. Thus the Great Schism of 1054 had extensive, influential political, cultural, social, religious and historical consequences. The Great Schism’s legacy of disunion would be evident in the church, the Christian faith and religion for many generations to come.

A Sufficiently Republican Church: George David Cummins and the Reformed Episcopalians in 1873

In 1873 George David Cummins, the assistant bishop of the Episcopal diocese of Kentucky, rocked the complacency of the Protestant Episcopal Church by resigning his Kentucky episcopate and founding an entirely new Episcopal denomination, the Reformed Episcopal Church. Schismatic movements in American religion are hardly a novelty. Still, Cummins and his movement occupy a peculiar position in both the history of American religion and the cultural history of the Gilded Age. Unlike the wave of church schisms before the Civil War, the Reformed Episcopal schism of 1873 had no clear relation to sectional issues. And unlike the fundamentalist schisms of the early 1900s, it had no real connection to the great debate in American religion between conservativism and modernism. Instead, the story of George David Cummins hangs upon a ferocious struggle within the Episcopal Church about ritual, romanism, and Episcopal identity - or, in other words, about symbol and culture in the Gilded Age. And in 1873, that cultural struggle was closely bound up with the fearful and unresolved questions posed by America\u27s full integration into the great networks of international, industrial, and finance capitalism. Cummins and the Reformed Episcopal schism was, in miniature, part of the persistent conflict between the old antebellum republican ideals of public virtue and restraint and the new capitalist ethic of consumption which restructured American public culture in the Gilded Age. [excerpt