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Heteroglossia

Heteroglossia is the coexistence of distinct linguistic varieties, styles of discourse, or points of view within a single language (in Greek: hetero- "different" and glōssa "tongue, language"). The term translates the Russian разноречие [raznorechie: literally, "varied-speechedness"], which was introduced by the Russian literary theorist Mikhail Bakhtin in his 1934 paper Слово в романе [Slovo v romane], published in English as "Discourse in the Novel." The essay was published in English in the book The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays by M.M. Bakhtin, translated and edited by Michael Holquist and Caryl Emerson. Heteroglossia is the presence in language of a variety of "points of view on the world, forms for conceptualizing the world in words, specific world views, each characterized by its own objects, meanings and values." For Bakhtin, this diversity of "languages" within a single language brings into question the basic assumptions of system-based linguistics. Every word uttered, in any specific time or place, is a function of a complex convergence of forces and conditions that are unique to that time and place. Heteroglossia is thus "the base condition governing the operation of meaning in any utterance" and that which always guarantees "the primacy of context over text." It is an attempt to conceptualize the reality of living discourse, where there is always a tension between centralizing and decentralizing forces. According to Bakhtin, linguistics—to the extent that it operates on the presumption that language is a system—inevitably suppresses the fundamentally heteroglot nature of language as it is lived and experienced by human beings in their day to day realities. Languages as points of view Any language, in Bakhtin's view, stratifies into many voices: "social dialects, characteristic group behaviour, professional jargons, generic languages, languages of generations and age groups, tendentious languages, languages of the authorities, of various circles and of passing fashions". This diversity of voice is, Bakhtin asserts, the defining characteristic of the novel as a genre. When heteroglossia is incorporated into the novel, it is "another's speech in another's language, serving to express authorial intentions but in a refracted way". Bakhtin proposes that these stratifications of language represent distinct points of view on the world, characterized by their own meanings and values. In this view, language is "shot through with intentions and accents", and thus there are no neutral words. Even the most unremarkable statement possesses a taste, whether of a profession, a party, a generation, a place or a time. To Bakhtin, words do not exist until they are spoken, and in that moment they are imprinted with the signature of the speaker. Bakhtin identifies the act of speech, or of writing, as a literary-verbal performance, one that requires speakers or authors to take a position, even if only by choosing the dialect in which they will speak. Separate languages are often identified with separate circumstances. The prose writer, Bakhtin argues, must welcome and incorporate these many languages into their work. Heteroglossia and linguistics Bakhtin rejects the idea that language is a system of abstract norms and that the utterance is a mere instantiation of the system of language. In "Discourse in the Novel", he criticizes linguistics, poetics, and stylistics for misunderstanding the fact that different people and groups speak differently. According to Bakhtin, language, like the psyche and everything else in culture, is never a finished, ordered system: it is a work in progress, always ongoing, never complete. There is a constant tension in language between the attempt to impose order and the fact that life itself is essentially chaotic. Real life is complex, spontaneous, subjective, impulsive, not pre-determined, full of disorder, the unexpected, the unknown, the undefined, the indefinable, and it refuses to be (or rather it cannot be) contained in a system that imagines and imposes an order of things. These dis-ordering forces in language, which Bakhtin refers to as centrifugal, are not unified or somehow conscious of themselves as forces of opposition. Centrifugal forces are essentially disparate and disunified: attempts to unify them are an ordering project, and thus not centrifugal. The force in culture that strives for unity and order Bakhtin refers to as centripetal. It is reflected in language in the standardisation of national languages, in rules of grammar, the writing of dictionaries, and in the science of linguistics. Bakhtin does not object to such an effort, but he insists that it must be recognized as an imposition of order on something that fundamentally lacks it: "A unitary language is not something given [дан, dan] but is always in essence posited [задан, zadan]". Disciplines like philology, linguistics, stylistics and poetics take something that is an ideal, something that is posited in a struggle for social unity, and mistake it for something that really exists. The posited system is reified and an explanatory force is arbitrarily bestowed upon it, effectively denying the existence of the living, disordered, heteroglot reality upon which it is imposed. The attempt to systematize language—to objectify, idealize and abstract it into a static set of rules and conventions for signification—is falsely posited as a descriptive or scientific activity, when in reality it is a form of socio-political activism. According to Bakhtin, language is always a multiplicity of languages. This is not merely a matter of dialectology, but of the many different ways of speaking, which are reflections of the diversity of social experience, of differing ways of conceptualizing and evaluating. Linguistics fails to appreciate the importance of this multiplicity in the reality of language as it is actually lived and practiced. It is not merely a matter of different vocabularies, but a complex of experiences, shared evaluations, ideas, perspectives and attitudes that are "knitted together" (срастаться, srastat'sya) in an organic process: a coalescence of separate entities that have themselves been formed by such a process, which is to say by a living process of adaptation and growth. Different languages reflect different attitudes and worldviews. Linguistic features are not fixed and definitive: they are a consequence—"traces", "crystallizations", or "sclerotic deposits"―of these attitudes and worldviews, which are themselves the consequence of particular forms of active participation in life and culture. Such participation is a creative response to the circumstances and demands of daily life: "discourse lives, as it were, beyond itself, in a living impulse (направленность, napravlennost''') toward the object; if we wholly detach ourselves from this impulse all we have left is the naked corpse of the word, from which we can learn nothing at all about the social situation or the fate of a given word in life." Bakhtin points to the astonishing variety and variability of languages: there are languages within languages, languages overlapping other languages, languages of small social groups, of large social groups, enduring languages, transitory languages. Any separately identified social group might have its own language, also each year and even each "day". All these diverse groups are more or less "capable of attracting language's words and forms into their orbit by means of their own characteristic intentions and accents, and in so doing to a certain extent alienating these words and forms from other tendencies, parties, artistic works and persons". There are no "neutral" words, no words that belong to no-one. Thus linguistics, as an abstracting process, can never adequately address the reality of heteroglossia. Dialogized Heteroglossia Each individual participates in multiple languages, each with its own views and evaluations. Dialogized heteroglossia refers to the relations and interactions between these languages within an individual speaker. Bakhtin gives the example of an illiterate peasant, who speaks Church Slavonic to God, speaks to his family in their own peculiar dialect, sings songs in yet a third, and attempts to emulate officious high-class dialect when he dictates petitions to the local government. Theoretically, the peasant may use each of these languages at the appropriate time, prompted by context, mechanically, without ever questioning their adequacy to the task for which he has acquired them. But languages combined within an individual (or within a social unit of any size), do not exist merely as separate entities, neatly compartmentalised alongside each other, never interacting. A point of view contained in one language is capable of observing and interpreting another from the outside, and vice versa. Thus the languages "interanimate" one another as they enter into dialogue.Morson and Emerson (1990). p. 143 Any sort of unitary significance or monologic value system assumed by a discrete language is irrevocably undermined by the presence of another way of speaking and interpreting. According to Bakhtin, such a dialogizing process is always going on in language. Linguistic change is not about change, reaction, readjustment and balance in any systemic sense: it is inherently chaotic and unpredictable, produced by the unforeseeable events of everyday activity. There are no abstract forces at work, there are living people responding to the complex realities of their daily lives. People do not learn their native language from dictionaries, but from the series of exchanges with others in which they participate. Thus the individual encounters the language she assimilates as something that is already dialogized and evaluated. In the assimilation of new words and syntactic forms, which are then employed and deployed for one's own purposes, there is no thought of abstracting away their accents and addressivity in order to systematize them. Such words and forms operate in the individual as they operate in their social milieu: as living impulses. The hybrid utterance The hybrid utterance, as defined by Bakhtin, is a passage that employs only a single speaker—the author, for example— but uses different kinds of speech. The juxtaposition of the different speeches brings with it a contradiction and conflict in belief systems. In examination of the English comic novel, particularly the works of Charles Dickens, Bakhtin identifies examples of his argument. Dickens parodies both the 'common tongue' and the language of Parliament or high-class banquets, using concealed languages to create humor. In one passage, Dickens shifts from his authorial narrative voice into a formalized, almost epic tone while describing the work of an unremarkable bureaucrat; his intent is to parody the self-importance and vainglory of the bureaucrat's position. The use of concealed speech, without formal markers of a speaker change, is what allows the parody to work. It is, in Bakhtin's parlance, a hybrid utterance. In this instance the conflict is between the factual narrative and the biting hyperbole of the new, epic/formalistic tone. Bakhtin goes on to discuss the interconnectedness of conversation. Even a simple dialogue, in his view, is full of quotations and references, often to a general "everyone says" or "I heard that.." Opinion and information are transmitted by way of reference to an indefinite, general source. By way of these references, humans selectively assimilate the discourse of others and make it their own. Bakhtin identifies a specific type of discourse, the "authoritative discourse," which demands to be assimilated by the reader or listener; examples might be religious dogma, or scientific theory, or a popular book. This type of discourse is viewed as past, finished, hierarchically superior, and therefore demands "unconditional allegiance" rather than accepting interpretation. Because of this, Bakhtin states that authoritative discourse plays an insignificant role in the novel. Because it is not open to interpretation, it cannot enter into hybrid utterance. Bakhtin concludes by arguing that the role of the novel is to draw the authoritative into question, and to allow what was once considered certain to be debated and open to interpretation. In effect, novels not only function through heteroglossia, but must promote it; to do otherwise is an artistic failure. See alsoThe Dialogic ImaginationDialogue (Bakhtin) Polyphony (literature) Register (sociolinguistics) Variation (linguistics) Notes References Guez, J. M (2010). Heteroglossia, In Western Humanities Review (pp. 51–55). Utah: Salt Lake City. Hale, D. J (1994), Bakhin in African American Literary Theory, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 61''(2) pp. 445–471 AA.VV., LCM Journal Vol 3, No 1 (2016), Verso nuove frontiere dell’eteroglossia / The new frontiers of heteroglossia, LED Edizioni Universitarie, Milano, 2016, Sociolinguistics Literary criticism

Eclecticism in art

Eclecticism is a kind of mixed style in the fine arts: "the borrowing of a variety of styles from different sources and combining them" . Significantly, Eclecticism hardly ever constituted a specific style in art: it is characterized by the fact that it was not a particular style. In general, the term describes the combination in a single work of a variety of influences—mainly of elements from different historical styles in architecture, painting, and the graphic and decorative arts. In music the term used may be either eclecticism or polystylism. In the visual arts The term eclectic was first used by Johann Joachim Winckelmann to characterize the art of the Carracci, who incorporated in their paintings elements from the Renaissance and classical traditions. Indeed, Agostino, Annibale and Lodovico Carracci had tried to combine in their art Michelangelo's line, Titian's color, Correggio's chiaroscuro, and Raphael's symmetry and grace. In the 18th century, Sir Joshua Reynolds, head of the Royal Academy of Arts in London, was one of the most influential advocates of eclecticism. In the sixth of his famous academical Discourses (1774), he wrote that the painter may use the work of the ancients as a "magazine of common property, always open to the public, whence every man has a right to take what materials he pleases" . Western architecture Early examples of eclectic architecture were built in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, particularly in the Palazzina Cinese in Palermo.. Eclecticism "was an important concept in Western architecture during the mid- and late 19th century, and it reappeared in a new guise in the latter part of the 20th century" . Sources Visual arts genres Architectural styles

Neophile

Neophile or Neophiliac, a term popularised by author Robert Anton Wilson, is a personality type characterized by a strong affinity for novelty. The term was used earlier by Christopher Booker in his 1969 book The Neophiliacs, and by J. D. Salinger in his 1965 short story "Hapworth 16, 1924". Characteristics Neophiles/Neophiliacs have the following basic characteristics: The ability to adapt rapidly to extreme change. A distaste or downright loathing of routine. A desire to experience novelty. A corresponding and related desire to create novelty. A neophile is distinct from a revolutionary in that anyone might become a revolutionary if pushed far enough by the reigning authorities or social norms, whereas neophiles are revolutionaries by nature. Their intellectual abhorrence of tradition and repetition usually bemoans a deeper emotional need for constant novelty and change. The meaning of neophile approaches and is not mutually exclusive to the term visionary, but differs in that a neophile actively seeks first-hand experience of novelty rather than merely pontificating about it. The opposite of a neophile is a neophobe; a person with an aversion to novelty and change. Robert Anton Wilson speculates in his 1983 book Prometheus Rising that the Industrial Revolution and related enlightenment represents one of the first periods of history in which neophiles were a dominant force in society. Wilson observes that neophobes tend to regard neophiles, especially extreme ones, with fear and contempt, and to brand them with titles such as "witch," "satanist," "heretic," etc. Types Open-source advocate and programmer Eric S. Raymond observes that this personality is especially prevalent in certain fields of expertise; in business, these are primarily computer science and other areas of high technology. Raymond speculates that the rapid progress of these fields (especially computers) is a result of this. A neophile's love of novelty is likely to lead them into subjects outside of the normal areas of human interest. Raymond observes a high concentration of neophiles in or around what he calls "leading edge subcultures" such as science fiction fandom, neo-paganism, transhumanism, etc. as well as in or around nontraditional areas of thought such as fringe philosophy or the occult. Raymond observes that most neophiles have roving interests and tend to be widely well-read. There is more than one type of neophile. There are social neophiles (the extreme social butterfly), intellectual neophiles (the revolutionary philosopher and the technophile), and physical/kinetic neophiles (the extreme sports enthusiast). These tendencies are not mutually exclusive, and might exist simultaneously in the same individual. The word "neophilia" has particular significance in Internet and hacker culture. The New Hacker's Dictionary gave the following definition to neophilia: The trait of being excited and pleased by novelty. Common among most hackers, SF fans, and members of several other connected leading-edge subcultures, including the pro-technology 'Whole Earth' wing of the ecology movement, space activists, many members of Mensa, and the Discordian/neo-pagan underground (see geek). All these groups overlap heavily and (where evidence is available) seem to share characteristic hacker tropisms for science fiction, music. Research has uncovered a possible link between certain predisposition to some kind of neophilia and increased levels of the enzyme monoamine oxidase A. See also Fad Technophilia Technophobia Futurism Novelty seeking Low arousal theory References External links Heidi Dawley, The disorder of these times, neophilia (2006) Technology in society Sociological terminology 1960s neologisms Hacker culture Subcultures Robert Anton Wilson

The Chalice and the Blade

The Chalice and The Blade: Our History, Our Future is a 1987 book by Riane Eisler. The author presents a conceptual framework for studying social systems with particular attention to how a society constructs roles and relations between the female and male halves of humanity. Overview Eisler highlights the tension between what she calls the dominator or domination model and the more naturally feminine partnership model. Eisler proposes tension between these two underlies the span of human cultural evolution. She traces this tension in Western culture from prehistory to the present. The book closes with two contrasting future scenarios. These challenge conventional views about cultural evolution up to the time of the book's publication. The book is now in 26 foreign editions, including most European languages as well as Chinese, Japanese, Urdu, Korean, Arabic, Hebrew, and Turkish. Briefly, her thesis is that, despite old narratives about an inherently flawed humanity, more and more evidence shows humanity is not doomed to perpetuate patterns of violence and oppression. Female values offer a partnership alternative with deep roots in the pre-Patriarchy paradigm of cultural evolution. No utopia is predicted; rather, a way of structuring society in more peaceful, equitable, and sustainable ways is envisioned. Proposed method of social analysis The method of social analysis in the book is multidisciplinary in its study of relational dynamics. In contrast to earlier studies of society, this method concerns what kinds of social systems support the human capacity for consciousness, caring, and creativity, or conversely for insensitivity, cruelty, and destructiveness. The study of relational dynamics is an application of systems analysis: the study of how different components of living systems interact to maintain one another and the larger whole of which they are a part. Drawing from a trans-disciplinary database, it applies this approach to a wide-ranging exploration of how humans think, feel, and behave individually and in groups. Its sources include cross-cultural anthropological and sociological surveys, and studies of individual societies as well as writings by historians, analyses of laws, moral codes, art, literature, scholarship from psychology, economics, education, political science, philosophy, religious studies, archaeology, the study of myths and legends; and data from more recent fields such as primatology, neuroscience, chaos theory, systems self-organizing theory, non-linear dynamics, gender studies, women's studies, and men's studies. A distinguishing feature of the study of relational dynamics pays particular attention to matters marginalized or ignored in conventional male-oriented studies. It highlights the importance of how a society constructs relations between the male and female halves of humanity, as well as between them and their daughters and sons, taking into account findings from both the biological and social sciences showing the critical importance of the "private" sphere of family and other intimate relations in shaping beliefs and behaviors. New perspective on cultural evolution The author compares two underlying types of social organization in which the cultural construction of gender roles and relations is key. Eisler places human societies on what she calls the partnership-domination continuum. At one end of the continuum are societies oriented to the partnership model. At the other are societies oriented to the dominator or domination model. These categories transcend conventional categories such as ancient vs. modern, Eastern vs. Western, religious vs. secular, rightist vs. leftist, and so on. The domination model ranks man over man, man over woman, race over race, and religion vs. religion, with difference equated with superiority or inferiority. It comprises an authoritarian structure in both family and state or tribe, rigid male dominance, and a high degree of abuse and violence. The partnership model consists of a democratic and egalitarian structure in both the family and state or tribe, with hierarchies of actualization where power is empowering rather than disempowering (as in hierarchies of domination). There is also gender partnership and a low degree of abuse and violence, as it is not needed to maintain rigid top-down rankings. Content In this book, Eisler traces tensions between these two models, starting in prehistory. It draws from many sources, including the study of myth and linguistics as well as archeological findings by the Indo-Europeanists J. P. Mallory and Marija Gimbutas and archeologists such as James Mellaart, Alexander Marshack, Andre Leroi-Gourhan, and Nikolas Platon. Based on these findings, Eisler presents evidence how for the longest span of prehistory, cultures in the more fertile regions of the globe oriented primarily to the partnership model, which Eisler also calls a "gylany", a neologism for a society in which relationships between the sexes are an egalitarian partnership. This gender partnership was a core component of a more egalitarian, peaceful, and matrifocal culture with a focus on life-giving, centering on nurture. These societies once were widespread in Europe around the Mediterranean, and lasted well into the early Bronze Age in the Minoan civilization of Crete. Later, culture skewed towards Patriarchy during a chaotic time of upheaval related to climate change and incursions of warlike, nomadic tribes. These peoples brought with them a domination system and imposed rigid rankings of domination, including the rigid domination by men of women and the equation of "real masculinity" with power and violence. This led to radical cultural transformation. Eisler's book is not the only work describing this massive cultural shift. Other scholars have paid special attention to a radical change in gender relations. Historian Gerda Lerner details it in her Oxford University book The Creation of Patriarchy. However, Eisler does not use the term "patriarchy." Nor does she use "matriarchy" to describe a more gender-balanced society, noting rule by fathers (patriarchy) and rule by mothers (matriarchy) can be two sides of a dominator coin. She proposed the real alternative is a partnership system or gylany. Nonetheless, some critics have accused Eisler of writing about a "matriarchy" in prehistoric times. According to them, she claims earlier societies where women were not subordinate were ideal. Eisler does point out how more partnership-oriented societies described in The Chalice and the Blade were more peaceful and generally equitable; yet, she emphasizes they were not ideal. She further makes it clear the point is not returning to any "utopia" but rather using what we learn from our past to move forward to a more equitable and sustainable future. Some archaeologists also question these earlier societies were more peaceful, especially critiques of Marija Gimbutas, one of Eisler's sources. This critique fits the conventional narrative of cultural evolution as a linear progression from "barbarism" to "civilization"—a narrative Eisler challenges in light of the brutality of "civilizations" ranging from Chinese, Indian, Arab, and European empires to Nazi Germany and Stalin's Soviet Union. In addition, some archaeologists question whether the great profusion in these earlier cultures of female figurines, going back 30,000 years and perhaps even longer, indicates that they venerated a Goddess or Great Mother. When these figurines were first excavated in the 19th century, the men who found them in millennia-old caves called them Venus figurines (a term still used today). Subsequent confirmation Further confirmation of Eisler's view of Neolithic society comes from archeologist Ian Hodder, who excavated Çatalhöyük, one of the largest Neolithic sites found to date. Hodder confirms gender equity as a key part of a more partnership-oriented social configuration in this generally equitable early farming site where there are no signs of destruction through warfare for over 1,000 years. At the same time, Ian Hodder found little evidence of matriarchy (matrilineality) in society. The only place where he found a clear division in symbolism is the kind of activity. Women were more often depicted with plants, and men in the role of a hunter. It is also worth noting that Hodder, unlike Eisler, described in detail male symbolism, namely painting, paintings in which men were most often depicted, often with beards. In this 2004 Scientific American article Hodder writes— Even analyses of isotopes in bones give no indication of divergence in lifestyle translating into differences in status and power between women and men... [which points to] a society in which sex is relatively unimportant in assigning social roles, with neither burials nor space in houses suggesting gender inequality. Data from other world regions also supports the thesis of an earlier partnership direction. For example, after The Chalice and the Blade was published in China by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a group of scholars at the Academy wrote a book showing there was also in Chinese prehistory a massive cultural shift from more partnership-oriented cultures to a system of rigid domination in both the family and the state. See also Futures studies References 1987 non-fiction books English-language books Gender studies books Çatalhöyük

Psychographics

Psychographics is defined as "market research or statistics classifying population groups according to psychological variables" The term psychographics is derived from the words "psychological" and "demographics" Two common approaches to psychographics include analysis of consumers' activities, interests, and opinions (AIO variables), and values and lifestyles (VALS). Psychographics have been applied to the study of personality, values, opinions, attitudes, interests, and lifestyles. Psychographic segmentation is a technique for grouping populations into sub-groups according to similar psychological variables. Psychographic studies of individuals or communities can be valuable in the fields of marketing, demographics, opinion research, prediction, and social research in general. Psychographic attributes can be contrasted with demographic variables (such as age and gender), behavioral variables (such as purchase data or usage rate), and organizational descriptors (sometimes called firmographic variables), such as industry, number of employees, and functional area. Psychographic methods gained prominence in the 2016 US presidential election and the opposing campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, with the latter using them extensively in microtargeting advertisements to narrow constituencies. Uses Psychographics is utilized in the field of marketing and advertising to understand the preferences of consumers and to predict behavior. Private research companies conduct psychographic research using proprietary techniques. For example, VALS is a proprietary framework created by Strategic Business Insights that separates US adults into eight distinct types by evaluating their motivations and resources to understand anticipated consumer behavior. Psychographics is often used for market segmentation and improved target marketing. Psychographic segmentation is also applied to other fields and across cultures in order to understand motivations and behavior including in healthcare, politics, tourism and lifestyle choices. Psychographic profiling Psychographics are applied to the study of cognitive attributes such as attitudes, interests, opinions, and belief, as well as the study of overt behavior (e.g., activities). A "psychographic profile" consists of a relatively complete profile of a person or group's psychographic make-up. These profiles are used in market segmentation as well as in advertising. Some categories of psychographic factors used in market segmentation include: activity, interest, opinion (AIOs) attitudes values behavior expressions gesture Comparison to demographics Psychographics is often confused with demographics, in which historical generations may be defined both by demographics, such as the years in which a particular generation is born or even the fertility rates of that generation's parents, but also by psychographic variables like attitudes, personality formation, and cultural touchstones. For example, the traditional approaches to defining the Baby Boom Generation, Generation X, or Millennials rely on both demographic variables (classifying individuals based on birth years) and psychographic variables (such as beliefs, attitudes, values and behaviors). Infusionsoft published an article arguing that customer psychographic segmentation is more useful than demographic information. See also Attitudinal targeting Behavior modification Behavioral targeting Black propaganda Brainwashing Consumer analytics Consumer intelligence Demographic targeting Disinformation Freedom of choice Geo-targeting Geodemographic segmentation Market analysis Market research Market segmentation Marketing Microsegment Misinformation Political warfare Project MKUltra Propaganda Psychometrics Psychological warfare Positioning (marketing) Product differentiation Segmenting and positioning Serviceable available market Subliminal advertising Targeted advertising Target audience Total addressable market Values Modes References External links www.netmba.com/marketing/market/segmentation www.strategicbusinessinsights.com/vals/ustypes.shtml Lee and Psychography, appendix to Lee the American by Gamaliel Bradford How to Use Psychographic Data in Online Marketing, by Susan Gilbert Market research Market segmentation Marketing research Political campaign techniques

Neo-Victorian

Neo-Victorianism is an aesthetic movement that features an overt nostalgia for the Victorian period. In arts and crafts Examples of crafts made in this style would include push-button cordless telephones made to look like antique wall-mounted phones, CD players resembling old time radios, Victorianesque furniture, and Victorian era-style clothing. In neo-romantic and fantasy art, one can often see the elements of Victorian aesthetic values. There is also a strongly emerging genre of steampunk art. McDermott & McGough are a couple of contemporary artists whose work is all about a recreation of life in the nineteenth century: they only use the ultimate technology available, and since they are supposed to live anachronistically, this means the use of earlier photographic processes, and maintaining the illusion of a life stuck in the ways of a forgotten era. Works of fiction Neo-Victorian works of fiction are creative narrative works set in the Victorian period, but written, interpreted or reproduced by more contemporary artists. Many neo-Victorian novels have reinterpreted, reproduced and rewritten Victorian culture. Significant texts include The French Lieutenant’s Woman (John Fowles, 1969), Possession (A. S. Byatt, 1990), Arthur and George (Julian Barnes, 2005), Dorian, An Imitation (Will Self, 2002) Jack Maggs (Peter Carey, 1997), Wide Sargasso Sea (Jean Rhys, 1966). Recent neo-Victorian novels have often been adapted to the screen, from The French Lieutenant’s Woman (Karel Reisz, 1981) to the television adaptations of Sarah Waters (Tipping the Velvet, BBC2, 2002, Fingersmith, BBC1, 2005, Affinity ITV, 2008) and Michel Faber (The Crimson Petal and the White, BBC 1, 2011). These narratives may indicate a of neo-Victorianism, and have been called "in-yer-face" neo-Victorianism (Voigts-Virchow). Recent productions of neo-Victorianism on screen include Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes films and TV series such as Sherlock, Ripper Street, Whitechapel, Murdoch Mysteries and Penny Dreadful. The neo-Victorian formula can be expanded to include Edwardian consumer culture (Downton Abbey, The Paradise and Mr Selfridge). In dress and behaviour Many who have adopted Neo-Victorian style have also adopted Victorian behavioural affectations, seeking to imitate standards of Victorian conduct, pronunciation, interpersonal interaction. Some even go so far as to embrace certain Victorian habits such as shaving with straight razors, riding penny farthings, exchanging calling cards, and using fountain pens to write letters in florid prose sealed by wax. Gothic fashion sometimes incorporates Neo-Victorian style. Neo-Victorianism is embraced in, but also quite distinguished from, the Lolita, Aristocrat and Madam fashions popular in Japan, and which are becoming more noticeable in Europe. Social conservatives Neo-Victorian aesthetics are also popular in the United States and United Kingdom among cultural conservatives and social conservatives. Books such as The Benevolence of Manners: Recapturing the Lost Art of Gracious Victorian Living call for a return to Victorian morality. The term Neo-Victorian is also commonly used in a derogatory way towards social conservatives. Many of the things that seem commonplace in modern life began in the Victorian era, such as sponsorship, sensational journalism and popular merchandise. Research In September 2007, The University of Exeter explored the phenomenon in a major international conference titled Neo-Victorianism: The Politics and Aesthetics of Appropriation. Academic studies include Neo-Victorianism: The Victorians in the Twenty-First Century, 1999–2009. Other foundational texts of neo-Victorian criticism are Kucich and Sadoff (2000), Kaplan (2007), Kohlke (2008-), Munford and Young (2009), Mitchell (2010), Davies (2012), Whelehan (2012), Kleinecke-Bates (2014), Böhm-Schnitker and Gruss (2014), Tomaiuolo (2018), and others. In popular culture and literature Neo-Victorianism can also be seen in the growing steampunk genre of speculative fiction and in music performers such as Emilie Autumn. Neo-Victorianism is also popular with, and in many ways prefigured by, those who are interested in Victoriana and historical reenactment. Neo-Victorian details appear in The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson, in which Neo-Victorians are one of the main groups of protagonists. Carnival Diablo is a Neo-Victorian circus sideshow that has been touring North America for 20 years. Unhallowed Metropolis is a roleplaying game based in a Neo-Victorian setting. See also Hipster (contemporary subculture) Victorian architecture Victorian house Victorian morality Victoriana References Further reading Chrisman, Sarah Waisted Curves: My Transformation Into A Victorian Lady 2010. Aegis & Owl Press Neo-Victorian Studies (peer-reviewed web journal) Primorac, Antonija. Neo-Victorianism on Screen. Postfeminism and Contemporary Adaptations of Victorian Women. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017. Heilmann, Ann; Llewellyn, Mark. Neo-Victorianism : the Victorians in the twenty-first century, 1999-2009. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. Special issue on neo-Victorianism. LIT: Literature Interpretation Theory. 20 (1–2) Tomaiuolo, Saverio. Neo-Victorian Deviance. Canon, Transgression, Innovation. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018. Victorian era Edwardian era History of fashion Interior design Steampunk Technology in society

Contemporary circus

Contemporary circus (or cirque contemporain in French-speaking countries) is a contested term in circus studies. In this article, it is used in contrast to the term 'traditional circus', combining with the genre elsewhere disambiguated as new circus or nouveau cirque. Many circus scholars prefer to separate these styles, as elaborated in circus. Contemporary circus, by this definition, is a genre of performing arts developed in the late 20th century in which a story, theme, mood or question is conveyed through traditional circus skills. For fans of animal performance in circus, this genre could arguably be found more akin to Variety (in American vaudeville) as animals are rarely used, and traditional circus skills are blended with more choreographic, character-driven or mechanical approaches. Contemporary circus—encompassing the New Circus movement—originated in the late 1960s and 70s, and has spurred the creation of unique schools to teach the format, as well as books for the contemporary circus performer, assisting them with their careers. History The new circus or nouveau cirque movement originated in Australia, the West Coast of the United States, France and the United Kingdom from the early 1970s to the mid-1980s. The impetus came from the "new wave" theatre movement and street theatre as well as from traditional circus. Early pioneers of the new circus genre included: The Royal Lichtenstein Quarter-Ring Sidewalk Circus, founded in San Jose, CA in 1969 by Nick Weber, SJ; Circus Oz, forged in Australia in 1977 from SoapBox Circus (1976) and New Circus (1973); the Pickle Family Circus, founded in San Francisco in 1975; Ra-Ra Zoo in 1984 in London; Nofit State Circus in 1984 from Wales; Cirque du Soleil, founded in Quebec in 1984; Cirque Plume and Archaos from France in 1984 and 1986 respectively. More recent examples include: Cirque Éloize (founded in Quebec in 1993); Sweden's Cirkus Cirkör (1995); Teatro ZinZanni (founded in Seattle in 1998); the West African Circus Baobab (late 1990s); and Montreal's Les 7 doigts de la main (founded in 2002). The genre includes other circus troupes such as the Vermont-based Circus Smirkus (founded in 1987 by Rob Mermin) and Le Cirque Imaginaire (later renamed Le Cirque Invisible, both founded and directed by Victoria Chaplin, daughter of Charlie Chaplin). It could be argued that the blending of traditional circus arts with contemporary aesthetic sensibilities and theatrical techniques has expanded the general public's interest in and appetite for the circus. Certainly the most conspicuous success story has been that of Cirque du Soleil, the Canadian circus company whose estimated annual revenue now exceeds US$810 million, and whose nouveau cirque shows have been seen by nearly 90 million spectators in over 200 cities on five continents. The genre of contemporary circus is largely considered to have begun in 1995 with 'Le Cri du Caméléon', an ensemble performance from the graduating class of the French circus school (CNAC), directed by Joseph Nadj. In contrast to New Circus, Contemporary Circus (as a genre) tends to avoid linear narrative in favour of more suggestive, interdisciplinary approaches to abstract concepts. This includes a strong trend for developing new apparatus and movement languages based on the capacities, experience and interests of individual performers, rather than finding new ways to present traditional repertoire. Characteristics Contemporary circus sometimes combines traditional circus skills and theatrical techniques to convey a story or theme. Such acts may include acrobatics, juggling, aerial arts, acting, comedy, magic, music, and other elements. Contemporary circus productions may often be staged in theaters or in outdoor tents. Music is often composed exclusively for the production, and aesthetic influences are drawn as much from contemporary culture as from circus tradition. Animal acts appear less frequently in contemporary circus than in traditional circus. Theatrical scenes or clown gags may provide seamless segues between acts instead of using the traditional role of the ringmaster. Below is a table comparing several aspects of traditional and contemporary circus performances. It should be remembered though, that creating dichotomies is reductive, and there are many instances of circus productions that do not easily fit such neat categorisation. "Extreme circus" is a high-energy, street-inspired genre of contemporary circus whose aesthetic is more free-form and improvisational; its music may encompass hip hop, virtuosic percussion and beat-boxing. Social Circus The social circus tradition of community training and sharing of skills sits alongside contemporary circus genres as much as it does classical. See also Circus school References Circuses Performing arts

Situationism (psychology)

Under the controversy of person–situation debate, situationism is the theory that changes in human behavior are factors of the situation rather than the traits a person possesses. Behavior is believed to be influenced by external, situational factors rather than internal traits or motivations. Situationism therefore challenges the positions of trait theorists, such as Hans Eysenck or Raymond B. Cattell. This is an ongoing debate that has truth to both sides; psychologists are able to prove each of the view points through human experimentation. History and conceptions Situationists believe that thoughts, feelings, dispositions, and past experiences and behaviors do not determine what someone will do in a given situation, rather, the situation itself does. Situationists tend to assume that character traits are distinctive, meaning that they do not completely disregard the idea of traits, but suggest that situations have a greater impact on behavior than those traits. Situationism is also influenced by culture, in that the extent to which people believe that situations impact behaviors varies between cultures. Situationism has been perceived as arising in response to trait theories, and correcting the notion that everything we do is because of our traits. However, situationism has also been criticized for ignoring individuals' inherent influences on behavior. There are many experiments and evidence supporting this topic, and shown in the sources below but also in the article itself. But these experiments do not test what people would do in situations that are forced or rushed, most mistakes are made from rushing and or forgetting something due to lack of concentration. Situationism can be looked at in many different ways, this means that situationism needs to be tested and experimented in many different ways. Experimental evidence Evidence for Many studies have found series of evidence supporting situationism. One notable situationist study is [Philip Zimbardo|Zimbardo]'s [Stanford prison experiment]. This study was considered one of the most unethical because the participants were deceived and were physically and psychologically abused. The goal of the study was that Zimbardo wanted to discover two things. If prison guards abused prisoners because of their nature, or because of the power and authority they were given in the situation. They also wanted to figure out if prisoners acted violent and savage because of their nature or because of being in a secluded and violent environment. To carry out this experiment, Zimbardo gathered 24 college men and paid them 15 dollars each an hour to live two weeks in a mock prison. The participants were told that they were chosen to be guard or prisoner because of their personality traits, but they were randomly selected. The prisoners were booked and given prison clothes and no possessions. They were also assigned a number to be referred to with the intent of farther dehumanizing them. Within the first night, the prisoner and guard dynamics began to take place. The guards started waking up the prisoners in the middle of the night for count, and they would yell and ridicule them. The prisoners also started developing hostile traits against the guards and having prison related conversations. By the second day, the guards started abusing the prisoners by forcing them to do push ups, and the prisoners started rebelling by removing their caps and numbers, and hiding in their cells with their mattresses blocking the door. As the days passed the relationship between the guards and prisoners became extremely hostile- the prisoners fought for their independence, and the guards fought to strip them of it. There were many cases where the prisoners began breaking down psychologically, and it all started with prisoner 8612. After one day after the experiment started, prisoner number 8612 has anxiety attacks and asked to leave. He was then told "You can't leave. You can't quit.” He then went back to the prison and “began to act ‘crazy,’ to scream, to curse, to go into a rage that seemed out of control.” After this, he was sent home. The other prisoner that broke down was 819. 819 had broken down and was told to rest in a room. When Dr.Zimbardo went to check on him he said " what I found was a boy crying hysterically while in the background his fellow prisoners were yelling and chanting that he was a bad prisoner, that they were being punished because of him." Zimbardo then allowed him to leave but he said he couldn't because he was labeled as a bad prisoner, to which Zimbardo responded "Listen, you are not 819. My name is Dr. Zimbardo, I am a psychologist, and this is not a prison. This is just an experiment and those are students, just like you. Let's go." He stopped crying suddenly and looked up at me just like a small child awakened from a nightmare and said, "OK, let's go." The guards also began to have extremely abusive relations with the prisoners. Zimbardo claimed there were three types of guards. The first were the guards that followed all the rules but got the job done, the second felt bad for the prisoners, and the third were extremely hostile and treated them like animals. This last type showed behaviors of actual guards and seemed to have forgotten they were college students, they got into their roles faster, and seemed to enjoy tormenting the prisoners. On Thursday night, 6 days into the experiment, Zimbardo described the guards as having "sadistic" behavior, and then decided to close down the study early. This study showed how regular people can completely disassociate with who they are when their environment changes. Regular college boys turned into broken down prisoners and sadistic guards. Studies investigating bystander effects also support situationism. For example, in 1973, Darley and Batson conducted a study where they asked students at a seminary school to give a presentation in a separate building. They gave each individual participant a topic, and would then tell a participant that they were supposed to be there immediately, or in a few minutes, and sent them on their way to the building. On the way, each participant encountered a confederate who was on the ground, clearly in need of medical attention. Darley and Batson observed that more participants who had extra time stopped to help the confederate than those who were in a hurry. Helping was not predicted by religious personality measures, and the results therefore indicate that the situation influenced their behavior. A third well-known study supporting situationism is an obedience study, the Milgram experiment. Stanley Milgram made his obedience study to explain the obedience phenomenon, specifically the holocaust. He wanted to explain how people follow orders, and how people are likely to do unmoral things when ordered to by people of authority. The way the experiment was devised was that Milgram picked 40 men from a newspaper add to take part in a study at Yale University. The men were between 20 and 50 years old, and were paid $4.50 for showing up. In this study, a participant was assigned to be a "teacher" and a confederate was assigned to be a "learner". The teachers were told the learners had to memorize word pairs, and every time they got it wrong they were shocked with increasing voltages. The voltages ranged from 15 to 450, and in order for the participants to believe the shock was real, the experimenters administered to them a real 45v shock, The participant was unaware that the learner was a confederate. The participant would test the learner, and for each incorrect answer the learner gave, the participant would have to shock the learner with increasing voltages. The shocks were not actually administered, but the participant believed they were. When the shocks reached 300v, the learner began to protest and show discomfort. Milgram expected participants to stop the procedure, but 65% of them continued to completion, administering shocks that could have been fatal, even if they were uncomfortable or upset. Even though most of the participants continued administering the shocks, they had distressed reactions when administering the shocks, such as laughing hysterically. Participants felt compelled to listen to the experimenter, who was the authority figure present in the room and continued to encourage the participant throughout the study. Out of 40 participants, 26 went all the way to the end. Evidence against Personality traits have a very weak relationship to behavior. In contrast, situational factors usually have a stronger impact on behavior; this is the core evidence for situationism. In addition, people are also able to describe character traits of close to such as friends and family, which goes to show that there are opposing reasons showing why people can recall these traits. In addition, there are other studies that show these same trends. For example, twin studies have shown that identical twins share more traits than fraternal twins. This also implies that there is a genetic basis for behavior, which directly contradicts situationist views that behavior is determined by the situation. When observing one instance of extroverted or honest behavior, it shows how in different situations a person would behave in a similarly honest or extroverted way. It shows that when many people are observed in a range of situations the trait-related reactions to behavior is about .20 or less. People think the correlation is around .80. This shows that the situation itself is more dependent on characteristics and circumstances in contrast to what is taking place at that point in time. These recent challenges to the Traditional View have not gone unnoticed. Some have attempted to modify the Traditional View to insulate it from these challenges, while others have tried to show how these challenges fail to undermine the Traditional View at all. For example, Dana Nelkin (2005), Christian Miller (2003), Gopal Sreenivasan (2002), and John Sabini and Maury Silver (2005), among others, have argued that the empirical evidence cited by the Situationists does not show that individuals lack robust character traits. Current views: interactionism In addition to the debate between trait influences and situational influences on behavior, a psychological model of "interactionism" exists, which is a view that both internal dispositions and external situational factors affect a person's behavior in a given situation. This model emphasizes both sides of the person-situation debate, and says that internal and external factors interact with each other to produce a behavior. Interactionism is currently an accepted personality theory, and there has been sufficient empirical evidence to support interactionism. However, it is also important to note that both situationists and trait theorists contributed to explaining facets of human behavior. See also Trait activation theory Philip Zimbardo Notes Further reading Krahe, B. (1993) Personality and Social Psychology: Towards a Synthesis. London: Sage. Personality theories

Democratization of knowledge

The democratization of knowledge is the acquisition and spread of knowledge amongst a wider part of the population, not just privileged elites such as clergy and academics. Libraries, in particular public libraries, and modern information technology such as the Internet play a key role, as they provide the masses with open access to information. History Wide dissemination of knowledge is inseparable from the spread of literacy. The Information Age is a historical period that began in the mid-20th century. It is characterized by a rapid shift from traditional industries, as established during the Industrial Revolution, to an economy centered on information technology. Digitization efforts by Google Books have been pointed to as an example of the democratization of knowledge, but Malte Herwig in Der Spiegel raised concerns that the virtual monopoly Google has in the search market, combined with Google's hiding of the details of its search algorithms, could undermine this move towards democratization. Google Scholar (and similar scholarly search services) and Sci-Hub (and similar scholarly shadow libraries) have also been pointed to as examples of democratization of knowledge. Open Library's and HathiTrust's digitization efforts and their use of the controlled digital lending model are also examples of democratization of knowledge. After the most powerful search engine, Google, and the most viewed online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, the most viewed information-based website is the Encyclopædia Britannica. Role of libraries An article written in 2005 by the editors of Reference & User Services Quarterly calls the library the greatest force for the democratization of knowledge or information. It continues to say that public libraries in particular are inextricably linked with the history and evolution of the United States, but school library media centers, college and university libraries, and special libraries have all also been influential in their support for democracy. Libraries play an essential role in the democratization of knowledge and information by providing communities with the resources and tools to find information free of charge. Democratic access to knowledge has also been co-opted to mean providing information in a variety of formats, which essentially means electronic and digital formats for use by library patrons. Public libraries help further the democratization of information by guaranteeing freedom of access to information, by providing an unbiased variety of information sources and access to government services, as well as the promotion of democracy and active citizenship. Dan Cohen, the founding executive director of the Digital Public Library of America, writes that democratic access to knowledge is a profound idea that requires constant tending and revitalization. In 2004, a World Social Forum and International workshop was held entitled "Democratization of Information: Focus on Libraries". The focus of the forum was to bring awareness to the social, technological, and financial challenges facing libraries dealing with the democratization of information. Social challenges included globalization and the digital divide, technological challenges included information sources, and financial challenges constituted shrinking budgets and manpower. Longtime Free Library of Philadelphia director Elliot Shelkrot said that "Democracy depends on an informed population. And where can people get all the information they need? —At the Library." See also Autodidacticism Citizen science Democratization Encyclopédie Ideagoras Intellectual property Trade secret Wikipedia and the Democratization of Knowledge 2021 German documentary References Cultural globalization Information revolution Knowledge economy

Global studies

Global studies (GS) or global affaires (GA) is the interdisciplinary study of global macro-processes. Predominant subjects are political science in the form of global politics, as well as economics, law, the sociology of law, ecology, environmental studies, geography, sociology, culture, anthropology and ethnography. It distinguishes itself from the related discipline of international relations by its comparatively lesser focus on the nation state as a fundamental analytical unit, instead focusing on the broader issues relating to cultural and economic globalisation, global power structures, as well of the effect of humans on the global environment. Characteristics of global studies Six defining characteristics of global studies were identified by scholars at the first annual meeting of the Global Studies Consortium in Tokyo in 2008: Transnationality; which highlights the focus on global processes; rather than the connections between individual states studied in international relations; Interdisciplinary: global studies scholarship can involve politics, economics, history, geography, anthropology, sociology, religion, technology, philosophy, health as well as the study of the environment, gender, and race; Contemporary and historical examples range from the transnational activity of the Greek and Roman Empires to modern European colonialism; Postcolonial and Critical-theoretical in its approach: global studies often emphasizes a postcolonial perspective, and attempts to analyze global phenomena through a critical-theoretical, multicultural lens. This includes criticising perspectives of eurocentrism and orientalism in traditional conceptual frameworks. History and context The development of global studies in secondary and tertiary education is arguably a product of globalization, and its consequent results on the international community. In the late 20th century, an unprecedented rise in communications technologies and computerization occurred around the world, again enhancing the processes of globalization: “it is a shift in our very life circumstances ... the speed of change is closely allied to the growth of communication, and development in information and communication technologies have been exponential ... globalization is a fact of life from which we cannot retreat.”. As a result of this constantly changing global community, education providers began to see a need for the introduction of global studies into secondary school curricula (i.e. introduction of global issues through already existing subjects), and to create global studies degrees for tertiary students (i.e. sole degrees with a global focus). According to Jan Nederveen Pieterse, Mellichamp Professor of Global Studies and Sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara:The first Global Studies conference took place at the University of Illinois Chicago in 2008; the 2009 conference was held in Dubai on the theme Views from Dubai: The Gulf and Globalization. The 2010 conference was in Busan, South Korea under the heading Global Rebalancing: East Asia and Globalization; the 2011 conference took place in Rio de Janeiro on Emerging societies and Emancipation; the 2012 conference was at Moscow University on the theme of Eurasia and Globalization: Complexity and Global studies; and the 2013 conference took place in New Delhi on the theme of Social Development in South Asia.The Global Studies Journal was founded in 2008 and is "devoted to mapping and interpreting new trends and patterns in globalization". Subjects of interest The field of global studies revolves around the impacts of globalization and the growing interdependence of states, economies, societies, cultures, and people. Some of the most pressing issues in global studies are national security and diplomacy, effective citizenship in a participatory democracy, global competitiveness in a world market and the desire to enter the aid and development sector. National security The first major funding for international education was the 1966 International Education Act in the US. It provided funding to institutions of higher education to create and strengthen international studies programs. Created at the time of the Cold War, this act stressed the need for all citizens (with a focus on USA citizens) to understand global issues in order to build skills for diplomacy.”The importance of diplomacy as a driving force for political development is well known and understood. It is of great importance as a long term instrument for conflict prevention.” The development of issues and crisis on a global scale such as international terrorism, climate change and environmental degradation, pandemics (such as ebola), and the Great Recession have convinced policymakers of the importance of global studies and international education to national security and diplomacy. Global economy A second motivation for global studies is facilitating a better understanding of the global marketplace. Many international companies have identified the need for a workforce that has the skills to work cross-culturally and identify and serve the needs of a global market. Some international companies, such as Microsoft, have taken the lead in convening policymakers and key stakeholders to demand additional investment in education. The US state and federal governments have also placed global studies as a key priority for preparing a competitive workforce. Furthermore, in 2002 the Australian federal government (through its development body AusAID) used some of its funding to introduce a ‘Global Education Program.’ This program aims to increase understanding of development and international issues among Australian students. It provides teachers with professional development opportunities with NGOs and thorough curriculum support. The program “informs and encourages teachers to introduce students to global issues in a classroom setting.” Higher education institutions have closely followed with integrating international studies across disciplines. It is rare to find a leading business school without an international focus. Global citizenship and rights A third motivation for global studies is the creation of an effective citizenry. In the US, the National Council of Social Studies states that the purpose of social studies is to “teach students the content knowledge, intellectual skills, and civic values necessary for fulfilling the duties of citizenship in a participatory democracy.” A key goal of the NCSS is “global education”. As globalization causes the lines between national and international to become blurred, it becomes increasingly important for citizens to understand global relationships. The creation of effective Global citizenship results in people who are willing to, and have the capacity to become involved in local and global issues. In the UK, local government research conducted in the surrounding areas of London has found that citizens must have the opportunity to become involved and then possess the skill, knowledge and confidence to take part. The outcomes are often very positive, leading to an improvement in services, better quality of democratic participation and community education. To achieve effective citizenship, students must be educated in ways that engage and place emphasis on the importance of global issues. By studying a subject such as global studies, students can gain the knowledge required to become effective citizens. Some critical scholars note that beyond content, students must be taught "global cognition" in order to truly understand global perspectives. These scholars believe that in order to fully understand world issues, students must recognize that their perspective is not necessarily shared by others and understand the social forces that influence their views. International Institutions By 2006, the international development sector had expanded exponentially, with the “NGO sector now being the 8th largest economy in the world ... employing nearly 19 million paid workers." Financing health projects used to be the biggest issue in global aid, but private and public organizations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have helped overcome such problems. The issue now is making sure that the money is used in a proper manner to help those in need of the primary essentials of life. Studying global studies may lead to involvement in the aid and development sector in multiple ways. These can include working in post-conflict or natural disaster zones, improving public services in developing communities (health, education, infrastructure, agriculture) or aiding private sector growth through business and market models. See also Engaged theory Globalism Global justice Globalization International relations Futurology Global Studies Consortium References Global studies Higher education Interdisciplinary subfields of sociology

Artificial intelligence and copyright

In the 2020s, the rapid advancement of deep learning-based generative artificial intelligence models are raising questions about whether copyright infringement occurs when the generative AI is trained or used. This includes text-to-image models such as Stable Diffusion and large language models such as ChatGPT. As of 2023, there are several pending U.S. lawsuits challenging the use of copyrighted data to train AI models, with defendants arguing that this falls under fair use. Popular deep learning models are trained on mass amounts of media scraped from the Internet, often utilizing copyrighted material. When assembling training data, the sourcing of copyrighted works may infringe on the copyright holder's exclusive right to control reproduction, unless covered by exceptions in relevant copyright laws. Additionally, using a model's outputs might violate copyright, and the model creator could be accused of vicarious liability and held responsible for that copyright infringement. Copyright status of AI-generated works Since most legal jurisdictions only grant copyright to original works of authorship by human authors, the definition of "originality" is central to the copyright status of AI-generated works. United States In the U.S., the Copyright Act protects "original works of authorship". The U.S. Copyright Office has interpreted this as being limited to works "created by a human being", declining to grant copyright to works generated without human intervention. Some have suggested that certain AI generations might be copyrightable in the U.S. and similar jurisdictions if it can be shown that the human who ran the AI program exercised sufficient originality in selecting the inputs to the AI or editing the AI's output. Proponents of this view suggest that an AI model may be viewed as merely a tool (akin to a pen or a camera) used by its human operator to express their creative vision. For example, proponents argue that if the standard of originality can be satisfied by an artist clicking the shutter button on a camera, then perhaps artists using generative AI should get similar deference, especially if they go through multiple rounds of revision to refine their prompts to the AI. Other proponents argue that the Copyright Office is not taking a technology neutral approach to the use of AI or algorithmic tools. For other creative expressions (music, photography, writing) the test is effectively whether there is de minimis, or limited human creativity. For works using AI tools, the Copyright Office has made the test a different one i.e. whether there is no more than de minimis technological involvement. This difference in approach can be seen in the recent decision in respect of a registration claim by Jason Matthew Allen for his work Théâtre D'opéra Spatial created using Midjourney and an upscaling tool. The Copyright Office stated: The Board finds that the Work contains more than a de minimis amount of content generated by artificial intelligence ("AI"), and this content must therefore be disclaimed in an application for registration. Because Mr. Allen is unwilling to disclaim the AI-generated material, the Work cannot be registered as submitted. As AI is increasingly used to generate literature, music, and other forms of art, the U.S. Copyright Office has released new guidance emphasizing whether works, including materials generated by artificial intelligence, exhibit a 'mechanical reproduction' nature or are the 'manifestation of the author's own creative conception'. The U.S. Copyright Office published a Rule in March 2023 on a range of issues related to the use of AI, where they stated: ...because the Office receives roughly half a million applications for registration each year, it sees new trends in registration activity that may require modifying or expanding the information required to be disclosed on an application. One such recent development is the use of sophisticated artificial intelligence ("AI") technologies capable of producing expressive material. These technologies "train" on vast quantities of preexisting human-authored works and use inferences from that training to generate new content. Some systems operate in response to a user's textual instruction, called a "prompt."  The resulting output may be textual, visual, or audio, and is determined by the AI based on its design and the material it has been trained on. These technologies, often described as "generative AI," raise questions about whether the material they produce is protected by copyright, whether works consisting of both human-authored and AI-generated material may be registered, and what information should be provided to the Office by applicants seeking to register them. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) similarly codified restrictions on the patentability of patents credits solely to AI authors in February 2024, following an August 2023 ruling in the case Thaler v. Perlmutter. In this case, the Patent Office denied grant to patents created by Stephen Thaler's AI program, DABUS due to the lack of a "natural person" on the patents' authorship. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld this decision. In the subsequent rule-making, the USPTO allows for human inventors to incorporate the output of artificial intelligence, as long as this method is appropriately documented in the patent application. However, it may become virtually impossible as when the inner workings and the use of AI in inventive transactions are not adequately understood or are largely unknown. Representative Adam Schiff proposed the Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act in April 2024. If passed, the bill would require AI companies to submit copyrighted works to the Register of Copyrights before releasing new generative AI systems. These companies would have to file these documents 30 days before publicly showing their AI tools. United Kingdom Other jurisdictions include explicit statutory language related to computer-generated works, including the United Kingdom's Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, which states: In the case of a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work which is computer-generated, the author shall be taken to be the person by whom the arrangements necessary for the creation of the work are undertaken. However, the computer generated work law under UK law relates to autonomous creations by computer programs. Individuals using AI tools will usually be the authors of the works assuming they meet the minimum requirements for copyright work. The language used for computer generated work relates, in respect of AI, to the ability of the human programmers to have copyright in the autonomous productions of the AI tools (i.e. where there is no direct human input): In so far as each composite frame is a computer generated work then the arrangements necessary for the creation of the work were undertaken by Mr Jones because he devised the appearance of the various elements of the game and the rules and logic by which each frame is generated and he wrote the relevant computer program. In these circumstances I am satisfied that Mr Jones is the person by whom the arrangements necessary for the creation of the works were undertaken and therefore is deemed to be the author by virtue of s.9(3) The UK government has consulted on the use of generative tools and AI in respect of intellectual property leading to a proposed specialist Code of Practice: "to provide guidance to support AI firms to access copyrighted work as an input to their models, whilst ensuring there are protections on generated output to support right holders of copyrighted work". The U.S. Copyright Office recently published a notice of inquiry and request for comments following its 2023 Registration Guidance. China On November 27, 2023, the Beijing Internet Court issued a decision recognizing copyright in AI-generated images in a litigation. As noted by a lawyer and AI art creator, the challenge for intellectual property regulators, legislators and the courts is how to protect human creativity in a technologically neutral fashion whilst considering the risks of automated AI factories. AI tools have the ability to autonomously create a range of material that is potentially subject to copyright (music, blogs, poetry, images, and technical papers) or other intellectual property rights (patents and design rights). Training AI with copyrighted data Deep learning models source large data sets from the Internet such as publicly available images and the text of web pages. The text and images are then converted into numeric formats the AI can analyze. A deep learning model identifies patterns linking the encoded text and image data and learns which text concepts correspond to elements in images. Through repetitive testing, the model refines its accuracy by matching images to text descriptions. The trained model undergoes validation to evaluate its skill in generating or manipulating new images using only the text prompts provided after the training process. Because assembling these training datasets involves making copies of copyrighted works, this has raised the question of whether this process infringes the copyright holder's exclusive right to make reproductions of their works, or if it falls use fair use allowances. U.S. machine learning developers have traditionally believed this to be allowable under fair use because using copyrighted work is transformative, and limited. The situation has been compared to Google Books's scanning of copyrighted books in Authors Guild, Inc. v. Google, Inc., which was ultimately found to be fair use, because the scanned content was not made publicly available, and the use was non-expressive. Timothy B. Lee, in Ars Technica, argues that if the plaintiffs succeed, this may shift the balance of power in favour of large corporations such as Google, Microsoft, and Meta which can afford to license large amounts of training data from copyright holders and leverage their proprietary datasets of user-generated data. IP scholars Bryan Casey and Mark Lemley argue in the Texas Law Review that datasets are so large that "there is no plausible option simply to license all [of the data...]. So allowing [any generative training] copyright claim is tantamount to saying, not that copyright owners will get paid, but that the use won't be permitted at all." Other scholars disagree; some predict a similar outcome to the U.S. music licensing procedures. Several jurisdictions have explicitly incorporated exceptions allowing for "text and data mining" (TDM) in their copyright statutes including the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, and the EU. Unlike the EU, the United Kingdom prohibits data mining for commercial purposes but has proposed this should be changed to support the development of AI: "For text and data mining, we plan to introduce a new copyright and database exception which allows TDM for any purpose. Rights holders will still have safeguards to protect their content, including a requirement for lawful access." As of June 2023, a clause in the draft EU AI Act would require generative AI to "make available summaries of the copyrighted material that was used to train their systems". Copyright infringing AI outputs In some cases, deep learning models may replicate items in their training set when generating output. This behaviour is generally considered an undesired overfitting of a model by AI developers, and has in previous generations of AI been considered a manageable problem. Memorization is the emergent phenomenon of LLMs to repeat long strings of training data, and it is no longer related to overfitting. Evaluations of controlled LLM output measure the amount memorized from training data (focused on GPT-2-series models) as variously over 1% for exact duplicates or up to about 7%. This is potentially a security risk and a copyright risk, for both users and providers. , major consumer LLMs have attempted to mitigate these problems, but researchers have still been able to prompt leakage of copyrighted material. Under U.S. law, to prove that an AI output infringes a copyright, a plaintiff must show the copyrighted work was "actually copied", meaning that the AI generates output which is "substantially similar" to their work, and that the AI had access to their work. In the course of learning to statistically model the data on which they are trained, deep generative AI models may learn to imitate the distinct style of particular authors in the training set. Since fictional characters enjoy some copyright protection in the U.S. and other jurisdictions, an AI may also produce infringing content in the form of novel works which incorporate fictional characters. A generative image model such as Stable Diffusion is able to model the stylistic characteristics of an artist like Pablo Picasso (including his particular brush strokes, use of colour, perspective, and so on), and a user can engineer a prompt such as "an astronaut riding a horse, by Picasso" to cause the model to generate a novel image applying the artist's style to an arbitrary subject. However, an artist's overall style is generally not subject to copyright protection. Litigation A November 2022 class action lawsuit against Microsoft, GitHub and OpenAI alleged that GitHub Copilot, an AI-powered code editing tool trained on public GitHub repositories, violated the copyright of the repositories' authors, noting that the tool was able to generate source code which matched its training data verbatim, without providing attribution. In January 2023 three artists—Sarah Andersen, Kelly McKernan, and Karla Ortiz—filed a class action copyright infringement lawsuit against Stability AI, Midjourney, and DeviantArt, claiming that these companies have infringed the rights of millions of artists by training AI tools on five billion images scraped from the web without the consent of the original artists. The plaintiffs' complaint has been criticized for technical inaccuracies, such as incorrectly claiming that "a trained diffusion model can produce a copy of any of its Training Images", and describing Stable Diffusion as "merely a complex collage tool". In addition to copyright infringement, the plaintiffs allege unlawful competition and violation of their right of publicity in relation to AI tools' ability to create works in the style of the plaintiffs en masse. In July 2023, U.S. District Judge William Orrick inclined to dismiss most of the lawsuit filed by Andersen, McKernan, and Ortiz but allowed them to file a new complaint. Judge Orrick later dismissed all but one claim, that of copyright infringement towards Stability AI, in October 2023. However, after refiling on some of the eliminated claims, Orrick agreed in August 2024 to include some of these additional claims against the AI companies, which included both copyright and trademark infringements. In January 2023, Stability AI was sued in London by Getty Images for using its images in their training data without purchasing a license. Getty filed another suit against Stability AI in a U.S. district court in Delaware in February 2023. The suit again alleges copyright infringement for the use of Getty's images in the training of Stable Diffusion, and further argues that the model infringes Getty's trademark by generating images with Getty's watermark. In July 2023, authors Paul Tremblay and Mona Awad filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging that ChatGPT, OpenAI's language model, used their copyrighted books without permission. ChatGPT's accurate summaries of their works suggest unauthorized content use. Two separate lawsuits were filed by authors Sarah Silverman, Christopher Golden and Richard Kadrey against Meta and OpenAI, arguing that in addition to copyright infringement for training their engines on their works, that products produced from the AI engines were derivative works and also copyright infringements. The two suits against OpenAI were combined (during which Awad left the suit) and by February 2024, Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín of the Northern District of California threw out all but one claim related to the use of the author's copyrighted works as part of the training data for the AI model. The New York Times has sued Microsoft and OpenAI in December 2023, claiming that their engines were trained on wholesale articles from the Times, which the Times considers infringement of their copyright. The Times further claimed that fair use claims made by these AI companies were invalid since the generated information around news stories directly competes with the Times and impacts the newspaper's commercial opportunities. Eight U.S. national newspapers owned by Tribune Publishing sued Microsoft and OpenAI in April 2024 over copyright infringement related to the use of their news articles for training data, as well as for output that creates false and misleading statements that are attributed to the newspapers. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and several major music labels sued the developers of Suno AI and Udio, AI models that can take text input to create songs with both lyrics and backing music, in separate lawsuits in June 2024, alledging that both AI models were trained without consent with music from the labels. References External links Getty Images (U.S.), Inc. v. Stability AI, Inc. filings Getting the Innovation Ecosystem Ready for AI: An IP policy toolkit – WIPO 2024 Artificial intelligence Copyright law

Wikipedia in culture

References to Wikipedia in popular culture have been widespread. Many parody Wikipedia's openness, with individuals vandalizing or modifying articles in nonconstructive ways. Others feature individuals using Wikipedia as a reference work, or positively comparing their intelligence to Wikipedia. In some cases, Wikipedia is not used as an encyclopedia at all, but instead serves more as a character trait or even as a game, such as Wikiracing. Wikipedia has also become culturally significant with many individuals seeing the presence of their own Wikipedia entry as a status symbol. References to Wikipedia Wikiality In a July 2006 episode of the satirical comedy The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert announced the neologism "wikiality", a portmanteau of the words Wiki and reality, for his segment "The Wørd". Colbert defined wikiality as "truth by consensus" (rather than fact), modeled after the approval-by-consensus format of Wikipedia. He ironically praised Wikipedia for following his philosophy of truthiness in which intuition and consensus is a better reflection of reality than fact: You see, any user can change any entry, and if enough other users agree with them, it becomes true. ... If only the entire body of human knowledge worked this way. And it can, thanks to tonight's word: Wikiality. Now, folks, I'm no fan of reality, and I'm no fan of encyclopedias. I've said it before. Who is Britannica to tell me that George Washington had slaves? If I want to say he didn't, that's my right. And now, thanks to Wikipedia, it's also a fact. We should apply these principles to all information. All we need to do is convince a majority of people that some factoid is true. ... What we're doing is bringing democracy to knowledge. According to Stephen Colbert, together "we can all create a reality that we all can agree on; the reality that we just agreed on". During the segment, he joked: "I love Wikipedia... any site that's got a longer entry on truthiness than on Lutherans has its priorities straight." Colbert also used the segment to satirize the more general issue of whether the repetition of statements in the media leads people to believe they are true. The piece was introduced with the tagline "The Revolution Will Not Be Verified", a play on the song title "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" referencing how the mainstream establishment that Wikipedia cites as Reliable Sources will not support significant change, throwing doubt on the idea that Wikipedia is truthful. Colbert suggested that viewers change the elephant page to state that the number of African elephants has tripled in the last six months. The suggestion resulted in numerous incorrect changes to Wikipedia articles related to elephants and Africa. Wikipedia administrators subsequently restricted edits to the pages by anonymous and newly created user accounts. Colbert went on to type on a laptop facing away from the camera, claiming to be making the edits to the pages himself. Because initial edits to Wikipedia corresponding to these claimed "facts" were made by a user named Stephencolbert, many believe Colbert himself vandalized several Wikipedia pages at the time he was encouraging other users to do the same. The account, whether it was Stephen Colbert himself or someone posing as him, has been blocked from Wikipedia indefinitely. Wikipedia blocked the account for violating Wikipedia's username policies (which state that using the names of celebrities as login names without permission is inappropriate), not for the vandalism, as believed. Other instances In art The Wikipedia Monument, located in Słubice, Poland, is a statue designed by Armenian sculptor Mihran Hakobyan honoring Wikipedia contributors. It was unveiled in Frankfurt Square (Plac Frankfurcki) on 22 October 2014 in a ceremony that included representatives from both local Wikimedia chapters and the Wikimedia Foundation. In music A scene in the 2006 music video for the "Weird Al" Yankovic song "White & Nerdy", show Yankovic vandalizing the Wikipedia page for Atlantic Records, replacing it with the words "YOU SUCK!", referencing recent trouble he had had with the company in getting permissions. Ukrainian composer Andriy Bondarenko wrote a musical piece, "Anthem of Wikipedia", which was performed in a concert devoted to the 15th anniversary of Wikipedia in Kyiv in 2016. In webcomics References to Wikipedia have been made several times in the webcomic xkcd. A facsimile of a made-up Wikipedia entry for "malamanteau" (a stunt word created by Munroe to poke fun at Wikipedia's writing style) provoked a controversy. In humor During the Russo-Ukrainian war, a meme titled Battle of Techno House 2022, which features footage of a Russian soldier's failed effort at opening a door, went viral and was reposted millions of times. Media coverage included discussion of an initial Wikipedia page for the incident/meme, which lampooned the event by using Wikipedia formatting generally used only for actual battles, making it seem like a real battle. The belligerents in the "battle" were humorously listed as "Russian Soldier" and "store door" with the battle results referred to as a "decisive door victory" and "pride" referred to as one of the Russian casualties. The humorous content was later removed from the Wikipedia page. In fiction The 2024 novel The Editors is centered around a group of editors of an online encyclopedia, Infopendium, based on Wikipedia. Contexts Wikipedia is not always referenced in the same way. The ways described below are some of the ways it has been mentioned. Citations of Wikipedia in culture People who are known to have used or recommended Wikipedia as a reference source include comedian Rosie O'Donnell, and Rutgers University sociology professor Ted Goertzel. Various people including Sir Ian McKellen, Nicolas Cage, and Marcus Brigstocke have criticized or commented about Wikipedia's articles about themselves. In politics In June 2011, Wikipedia received attention for attempts by editors to change the "Paul Revere" article to fit Sarah Palin's accounting of events during a campaign bus tour. The New York Times reported that the article "had half a million page views" by June 10, and "after all the attention and arguments, the article is now much longer ... and much better sourced ... than before Palin's remarks." In a speech given on October 28, 2013, to support Ken Cuccinelli for the candidacy of the governor of Virginia, Senator Rand Paul appeared to include close paraphrasing of the Wikipedia entry on the 1997 film Gattaca in his comments on eugenics, as noted by MSNBC host Rachel Maddow. In April 2015, The Guardian reported claims that Grant Shapps, then-Chairman of the Conservative Party, or a person working under his orders, had edited Wikipedia pages about Shapps and other members of the British Parliament during the runup to the 2015 election, to which Shapps had denied involvement. In October 2018, Jackson A. Cosko, a former staff member for US Senator Maggie Hassan, edited Wikipedia to dox several Congresspersons after being fired. Republican Senators Lindsey Graham, Orrin G. Hatch, Mitch McConnell, and Mike Lee had their personal addresses, cell phone numbers, and email addresses inserted into their respective wikipedia pages. The Senators were targeted for the role they played as Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee during the contentious Supreme Court nomination hearings of Brett Kavanaugh. Cosko pleaded guilty in April 2019 and on 19 June 2019 was sentenced to four years in federal prison on five charges related to the event. In February 2022, journalists at The Independent found that text from Wikipedia articles on Constantinople and the list of largest cities throughout history had been lifted by civil servants from the UK's Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and placed verbatim into the government's Levelling Up White Paper. Wikipedia as comedic material Wikipedia is parodied at several websites, including Uncyclopedia and Encyclopedia Dramatica. In May 2006, British chat show host Paul O'Grady received an inquiry from a viewer regarding information given on his Wikipedia page, to which he responded, "Wikipedia? Sounds like a skin disease." Comedian Zach Galifianakis claimed to look himself up on Wikipedia in an interview with The Badger Herald, stating about himself, "...I'm looking at Wikipedia right now. Half Greek, half redneck, around 6-foot-4. And that's about it... The 6-foot-4 thing may be a little bit off. Actually, it's 4-foot-6." General information source Slate magazine compared Wikipedia to the fictional device The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy from the series of the same name by Douglas Adams. "The parallels between The Hitchhiker's Guide (as found in Adams' original BBC radio series and novels) and Wikipedia are so striking, it's a wonder that the author's rabid fans don't think he invented time travel. Since its editor was perennially out to lunch, the Guide was amended 'by any passing stranger who happened to wander into the empty offices on an afternoon and saw something worth doing.' This anonymous group effort ends up outselling Encyclopedia Galactica even though 'it has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least wildly inaccurate.'" This comparison of fictional documents in the series, is not unlike the mainstream comparisons between Wikipedia and professional Encyclopedias. As the basis of games Redactle is a game in which the player must identify a Wikipedia article (chosen from the 10,000 vital articles) after it appears with most of its words redacted. Prepositions, articles, the verb "to be", punctuation and word lengths are shown. Players guess words, which are revealed if present in the article. there have been over 800 daily games. Criticism Claims of negative impact of Wikipedia on culture Andrew Keen's 2007 book The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet Is Killing Our Culture asserted the proliferation of user-generated content on Wikipedia obscured and devalued traditional, higher-quality information outlets. See also Truth in Numbers? Everything, According to Wikipedia, 2010 documentary Notes References External links Wikipedia:Wikipedia in the media Topics in culture Culture WMF-COM Articles containing video clips

Creative problem-solving

Creative problem-solving (CPS) is the mental process of searching for an original and previously unknown solution to a problem. To qualify, the solution must be novel and reached independently. The creative problem-solving process was originally developed by Alex Osborn and Sid Parnes. Creative problem solving (CPS) is a way of using creativity to develop new ideas and solutions to problems. The process is based on separating divergent and convergent thinking styles, so that one can focus their mind on creating at the first stage, and then evaluating at the second stage. Creative solution types The process of creative problem-solving usually begins with defining the problem. This may lead to finding a simple non-creative solution, a textbook solution, or discovering prior solutions developed by other individuals. If the discovered solution is sufficient, the process may then be abandoned. A creative solution will often have distinct characteristics that include using only existing components, or the problematic factor, as the basis for the solution. However, a change of perspective may in many cases be helpful. A solution may also be considered creative if readily available components can be used to solve the problem within a short time limit. If a creative solution has a broad application, such that the usage goes beyond the original intent, it may be referred to as an innovative solution, or an innovation (some innovations may also be considered an invention). Techniques and tools Many techniques and tools employed for creating effective solutions to a problem are described in creativity techniques and problem-solving articles. Creative problem-solving technique categories Mental state shift and cognitive re-framing: Changing one's focus away from active problem-solving and towards a creative solution set. Multiple idea facilitation: Increasing the quantity of fresh ideas based on the belief that a greater number of ideas will raise the chances that one of these is valuable. This may include randomly selecting an idea (such as choosing a word from a list) and thinking about its similarities to the situation. In turn, this random act may inspire a related idea that would lead to a solution. Inducing a change of perspective: Efficiently entering a fresh perspective may result in a solution that thereby becomes obvious. This is especially useful for solving particularly challenging problems. Many techniques to this end involve identifying independent dimensions that differentiate closely associated concepts. Differentiating concepts help overcome a tendency to use oversimplified associative thinking, in which two related concepts are so closely associated that their differences are overlooked. Idea generation techniques Brainstorming: Brainstorming is an idea generation method invented by Alex Osborn and further developed by Charles Hutchison Clark. Brainstorming aims to encourage the generation of new and unusual ideas in a group of people. Alex Osborn based his development of brainstorming on the Indian technique Prai-Barshana, which has been around for about 400 years. He named brainstorming after the idea of this method, namely "using the brain to storm a problem." Creative Thinking: Coming up with ideas, especially innovative ideas, needs creativity and can be supported by certain creativity techniques. The creativity process is usually applied through a person, product, process, and place. Thus, creativity means that a creative person develops great ideas and novel products through a creative process in a creative environment. Creativity processes use these influencing factors as they support the search for ideas, problem solving and evaluation, and selection of ideas via rules, a group of people, and a creative process. Design thinking: Design thinking is an approach to problem-solving and ideation process that works through four key elements. The user as the starting point Interdisciplinary team Iterative process Creative environment. In the design thinking process, the 'customer's needs are first determined through an iterative process and a question is defined, then creative solutions and ideas are generated through brainstorming and visualized via prototypes for user feedback. Complex Opportunity Recognition Techniques: Opportunity Recognition describes the identification of opportunities to generate growth for companies. The different idea generation techniques of opportunity recognition are based either on the market, the company, or the company's environment. In order for this approach to be suitable for young companies, it must fulfill the following attributes: Not too resource-intensive Suitable for workshops High growth potential Don't require existing structures or certain age of the company See also Related articles Creativity Collective problem solving Frugal innovation Invention Lateral thinking Problem structuring methods Systems thinking TRIZ Related lists List of thought processes List of cognitive biases List of creative thought processes List of decision-making processes List of emotional intelligence topics List of emerging technologies List of counseling topics References Further reading Alex Osborn, Applied Imagination: Principles and Procedures of Creative Problem Solving, Creative Education Foundation Press, 1953/2001, Edward de Bono, Lateral Thinking : Creativity Step by Step, Harper & Row, 1973, trade paperback, 300 pages, Altshuller, Henry. 1994. The Art of Inventing (And Suddenly the Inventor Appeared). Translated by Lev Shulyak. Worcester, Massachusetts: Technical Innovation Center. Creativity Creativity techniques Design Innovation Problem solving methods

Equifinality

Equifinality is the principle that in open systems a given end state can be reached by many potential means. The term and concept is due to the German Hans Driesch, the developmental biologist, later applied by the Austrian Ludwig von Bertalanffy, the founder of general systems theory, and by William T. Powers, the founder of perceptual control theory. Driesch and von Bertalanffy prefer this term, in contrast to "goal", in describing complex systems' similar or convergent behavior. Powers simply emphasised the flexibility of response, since it emphasizes that the same end state may be achieved via many different paths or trajectories. In closed systems, a direct cause-and-effect relationship exists between the initial condition and the final state of the system: When a computer's 'on' switch is pushed, the system powers up. Open systems (such as biological and social systems), however, operate quite differently. The idea of equifinality suggests that similar results may be achieved with different initial conditions and in many different ways. This phenomenon has also been referred to as isotelesis (from Greek ἴσος isos "equal" and τέλεσις telesis: "the intelligent direction of effort toward the achievement of an end") when in games involving superrationality. Overview In business, equifinality implies that firms may establish similar competitive advantages based on substantially different competencies. In psychology, equifinality refers to how different early experiences in life (e.g., parental divorce, physical abuse, parental substance abuse) can lead to similar outcomes (e.g., childhood depression). In other words, there are many different early experiences that can lead to the same psychological disorder. In archaeology, equifinality refers to how different historical processes may lead to a similar outcome or social formation. For example, the development of agriculture or the bow and arrow occurred independently in many different areas of the world, yet for different reasons and through different historical trajectories. This highlights that generalizations based on cross-cultural comparisons cannot be made uncritically. In Earth and environmental Sciences, two general types of equifinality are distinguished: process equifinality (concerned with real-world open systems) and model equifinality (concerned with conceptual open systems). For example, process equifinality in geomorphology indicates that similar landforms might arise as a result of quite different sets of processes. Model equifinality refers to a condition where distinct configurations of model components (e.g. distinct model parameter values) can lead to similar or equally acceptable simulations (or representations of the real-world process of interest). This similarity or equal acceptability is conditional on the objective functions and criteria of acceptability defined by the modeler. While model equifinality has various facets, model parameter and structural equifinality are mostly known and focused in modeling studies. Equifinality (particularly parameter equifinality) and Monte Carlo experiments are the foundation of the GLUE method that was the first generalised method for uncertainty assessment in hydrological modeling. GLUE is now widely used within and beyond environmental modeling. See also GLUE – Generalized Likelihood Uncertainty Estimation (when modeling environmental systems there are many different model structures and parameter sets that may be behavioural or acceptable in reproducing the behaviour of that system) TMTOWTDI – Computer programming maxim: "there is more than one way to do it" Underdetermination Consilience Convergent evolution Teleonomy Degeneracy (biology) Kruskal's principle Multicollinearity References Publications Bertalanffy, Ludwig von, General Systems Theory, 1968 Beven, K.J. and Binley, A.M., 1992. The future of distributed models: model calibration and uncertainty prediction, Hydrological Processes, 6, pp. 279–298. Beven, K.J. and Freer, J., 2001a. Equifinality, data assimilation, and uncertainty estimation in mechanistic modelling of complex environmental systems, Journal of Hydrology, 249, 11–29. Croft, Gary W., Glossary of Systems Theory and Practice for the Applied Behavioral Sciences, Syntropy Incorporated, Freeland, WA, Prepublication Review Copy, 1996 Durkin, James E. (ed.), Living Groups: Group Psychotherapy and General System Theory, Brunner/Mazel, New York, 1981 Mash, E. J., & Wolfe, D. A. (2005). Abnormal Child Psychology (3rd edition). Wadsworth Canada. pp. 13–14. Weisbord, Marvin R., Productive Workplaces: Organizing and Managing for Dignity, Meaning, and Community, Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco, 1987 Tang, J.Y. and Zhuang, Q. (2008). Equifinality in parameterization of process-based biogeochemistry models: A significant uncertainty source to the estimation of regional carbon dynamics, J. Geophys. Res., 113, G04010. Systems theory

Word art

Word art or text art is a form of art that includes text, forming words or phrases, as its main component; it is a combination of language and visual imagery. Overview There are two main types of word art: One uses words or phrases because of their ideological meaning, their status as an icon, or their use in well-known advertising slogans; in this type, the content is of paramount importance, and is seen in some of the work of Barbara Kruger, On Kawara and Jenny Holzer's projection artwork called "For the City" (2005) in Manhattan. In the other kind of word art, as exemplified by the word paintings of Christopher Wool, text forms the actual artistic component of the work. The style has been used since the 1950s by artists classified as postmodern, partly as a reaction to abstract art of the time. Word art has been used in painting, sculpture, lithography, screen-printing and projection mapping, and applied to T-shirts and other practical items. Artists often use words from sources such as advertising, political slogans and graphic design, and use them for various effects from serious to comical. Artists Other artists whose work is known for using text include Jasper Johns, Robert Indiana, Shepard Fairey, Mel Bochner, Kay Rosen, Paul Kuniholm, Lawrence Weiner, Ed Ruscha and the collective Guerrilla Girls, whose work conveys political messages in the tradition of protest art. Australian artists include Abdul Abdullah, Kate Just, Anastasia Klose, Sue Kneebone, and Vernon Ah Kee. Exhibitions A 2018 exhibition held simultaneously at Subliminal Projects (which was co-founded by Fairey) in Los Angeles and Faction Art Projects in New York featured the word art of Holzer, Ruscha, Guerrilla Girls and Betty Tompkins as well as younger artists like Ramsey Dau and Scott Albrecht. Also in 2018, an exhibition called Word in the Hugo Mitchell Gallery in Adelaide, South Australia, featured the work of Just, Abdullah, Klose, Kneebone, Alice Lang, Richard Lewer, Sera Waters, and many others. See also Calligram Kinetic typography – animations involving moving text Micrography References Contemporary art

Design history

Design history is the study of objects of design in their historical and stylistic contexts. With a broad definition, the contexts of design history include the social, the cultural, the economic, the political, the technical and the aesthetic. Design history has as its objects of study all designed objects including those of architecture, fashion, crafts, interiors, textiles, graphic design, industrial design and product design. Design theorists revamp historical techniques and they use these aspects to create more sophisticated techniques of design. It acts as a tool to better future aspects of design. Design history has had to incorporate criticism of the 'heroic' structure of its discipline in response to the establishment of material culture, much as art history has had to respond to visual culture (although visual culture has been able to broaden the subject area of art history through the incorporation of the televisual, film and new media). Design history has done this by shifting its focus towards the acts of production and consumption. The acts of production and consumption in design history were a result of the modernist approach designers started to take which advanced in the 19th century. Pre-capitalism and feudalism were the main drivers of modernism. They facilitated stylistic features and aesthetics which were exclusive because of the influence of small wealthy elites. Design history as a component of British practice-based courses Design history also exists as a component of many practice-based courses. The teaching and study of design history within art and design programs in Britain are one of the results of the National Advisory Council on Art Education in the 1960s. Among its aims was making art and design education a legitimate academic activity, to which ends a historical perspective was introduced. This necessitated the employment or 'buying in' of specialists from art history disciplines, leading to a particular style of delivery: "Art historians taught in the only way that art historians knew how to teach; they switched off the lights, turned on the slide projector, showed slides of art and design objects, discussed and evaluated them and asked (art and design) students to write essays – according to the scholarly conventions of academia". The most obvious effect of the traditional approach design history as sequential, in which X begat Y and Y begat Z. This has pedagogical implications in that the realization that assessment requires a fact-based regurgitation of received knowledge leads students to ignore discussions of the situations surrounding a design's creation and reception and to focus instead on simple facts such as who designed what and when. This 'heroic/aesthetic' view – the idea that there are a few great designers who should be studied and revered unquestioningly – arguably instills an unrealistic view of the design profession. Although the design industry has been complicit in promoting the heroic view of history, the establishment of the UK government of Creative & Cultural Skills has led to calls for design courses to be made less 'academic' and more attuned to the 'needs' of the industry. Design history, as a component of design courses, is under increasing threat in the UK at least and it has been argued that its survival depends on an increased focus on the study of the processes and effects of design rather than the lives of designers themselves. Ultimately it appears that design history for practice-based courses is rapidly becoming a branch of social and cultural studies, leaving behind its art historical roots. This has led to a great deal of debate as the two approaches forge distinct pedagogical approaches and philosophies. Debates over the merits of different approaches to teaching design history on practice-based courses The debate over the best way to approach the teaching of design history to practice-based students is often heated. It is notable that the biggest push to adopt a 'realistic' approach (i.e. non-hero-based and analysing the production as well as the consumption of design that would otherwise be viewed as ephemeral) comes from teachers delivering these programmes, while critics are predominantly those who teach design history by approaching it in a more diverse and geographical standpoint. The biggest criticism of the 'realistic' approach appears to be that it imposes anonymity on designers, while the counter argument is that the vast majority of designers are anonymous and that it is the uses and users of design that are more important. The research literature suggests that, contrary to critics' predictions of the death of design history, this realistic approach is beneficial. Baldwin and McLean at the University of Brighton (now at the University of Dundee and Edinburgh College of Art respectively) reported attendance figures for courses using this model rising dramatically, and improved interest in the subject, as did Rain at Central St. Martin's. This compares with the often-reported low attendance and low grades of practice-based students facing the 'death by slideshow' model. Design history from a global perspective The rise of western cultures in the 19th century facilitated the idea of having European civilization as culturally advanced which disregarded non-western cultures by representing them as cultures without history. A global perspective of design history meant that there was a growth in understanding design history from a global context. This meant that there became different understandings of design history and acknowledging its processes, production and consumption based on the different cultural contexts. This was done through what is called globalization. One way this was done was by building on to the existing modernist knowledge from Europe and making the processes, production and consumption meet the standards of the different cultures. The problem with this idea is that it assumes that there is only one narrative of design history by limiting it to a specific place and time. Globalizing design history also means popularizing other forms of design that may not constitute as design in the western countries. This means moving beyond the modernists approaches and acknowledging other forms of design other than those based on the European understanding of production and consumption. Such practices ensures that design history from different cultures is acknowledged and is treated equally to that of the West. Globalization has also meant that design history is no longer only looked at in the perspective of production and consumption but is now also perceived in the lens of theories, policies, social programs, opinions and organizational systems. This perspective allows for acknowledging that design is not only concerned with the materialistic or three-dimensional products, but also includes a wide range of artifacts. Some of these artifacts may be understanding design history as a feature that gives humans a history of ideas on how to live and interact with each other. Aspects such as teamwork, management style and appreciation of different types of creativity are all examples of design history that demonstrates the art of living and interacting with each other. Diversity acts as a form of design technique that is used to facilitate creativity. Having diverse opinions and perspectives allows for a clash in opinions which also enhances creativity and helps build new knowledge. The Chinese design history and design studies has taken this approach by diversifying its approach on design. They take into consideration the Chinese civilizations which includes its history of arts, crafts and philosophy as well as incorporate the western technologies and marketing structures. On the other hand, places in Southern Africa have used design techniques as a form of social communication. These areas used rock paintings as a form of communications and such communication started to advance with the development of pictographs and alphabets. Museums Design Museum, London, UK. V&A Museum, London, UK. Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, Smithsonian Museum, NY, USA. See also Design History Society References External links Design History Society Design Is History Graphic design Fashion design Product design Industrial design

Usamaru Furuya

is a Japanese manga artist. Biography During elementary school, Furuya enrolled in the Osamu Tezuka Manga Correspondence Course and by the time he reached high school he had discovered a darker, more underground style. He graduated from Tama Art University, where he majored in oil painting and developed an interest in sculpting and Butoh dance. During college his work evolved from figurative to eventually dealing more with abstract shapes. In 1994, Furuya published his debut series Palepoli in the renowned alternative manga magazine Garo. After graduating from college, he initially planned to work as a full-time artist while doing illustrations on the side, but his success in manga shifted his focus. Soon after, he published the gag manga Short Cuts in the mainstream seinen manga magazine Weekly Young Sunday. He was a regular contributor to the alternative manga magazine Manga Erotics F from its beginnings in 2001 on. For this magazine he created the manga Lychee Light Club, based on a stage play, about a group of middle school boys aiming to build an AI with cruel tactics has been adapted into a TV anime series. Otherwise, since the 2000s, he has published in mainstream seinen and shōnen manga magazines of different publishers like Kodansha, Shogakukan, Shueisha and Shinchosha, but also drew a yonkoma series for the daily newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun and made a manga biography about Emperor Akihito's life for the weekly magazine Shūkan Post. Style and themes Furuya works across different manga genres and has a broad variety of art styles, ranging from photorealistic drawing to mascot-like cute characters. His work has been published in major manga magazines as well as more underground magazines and cultural magazines. Masanao Amano describes that Furuya is known for "taking ordinary everyday situations, and adding instantaneous humor or transforming them into a mysterious world that showcases his surrealistic sense." His work is influenced by the New Wave movement in manga in the 1980s. Christianity is a recurring theme of his work. According to Sean Patrick Webb, christianity is found "most often in the context of Japanese children and adolescents struggling against childish impulses and making the transition to adulthood." Reception Furuya's manga have been translated, among others, into English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. While Furuya has not won any major manga awards so far, he was nominated or selected several times: Works Manga Illustrations Flowers Films/plays ZOO (Screenplay, storyboards, character design) (Man in coffee shop) (Original work) (Original work) (Miyanishi) References External links Usagi Hitori Club (Usamaru Furuya's Blog) Usamaru Furuya Unofficial Web Site, Tokyo 1968 births Living people Manga artists from Tokyo Tama Art University alumni

Nature–culture divide

The nature–culture divide is the notion of a dichotomy between humans and the environment. It is a theoretical foundation of contemporary anthropology that considers whether nature and culture function separately from one another, or if they are in a continuous biotic relationship with each other. In East Asian society, nature and culture are conceptualized as dichotomous (separate and distinct domains of reference). Some researchers consider culture to be "man's secret adaptive weapon" in the sense that it is the core means of survival. It has been observed that the terms "nature" and "culture" can not necessarily be translated into non-western languages, for example, the Native American scholar John Mohawk described "nature" as "anything that supports life". There is an idea that small-scale societies can have a more symbiotic relationship with nature. Less symbiotic relations with nature are limiting small-scale communities' access to water and food resources. It was also argued that the contemporary man-nature divide manifests itself in different aspects of alienation and conflicts. Greenwood and Stini argue that agriculture is only monetarily cost-efficient because it takes much more to produce than one can get out of eating their own crops, e.g. "high culture cannot come at low energy costs". During the 1960s and 1970s, Sherry Ortner showed the parallel between the divide and gender roles with women as nature and men as culture. Feminist scholars question whether the dichotomies between nature and culture, or man and woman, are essential. For example, Donna Haraway's works on cyborg theory, as well as companion species gesture toward a notion of "naturecultures": a new way of understanding non-discrete assemblages relating humans to technology and animals. History Within European culture, land was an inherited right for each family's firstborn son and every other child would need to find another way to own land. European expansion would be motivated by this desire to claim land and extract resources through technological developments or the invention of public trading companies. Other factors include religious (e.g. Crusades) and discovery (e.g. voyages) purposes. In addition to the desire for expansion, Europeans had the resources for external growth. They had ships, maps, and knowledge—a complex of politics, economy and military tactics that they believed were superior for ruling. These factors helped them to possess and rule the people of the lands they came in contact with. One large element of this was Western European's strong cultural belief in private property. Colonialists from Europe saw the American landscape as desolate, savage, dark and waste and thus needed to be tamed in order for it to be safe and habitable. Once cleared and settled, these areas were depicted as “Eden itself." Land was a commodity and as such, anyone who did not use it to turn a profit could have it taken from them. John Locke was one responsible for these ideals. Yet the commodities didn't end with the acquisition of land. Profit became the main driver for all resources that would follow (including slavery). The cultural divide that existed between Europeans and the native groups they colonised allowed the Europeans to capitalise on both local and global trade. So whether the ruling of these other lands and peoples was direct or indirect, the diffusion of European ideals and practices spread to nearly every country on the globe. Imperialism and globalisation were also at play in creating a ruling dominion for the European nation, but it did not come without challenges. The native groups they encountered saw their relationship with the land in a more holistic view. They saw the land as a shared entity of which they were a part, but the Europeans saw it as a commodity that could and should be divided and owned by individuals to then buy and sell as they pleased. And that “wilderness” is that the connection between humans and nature is broken. For native communities, human intervention was a part of their ecological practices. Theories The Role of Society Pre-existing movements include a spectrum of environmental thoughts. Authors, Büscher and Fletcher, present these various movements on a condensed map. Though it is simplified in thought and definition, it offers an excellent way for readers to see the major conservation movements plotted together in which elements of their philosophy are highlighted. The following movements are as follows: mainstream conservation, new conservation, neoprotectionism, and their newly proposed convivial conservation. Each movement is plotted against two major factors: capitalism and the human-nature divide. Mainstream conservation supports the human-nature divide and capitalism, new conservation supports the human-nature divide but rejects capitalism, neoprotectionism rejects capitalism but supports the human-nature divide, and convivial conservation rejects both the human-nature divide and capitalism. This newest movement, though reminiscent of previous ones, sets itself apart by addressing the political climate more directly. They argue this is important because without it, their movement will only gain as much traction as those before it, i.e. very little. Lasting change will come, not only from an overhaul in human-nature relations and capitalist thought but from a political system that will enact and support these changes. The Role of Science The nature–culture divide is intertwined with the social versus biological debate since both are implications of each other. As viewed in earlier forms of anthropology, it is believed that genetic determinism de-emphasises the importance of culture, making it obsolete. However, more modern views show that culture is valued more than nature because everyday aspects of culture have a wider impact on how humans see the world, rather than just our genetic makeup. Older anthropological theories have separated the two, such as Franz Boas, who claimed that social organisation and behaviour are purely the transmission of social norms and not necessarily the passing of heritable traits. Instead of using such a contrasting approach, more modern anthropologists see Neo-Darwinism as an outline for culture, therefore nature is essentially guiding how culture develops. When looking at adaptations, anthropologists such as Daniel Nettle state that animals choose their mates based on their environment, which is shaped directly by culture. More importantly, the adaptations seen in nature are a result of evoked nature, which is defined as cultural characteristics which shape the environment and that then queue changes in phenotypes for future generations. Put simply, cultures that promote more effective resource allocation and a chance for survival are more likely to be successful and produce more developed societies and cultures that feed off of each other. Transmitted culture can also be used to bridge the gap between the two even more, because it uses a trial and error based approach that shows how humans are constantly learning, and that they use social learning to influence individual choices. This is seen best in how the more superficial aspects of culture still are intertwined with nature and genetic variation. For example, there are beauty standards intertwined into the culture because they are associated with better survival rates, yet they also serve personal interests which allows for individual breeding pairs to understand how they fit into society. By learning from each other, nature becomes more intertwined with culture since they reinforce each other. Sandra Harding critiqued dominant science as "posit[ing] as necessary, and/or as facts, a set of dualisms—culture vs. nature; rational mind vs. prerational body and irrational emotions and values; objectivity vs. subjectivity; public vs. private—and then links men and masculinity to the former and women and femininity to the latter in each dichotomy". Instead, they argue for a more holistic approach to knowledge-seeking which recognizes that every attempt at objectivity is bound up in the social, historical, and political subjectivity of the knowledge producer. Real-World Examples National Parks There is a historical belief that wilderness must not only be tamed to be protected but that humans also need to be outside of it. In fact, there have been instances where the removal of people from an area has actually increased illegal activities and negative environmental effects. National parks may not be particularly known as places of increased violence, but they do perpetuate the idea of humans being removed from nature to protect it. They also create a symbol of power for humans over nature, as these sites have become tourist attractions. Ecotourism, even with environmentally friendly practices in effect, still represents a commodification of nature. Another example can be seen in “the great frontier.” The American frontier became the nation's most sacred myth of origin. Yet the lands protected as monuments to the American past were constructed as pristine and uninhabited by removing the people that lived and survived on those lands. Some authors have come to describe this type of conservation as conservation-far, where humans and nature are kept separate. The other end of the conservation spectrum then, would be conservation-near, which would mimic native ecological practices of humans integrated into the care of nature. See also Nature versus nurture References Cultural anthropology Ecological theories Culture and the environment

Project method

The project method is a medium of instruction which was introduced during the 18th century into the schools of architecture and engineering in Europe when graduating students had to apply the skills and knowledge they had learned in the course of their studies to problems they had to solve as practicians of their trade, for example, designing a monument, building a steam engine. In the early 20th Century, William Heard Kilpatrick expanded the project method into a philosophy of education. His device is child-centered and based in progressive education. Both approaches are used by teachers worldwide to this day. Unlike traditional education, proponents of the project method attempt to allow the student to solve problems with as little teacher direction as possible. The teacher is seen more as a facilitator than a deliver of knowledge and information. Students in a project method environment should be allowed to explore and experience their environment through their senses and, in a sense, direct their own learning by their individual interests. Very little is taught from textbooks and the emphasis is on experiential learning, rather than rote and memorization. A project method classroom focuses on democracy and collaboration to solve "purposeful" problems. Kilpatrick devised four classes of projects for his method: construction (such as writing a play), enjoyment (such as experiencing a concert), problem (for instance, discussing a complex social problem like poverty), and specific learning (learning of skills such as swimming). Literature Knoll, Michael (1996): Faking a dissertation: Ellsworth Collings, William H. Kilpatrick and the "project curriculum". Journal of Curriculum Studies 28, no. 2, pp. 193–222. Knoll, Michael (1997): The Project Method: Its Vocational Education Origin and International Development. Journal of Industrial Teacher Education 34, 59-80. Knoll, Michael (2010): "A Marriage on the Rocks": An Unknown Letter by William H. Kilpatrick About His Project Method. Eric-online document 511129. Knoll, Michael (2012): “I Had Made a Mistake”: William H. Kilpatrick and the Project Method. Teachers College Record 114, issue 2, 45 pages. Knoll, Michael (2014) Project Method. In D. C. Phillips (ed) Encyclopedia of Educational Theory and Philosophy, Vol. 2 (London: Sage), 665-669. References Philosophy of education

VIA (music)

VIA is an abbreviation for Vocal and Instrumental Ensemble. It is the general name used for popular music (pop, rock, folk, etc.) bands that were formally recognized by the Soviet government from the 1960s to the 1980s. In Soviet times, the term VIA generally meant , but it is now used in Russia to refer specifically to pop, rock, and folk groups active during the Soviet period. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union the term gradually went out of use. In Yugoslavia, the abbreviation VIS, meaning , was used in the same context. History The term VIA appeared in the Soviet Union in the 1960s and represented a model under which the Soviet government was willing to permit domestic rock and pop music acts to develop. To break through to the state-owned Soviet media, a band needed to become an officially recognized VIA. Each VIA had an artistic director who served as manager, producer, and state-appointed censor. In some bands (such as Pesniary) the artistic director was the band's leading member and songwriter, while in others he played the role of impresario. Soviet VIAs played a specific style of pop music. They performed youth-oriented (but officially approved) radio-friendly music, which combined contemporary Western and Soviet trends. Folk instruments were often used, and occasionally a keytar (a keyboard held like a guitar). Songs varied from pop ballads, dance-beat disco and new wave to mainstream rock. Many VIAs had up to ten members (including a number of vocalists and multi-instrumentalists), who were in frequent rotation. Due to state censorship, the lyrics of VIAs were family-friendly; typical topics were universal emotions like love, joy, and nostalgia, or idealized vignettes from daily life. Many bands also encouraged national culture and patriotism, (especially those of national minorities from the smaller Soviet republics) such as Yalla from Uzbekistan, Labyrinth from Georgia and Chervona Ruta from Ukraine. Folk-based VIAs such as Pesniary (later they mixed folk rock and progressive rock styles), Siabry and Verasy were especially popular in Belarus. Russian bands from Moscow and Leningrad (such as Zemlyane and Tsvety) were more oriented towards Western pop and rock music. Many VIAs were created by musicians that played together in local choruses or musical theatrical productions. The earliest VIAs included Avangard (Avantgarde) in 1964, Poyushchiye Gitary (The Singing Guitars) in 1966, Vesyolye Rebyata (Jolly Fellows) in 1968, and Dobry Molodtsy (Good Guys) in 1969. Bands Notable Soviet VIAs include: Ariel, Russia Chervona Ruta, Ukraine Dos Mukasan, Kazakhstan Ensemble "Grenada", Russia; international and political songs Iveria, Georgia Leysya, Pesnya, Russia Noroc, Moldova Pesniary, Belarus Plamya, Russia Poyushchiye Gitary ("Singing Guitars"), Russia Samotsvety ("Gems"), Russia Syabry, Belarus Tsvety ("Flowers"), Russia Verasy, Belarus Vesyolye Rebyata ("Jolly Fellows"), Russia Yalla, Uzbekistan, signature hit: "Uchquduq" Zemlyane ("Earthlings"), Russia, signature hit: "Grass by the Home" See also Big-beat (Eastern Bloc) Soviet bards, unofficial, underground musical culture in Soviet Union External links The trends that led to modern Russian music: Romance, Bards, VIAs. Articles on VIA history A list of VIAs VIA era fan site VIA biographies References

Coexistence

Coexistence is the property of things existing at the same time and in a proximity close enough to affect each other, without causing harm to one another. The term is often used with respect to people of different persuasions existing together, particularly where there is some history of antipathy or violence between those groups. Coexistence can be observed to a property of all systems in which different aspects capable of interacting with each other exist at the same time. As one source asserts, "even at the molecular level, existence is always already coexistence". Nonliving things can also be characterized as coexisting where multiple kinds of such things exist in the same space, with the term having been used for things as disparate as different kinds of dunes on Mars, and black holes existing in the same region of space as dense nuclear star clusters. Other examples of coexistence include: Peaceful coexistence, Soviet theory regarding relations between the socialist and capitalist blocs, and more generally the coexistence of different states in the international system Coexistence of similar species in similar environments; see coexistence theory Coexistence of multiple national groups within a polity; see plurinationalism Coexistence does not require a complete absence of conflict, but may include "the simultaneous presence of banal tensions and conflicts of interest". Thus, a "minimal level of coexistence is compatible with competition and even conflicts, if conducted through legitimate channels". Cultural Coexistence Theory (CCT), also called Social-ecological Coexistence Theory, expands on coexistence theory to explain how groups of people with shared interests in natural resources (e.g., a fishery) can come to coexist sustainably. Cultural Coexistence Theory draws on work by anthropologists such as Frederik Barth and John Bennett, both of whom studied the interactions among culture groups on shared landscapes. In addition to the core ecological concepts described above, which CCT summarizes as limited similarity, limited competition, and resilience, CCT argues the following features are essential for cultural coexistence: Adaptability describes the ability of people to respond to change or surprise. It is essential to CCT because it helps capture the importance of human agency. Pluralism describes where people value cultural diversity and recognize the fundamental rights of people not like them to live in the same places and access shared resources. Equity as used in CCT describes whether social institutions exist that ensure that people's basic human rights, including the ability to meet basic needs, are protected, and whether people are protected from being marginalized in society. Cultural Coexistence Theory fits in under the broader area of sustainability science, common pool resources theory, and conflict theory. Religious Coexistence Different religions advocate have advocated for coexistence between their religion and others. Coexistence in Islam There are several verses in the Quran that allude to Muslims living alongside people of other faith: "I do not worship what you worship, nor do you worship what I worship. I will never worship what you worship, nor will you ever worship what I worship. You have your way, and I have my Way.” [109:2-6] "Let there be no compulsion in religion...." [2:256] "˹In time,˺ Allah may bring about goodwill between you and those of them you ˹now˺ hold as enemies. For Allah is Most Capable. And Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful. Allah does not forbid you from dealing kindly and fairly with those who have neither fought nor driven you out of your homes. Surely Allah loves those who are fair." [60:7-9] Over the course of Islamic history there were several examples of religious coexistence under Muslim rule including during the reign of the Muslims in Al-Andalus where Muslims, Jews, and Christians alongside other religious groups lived together. Similarly, during the rule of the Ottoman Empire, non-Muslims were able to live under their own jurisdiction through a system known as the Millet where they would be given a significant amount of autonomy within their own communities and would not be subject to Islamic law. Coexistence in Buddhism Buddhism advocates living the Middle Way, where one limits there biases and avoids excluding others. Through the Middle Way, Buddhism advocates that we cannot survive without others and that one should thus work to make positive relations with others. Buddhism also speaks of seeking harmony between self and other and avoiding confrontation by developing peaceful relations between different communities. References Broad-concept articles Peace and conflict studies Sociology Anthropology

Authenticity in art

Authenticity in art is manifest in the different ways that a work of art, or an artistic performance, can be considered authentic. The initial distinction is between nominal authenticity and expressive authenticity. In the first sense, nominal authenticity is the correct identification of the author of a work of art; of how closely an actor or an actress interprets a role in a stageplay as written by the playwright; of how well a musician's performance of an artistic composition corresponds to the composer's intention; and how closely an objet d’art conforms to the artistic traditions of its genre. In the second sense, expressive authenticity is how much the work of art possesses inherent authority of and about its subject, and how much of the artist's intent is in the work of art. For the spectator, the listener, and the viewer, the authenticity of experience is an emotion impossible to recapture beyond the first encounter with the work of art in its original setting. In the cases of sculpture and of painting, the contemporary visitor to a museum encounters the work of art displayed in a simulacrum of the original setting for which the artist created the art. To that end, the museum visitor will see a curated presentation of the work of art as an objet d’art, and might not perceive the aesthetic experience inherent to observing the work of art in its original setting — the intent of the artist. Artistic authenticity is a requirement for the inscription of an artwork to the World Heritage List of the Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation of the United Nations (UNESCO); the Nara Document on Authenticity (1994) stipulates that artistic authenticity can be expressed through the form and design; the materials and substance; the use and function; the traditions and techniques; the location and setting; and the spirit and feeling of the given work of art. Nominal authenticity Provenance The authenticity of provenance of an objet d’art is the positive identification of the artist and the place and time of the artwork's origin; thus, art experts determine authenticity of provenance with four tests: (i) verification of the artist's signature on the work of art; (ii) a review of the historical documentation attesting to the history of the artefact; (iii) scientific evidence (x-rays of the canvas, infrared spectroscopy of the paint, dendrochronological analysis of the wood); and (iv) the expert judgement of a connoisseur with a trained eye. In Sincerity and Authenticity (1972), the literary critic Lionel Trilling said that the question of authenticity of provenance had acquired a profoundly moral dimension, that regardless of the physical condition and appearance, the quality of workmanship of an artwork, it is greatly important to know whether or not a Ming vase is authentic or a clever art forgery. The preoccupation with the authenticity of provenance of an artwork is historically recent, and particular to Western materialism; in the Eastern world, it is the work of art, itself, which is important; the artist's identity and the provenance of the artwork are secondary considerations. Art forgery Consequent to a critically truncated career, the painter Han van Meegeren (1889–1947) earned his living as an art forger, by specifically producing fake paintings by 17th-century artists, such as Frans Hals (1582–1666) and Pieter de Hooch (1629–1684), Gerard ter Borch (1617–1681) and Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675). Van Meegeren produced masterly paintings that deceived critics and art experts, who then accepted and acclaimed the forgeries as genuine masterpieces, especially the Supper at Emmaus (1937) painting accepted as a real Vermeer by experts, such as Abraham Bredius. In the event, to survive the Second World War (1939–1945), van Meegeren dealt forgeries to the Nazi occupiers of the Netherlands (1940–1945). In the post–War reckoning among the nation, the Dutch authorities arrested van Meegeren as a Nazi collaborator who had sold national treasures to the German enemy. To avoid a traitor's death, the painter van Meegeren demonstrated his technical skills as a forger of paintings by the Old Masters, to prove he sold forged paintings to the Nazis. To guard against unwittingly buying a forged work of art, sellers and buyers use a certificate of authenticity as documentary proof that an artwork is the genuine creation of the artist identified as the author of the work — yet there is much business in counterfeit certificates of authenticity, which determines the monetary value of a work of art. The inauthenticity of forged painting is discovered with documentary evidence from art history and with forensic evidence gleaned from the techniques of art conservation, such as chronological dating, to establish the authenticity of provenance of paintings by the Old Masters. The potential monetary value represented by a certificate of authenticity can prejudice collectors and art dealers to buy recent-period artworks with determined provenance, sometimes established by the artist. Forgery as art Critical interest in a forgery as a work of art is rare; yet, in the essay “The Perfect Fake” (1961), the critic of architecture and art Aline B. Saarinen asked what “If a fake is so expert, that even after the most thorough and trustworthy examination, its authenticity is still open to doubt, is it or is it not as satisfactory a work of art as if it were unequivocally genuine?” In The Act of Creation (1964), Arthur Koestler concurred with Saarinen's proposition of “forgery as an art”, and said that if a forgery fits into the body of work of an artist, and if the forgery produces the same aesthetic pleasure as the authentic artworks, then the forged art should be included to exhibitions of the works of the plagiarised artist. In the art business, the artistic value of a well-executed forgery is irrelevant to a curator concerned with the authenticity of provenance of the original work of art — especially because formally establishing the provenance of a work of art is a question of possibility and probability, rarely of certainty, unless the artist vouches for the authenticity of the art. Nevertheless, to the arts community, a forgery remains a forgery, regardless of the excellent artistic execution of the forgery, itself; regardless of the artistic talent of the forger; and regardless of critical praise when critics and public believed the forgery was authentic art. Mechanical reproduction Relief printing is a form of mechanical reproduction of art; thus (i) an artist created a drawing; (ii) a craftsman used the drawing to create a woodcut block for relief-printing, usually destroying the original artwork when cutting the drawing into the block of wood; and (iii) the woodblock, itself, was discarded when worn-out for relief printing copies of the drawing. From that three-step process for the production of art, the printed copies of the original drawing are the final product of artistic creation, yet there exists no authentic work of art; the artistic copies have no authenticity of provenance. In the essay “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” (1935), Walter Benjamin discussed the then-new visual media of photography and cinematography as machines capable of producing art that can be reproduced many times — yet no one version of the image is the original, artistically authentic image. As visual media that reproduce — but do not create — original images, photography and the cinema shift the concept of artistic authenticity from “art as ritual” to “art as politics” and so make works of art accessible to the mass population, rather than just the aficionado. A contemporary extension of Benjamin's observations is the perpetual authenticity of the sculpture Sunbather (1971), by the artist Duane Hanson (1925–1996), who gave permission to the conservators of the life-sized sculpture (a woman sunbathing whilst reclining in a chaise longue) to replace parts of the sculpture (cap, swimming suit, towel, etc.) that became faded and worn. Likewise, in light of the artistic production and mechanical reproduction capabilities of computers and the internet, the media artist Julian H. Scaff said that the authenticity of provenance of a digital image (painting, still photograph, cinema frame) cannot be determined, because a digital work of art usually exists in more than one version, and each version is not created, but authored by a different digital artist with a different perspective of what is art. Authenticity of experience Authenticity of experience is available only to the spectator who experiences a work of art in the original setting for which the artist created the artefact. In another setting, the authenticity of experience (purpose, time, place) is impossible; thus, in the Western world, the museum display is an approximation (literal, metaphoric) of the original setting for the which the artist created the work of art. Isolated exhibition in a museum diminishes the aesthetic experience of a work of art, although the spectator will see the work of art. Lacking the original context (place, time, purpose ) limits aesthetic appreciation than experience of the work of art in the original setting — where the art and the setting are the aesthetic intent of the artist. Recognizing that authenticity of experience is unique and cannot be recaptured, the curator of a museum presents works of art in literal and metaphoric displays that approximate the original settings for which the artists created the artworks. Realised with artifice and lighting, the museum displays provide the spectator a sensory experience of the works of art. In that commercial vein, the tour business sells “the experience of art” as a facsimile of the authenticity of experience of art. The tourist consumes “Culture” by attending an opera at La Scala, an 18th-century opera house at Milano. The natural audience, informed opera aficionados, lose interest and cease attending regularly, but the opera house is a business, and continues presenting performances for aficionados of culture and for tourists with, perhaps, an understanding of the opera — the art being experienced. Likewise, to earn a living as artists, Pacific Islander dancers present their "Pacific Islander culture" as entertainment for and edification of tourists. Although the performances of Pacific-islander native culture might be nominally authentic art, in the sense of being true to the original culture, the authenticity of experience of the art is questionable. Cultural authenticity The authenticity of provenance establishes the material existence of the work of art; the identity of the artist; and when and where the artist created the work of art. Cultural authenticity — genre and artistic style — concerns whether or not a work of art is a genuine expression of artistic tradition. Concern with the cultural authenticity of a work of art usually originates from romanticism about the greater artistic value of artefacts created in “the pure tradition” of the genre; such an idealistic perspective usually derives from nationalism and racism and tribalism, and misunderstandings of aesthetics. A work of art is authentic when executed in the style, with the materials, and by the production process that are essential attributes of the genre. Cultural authenticity derives from the artistic traditions created by the artists of the ethnic group. A genre artwork is authentic only if created by an artist from the ethnic group; therefore, only the Inuit can create authentic Inuit art. The philosophic and sociologic perspective of the authenticity of expression is what protects artists from the art thefts inherent and consequent to cultural appropriation; nonetheless, in the essay “Race, Ethnicity, Expressive Authenticity: Can White People Sing the Blues?” Joel Rudinow disagreed and defended cultural appropriation, and said that such protectiveness of cultural authenticity is a form of racism. The art business In the West, the market for “primitive art” arose and developed at the end of the 19th century, consequent to European explorers and colonialists meeting and trading with the cultural and ethnic groups of Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Artistically, the native peoples who dealt with the explorers and colonists quickly incorporated to their production of art new materials from Europe, such as cloth and glass beads. Yet European collectors and art dealers would not buy “inauthentic”, mixed-media primitive art made with native and European materials. To overcome resistance to inauthentic primitive art, the art dealers produced artefacts, made with local materials, which Westerners would accept and buy as authentic native art. The 19th-century business model of artistic production remains the contemporary practise in selling authentic objets d’art to Western collectors and aficionados. Usually, the artefacts are designed and modified to give the impression of possessing popular attributes and authentic provenance, such as religious-ritual use, antiquity, and association with aristocracy and royalty. In the 20th century, during the 1940s, Haitian artists created commercial reproductions of “voodoo images” provided to them by foreign businessmen, to sell as “authentic voodoo art.” To the Haitian artists, the foreign representations of Haitian artistic culture, which they were paid to make, demonstrated the art-theft inherent to cultural appropriation and how White foreigners truly saw Haitian Vodou art as a commercial commodity, and not as religious art. Deities and souvenirs To distinguish a work of art from a crude artefact made for tourists, art collectors consider an artwork to be artistically authentic when it meets recognised standards of artistic production (design, materials, manufacture) for an original purpose. In the Philippine Islands, throughout their history, the Igorot people have used carved-wood bulul figurines to guard the rice crop; the bulul is a highly stylized representation of an ancestor that gains power from the presence of an ancestral spirit. Although still used in traditional ceremonies, the Igorot people now produce souvenir bulul figurines for tourists; a secondary purpose that does not devalue the bulul as art. Within the culture, an Igorot family might use a souvenir bulul as suitable and acceptable for traditional ceremonies — thereby granting the souvenir bulul an artistic and cultural authenticity otherwise absent. From that perspective, “tribal masks and sculptures” actually used in religious ceremonies have greater commodity value, especially if authenticity of provenance determines that a native artist created the artefact by using traditional designs, materials, and production techniques. Such Western over-valuation of native art is predicated by the artefact being an authentic example of a tradition or style of art practised by a primitive people. Invented traditions The artistic evolution of the Maroon people of French Guiana, shows that contemporary artistic styles developed through the interaction of art and commerce, between artists and art businessmen. The long history and strong traditions of Maroon art are notable in the forms of decoration of everyday objects, such as boat paddles and window shutters, art of entirely aesthetic purpose. To sell Maroon artworks, European art collectors assigned symbolism to the “native art” they sold in the art markets, to collectors, and to museums; a specific provenance. Despite the mutual miscommunication betwixt artists and businessmen about the purpose, value, and price of works of art, Maroon artists used the European semiotic language to assign symbolic meanings to their works of native art, and make a living; yet young Maroon artists might mistakenly believe that the (commercial) symbolism derives from ancestral traditions, rather than from the art business. Expressive authenticity Authenticity of expression derives from the work of art possessing the original and inherent authority of the artist's intent, that the work is an original product of aesthetic expression. In musical performance, authenticity of expression can conflict with authenticity of performance when the performance of the musician or the singer is true to his or her artistry, and is not an imitation of another artist. The greater popularity of the performer, rather than of the composer of the song and the music, is an historically recent development that reflects the public's greater interest in the expressive authenticity of charismatic musicians who possess a distinctive artistic style. In the fields of art and of aesthetics, the term expressive authenticity derives from the psychological term Authenticity, as used in existential philosophy, regarding mental health as a person's self-knowledge about his or her relation to the real world. In that vein, the artistic production of Abstract Expressionists, such as Jackson Pollock (1912–1956), Arshile Gorky (1904–1948)), and Willem de Kooning (1904–1997), have been understood in existentialist terms about the artists’ relation with and to the world; likewise the cinematic art of the cinéastes Jean-Luc Godard and Ingmar Bergman (1904–1997). Expressive authenticity derives from the artist's authenticity of style and tradition, thus an outsider's appropriation of voice is disallowed because the cultural group already have native artists producing authentic art. In the American music business, the Hip hop genre originally was musical art created by poor Black people to address their discontents about the poverty, ignorance, and racism imposed upon them in American society. Artists debate if Hip hop's profitable transition from the artistic underground to the commercial mainstream has voided the authenticity of expression of the music. In “Authenticity Within Hip Hop and Other Cultures Threatened with Assimilation”, the academic Kembrew McLeod said that the cultural authenticity of Hip hop is threatened by assimilation into the music business, where commercialism replaces expressive authenticity. Authenticity of performance In the theatre and in music, the performers (actors, actresses, musicians) are responsible for realising a performance of the respective work of art, a stageplay, a musical concert. An historically informed performance of a play by Shakespeare, the women characters would be portrayed by actors, not actresses, as was the custom in the Elizabethan era (1558–1603) and the dialogue would be enunciated and pronounced in the Elizabethan style of speech. In an historically informed performance, the actors and the musicians replicate the time period of the work of art they are performing, usually by way of period-correct language and costumes and styles of performance and musical instruments. The musicians would consider inauthentic any performance of the Elvira Madigan piano concerto that the pianist played on a contemporary grand piano, an instrument unknown to the composer W.A. Mozart (1756–1791). Authenticity in Crypto art The genre of crypto art became feasible with blockchain networks of computers (e.g. Bitcoin), cybernetic technology that allows crypto artists to create digital art for sale and for collection. Artists, such as Mike Winkelmann (aka Beeple), use blockchain technology to authenticate a work of art and establish provenance with a digital file permanently linked to the crypto artist who produced the artefact; however, the blockchain technology also allows crypto artists to work anonymously. The cybernetic authentication of Non-fungible tokens (NFT) allows collecting works of art that resist forgery, because the provenance of a work of art usually is private information unavailable for public examination. See also Fine art authentication Appropriation (art) Authentication Authenticity (philosophy) Auteur theory False document Folklore Forgery Plagiarism Selling out Stuckism Tradition References Sources Further reading Visual arts Visual arts theory Works of art

Staying with the Trouble

Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene is a 2016 book by Donna Haraway, published by Duke University Press. In a thesis statement, Haraway writes: "Staying with the trouble means making oddkin; that is, we require each other in unexpected collaborations and combinations, in hot compost piles. We become - with each other or not at all." Both the imagery of the compost pile and the concept of oddkin are repeated motifs throughout the work. By emphasizing connectedness, Staying with the Trouble can be thought of as a continuation of major themes from "A Cyborg Manifesto" and The Companion Species Manifesto. Haraway's book can also be thought of as a critique of the Anthropocene as a way of making sense of the present, de-emphasizing human exceptionalism in favor of multispecism. Structure Staying with the Trouble is broken into eight chapters, the majority of which are revisions of previous work dating from as early as 2012. One: Playing String Figures with Companion Species Written in honor of G. Evelyn Hutchinson, Haraway's PhD Advisor, and Beatriz da Costa. Two: Tentacular Thinking: Anthropocene, Capitalocene, Chthulucene Three: Sympoiesis: Symbiogenesis and the Lively Arts of Staying with the Trouble Four: Making Kin: Anthropocene, Capitalocene, Plantationcene, Chthulucene Five: Awash in Urine: DES and Premarin in Multispecies Response-ability Six: Sowing Worlds: A Seed Bag for Terraforming with Earth Others Seven: A Curious Practice Eight: The Camille Stories: Children of Compost References Works by Donna Haraway Science and technology studies works Books in philosophy of technology

Ecosophy

Ecosophy or ecophilosophy (a portmanteau of ecological philosophy) is a philosophy of ecological harmony or equilibrium. The term was coined by the French post-structuralist philosopher and psychoanalyst Félix Guattari and the Norwegian father of deep ecology, Arne Næss. Félix Guattari Ecosophy also refers to a field of practice introduced by psychoanalyst, poststructuralist philosopher, and political activist Félix Guattari. In part Guattari's use of the term demarcates a necessity for the proponents of social liberation, whose struggles in the 20th century were dominated by the paradigm of social revolution, to embed their arguments within an ecological framework which understands the interconnections of social and environmental spheres. Guattari holds that traditional environmentalist perspectives obscure the complexity of the relationship between humans and their natural environment through their maintenance of the dualistic separation of human (cultural) and nonhuman (natural) systems; he envisions ecosophy as a new field with a monistic and pluralistic approach to such study. Ecology in the Guattarian sense, then, is a study of complex phenomena, including human subjectivity, the environment, and social relations, all of which are intimately interconnected. Despite this emphasis on interconnection, throughout his individual writings and more famous collaborations with Gilles Deleuze, Guattari has resisted calls for holism, preferring to emphasize heterogeneity and difference, synthesizing assemblages and multiplicities in order to trace rhizomatic structures rather than creating unified and holistic structures. Guattari's concept of the three interacting and interdependent ecologies of mind, society, and environment stems from the outline of the three ecologies presented in Steps to an Ecology of Mind, a collection of writings by cyberneticist Gregory Bateson. Næss's definition Næss defined ecosophy in the following way: While a professor at the University of Oslo in 1972, Arne Næss, introduced the terms "deep ecology movement" and "ecosophy" into environmental literature. Næss based his article on a talk he gave in Bucharest in 1972 at the Third World Future Research Conference. As Drengson notes in Ecophilosophy, Ecosophy and the Deep Ecology Movement: An Overview, "In his talk, Næss discussed the longer-range background of the ecology movement and its connection with respect for Nature and the inherent worth of other beings." Næss's view of humans as an integral part of a "total-field image" of Nature contrasts with the alternative construction of ecosophy outlined by Guattari. The term ecological wisdom, synonymous with ecosophy, was introduced by Næss in 1973. The concept has become one of the foundations of the deep ecology movement. All expressions of values by Green Parties list ecological wisdom as a key value—it was one of the original Four Pillars of the Green Party and is often considered the most basic value of these parties. It is also often associated with indigenous religion and cultural practices. In its political context, it is necessarily not as easily defined as ecological health or scientific ecology concepts. See also Ecology Environmental philosophy Global Greens Charter Green syndicalism Silvilization Simple living Spiritual ecology Sustainable living Yin and yang Notes References Drengson, A. and Y. Inoue, eds. (1995) The Deep Ecology Movement: An Introductory Anthology. Berkeley: North Atlantic Publishers. Guattari, Félix: »Pour une refondation des pratiques sociales«. In: Le Monde Diplomatique (Oct. 1992): 26-7. Guattari, Félix: »Remaking Social Practices«. In: Genosko, Gary (Hg.) (1996): The Guattari Reader. Oxford, Blackwell, S. 262-273. Maybury-Lewis, David. (1992) "On the Importance of Being Tribal: Tribal Wisdom." Millennium: Tribal Wisdom and the Modern World. Binimun Productions Ltd. Næss, Arne. (1973) The Shallow and the Deep Long-Range Ecology Movement: A Summary". Inquiry, 16:95-100 Drengson A. & B. Devall (2008) (Eds) The Ecology of Wisdom. Writings by Arne Naess. Berkeley: Counterpoint Levesque, Simon (2016) Two versions of ecosophy: Arne Næss, Félix Guattari, and their connection with semiotics. Sign Systems Studies'' 44(4): 511-541. http://dx.doi.org/10.12697/SSS.2016.44.4.03 External links Ecophilosophy, Ecosophy and the Deep Ecology Movement: An Overview by Alan Drengson Ecospherics.net. Accessed 2005-08-14. The Trumpeter, A Journal of Ecosophy. Ecology Postmodern theory Environmental philosophy Environmentalism Arne Næss

Americentrism

Americentrism, also known as American-centrism or US-centrism, is a tendency to assume the culture of the United States is more important than those of other countries or to judge foreign cultures based on American cultural standards. It refers to the practice of viewing the world from an overly US-focused perspective, with an implied belief, either consciously or subconsciously, in the preeminence of American culture. The term is not to be confused with American exceptionalism, which is the assertion that the United States is qualitatively different from other nations and is often accompanied by the notion that the United States has superiority over every other nation. History Scholarship of Americentrism traces the ideological system's origins, historically, to the late 1700s following the established independence of the United States. Americentrism is presented as a shift from Eurocentrism that idolizes the newly founded United States' ideals of freedom and democracy. Such scholarship itself was initially built on Jim Blaut's 1980s scholarship of Eurocentrism by Geographer Richard Peet whom coined the term in his 2005 journal, From Eurocentrism to Americanism. In the media American television networks have been perceived to contain an Americentric bias in the selection of their material. Another instance of Americentrism is in the high focus companies have on US markets in relation to others. Often, products produced and developed outside the US are still marketed as typically American. According to the European Commission, internet governance (in particular that related to the NSA) is too Americentric. It criticized the major role of American company ICANN in its administration. The English Wikipedia has been criticized for having an Americentric systemic bias with regards to its occasional preference towards US English sources, language, and spelling. Criticism Social justice Critics of Americentrism denote the ideology in fear of misunderstandings between peoples or nations, and in some cases, escalating into severe racial conflicts or even wars. They claim that distorted Americentrism has the potential to foster racism, create chaos, or ignite armed conflicts. Critics of American policies utilise the term in a negative context to highlight a deliberate, nationalistic ignorance displayed by the American government towards its own faults, warning of the possible distortion of international relations possible by followers of the ideology. Education Educators have brought attention to the usage of Americentric views in American educational policy and scholarship. Critics have noted the usage of Americentric views specifically in the United States' public school systems' educational policy in world history. Sources claim that schools in the United States often tend to prioritise the detailed teaching of the history of Europe and the United States in their World History curriculum, while providing only brief coverage of events in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. In terms of scholarship, it has been noted by various observers that the field of psychological research is predominantly influenced by Americans. It has been asserted that Americans hold the highest share as producers of psychological research, with a significant focus on studying Americans themselves. Therefore there have been criticisms of theories and principles derived from such research in if it is universally applicable to all human beings. Jeffrey Arnett, a professor of psychology at Clark University supports the idea, writing of scholarship, to his critique, disregarding the diversity of human experiences and contexts. See also Afrocentrism American exceptionalism American nationalism American way Anti-Americanism Discovery doctrine Ethnocentrism Eurocentrism Indocentrism Sinocentrism References Geocultural perspectives Ethnocentrism Political neologisms Autological words

Creeping normality

Creeping normality (also called gradualism, or landscape amnesia) is a process by which a major change can be accepted as normal and acceptable if it happens gradually through small, often unnoticeable, increments of change. The change could otherwise be regarded as remarkable and objectionable if it took hold suddenly or in a short time span. American scientist Jared Diamond used creeping normality in his 2005 book Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. Prior to releasing his book, Diamond explored this theory while attempting to explain why, in the course of long-term environmental degradation, Easter Island natives would, seemingly irrationally, chop down the last tree: See also There are a number of metaphors related to creeping normality, including: Boiling frog Camel's nose Lingchi "First they came ..." Habituation If You Give a Mouse a Cookie Moving the goalposts Normalisation of deviance Overton window Principiis obsta (et respice finem) - 'resist the beginnings (and consider the end)' Salami tactics Shifting baseline Slippery slope Technological change as a social process Tyranny of small decisions References Perception Business terms Technological change

Divergent evolution

Divergent evolution or divergent selection is the accumulation of differences between closely related populations within a species, sometimes leading to speciation. Divergent evolution is typically exhibited when two populations become separated by a geographic barrier (such as in allopatric or peripatric speciation) and experience different selective pressures that cause adaptations. After many generations and continual evolution, the populations become less able to interbreed with one another. The American naturalist J. T. Gulick (1832–1923) was the first to use the term "divergent evolution", with its use becoming widespread in modern evolutionary literature. Examples of divergence in nature are the adaptive radiation of the finches of the Galápagos, changes in mobbing behavior of the kittiwake, and the evolution of the modern-day dog from the wolf. The term can also be applied in molecular evolution, such as to proteins that derive from homologous genes. Both orthologous genes (resulting from a speciation event) and paralogous genes (resulting from gene duplication) can illustrate divergent evolution. Through gene duplication, it is possible for divergent evolution to occur between two genes within a species. Similarities between species that have diverged are due to their common origin, so such similarities are homologies. Causes Animals undergo divergent evolution for a number of reasons linked to changes in environmental or social pressures. This could include changes in the environment, such access to food and shelter. It could also result from changes in predators, such as new adaptations, an increase or decrease in number of active predators, or the introduction of new predators. Divergent evolution can also be a result of mating pressures such as increased competition for mates or selective breeding by humans. Distinctions Divergent evolution is a type of evolution and is distinct from convergent evolution and parallel evolution, although it does share similarities with the other types of evolution. Divergent versus convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the development of analogous structures that occurs in different species as a result of those two species facing similar environmental pressures and adapting in similar ways. It differs from divergent evolution as the species involved do not descend from a closely related common ancestor and the traits accumulated are similar. An example of convergent evolution is the development of flight in birds, bats, and insects, all of which are not closely related but share analogous structures allowing for flight. Divergent versus parallel evolution Parallel evolution is the development of a similar trait in species descending from a common ancestor. It is comparable to divergent evolution in that the species are descend from a common ancestor, but the traits accumulated are similar due to similar environmental pressures while in divergent evolution the traits accumulated are different. An example of parallel evolution is that certain arboreal frog species, 'flying' frogs, in both Old World families and New World families, have developed the ability of gliding flight. They have "enlarged hands and feet, full webbing between all fingers and toes, lateral skin flaps on the arms and legs, and reduced weight per snout-vent length". Darwin's finches One of the first recorded examples of divergent evolution is the case of Darwin's Finches. During Darwin's travels to the Galápagos Islands, he discovered several different species of finch, living on the different islands. Darwin observed that the finches had different beaks specialized for that species of finches' diet. Some finches had short beaks for eating nuts and seeds, other finches had long thin beaks for eating insects, and others had beaks specialized for eating cacti and other plants. He concluded that the finches evolved from a shared common ancestor that lived on the islands, and due to geographic isolation, evolved to fill the particular niche on each of the islands. This is supported by modern day genomic sequencing. Divergent evolution in dogs Another example of divergent evolution is the origin of the domestic dog and the modern wolf, who both shared a common ancestor. Comparing the anatomy of dogs and wolves supports this claim as they have similar body shape, skull size, and limb formation. This is even more obvious in some species of dogs, such as malamutes and huskies, who appear even more physically and behaviorally similar. There is a divergent genomic sequence of the mitochondrial DNA of wolves and dogs dated to over 100,000 years ago, which further supports the theory that dogs and wolves have diverged from shared ancestry. Divergent evolution in kittiwakes Another example of divergent evolution is the behavioral changes in the kittiwake as opposed to other species of gulls. Ancestorial and other modern-day species of gulls exhibit a mobbing behavior in order to protect their young due the nesting at ground-level where they are susceptible to predators. As a result of migration and environmental changes, the kittiwake nest solely on cliff faces. As a result, their young are protected from predatory reptiles, mammals, and birds who struggle with the climb and cliff-face weather conditions, and they do not exhibit this mobbing behavior. Divergent evolution in cacti Another example of divergent evolution is the split forming the Cactaceae family approximately dated in the late Miocene. Due to increase in arid climates, following the Eocene–Oligocene event, these ancestral plants evolved to survive in the new climates. Cacti evolved to have areoles, succulent stems, and some have light leaves, with the ability to store water for up to months. The plants they diverged from either went extinct leaving little in the fossil record or migrated surviving in less arid climates. See also Cladistics Contingency (evolutionary biology) Devolution Chronospecies References Further reading Evolutionary biology Evolution of animals

Koinophilia

Koinophilia is an evolutionary hypothesis proposing that during sexual selection, animals preferentially seek mates with a minimum of unusual or mutant features, including functionality, appearance and behavior. Koinophilia intends to explain the clustering of sexual organisms into species and other issues described by Darwin's dilemma. The term derives from the Greek word koinos meaning "common" or "that which is shared", and philia, meaning "fondness". Natural selection causes beneficial inherited features to become more common at the expense of their disadvantageous counterparts. The koinophilia hypothesis proposes that a sexually-reproducing animal would therefore be expected to avoid individuals with rare or unusual features, and to prefer to mate with individuals displaying a predominance of common or average features. Mutants with strange, odd or peculiar features would be avoided because most mutations that manifest themselves as changes in appearance, functionality or behavior are disadvantageous. Because it is impossible to judge whether a new mutation is beneficial (or might be advantageous in the unforeseeable future) or not, koinophilic animals avoid them all, at the cost of avoiding the very occasional potentially beneficial mutation. Thus, koinophilia, although not infallible in its ability to distinguish fit from unfit mates, is a good strategy when choosing a mate. A koinophilic choice ensures that offspring are likely to inherit a suite of features and attributes that have served all the members of the species well in the past. Koinophilia differs from the "like prefers like" mating pattern of assortative mating. If like preferred like, leucistic animals (such as white peacocks) would be sexually attracted to one another, and a leucistic subspecies would come into being. Koinophilia predicts that this is unlikely because leucistic animals are attracted to the average in the same way as are all the other members of its species. Since non-leucistic animals are not attracted by leucism, few leucistic individuals find mates, and leucistic lineages will rarely form. Koinophilia provides simple explanations for the almost universal canalization of sexual creatures into species, the rarity of transitional forms between species (between both extant and fossil species), evolutionary stasis, punctuated equilibria, and the evolution of cooperation. Koinophilia might also contribute to the maintenance of sexual reproduction, preventing its reversion to the much simpler asexual form of reproduction. The koinophilia hypothesis is supported by the findings of Judith Langlois and her co-workers. They found that the average of two human faces was more attractive than either of the faces from which that average was derived. The more faces (of the same gender and age) that were used in the averaging process the more attractive and appealing the average face became. This work into averageness supports koinophilia as an explanation of what constitutes a beautiful face. Speciation and punctuated equilibria Biologists from Darwin onwards have puzzled over how evolution produces species whose adult members look extraordinarily alike, and distinctively different from the members of other species. Lions and leopards are, for instance, both large carnivores that inhabit the same general environment, and hunt much the same prey, but look quite different. The question is why intermediates do not exist. This is the "horizontal" dimension of a two-dimensional problem, referring to the almost complete absence of transitional or intermediate forms between present-day species (e.g. between lions, leopards, and cheetahs). The "vertical" dimension concerns the fossil record. Fossil species are frequently remarkably stable over extremely long periods of geological time, despite continental drift, major climate changes, and mass extinctions. When a change in form occurs, it tends to be abrupt in geological terms, again producing phenotypic gaps (i.e. an absence of intermediate forms), but now between successive species, which then often co-exist for long periods of time. Thus the fossil record suggests that evolution occurs in bursts, interspersed by long periods of evolutionary stagnation in so-called punctuated equilibria. Why this is so has been an evolutionary enigma ever since Darwin first recognized the problem. Koinophilia could explain both the horizontal and vertical manifestations of speciation, and why it, as a general rule, involves the entire external appearance of the animals concerned. Since koinophilia affects the entire external appearance, the members of an interbreeding group are driven to look alike in every detail. Each interbreeding group will rapidly develop its own characteristic appearance. An individual from one group which wanders into another group will consequently be recognized as different, and will be discriminated against during the mating season. Reproductive isolation induced by koinophilia might thus be the first crucial step in the development of, ultimately, physiological, anatomical and behavioral barriers to hybridization, and thus, ultimately, full specieshood. Koinophilia will thereafter defend that species' appearance and behavior against invasion by unusual or unfamiliar forms (which might arise by immigration or mutation), and thus be a paradigm of punctuated equilibria (or the "vertical" aspect of the speciation problem). Evolution under koinophilic conditions Background Evolution can be extremely rapid, as shown by the creation of domesticated animals and plants in a very short period of geological time, spanning only a few tens of thousands of years, by humans with little or no knowledge of genetics. Maize, Zea mays, for instance, was created in Mexico in only a few thousand years, starting about 7 000 to 12 000 years ago. This raises the question of why the long term rate of evolution is far slower than is theoretically possible. Evolution is imposed on species or groups. It is not planned or striven for in some Lamarckist way. The mutations on which the process depends are random events, and, except for the "silent mutations" which do not affect the functionality or appearance of the carrier, are thus usually disadvantageous, and their chance of proving to be useful in the future is vanishingly small. Therefore, while a species or group might benefit by being able to adapt to a new environment through the accumulation of a wide range of genetic variation, this is to the detriment of the individuals who have to carry these mutations until a small, unpredictable minority of them ultimately contributes to such an adaptation. Thus, the capability to evolve is a group adaptation, which has been discredited by, among others, George C. Williams, John Maynard Smith and Richard Dawkins. because it is not to the benefit of the individual. Consequently, sexual individuals would be expected to avoid transmitting mutations to their progeny by avoiding mates with strange or unusual characteristics. Mutations that therefore affect the external appearance and habits of their carriers will seldom be passed on to the next and subsequent generations. They will therefore seldom be tested by natural selection. Evolutionary change in a large population with a wide choice of mates, will, therefore, come to a virtual standstill. The only mutations that can accumulate in a population are ones that have no noticeable effect on the outward appearance and functionality of their bearers (they are thus termed "silent" or "neutral mutations"). Evolutionary process The restraint koinophilia exerts on phenotypic change suggests that evolution can only occur if mutant mates cannot be avoided as a result of a severe scarcity of potential mates. This is most likely to occur in small restricted communities, such as on small islands, in remote valleys, lakes, river systems, caves, or during periods of glaciation, or following mass extinctions, when sudden bursts of evolution can be expected. Under these circumstances, not only is the choice of mates severely restricted, but population bottlenecks, founder effects, genetic drift and inbreeding cause rapid, random changes in the isolated population's genetic composition. Furthermore, hybridization with a related species trapped in the same isolate might introduce additional genetic changes. If an isolated population such as this survives its genetic upheavals, and subsequently expands into an unoccupied niche, or into a niche in which it has an advantage over its competitors, a new species, or subspecies, will have come in being. In geological terms this will be an abrupt event. A resumption of avoiding mutant mates will, thereafter, result, once again, in evolutionary stagnation. Thus the fossil record of an evolutionary progression typically consists of species that suddenly appear, and ultimately disappear hundreds of thousands or millions of years later, without any change in external appearance. Graphically, these fossil species are represented by horizontal lines, whose lengths depict how long each of them existed. The horizontality of the lines illustrates the unchanging appearance of each of the fossil species depicted on the graph. During each species' existence new species appear at random intervals, each also lasting many hundreds of thousands of years before disappearing without a change in appearance. The degree of relatedness and the lines of descent of these concurrent species is generally impossible to determine. This is illustrated in the following diagram depicting the evolution of modern humans from the time that the hominins separated from the line that led to the evolution of our closest living primate relatives, the chimpanzees. Phenotypic implications This proposal, that population bottlenecks are possibly the primary generators of the variation that fuels evolution, predicts that evolution will usually occur in intermittent, relatively large scale morphological steps, interspersed with prolonged periods of evolutionary stagnation, instead of in a continuous series of finely graded changes. However, it makes a further prediction. Darwin emphasized that the shared biologically useless oddities and incongruities that characterize a species are signs of an evolutionary history – something that would not be expected if a bird's wing, for instance, was engineered de novo, as argued by his detractors. The present model predicts that, in addition to vestiges which reflect an organism's evolutionary heritage, all the members of a given species will also bear the stamp of their isolationary past – arbitrary, random features, accumulated through founder effects, genetic drift and the other genetic consequences of sexual reproduction in small, isolated communities. Thus all lions, African and Asian, have a highly characteristic black tuft of fur at the end of their tails, which is difficult to explain in terms of an adaptation, or as a vestige from an early feline, or more ancient ancestor. The unique, often color- and pattern-rich plumage of each of today's wide variety of bird species presents a similar evolutionary enigma. This richly varied array of phenotypes is more easily explained as the products of isolates, subsequently defended by koinophilia, than as assemblies of very diverse evolutionary relics, or as sets of uniquely evolved adaptations. Evolution of co-operation Co-operation is any group behavior that benefits the individuals more than if they were to act as independent agents. However selfish individuals can exploit the co-operativeness of others by not taking part in the group activity, but still enjoying its benefits. For instance, a selfish individual which does not join the hunting pack and share in its risks, but nevertheless shares in the spoils, has a fitness advantage over the other members of the pack. Thus, although a group of co-operative individuals is fitter than an equivalent group of selfish individuals, selfish individuals interspersed among a community of co-operators are always fitter than their hosts. They will raise, on average, more offspring than their hosts, and will ultimately replace them. If, however, the selfish individuals are ostracized, and rejected as mates, because of their deviant and unusual behavior, then their evolutionary advantage becomes an evolutionary liability. Co-operation then becomes evolutionarily stable. Effects of diets and environmental conditions The best-documented creations of new species in the laboratory were performed in the late 1980s. William Rice and G.W. Salt bred fruit flies, Drosophila melanogaster, using a maze with three different choices of habitat, such as light/dark and wet/dry. Each generation was placed into the maze, and the groups of flies that came out of two of the eight exits were set apart to breed with each other in their respective groups. After thirty-five generations, the two groups and their offspring were isolated reproductively because of their strong habitat preferences: they mated only within the areas they preferred, and so did not mate with flies that preferred the other areas. The history of such attempts is described in Rice and Hostert (1993). Diane Dodd used a laboratory experiment to show how reproductive isolation can evolve in Drosophila pseudoobscura fruit flies after several generations by placing them in different media, starch- or maltose-based media. Dodd's experiment has been easy for many others to replicate, including with other kinds of fruit flies and foods. The carrion crow (Corvus corone) and hooded crow (Corvus cornix) are two closely related species whose geographical distribution across Europe is illustrated in the accompanying diagram. It is believed that this distribution might have resulted from the glaciation cycles during the Pleistocene, which caused the parent population to split into isolates which subsequently re-expanded their ranges when the climate warmed causing secondary contact. Jelmer W. Poelstra and coworkers sequenced almost the entire genomes of both species in populations at varying distances from the contact zone to find that the two species were genetically identical, both in their DNA and in its expression (in the form of RNA), except for the lack of expression of a small portion (<0.28%) of the genome (situated on avian chromosome 18) in the hooded crow, which imparts the lighter plumage coloration on its torso. Thus the two species can viably hybridize, and occasionally do so at the contact zone, but the all-black carrion crows on the one side of the contact zone mate almost exclusively with other all-black carrion crows, while the same occurs among the hooded crows on the other side of the contact zone. It is therefore clear that it is only the outward appearance of the two species that inhibits hybridization. The authors attribute this to assortative mating, the advantage of which is not clear, and it would lead to the rapid appearance of streams of new lineages, and possibly even species, through mutual attraction between mutants. Unnikrishnan and Akhila propose, instead, that koinophilia is a more precise explanation for the resistance to hybridization across the contact zone, despite the absence of physiological, anatomical or genetic barriers to such hybridization. Reception William B. Miller, in an extensive recent (2013) review of koinophilia theory, notes that while it provides precise explanations for the grouping of sexual animals into species, their unchanging persistence in the fossil record over long periods of time, and the phenotypic gaps between species, both fossil and extant, it represents a major departure from the widely accepted view that beneficial mutations spread, ultimately, to the whole, or some portion of the population (causing it to evolve gene by gene). Darwin recognized that this process had no inherent, or inevitable propensity to produce species. Instead populations would be in a perpetual state of transition both in time and space. They would, at any given moment, consist of individuals with varying numbers of beneficial characteristics that may or may not have reached them from their various points of origin in the population, and neutral features will have a scattering determined by random mechanisms such as genetic drift. He also notes that koinophilia provides no explanation as to how the physiological, anatomical and genetic causes of reproductive isolation come about. It is only the behavioral reproductive isolation that is addressed by koinophilia. It is furthermore difficult to see how koinophilia might apply to plants, and certain marine creatures that discharge their gametes into the environment to meet up and fuse, it seems, entirely randomly (within conspecific confines). However, when pollen from several compatible donors is used to pollinate stigmata, the donors typically do not sire equal numbers of seeds. Marshall and Diggle state that the existence of some kind of non-random seed paternity is, in fact, not in question in flowering plants. How this occurs remains unknown. Pollen choice is one of the possibilities, taking into account that 50% of the pollen grain's haploid genome is expressed during its tube's growth towards the ovule. The apparent preference of the females of certain, particularly bird, species for exaggerated male ornaments, such as the peacock's tail, is not easily reconciled with the concept of koinophilia. References Evolutionary biology Speciation Reproduction in animals Selection Population genetics Sexual selection Articles which contain graphical timelines

Lifestyle brand

A lifestyle brand is a brand that attempts to embody the values, aspirations, interests, attitudes, or opinions of a group or a culture for marketing purposes. Lifestyle brands seek to inspire, guide, and motivate people, with the goal of making their products contribute to the definition of the consumer's way of life. As such, they are closely associated with the advertising and other promotions used to gain mind share in their target market. They often operate from an ideology, hoping to attract a relatively high number of people and ultimately become a recognised social phenomenon. A lifestyle brand is an ideology created by a brand. An organisation achieves a lifestyle brand by evoking an emotional connection with its customers, creating a consumer desire to be affiliated with a particular group or brand. The consumer will believe that their identity will be reinforced if they publicly associate themselves with a particular lifestyle brand, for example by using a brand on social media. As individuals have different experiences, choices, and backgrounds (including social class, ethnicity, and culture), an organisation must understand to whom it directs its brand. By constructing a lifestyle brand ideology, an organisation's goal is to become a recognised social phenomenon. Lifestyle brand marketing uses market research to segment target markets based on psychographics rather than demographics. Definition Lifestyle brands operate from the idea that each individual has an identity based on their choices, experiences, and background (e.g., ethnicity, social class, subculture, nationality, etc.). Lifestyle brands evoke emotional connections between a consumer and that consumer's desire to affiliate him or herself with a group. Lifestyle brands are one of the possible ways of consumer self-expression: customers believe that their identity will be reinforced or supplemented if they publicly associate themselves with a lifestyle brand or other symbol-intensive brands. Factors that influence the consumer decision process Consumers continually face multiple decisions with regard to product choice due to many competing products. Aspects such as a product's attributes have been shown to be involved in the consumer decision process. A number of factors affect a consumer's choice of product brand, which influences their lifestyle. Consumers choose a brand that is acceptable to their self-image that they are trying to portray. Companies have to re-establish and reposition their products to ensure they meet the lifestyle a consumer is trying to obtain. They have an opportunity to refine their target market which would limit competition due to a reduced number in consumers who would be attracted to their specific brand because of the way they might perceive their lifestyle. Consumers evaluate product attributes as opposed to a case by case assessment. There is the need for brands to be understood and how they can be influential with regard to consumer's decision making considerations. Three processes are intertwined in choice behaviour: psychological, sociological, and economic processes. Within these three processes lifestyle of the consumer also becomes intertwined with consumers tending to choose a brand they feel is congruent with their self-image, their identity – who they feel they are and what they connect with the most. P Vyncke suggests that a consumer's values, goals, and vision for their life, along with aesthetic style all reflect individual lifestyle. Consumer self-expression Consumers use brands to express their identity. The need for self-expression can be related to the need for acceptance within society and the societal view on brands and how different brands portray income or wealth. Lifestyle brands allow customers to express themselves and portray their identity and lifestyle. Lifestyle brands in particular portray a type of meaning that allows a particular reference group to attach themselves based on their lifestyle, values or beliefs. Perceived brand value If a consumer loves fashion this will have a positive effect on his/her willingness to pay for a luxury, top-end brand. In order for a lifestyle brand to be successful and dominate market share it needs to enhance customers experiences and provide more than just a product. Consumers are more willing and likely to purchase a brand that establishes itself as to value and satisfaction. Brand value is defined as comparing focal brands with unbranded products that have had the same level or same ways of marketing to consumers, as well as adopting the same product attributes. Luxury brands target those that have an extreme lifestyle. Price is never a factor. Three categories are identified as measuring brand value: brand loyalty, perceived value and brand awareness/association. Consumers associate themselves with luxury fashion brands to portray their lifestyle and separate them from the rest. Social value is an aspect that relates to consumers' desire to obtain luxury brands that they hope will offer them a symbolic part of a group or culture. There are emotional factors that are connected to the consumption of a luxury brand: for example those that bring pleasure or excitement. Consumers who purchase luxury brands tend to have a strong social function within their social class. Retail brands Lifestyle retail branding is the way in which retailers refine their products or services to interest lifestyles in specific market segments. Examples of lifestyle retail brands include the now defunct Laura Ashley, GAP and Benetton. These retailers offer a distinct and recognised set of values to consumers. Over time, a number of retailers have come up with their own brand strategies and are now seen as lifestyle retail brands because they are targeting consumers who adopt their brand to align themselves with a lifestyle they want to obtain. Psychology It is important for an organisation to understand its brand's role amongst consumers. To achieve this, an organisation must use the following aspects of the lifestyle brand model. Brand categorisation This is defined as a consumer sorting products or brands into categories, based on their past experiences with that brand. It is used to avoid confusion, as consumers may be overwhelmed when comparing one product with an extensive range of other brands of the same product. Categorisation helps consumers evaluate the quality of the product. For example, a consumer may choose to purchase an Apple iPhone over a Huawei mobile phone, as they may believe that the iPhone has a better camera quality. Brand affect This aspect is defined as the effect or influence a brand may have upon an organisation and its consumers. For example, Whole Foods can affect a consumer by going the extra mile to offer organic foods products that suit that particular consumer's needs. Brand personality This is when a brand encompasses a consistent set of traits in which the consumer can relate. For example, Crossfit is a lifestyle brand which encompasses the idea of pushing yourself for your fitness. This idea is consistent on a global level. Through this lifestyle, consumers or participants have the opportunity to feel a part of a group of healthy, motivated fitness fanatics. Brand symbolism This is defined as the strong symbolism that a brand transmits to its consumers, which is adopted for its social benefits. It allows consumers to feel as though they can express themselves through a form of identity, whilst being provided with a sense of belonging to a group. For example, Tiffany & Co. are a jewellery brand which offer affordable and expensive, high-quality jewellery products. When a person sees a consumer wearing its product in public, that person may aim to own a piece of Tiffany & Co. jewellery themselves, with the aim to seek social benefits or fit into a particular group. Brand attachment Attachment is brought about when people form an emotional connection between themselves and a brand. For example, Coca-Cola uses advertisements to portray its happy lifestyle to consumers. These advertisements are used to form an emotional connection with the audience. Through the use of the "Open happiness" slogan, consumers may believe that by purchasing and consuming a Coca-Cola drink, they will feel like they are happy and having fun. Examples While some lifestyle brands purposely reference existing groups or cultures, others create a disruption within the status quo and propose an innovative viewpoint on the world. The driving force may be the product, the shopping experience, the service, the communication or a combination of these elements. These are often result from visionary goals of the CEO or founder. Early on, Apple's founder Steve Jobs sought to integrate the company's innovations into the industries of music, entertainment, and telecommunications. In 2002, he gifted each 7th- and 8th-grader in the state of Maine with a laptop, in an effort to show that it wasn't "about the technology, it's about what people can do with it." Lee Clow—the chairman of Omnicom Group's TBWA Worldwide and Apple marketing partner—said that Jobs had "a very rigorous view of Apple's tone of voice and the way it talks with people," calling it "very human, very accessible." Burton has built its lifestyle brand by drawing on the snowboarding subculture and Quiksilver has done the same with the surfing community. Some lifestyle brands align themselves with an ideology. Patagonia proposes an environmentally friendly way of life. Volcom, with the promise "Youth Against Establishment", gives a label and a sense of belonging to those who are "against" the world of adults. One popular source for lifestyle brands is also national identity. Victoria's Secret purposely evoked the English upper class in its initial branding efforts, while Burberry is recalling the hip London culture. Social or personal image is also a reference point for some lifestyle brands. In the 1990s, Abercrombie & Fitch successfully resuscitated a 1950s ideal —the white, masculine "beefcake"— during a time of political correctness and rejection of 1950s orthodoxy, creating a lifestyle brand based on a preppy, young, Ivy-League lifestyle. Their retail outlets reflect this lifestyle through their luxurious store environment, attractive store associates (models), and their black and white photographs featuring young people "living the Abercrombie & Fitch lifestyle". In doing so, Abercrombie & Fitch has created an outlet for those who lead, or wish to lead or wish to dream about leading this lifestyle. Companies like home furnishing associate themselves with the term "lifestyle branding" when they are developing their brand portfolio. A furniture company is likely to align new product lines with lifestyle collections that are associated with fashion icons, celebrities and well-known interior designers. For consumers this is reassuring and entices them to purchase home furnishings to be like these iconic influencers. Furniture companies have said that it helps them connect with those consumers who associate other categories with these celebrities. It is their way of tapping into new markets that have not yet been reached. Companies that have celebrity names associated with them provides a certain degree of guarantee to the brand. A company called Doman Home Furnishings launched a campaign about food and kitchen products to enhance its brand as a lifestyle choice. The campaign used models which had a caption along the lines of 'a slice of life'. This allowed consumers to gain a good understanding of the brand and the lifestyle that it could offer. Home furnishing companies use lifestyle merchandising to promote brand extension. Furthermore, the brand is communicated to consumers through using a designer who is associated with also creating fashion-apparel products. Therefore, this creates a connection between the fashion and homeware brands for these consumers are already associating with or are familiar with the fashion-apparel products. Expansion One key indication that a brand has become a lifestyle is when it successfully expands beyond its original product. For example, Nike used to be a product-based company, focusing on making running shoes. But over time, the company and its logo has become associated with the athletic subculture. That has allowed Nike to expand into related athletic categories, such as sports equipment and apparel. Gaiam started out as a yoga company but has had great success in developing a lifestyle brand, which has allowed it to move into other markets as varied as solar power and green building supplies. Nautica started out as a collection of 6 outerwear pieces but built itself into a global lifestyle brand by having collections for men, women, kids, home and accessories. A company's status as a lifestyle brand isn't achieved by providing a wide range of products but by the benefit and symbolic value that the customer associates with the brand. See also Symbol-intensive brand Status symbol Coolhunting References Brand management Types of branding Lifestyle

Visual Arts (company)

, formerly and previously spelled in English as VisualArt's, is a Japanese publishing company which specializes in publishing and distributing visual novels for a large list of game developers. Visual Arts has developed game engines their brands currently use, including the current engine, called Siglus, and older engines RealLive and AVG32. Visual Arts also handles the distribution of these games. The games published are mostly for a male audience, though they also publish games targeted towards women as well. They are well known for publishing games developed by Key, such as Kanon, Air, and Clannad. The company has coined a new type of visual novel called the kinetic novel where unlike in visual novels where the player is periodically given choices to make, there are no choices whatsoever and the player watches the game progress as if it were a movie. One of Key's games entitled Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet was the first game produced under the kinetic novel name. In addition to games, Visual Arts also releases music CDs for video game music. Of special note among the artists sold under this label is I've Sound, a techno/trance music production group who was the first in the adult game industry to perform at the Nippon Budokan in October 2005. Visual Arts is also involved with transplanting games they have previously published to be playable on mobile phones. Prototype manages this portion of Visual Arts known as . Visual Arts launched a web magazine called Visualstyle on October 26, 2007. Visual Arts launched a YouTube channel called Visual Channel in July 2008 where videos are posted which are related to the games and companies under Visual Arts. In October 2008, Visual Arts launched their VA Bunko light novel imprint, which includes light novels based on games produced by brands under Visual Arts. Visual Arts' president Takahiro Baba announced retirement in July 2023, passing on his role to Genki Tenkumo (also known as Tōya Okano) and transferred his share to Tencent, making Visual Arts a child company of Tencent. Partner companies Game brands 13 cm Amedeo Anfini B_Works Bonbee! Catwalk Concept Dress E.G.O. Elysion Flady Frill Garden G-clef Ham Ham Soft Hadashi Shōjo Hayashigumi Image Craft Issue Jidaiya Key KineticNovel Kur-Mar-Ter KuroCo Lapis Lazuli LimeLight Mana Miss Chifu Moe. Ningyou Yuugisya Ocelot OPTiM Pass Guard Pekoe Playm Radi Realdeal Rex Rio Saga Planets Sirius Spray Studio Mebius Tone Work's Zero Zion Music related Cure Records fripSide I've Sound Key Sounds Label OTSU Queens Label Defunct Akiko Akumi Craftwork Culotte D-XX Giant Panda Harvest Kamen Shōkai Manbō Soft Miyabi Otherwise Ram Tamachadō Words References External links Visual Arts product website Visual Arts Motto official website Visual Channel at YouTube VA Bunko official website Tencent Games Japanese companies established in 1991 Video game companies established in 1991 Amusement companies of Japan Video game development companies Video game companies of Japan Key (company) Book publishing companies of Japan Japanese subsidiaries of foreign companies 2023 mergers and acquisitions

Postminimalism

Postminimalism is an art term coined (as post-minimalism) by Robert Pincus-Witten in 1971 and used in various artistic fields for work which is influenced by, or attempts to develop and go beyond, the aesthetic of minimalism. The expression is used specifically in relation to music and the visual arts, but can refer to any field using minimalism as a critical reference point. In music, postminimalism refers to music following minimal music. Visual art Postminimalist visual art uses minimalism either as a conceptual art aesthetic or a generative art practice. Like Fluxus, Postminimalism is more of an artistic tendency than a particular style, but in general, postminimalist artworks often use everyday objects, simple materials, and sometimes take on a pure formalist aesthetics or post-conceptual approaches. However, since postminimalism includes such a diverse and disparate group of artists, it is impossible to enumerate all the continuities and similarities between them. But as two opposing examples, take the work of Eva Hesse and her use of modern art grids and minimalist seriality that were usually hand-made, introducing a human element into minimalism in contrast to the machine fabrication more typical of the minimalism of someone like Carl Andre. Richard Serra was another prominent postminimalist though his large metal sculptures are completely machine made. Music In its general musical usage, "postminimalism" refers to works influenced by minimal music, and it is generally categorized within the meta-genre art music. Writer Kyle Gann has employed the term more strictly to denote the style that flourished in the 1980s and 1990s and characterized by: a steady pulse, usually continuing throughout a work or movement; a diatonic pitch language, tonal in effect but avoiding traditional functional tonality; general evenness of dynamics, without strong climaxes or nuanced emotionalism; and unlike minimalism, an avoidance of obvious or linear formal design. Minimalist procedures such as additive and subtractive process are common in postminimalism, though usually in disguised form, and the style has also shown a capacity for absorbing influences from world and popular music (Balinese gamelan, bluegrass, Jewish cantillation, and so on). See also Holy minimalism Lyrical Abstraction Neo-expressionism New York School Fluxus Casualism Conceptual art Appropriation (art) Institutional Critique Postmodern art Post-conceptualism Art software Computer art Internet art Electronic art Systems art Cyberarts New Media New Media Art Computer generated music Generative art Monochrome painting Neo-minimalism Timbral listening Totalism (music) References External links Minimal Music, Maximal Impact by Kyle Gann © 2001 NewMusicBox A Discography of Postminimal, Totalist, and Rare Minimalist Music by Kyle Gann MINUS SPACE reductive art 1971 neologisms 20th-century classical music Contemporary classical music Contemporary art movements 1970s in art 1980s in art 1990s in art

Biopiracy

Biopiracy (also known as scientific colonialism) is the unauthorized appropriation of knowledge and genetic resources of farming and indigenous communities by individuals or institutions seeking exclusive monopoly control through patents or intellectual property. While bioprospecting is the act of exploring natural resources for undiscovered chemical compounds with medicinal or anti-microbial properties, commercial success from bioprospecting leads to the company's attempt at protecting their intellectual property rights on indigenous medicinal plants, seeds, genetic resources, and traditional medicines. Moreover, if biological resources and traditional knowledge are taken from indigenous or marginalized groups, the commercialization of their natural resource can harm communities. Despite the medicinal and innovative benefits of bioprospecting and biochemical research, the expropriation of indigenous land for their genetic resources without fair compensation inevitably leads to exploitation. Biopiracy can harm indigenous populations in multiple ways. Without proper compensation or reward for traditional knowledge of natural resources, the sudden increase in commercial value of the species producing the active compound can make it now unaffordable for the native people. In some cases, a patent filed by the western company could prohibit the use or sale of the resource by any individual or institution, including the indigenous group. With nearly one third of all small-molecule drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) between 1981 and 2014 being either natural products or compounds derived from natural products, bioprospecting or piracy is growing more significantly, especially in the pharmaceutical industry. Furthermore, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) mentions, in the context of intangible cultural heritage (ICH), that the medicinal traditions and knowledge of the Kallawaya communities in Peru have been affected by the lack of legal protection from pharmaceutical companies. A number of research projects are currently being developed on this subject, such as the research carried out using digital methods on the biopiracy of traditional medicines, which shows the current context of the problem by developing a description and analysis of the data, and by visualising and mapping the various organisations and actors in the social networks. With the advancement of extraction techniques of genetic material in biochemistry and molecular biology, scientists are now able to identify a specific gene, which directs to enzymes capable of converting one molecule to another. This scientific breakthrough brings up the question of whether the organism containing the gene that has been modified through a series of tests and experiments should be accredited to the country of origin. History Colonial implications Biopiracy is historically associated with colonialism, where developing resource-rich countries and indigenous populations would be exploited without permission. Since the arrival of European settlers in search of gold, silver, and rare spices, the wealth of knowledge on plant-based riches was highly valued. Following Marco Polo's journey through Southwestern India and China, Christopher Columbus expanded upon the "Spice Route" with the help of the Spanish Court. These explorers, amongst hundreds more, share an infamous history of pillaging through indigenous villages and depriving countries of their natural resources. Western food and pharmaceutical companies have profited immensely from these efforts. Valuable commodities like sugar, pepper, quinine, and coffee were all taken from colonized countries that led to environmental destructions in the corresponding developing countries. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) of 1947 was an effort to encourage international trade by reducing or eliminating trade barriers like tariffs or quotas. Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) was negotiated at the end of GATT. Similarly, Columbus set a precedent in 1492 through land titles granted by European kings and queens, which acted as a sort of patent for colonizers. The World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement of TRIPS attempts to signal the importance of maintaining a balance between trade and intellectual property. This agreement, since 1994, requires WTO member countries to develop legal frameworks to protect plant and animal resources in agricultural, pharmaceutical, chemical, textile, or other commodity contexts. Several countries have criticized this agreement, claiming that it's counterproductive in protecting their natural resources. The Eurocentric roots of property claiming and piracy are reinforced by modern Intellectual Property laws established by GATT and WTO which supplements the colonial ideas to "discover and conquer" and to "subdue, occupy, and possess." Environmental activist and food sovereignty advocate Vandana Shiva calls patenting and claiming rights to genetic material and bio-resources "the second coming of Columbus" due to its reinforcement of colonial power dynamics. For example, the intellectual property for Indian products like tamarind, turmeric, and Darjeeling tea have been taken and patented by private corporations in historically colonial countries. More specifically, in 2010 The University of Michigan attempted to patent curcumin, the active ingredient of turmeric powder, to create drugs used for wound healing without directly crediting Indian communities, where turmeric was traditionally used in medicine for treating wounds, infections and skin problems for centuries. "Gene Rush" in Sri Lanka The "Gene Rush" is the new era of biotechnology that allows scientists to extract specific genes from living organisms as raw materials. With the introduction of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) research, Sri Lanka has been marked with imminent danger as a target of biopiracy. Spotted in the top 34 biodiversity hotspots, Sri Lanka claims the highest biodiversity per unit area of terrestrial among Asian countries. Currently, Sri Lanka has 1,500 identified species of medicinal herbs and plants, and its attraction to biopiracy has put environment protection and conservation at a significant priority in the country. Recent efforts were enacted by United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in collaboration with the Spice Council and the government of Sri Lanka to enhance the productive capacities and competitiveness of the cinnamon value chain in the country. Terminology "Biopiracy" was coined in the early 1990s by Pat Mooney, founder of ETC Group which works to protect the world's most vulnerable people from socioeconomic and environmental impacts of new, modern technologies. He defines it as when researchers or research organizations take biological resources without official sanction, largely from less affluent countries or marginalized people. Biopiracy includes theft or misappropriation of genetic resources and traditional knowledge through the intellectual property system and unauthorized and uncompensated collection of genetic resources for commercial purposes. Mooney, along with other critics of the patent system, believes that the current intellectual property system creates inequities in the system by allowing wealthy and powerful groups of people to own the most basic building blocks of life. Intellectual Property and international law Intellectual property (IP) rights include patents, copyright, industrial design rights, trademarks, plant variety rights, trade dress, geographical indications, and sometimes trade secrets. Intellectual property rights (IPR) were created to promote and reward scientific knowledge and creativity. However, they naturally weigh towards benefiting transnational corporations. Restrictions in favor of corporations Early intellectual property treaties were crafted in the late 19th century by European powers, and inherently ignored large parts of the impact of intellectual property on non-European peoples, cultures, and traditions. In the late 20th century, more inequalities were added to the intellectual property system, representing a shift from common rights to private rights of knowledge. The preamble of TRIPS agreement acknowledges these rights as private rights. By privatizing intellectual commons, TRIPS encourages corporate monopoly. A second restriction comes from the fact that IP rights are only recognized when they generate profit, rather than then when they meet social needs. The TRIPS agreement clarifies that an innovation must be capable of industrial profit in order to be recognized as an IPR, which discourages recognition of social good. Legal framework against biopiracy in relation to genetic resources and traditional knowledge In parallel, the international community has been working on different legal pathways to rebalance the intellectual property system in favour of indigenous peoples and local communities, in an attempt to address concerns related to biopiracy. 1992–2010: Biodiversity Convention in Rio & Protocol in Nagoya First elements related to genetic resources and traditional knowledge were included in the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). In 2010 (in force 2014), the Nagoya protocol to the CBD created actionable mechanisms to ensure a fair access and benefit-sharing (FABS or ABS) of genetic resources (GR). 2023: High Seas Treaty in New York In June 2023, the UN adopted the United Nations agreement on biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement), also called "High Seas Treaty". It concerns the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction, following maritime jurisdictions established under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. 2024: GRATK Treaty in Geneva Since 2001, the World Intellectual Property Organization through its Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) has worked on several areas to bridge the gaps in international law in relation to biopiracy in genetic resources, traditional knowledge (TK), and traditional cultural expressions (TCE, formerly called "folklore"). The first output from the work of the IGC was a Diplomatic Conference, held in May 2024 to agree on a treaty for patent disclosures requirements in relation to "GR and Associated TK" (hence the treaty's acronym, GRATK). On 24 May 2024, the WIPO Diplomatic Conference finally adopted the "landmark" WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge (GRATK), which was signed by 30 countries on the day of its conclusion. Examples Neem tree In the arid areas of India, the neem tree, or Azadirachta indica, is a fast-growing evergreen of up to 20 meters in height. From its roots to leaves, the tree contains a number of potent chemical compounds, including azadirachtin which can be found in the seeds. The neem tree has applications in medicine, toiletries, contraception, timber, fuel, and in agriculture. Historically, access to the neem tree's various products has been free or cheap. There are about 14 million neem trees in India, and the centuries old village techniques of seed oil extraction and pesticidal emulsions do not require expensive equipment. Villagers relied on the large number of different medicinal compounds accessible through the neem material which were commonly available. When US timber importer Robert Larson noticed the tree's usefulness in 1971, he conducted research over the next decade on the pesticidal properties in the neem extract called Margosan-O. After gaining clearance for the product from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1985, he sold the patent for the product to W.R. Grace. While the corporation patented the neem tree seed extract for their antifungal spray, Neemex in 1994, neem extracts have been used by rural farmers in India for more than 2,000 years in insect repellants. Challenge against patent India-based Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Ecology (RFSTE) challenged the US patent with the claim that the qualities of the neem tree and their use had been known in India for over 2,000 years. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) reported to US Congress in justification of the patent claiming that the synthetic form or the process of synthesis of the naturally occurring compound should be patentable. The patent was finally overturned by the EPO in 2000. The village neem tree has become a symbol of Indian Indigenous knowledge and resistance against transnational corporations, and protestors against international property rights legislation carried twigs or branches of neem. Hoodia The Hoodia plant of the Kalahari Desert was used for thousands of years by the nomadic San people in southern Africa to help survive through hunger and thirst during their long expeditions in the desert. In 2016, the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) gained a government-funded patent for a new drug (P57) derived from the succulent for its appetite-suppressing qualities. CSIR scientists isolated the P57 molecule in 1996 after decades of research on indigenous plants. The patented formula was sold to western pharmaceutical multinational companies Pfizer and Phytopharm as a miracle drug for weight loss. Challenge against patent Following the confirmation of the patent, representatives of the San people, backed by the global support of patent-law critics and bioethicists, demanded restitution of their rights to their common intellectual property. After a long dispute, CSIR and the San people came to a confidential 'benefit-sharing' agreement where the San people were given royalties, knowledge exchange and creation of jobs from the industry. Pineapple leather Piña cloth, in the nineteenth century, was a creation unique to the Philippines. With fibers collected from the leaves of pineapples, the weaving mechanism of piña is a complex and labor-intensive process used by a small number of women to dress the country's elite. Scraping, the most common method of extracting pineapple leaf fibre (PALF), starts with carefully removing the prickles, epidermis, and pulp from the sides of the leaf with a dull knife. This is followed by exposing the fiber and finely combing it to separate the strands. With the help of a bamboo device, the separated strands are then threaded and weaved together through a delicate process to create a continuous filament. After some years of research and development of potential leather alternatives at the Royal College of Art in London, Dr. Carmen Hijosa, founder and chief creative innovation officer of Ananas Anam, claimed the rights to Piñatex, a leather alternative made from PALF. The patent on this technology makes it nearly impossible for the people of the Philippines and indigenous people to gain credit for the fabric that greatly impacted the shape of their history and culture for generations. Piñatex recently partnered with Dole, promising scaled-up leather production with the waste product from their pineapple farms in the Philippines. Despite the violent history of the Dole Empire, Piñatex has been expanding its market by collaborating with brands like Chanel, H&M, and Nike. The patent remains to this day. Corporate greenwashing Greenwashing is a term coined by environmentalist Jay Westervelt in 1986, meaning the false claims by companies that give the impression of sustainability and environmentalism. Without clarifying the metrics and quantifiable goal of the company's environmental agenda, many big companies attempt to paint the picture of ethical and eco-friendly images. Resources and materials pirated from indigenous communities are often commodified and recycled into corporate environmentalist agendas. Due to the exploitative nature of the fast fashion supply chain, many 'green' collections released by corporations only promote their marketing strategies and increase problems with textile waste and climate change. Nike received backlash after the 2020 Impact Report which showed the lack of sustainability in footwear. To tackle the feedback, Nike launched the Happy Pineapple Collection featuring Ananas Anam's vegan leather material and a tropical fruit design embroidered across the Air Max 90, the Air Max 95, Air Force One, and Air-Zoom collections. The Conscious Collection released by H&M in 2010 also partners with Ananas Anam to produce vegan leather jackets. Due to inconclusive data on Piñatex biodegradability, the Norwegian Consumer Authority accused the brand of misleading customers with vague details of the sustainability claims made. The brand responded by saying they would accept the criticism and communicate the extra value. New efforts The Convention on Biological Diversity created by the United Nations in 1992 demanded that bioprospecting should not be done without the consent of the host country. The convention concluded that exploitation of local resources for medicinal and pharmaceutical purposes should actively involve local traditional communities and the produced profit and benefits be shared in an equitable way. The International Cooperative Biodiversity Group (ICBG) is a network of bioprospecting projects funded by the US government. While the main objective is to discover and research plants bearing chemical compounds that could cure diseases in the United States, the countries hosting the searches can expect equitable rewards and benefits. Local job creation in communities is promoted by conducting the initial extraction and analysis steps in local laboratories. If the research leads to commercialized drugs, 50% of the royalties are invested into community development funds run by indigenous people. See also Intellectual property Bioprospecting Greenwashing Neo-colonial science References Biotechnology Population genetics

Ephemeral art

Ephemeral art is the name given to all artistic expression conceived under a concept of transience in time, of non-permanence as a material and conservable work of art. Because of its perishable and transitory nature, ephemeral art (or temporary art) does not leave a lasting work, or if it does – as would be the case with fashion – it is no longer representative of the moment in which it was created. In these expressions, the criterion of social taste is decisive, which is what sets the trends, for which the work of the media is essential, as well as that of art criticism. Regardless of the fact that any artistic expression may or may not be enduring in time, and that many works conceived under the criteria of durability may disappear in a short period of time for any undetermined circumstance, ephemeral art has in its genesis a component of transience, of fleeting object or expression in time. It is a passing, momentary art, conceived for instantaneous consumption. Based on this assumption, the ephemeral arts are those whose nature is not to last in time, or those that are constantly changing and fluctuating. Within this genre, expressions such as fashion, hairdressing, perfumery, gastronomy and pyrotechnics can be considered ephemeral arts, as well as various manifestations of body art such as tattooing and piercing. The concept of ephemeral art would also include the various forms of so-called action art, such as happening, performance, environment and installation, or conceptual art, such as body art and land art, as well as other expressions of popular culture, such as graffiti. Finally, within architecture there is also a typology of constructions that are usually expressed as ephemeral architecture, since they are conceived as transitory buildings that fulfil a function restricted to a period of time. Temporary art is usually displayed outdoors at public landmarks or in unexpected places. Temporary art is often promoted by cities, or featured in conjunction with events or festivals. Fundamentals of ephemeral art The ephemeral nature of certain artistic expressions is above all a subjective concept subject to the very definition of art, a controversial term open to multiple meanings, which have oscillated and evolved over time and geographic space, since the term "art" has not been understood in the same way in all times and places. Art is a component of culture, reflecting in its conception the economic and social substrates, and the transmission of ideas and values, inherent in any human culture across space and time. However, the definition of art is open, subjective, debatable; there is no unanimous agreement among historians, Philosophers or Artists. In classical Greco-Roman antiquity, one of the main cradles of Western civilisation and the first culture to reflect on art, art was considered to be a human ability in any productive field, practically a synonym for "skill". In the 2nd century Galen divided art into liberal arts and vulgar arts, according to whether they had an intellectual or manual origin. The liberal arts included grammar, rhetoric and dialectics – which formed the trivium – and arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music – which formed the quadrivium; the vulgar arts included architecture, sculpture and painting, but also other activities that are nowadays considered Crafts. In the 16th century, architecture, painting and sculpture began to be seen as activities that required not only craft and skill, but also a kind of intellectual conception that made them superior to other kinds of crafts. Thus was born the modern concept of art, which during the Renaissance acquired the name of arti del disegno (arts of design), since it was understood that this activity – designing – was the main activity in the genesis of works of art. Later, expressions such as music, poetry and dance were considered artistic activities, and in 1746 Charles Batteux established in The Fine Arts Reduced to a Single Principle the current conception of Fine arts, a term that has become successful and has survived to the present day. However, attempts to establish some basic criteria as to which expressions can be considered art and which cannot have been somewhat unsuccessful, producing in a way the opposite effect and accentuating even more the lack of definition of art, which today is an open and interpretable concept, where many formulas and conceptions fit, although a minimum common denominator based on aesthetic and expressive qualities, as well as a component of creativity, is generally accepted. Currently, to the traditional classification of the arts, certain critics and historians have added expressions such as photography, cinematography, comics, theatre, television, fashion, advertising, animation, Video games, etc., and there is still some disagreement about other types of expressive activities. An essential aspect in the genesis of art is its social component, the interrelationship between artist and spectator, between the work and its consumer. A work of art responds to social and cultural criteria, of space and time, outside of which, even if it endures as a physical object, it loses its conceptual significance, the reason for which it was created. Even so, Human beings have always been eager to collect and keep these objects for their unique and unrepeatable qualities, as documents of eras that endure in the memory, and which represent genuine expressions of the peoples and cultures that have succeeded one another over time. Precisely, the collectible nature of certain objects, as opposed to others that are more quickly consumed, represented a first barrier between the classification of certain expressions as art and not others, often pejoratively referred to as "fashion", "ornament", "entertainment" and similar terms. Museums and art academies, responsible for the conservation and dissemination of art, were also in charge of sponsoring and giving priority to some artistic expressions over others, and while paintings and sculptures entered these institutions without any problem, other objects or creations of various kinds were relegated to oblivion after having fulfilled their momentary function, or at most remained in the memory through written testimonies or documents attesting to their existence. There has long been speculation about the artisticity of ephemeral expressions, about whether the ephemeral character of art and beauty can devalue these concepts. The devaluation of the ephemeral begins with Plato, for whom beautiful things were not enduring, since the only eternal thing is the "idea of the beautiful". Similarly, Christianity – from which all medieval aesthetics emanated – rejected physical beauty as transient, since the only immutable beauty was that of God. From the 19th century, however, a change of attitude towards ephemeral beauty began to take place, and it began to be valued for its intrinsic qualities. The Romantics valued 'what will never be seen twice', and Goethe went so far as to assert that only the ephemeral is beautiful: 'Why am I ephemeral, O Zeus? says Beauty / I do not make beautiful, says Zeus, any more than the ephemeral' (The Seasons). Although various manifestations that can be considered as ephemeral art have existed since the beginnings of human artistic expressivity – it could even be considered as something inherent to a certain conception of art – it was in the 20th century when these forms of expression acquired a great boom. Contemporary aesthetics has presented a great diversity of trends, in parallel with the atomisation of styles produced in 20th century art. Both aesthetics and art today reflect cultural and philosophical ideas that were emerging at the turn of the 19th–20th century, in many cases contradictory: the overcoming of the rationalist ideas of the Enlightenment and the move towards more subjective and individual concepts, starting with the Romantic movement and crystallising in the work of authors such as Kierkegaard and Nietzsche, represent a break with tradition and a rejection of classical beauty. The concept of reality was questioned by the new scientific theories: the subjectivity of time (Bergson), Einstein's relativity, quantum mechanics, Freud's theory of psychoanalysis, etc. On the other hand, the new technologies changed the function of art, since photography and cinema were already in charge of capturing reality. All these factors produced the genesis of the new trends in contemporary art: abstract art, action and conceptual art, ephemeral art, where the artist no longer tries to reflect reality, but his inner world, to express his feelings. In the 20th century, movements such as futurism exalted the ephemeral nature of art, with Marinetti writing that "nothing seems to me more base and petty than to think of immortality in creating a work of art" (Futurism, 1911). Even the visionary architect Antonio Sant'Elia advocated building houses that "would last less than the architects" (Manifesto of Futurist Architecture, 1914). A new sensibility thus emerged whereby works of art acquired an autonomy of their own, evolving and transforming over time in parallel with the viewer's perception of them. In this context, the artist is merely an artificer who sets the conditions for the work to follow its own destiny. Contemporary art is intimately linked to society, to the evolution of social concepts, such as mechanicism and the devaluation of time and beauty. It is an art that stands out for its instantaneousness, it needs little time for perception. Today's art has continuous oscillations of taste, it changes simultaneously: just as classical art was based on a metaphysics of immutable ideas, today's art, with its Kantian roots, finds taste in the social awareness of pleasure (mass culture). In a more materialistic, more consumerist society, art addresses itself to the senses, not the intellect. Thus the concept of fashion, a combination of the speed of communication and the consumerist aspect of today's civilisation, became particularly relevant. The speed of consumption wears down the work of art, causing taste to oscillate, which loses its universality and personal tastes predominate. Thus, the latest artistic trends have even lost interest in the artistic object: traditional art was an art of the object, today's art is an art of the concept. There is a revaluation of active art, of action, of spontaneous, ephemeral, non-commercial art. Finally, it is worth remembering that the perception of the ephemeral is not appreciated in the same way in Western art as in other fields and other cultures, in the same way that not all civilisations have the same concept of art. One of the countries where the fleeting and momentary character of life and its cultural representations is most highly valued is Japan: art in Japanese culture has a great sense of introspection and of the interrelation between human beings and nature, represented equally in the objects that surround them, from the most ornate and emphatic to the most simple and everyday. This is evident in the value given to imperfection, to the ephemeral nature of things, to the emotional sense that the Japanese establish with their surroundings. Thus, for example, in the tea ceremony, the Japanese value the calm and tranquillity of this state of contemplation that they achieve with a simple ritual, based on simple elements and a harmony that comes from an asymmetrical and unfinished space. For the Japanese, peace and harmony are associated with warmth and comfort, qualities which in turn reflect their concept of beauty. Even when it comes to eating, it is not the quantity of food or its presentation that matters, but the sensory perception of the food and the aesthetic sense they attach to any act. Public awareness Temporary art has been a way to introduce the public to art. The installation of temporary art is also used in conjunction with events or festivals. Occasionally temporary art can be used to raise public awareness or it can be used to create fleeting beauty. Occasionally it is displayed in unexpected places. Occasionally events or festivals will invite temporary art. The 2022 International Nature and Environment Festival is coupled with a Trash Art International Festival in Gödöllő Hungary. It is an example of a film festival which invites temporary art with an environmental theme. Southern Hemisphere The mid to late 1970s saw a flurry of ephemeral (temporary art) conceptual art, intervention art, performance art and environmental art in New Zealand mainly centered in Wellington but also in Auckland and Christchurch largely the work of students emerging from University art schools, the National art Gallery of New Zealand and the Artists co-op. Notable temporary art 1966 Yoko Ono’s Apple - the exhibit is an apple on a piece of plexiglass. Ono has said, “There is the excitement of the apple decomposing, and then the decision whether or not to replace it, of just thinking of the beauty of the apple after it’s gone.” 1990 Damien Hirst created a work of art or installation which could be considered temporary: It was entitled A Thousand Years, and it was a large glass case containing maggots and flies feeding on a rotting cow's head. 2000's Brazilian sculptor Néle Azevedo places small human figures made of ice at landmarks. Some think the artist is making a statement about global warming. He has also used the melting figures to commemorate World War 1. 2011 sculptor Urs Fischer created an untitled wax sculpture. Over the course of five months the sculpture melted. 2015 Hungarian artist Ervin Hervé-Lóránth constructs temporary giant human figures out of polystyrene (see popped up) and calls them works of "public surprise". Banksy is an example of an artist who creates temporary art. Much of it takes the form of Graffiti which is seen by many people before being removed by municipalities or ruined by other graffiti. Sometimes his works are removed by others in order to sell. A famous piece of temporary art by Banksy was a framed piece which was auctioned by Sotheby's and was shredded shortly after purchase. See also Ephemeral architecture Spanish Baroque ephemeral architecture Falla monuments are satirical sculptures burnt in the Fallas festival of Valencia, Spain References Bibliography Further reading External links Temporary art Portland Maine Temporary Art Santa Clarita Temporary Art Program New York City Ephemera Art

Artes mechanicae

Artes mechanicae (mechanical arts) are a medieval concept of ordered practices or skills, often juxtaposed to the traditional seven liberal arts (artes liberales). Also called "servile" and "vulgar", from antiquity they had been deemed "unbecoming" for a free man, as they minister to basic needs. Overview Johannes Scotus Eriugena (9th century) divided them into seven parts: (tailoring, weaving) (agriculture) (architecture, masonry) and (warfare and hunting, military education, "martial arts") (trade) (cooking) (blacksmithing, metallurgy) Leonardo Da Vinci developed the mechanical form of painting in which a synthesis of Roman and Greek forms of art was attempted. The paint was manipulated in a number of different ways each driven by ideas surrounding process, materiality and chance encounters. The unique display of forms and colours were brought together by the artist's hand but manipulated though the use of machines or natures forces. In his Didascalicon, Hugh of St Victor (12th century) includes navigation, medicine and theatrical arts instead of commerce, agriculture and cooking. Hugh's treatment somewhat elevates the mechanical arts as ordained to the improvement of humanity, a promotion which was to represent a growing trend among late medievals. The classification of the as applied geometry was introduced to Western Europe by Dominicus Gundissalinus (12th century) under the influence of his readings in Arabic scholarship. In the 19th century, "mechanic arts" referred to some of the fields that are now known as engineering. Use of the term was apparently an attempt to distinguish these fields from creative and artistic endeavors like the performing arts and the fine arts, which were for the upper class of the time, and the intelligentsia. The mechanic arts were also considered practical fields for those that did not come from good families. Related phrases, "useful arts" or "applied arts" probably encompass the mechanic arts as well as craftsmanship in general. The most famous usage of the term "mechanic arts" (and the one in which it is most commonly encountered today) is in the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act. See also Artes liberales Medieval technology Footnotes References Walton, S.A., An Introduction to the Mechanical Arts in the Middle Ages, AVISTA, University of Toronto, 2003 Applied sciences Visual arts media History of engineering The arts Medieval European education

Metaphor and metonymy

Metaphor (drawing a similarity between two things) and metonymy (drawing a contiguity between two things) are two fundamental opposite poles along which a discourse with human language is developed. It has been argued that the two poles of similarity and contiguity are fundamental ones along which the human mind is structured; in the study of human language the two poles have been called metaphor and metonymy, while in the study of the unconscious they have been called condensation and displacement. In linguistics, they are connected to the paradigmatic and syntagmatic poles. The couple metaphor-metonymy had a prominent role in the renewal of the field of rhetoric in the 1960s. In his 1956 essay, "The Metaphoric and Metonymic Poles", Roman Jakobson describes the couple as representing the possibilities of linguistic selection (metaphor) and combination (metonymy); Jakobson's work became important for such French structuralists as Claude Lévi-Strauss and Roland Barthes. In his essay, Jakobson also argues that metaphor is the basis for poetry, especially as seen in literary Romanticism and Symbolism, whereas metonymy forms the basis for Realism in literature. For non-linguists, a metonym can be considered a low-imagination metaphor, an allusion via an actual property (or close approximation/association of) the concept being substituted (the too on-the-nose referent). E.g., writing by pen and violence by sword in the pen is mightier than the sword. Etymology The English metaphor derived from the 16th-century Old French word métaphore, which comes from the Latin metaphora, "carrying over", in turn from the Greek μεταφορά (metaphorá), "transfer", from μεταφέρω (metapherō), "to carry over", "to transfer" and that from μετά (meta), "after, with, across" + φέρω (pherō), "to bear", "to carry". The words metonymy and metonym come from the Greek , , "a change of name", from , , "after, beyond" (more precisely = "between", "inside"), and , , a suffix that names figures of speech, from , or , , "name". In the unconscious: condensation and displacement According to Freud's work (1900), condensation and displacement (from German Verdichtung and Verschiebung) are two closely linked concepts. In the unconscious, through the dynamic movement of cathexis (charge of libido, mental or emotional energy), it is possible that an idea (image, memory, or thought) passes on its whole charge to another idea; Freud called this process "displacement." It is also possible that a single idea takes the whole charge of more than one other ideas; Freud called this process "condensation." In other words, a condensation is when more than one displacement occurs towards the same idea. In 1957, Jacques Lacan, inspired by an article by linguist Roman Jakobson, argued that the unconscious has the same structure of a language, and that condensation and displacement are equivalent to the poetic functions of metaphor and metonymy. References External links Verdichtung Condensation [Verdichtung] Lacan Seminars Online The Unconscious: Metaphor and Metonymy Jakobson excerpts metaphor, metonymy Rhetorical techniques Narrative techniques Semantics Metonymy Tropes by type

Youth activism

Youth activism is the participation in community organizing for social change by persons between the ages of 15–24. Youth activism has led to a shift in political participation and activism. A notable shift within youth activism is the rise of “Alter-Activism” resulting in an emphasis on lived experiences and connectivity amongst young activists. The young activists have taken lead roles in public protest and advocacy around many issues like climate change, abortion rights and gun violence. Different from past protest or advocacy, technology has become the backbone to many of these modern youth movements. It has been shown in multiple studies that internet use along with seeking information online is shown to have positive impacts on political engagement. Popular applications like Twitter, Instagram and YouTube have become the newest tools for young activists in the 21st century. Technology and the use of digital media has changed the way youth participate in activism globally, and youth are more active in media than older generations. Overview Youth involvement in politics has been on the rise for the past 10 years. Many youths are concerned and informed citizens who can advocate for change within their communities. Youth is an elastic category, the age at which it begins and ends varies within cultural contexts, but it is often a very distinct stage in a person's life to which particular issues or policies are highly relevant. These may include politics, education, health, and social issues. Sociopolitical development is a "psychological process that covers the range of cognitions, skills, attitudes, worldviews, and emotions that support social and political action" (Watts, Griffith, & Abdul-Adil, 1999). The process of SPD was further defined by Watts & Flannagan to impact young people’s social analysis, worldview and sense of agency and to provide them opportunity structures and support towards their societal involvement behavior (2007)." Social activism is the predominant form of youth activism today, as millions of young people around the world participate in social activism that is organized, informed, led, and assessed by adults. Many efforts, including education reform, children's rights, and government reform call on youth to participate this way, often called youth voice. Youth councils are an example of this. Youth-driven activism requires young people to be the primary movers within an adult-led movement. Such is the case with the Sierra Club, where youth compel their peers to join and become active in the environmental movement. This is also true of many organizations that were founded by youth who became adults, such as SEAC and National Youth Rights Association. Political activism by youth can go unnoticed because youth activism often occurs on school grounds and away from the adult society, but youth often face resistance when forming youth activist groups in schools. As the central beneficiaries of public schools, youth are also advocating for student-led school change and education reform through student activism and meaningful student involvement. There are structural inequalities that keep youth from engaging in political talk and action on school grounds or the public domain. School clubs require an adult adviser to make the club official, further adding to school hierarchies of adult power. While some youth participate in student government, others prefer student unions because they provide a real voice to the students and present it to the administration while student governments do not have the power to effect real change in a school system. Technology Social Media has become the vehicle for young activists to spread their dissent across their country and even globally. Applications like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and even Snapchat create the large web of social networking that has allowed the youth around the world to create a new era of activism. Social media Facebook has become a tool for youth activists to gather information, post broadcasts about events and activities, participate in activists' groups, and get in contact with other activists. The ability to create events on Facebook has allowed young activists to gather in spaces in a short period of time, and to communicate any changes in the event. Twitter has become one of the most important tools to engage with and mobilize around issues of social justice and civil rights. Twitter has many different features on the application that have been used by young activists to spread their dissent. Like many other apps, Twitter has a live-streaming feature that was particularly important in movements like the Arab Spring or the Occupy movement. Live-streaming was not the only powerful tool on Twitter—hashtags have changed the landscape of online youth activism. For many modern movements, it was the hashtag that catapulted many groups into the mainstream media. For example, in the span of 5 years, the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter has been shared over 30 million times just on Twitter. By capitalizing on the power and popularity of a hashtag, these young activists have been able to have an even larger conversation about police brutality and the inherent racism in American systems. #BlackLivesMatter was not the only major movement to take Twitter by storm in recent years. In October 2017, the #Metoo movement took Twitter by storm and in just the first week it is estimated that these personal stories reach 6 to 37 million Twitter users. The anonymity of Twitter allowed women to share their personal stories of abuse with less fear and these personal stories helped amplify the movement. While Twitter has provided a platform for hashtag movements to take place, applications like Facebook and Twitter have been criticized for only instilling weak ties between activists creating a lack of offline activism. The result of these weak ties has been the formation of slacktivism—a new ineffective form of activism. A popular example of slacktivism is the social media campaign Kony 2012. While this campaign did gain strong social media traction with millions of views on their video, they failed to gain the same offline traction. A year later when they released Kony in 2013, they did get the same traction. This is just one example of the slacktivism that can result from these applications. Video vlogging Video blogging has become an essential part of how people communicate online especially on applications like Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat and even TikTok. This power of sharing videos and images can specifically be seen on Instagram. Instagram has allowed activists to do things like stream their protests live to viewers across the world. Live streaming is not the only powerful part of Instagram. Instagram has become an application for participants to gain social capital and even make a living off of their online activity. This creation of the “influencer” has allowed a rise in representation of minority communities as well as created an online community for them. The concept of the "influencer" is not the only way Instagram has shaped the political sphere. Instagram has also given a platform to share visuals that have allowed people to form their "political selves" through this application. This ability to share political visuals were most important in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, and the 2015 UK general election. Overall, like many other applications, Instagram has provided large worldwide views that could lead to large-scale activism. Video blogging may be used by youth activists as a tool to reach out to their peers and audience, gather support, establish a discourse, and mobilize others. Young activists use videos to articulate ideas and needs, organize resources and supporters, and work toward achieving the goals and causes of their supporters. YouTube has allowed activists to exit the dangerous echo chamber that can be created online. By breaking free from this echo chamber, young YouTube activists and organization have been able to have a larger conversation about their issues. YouTube has given a platform for “vloggers” to not only document their life, but also have personal (and political) conversations with a large audience all from home. Vlogging has become very popular in youth activism including the Arab Spring. In the start of the Arab Spring, Asmaa Mahfouz from Egypt posted a vlog that eventually spread across YouTube. Many believe that this vlog was one factor that helped spark the revolution that took place in Egypt in 2011. Like the Arab Spring, videos (in particular YouTube) played a very important role in the Occupy Movement as well in 2011. Having YouTube allowed protestors to share videos of police abuse, but also share things like music videos to provide solidarity and morale. Indymedia Independent Media Center, also known as Indymedia, is a recent development that has helped involve youth into social movement activism. It has also led to the recognition of youth as political actors in the public domain. Global youth activism Youth activism in the Global South increased in the first years of the 2010s. People under the age of 18 comprise 46% of the global population, and these youth played a crucial role around the world during the first two decades of the twenty-first century. Africa & Asia South Africa A classic example of youth engagement in political activism is the Soweto riots. When teachers started instructing in Afrikaans, the language of their oppressors, children took the streets for a peaceful demonstration. The police reaction was brutal and on June 16, 1976, at least 25 people were killed. The violence continued and spread all across the country. By the end of the year, 575 people had died and 2,389 had been wounded. India In India, youth born in the 1980s and 1990s comprise part of a middle class increasingly vocal against impunity for rapists and against government corruption. Indonesia Youth activism in Indonesia takes many different forms and include a number of mass protests to overthrow governments and remove colonial powers in the past. Popular motivations of youth activism in Indonesia are indigenous rights and national unity, pro-communism, anticommunism, pro-democracy and militant Islam. A common form of activism is massa, a cavalcade of motorcycles, trucks, music, and many young people on foot. These cavalcades are mostly males and end with a rally to address a certain political issue. In general, youth have been looking for political change during the last four decades. Malaysia Video blogging has become increasing popular in Malaysia. Youth activists upload their videos and independent films to the popular site EngageMedia. This is used by Malaysians to encourage young people to become citizen journalists. Youth view EngageMedia as a safe space for their video blogs, but there is still fear of retribution. Nepal The 1979 student protests in Nepal were a series of protests amongst the student community in Nepal during the months of April and May 1979. The clashes that occurred had a significant historical impact, as they forced the monarchy to concede to holding a referendum on the possibility of a multiparty system in the country. Official figures stated that 11 persons were killed during the agitation, and 164 wounded. Youth and Student organisations such as Nepal Student Union, ANNFSU and Nepal Tarun Dal are key forces behind protests and demonstration against authoritarian governments. Youths have been standing in the forefront in 1951, 1980, 1990 and 2005 democratic movements. The Philippines Youth activism has had a long history in the Philippines. The original founding members of the Katipunan as well as the Propaganda Movement consisted of youths. The country's national hero, Jose Rizal was martyred aged 35. In 1964, aiming to continue the revolutionary tradition of the Katipunan, the Kabataang Makabayan was formed against the Marcos regime. It became an underground organization in 1972 after the declaration of Martial Law but continues to organize in this manner. Other organizations campaigned against the Martial Law as well, such as League of Filipino Students, National Union of Students of the Philippines, Student Christian Movement of the Philippines, and College Editors Guild of the Philippines. In 1960, the SCMP was formed, rallying thousands of church youth against the Marcos regime. The LFS was formed on September 11, 1977, as an alliance against tuition fee increases. Eventually it became a mass organization of students campaigning against the fascist dictatorship. Around the 60s, the NUSP dominated the scene of student activism and aided in the various student council mobilizations across the country. In 1997, leaders from these organizations would eventually form ANAKBAYAN, a comprehensive mass organization of the Filipino youth, turning to combine both organizing students and community youth. Known youth groups currently in operation are Liberal Youth, Kabataan Partylist, Akbayan Youth, and Youth Reform Movement Philippines. Singapore Singapore is one of the most developed information and communication technology (ICT) countries in the world. In 2010 the computer ownership rate was 84 percent, with internet access at 78 percent. In 2009, mobile phone penetration reached 137 percent, meaning many people of Singapore have access to more than one phone. Youth use ICT for social and political purposes. In the 2011 general election, people between the ages of 21 and 34 were more active in online politics. Youth who wrote about elections on blogs, Facebook or Twitter were at 28 percent, while the general public were only 10 percent. Middle East Egypt Youth proved to be central to the Egyptian Revolution and the April 6 Movement. Iran Young adults in Iran defy the official regime's cultural and political policies through engaging in prohibited activities in places like taxi rides, coffee shops, and basements. Such actions re-imagine Iranian reality in ways that contest regime policies. Saudi Arabia Youth citizens of Saudi Arabia seek quiet forms of resistance because outright activism is prohibited. Students blog to share viewpoints and feelings despite potential personal risk. Europe Serbia Throughout the 1990s, youth took to the streets to protest against Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević. Youth activists were credited with contributing to his resignation. During the years of protests youth faced unemployment, a failing education system, and economic instability. They created the Exit music festival, which lasted one hundred days and led up to the September 2000 elections. The first year this festival was called EXIT 00 and has been defined as "creative" and "politically savvy" activism. The festival contained a civic education component and continues today. United Kingdom Youth activism increased in the United Kingdom, especially England, in 2010 when David Cameron as leader of the Conservative Party became prime minister at the head of the Coalition government. Austerity measures affected young people in particular, in all aspects of their lives, including education, housing, employment, Youth Service, and leisure resulting in precarity. The governmental decision to cut higher education funding, triple university tuition fees to £9,000 a year and end of the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) in England and Wales sparked student activism, mostly demonstrations organized by the National Union of Students (NUS) in November and December 2010. See: 2010 United Kingdom student protests Since then, the worsening situation for many young people and their despondency about politicians, in combination with the rise of social media and globalization have led to more youth activism. This is particularly the case with environmentalism due to global warming and the climate crisis through the efforts of Greta Thunberg and the youth-led movements Fridays For Future, School Strike for Climate, and Extinction Rebellion Youth that started in the United Kingdom. Young environmental activists in the United Kingdom have been particularly active using a vast repertoire of contention as non-violent direct action and civil disobedience. Young people are protesting in these movements around the world North America United States Youth activism as a social phenomenon in the United States truly became defined in the mid- to late-nineteenth century when young people began forming labor strikes in response to their working conditions, wages, and hours. Mary Harris "Mother" Jones organized the first youth activism in the U.S. in 1908, marching 100,000 child miners from the coal mines of Pennsylvania to the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Youth newspaper carriers soon followed. These actions led the popular media of the times to separate youths' interests from their contemporary adult labor counterparts. This separation continued through the 1930s, when the American Youth Congress presented a "Bill of Youth Rights" to the US Congress. Their actions were indicative of a growing student movement present throughout the US from the 1920s through the early 1940s. The 1950s saw the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee bring young people into the larger civil rights movement; in 1959, Martin Luther King Jr. engaged youth activists in protesting against Bull Connor's racist law enforcement practices in Birmingham, Alabama. The spectrum of civil rights, youth rights and anti-war activism of Tom Hayden, Keith Hefner and other 1960s youth laid a powerful precedent for modern youth activism. John Holt, Myles Horton and Paulo Freire were important in this period. Youthful life and expression defined this era. In the 21st century, youth activism in the U.S. has shifted to social media platforms, through which youth have been able to rapidly disseminate information, resources, links, and petitions. Highlights of youth activism throughout the 21st century Youth activism continues to take place in the 21st century at local, regional, national, and international levels. Youth activists today use technology and social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok to shed light on oppression and to highlight problems such as economic inequality, police misconduct, racial injustice, and much more through online platforms. Youth activism has transformed political participation through technology and created a form of engaged citizenship unique to today's young people . A significant shift in civic engagement has happened in the United States due to the rise and accessibility of political information online 2010 In 2010, the Student/Farmworker Alliance worked with Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) to improve work standards for migrant workers in Florida. Also, in 2010, the student activist group United Students Against Sweatshops successfully campaigned for Nike to improve standards for their workers in Honduras. Their slogan was an effective play on words of Nike's slogan: Just Pay it. 2012 While Malala Yousafzai has been an activist for female education, initially in Pakistan, since 2009, support for her cause reached international levels after she was shot by a Taliban gunman in 2012 because of her activism. Since then, Yousafzai has established a non-profit organization and received the Nobel Peace Prize. She also was the catalyst for a United Nations campaign for children's education worldwide. 2013 While the Black Lives Matter movement is not entirely a youth activist group, its founders were three young women who established it in response to the acquittal of the man who killed Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old African American. Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100) was also established in response to that, but it limits participation to those aged 18 to 35. These two groups have worked together, and with others, to protest police killings of black people. Unlike BYP 100, Black Lives Matter has become an international movement with chapters outside of the United States 2016 While the causes of the Flint Water Crisis have been determined by independent investigators, the crisis is not yet resolved as work to replace the corroded water lines is slightly more than one third completed, with 7,750 of more than 22,000 lead-contaminated water services lines to replace. In 2016, Flint resident Amariyanna "Mari" Copeny, aged 8, wrote President Obama to bring to his attention the public health crisis caused the Flint Water crisis. President Obama accepted her invitation to come to Flint. In April 2018, Governor Rick Snyder announced that water quality is "within the standards" and the lead level doesn't exceed federal limits. This has resulted in the termination of a free bottled water program. Since then, Copeny, also known as Little Miss Flint, continues to work to improve the lives of youth in her community. Not only has she, in collaboration with Pack Your Back, raised more than $27,000 to provide thousands of bottled water since the government program was stopped, she has also raised money to provide 800 seats for under-served children to see Black Panther and crowdfunded to send Flint youth to see A Wrinkle in Time. Prior to these fundraising endeavors, she first worked with Pack Your Back to fill 1,000 backpacks for Flint students. At age 7, Bana al-Abed started using Twitter with her mother's assistance to share her experiences living in Aleppo, Syria. Al-Abed has become a world-renowned youth activist, publishing a memoir in 2017 and receiving the Asian Awards' Rising Star of the Year award in 2018. 2018 The Stoneman Douglas High School shooting has resulted in not only some Stoneman Douglas students becoming youth activists for gun control legislation, but has also spurred a nationwide resurgence of youth activism, including school walkouts. A group of Stoneman Douglas students also founded the advocacy group Never Again MSD. Never Again MSD led March for Our Lives. "Never Again" is also one of the group's hashtags, with the slogan having its roots as a resistance rallying cry during the Holocaust and is used by the Jewish Defense League. Swedish then-15-year-old student Greta Thunberg began an initially individual school strike, avoiding classes every Friday to protest in front of Riksdag against political inaction on global climate crisis. Through the following months, her activism sparked a worldwide youth movement, which intends to pressure governments and companies to adopt urgent policies on mitigating climate change. Thunberg herself engaged in delivering speeches at international events, such as 2018 United Nations Climate Change Conference. In the U.S., the climate crisis movement has grown through the efforts of youth-led organizations such as Zero Hour and the National Children’s Campaign. 2021 Youth climate activists such as Sophia Kianni, Jamie Margolin, Vanessa Nakate, Isra Hirsi, Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, and Haven Coleman called for climate action to be taken at COP26. Youth activists were also included in global decision-making structures, such as Jerome Foster's participation in the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council in the Biden administration, and H.D. Wright's election as Youth Representative at Education Cannot Wait, the United Nations fund for education in emergencies, chaired by Prime Minister Gordon Brown. See also Student activism Youth rights Youth suffrage Youth voice References Further reading Deka, Kaustubh "From Movements to Accords and Beyond : The critical role of student organizations in the formation and performance of identity in Assam Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, 2013 Activism Education issues Activism

Education in the Age of Enlightenment

The Age of Enlightenment dominated advanced thought in Europe from about the 1650s to the 1780s. It developed from a number of sources of “new” ideas, such as challenges to the dogma and authority of the Catholic Church and by increasing interest in the ideas of science, in scientific methods. In philosophy, it called into question traditional ways of thinking. The Enlightenment thinkers wanted the educational system to be modernized and play a more central role in the transmission of those ideas and ideals. The development of educational systems in Europe continued throughout the period of the Enlightenment and into the French Revolution. The improvements in the educational systems produced a larger reading public which resulted in increased demand for printed material from readers across a broader span of social classes with a wider range of interests. After 1800, as the Enlightenment gave way to Romanticism, there was less emphasis on reason and challenge to authority and more support for emerging nationalism and compulsory school attendance. History of education Before the Enlightenment, European educational systems were principally geared for teaching a limited number of professions, e.g., religious orders such as priests, brothers, and sisters, health care workers such as physicians, and bureaucrats such as lawyers and scribes, and they were not yet greatly influenced by the scientific revolution. As the scientific revolution and religious upheaval broke traditional views and ways of thinking of that time, religion and superstition were supplanted by reasoning and scientific facts. Philosophers such as John Locke proposed the idea that knowledge is obtained through sensation and reflection. This proposition led to Locke's theory that everyone has the same capacity of sensation, and, therefore, education should not be restricted to a certain class or gender. Prior to the 17th and 18th centuries, education and literacy were generally restricted to males who belonged to the nobility and the mercantile and professional classes. In England and France, “idealized notions of domesticity, which emphasized the importance of preparing girls for motherhood and home duties, fuelled the expansion of schooling for girls.” Educational ideas John Locke in English and Jean Jacques Rousseau in French authored influential works on education. Both emphasized the importance of shaping young minds early. By the late Enlightenment, there was a rising demand for a more universal approach to education, particularly after the American and French Revolutions. Enlightenment children were taught to memorize facts through oral and graphical methods that originated during the Renaissance. The predominant educational psychology from the 1750s onward, especially in northern European countries was associationism; the notion that the mind associates or dissociates ideas through repeated routines. It offered a practical theory of the mind that allowed teachers to transform longstanding forms of print and manuscript culture into effective graphic tools of learning for the lower and middle orders of society. Many of the leading universities associated with Enlightenment progressive principles were located in northern Europe, with the most renowned being the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, London, Leiden, Göttingen, Halle, Montpellier, Uppsala, Glasgow and Edinburgh. the faculty and graduates of these universities, especially Glasgow and Edinburgh, centres of the Scottish Enlightenment, had a significant impact on Britain's North American colonies and, later, the American Republic. Glasgow led the way, in moral philosophy, notably with Francis Hutcheson, Adam Smith, and Thomas Reid. However, in general the universities and schools of France and most of Europe were bastions of traditionalism and were not hospitable to the Enlightenment. In France the major exception was the medical university at Montpellier. Growth of the education system Literacy Education was once considered a privilege for only the upper class. However, during the 17th and 18th centuries, “education, literacy and learning” were gradually provided to “rich and poor alike”. The literacy rate in Europe from the 17th century to the 18th century grew significantly. The definition of the term "literacy" in the 17th and 18th centuries is different from our current definition of literacy. Historians measured the literacy rate during the 17th and 18th century centuries by people's ability to sign their names. However, this method of determining literacy did not reflect people's ability to read. This affected the women's apparent literacy rate prior to the Age of Enlightenment mainly because, while most women living between the so-called Dark Ages and the Age of Enlightenment could not write or sign their names, many could read, at least to some extent. The rate of illiteracy decreased more rapidly in more populated areas and areas where there was mixture of religious schools. The literacy rate in England in the 1640s was around 30 percent for males, rising to 60 percent in the mid-18th century. In France, the rate of literacy in 1686-90 was around 29 percent for men and 14 percent for women, before it increased to 48 percent for men and 27 percent for women. The increase in literacy rate was more likely due, at least in part, to religious influence, since most of the schools and colleges were organized by clergy, missionaries, or other religious organizations. The reason that motivated religions to help to increase the literacy rate among the general public was that the Bible was being printed in more languages and literacy was thought to be the key to understanding the word of God. “By 1714 the proportion of women able to read had risen, very approximately, to 25%, and it rose again to 40% by 1750. This increase was part of a general trend, fostered by the Reformation emphasis on reading the Scripture and by the demand for literacy in an increasingly mercantile society. The group most affected was the growing professional and commercial class, and writing and arithmetic schools emerged to provide the training their sons required”. The impact of the Reformation on literacy was, of course, far more dramatic in Protestant areas. Therefore, literacy rates in predominantly Protestant Northern Europe rose much more quickly than those in predominately Catholic southern Europe. The Jesuits, who were the product of the Catholic Counter Reformation contributed moderately to increased literacy in Catholic regions. Prussian system The Kingdom of Prussia introduced a modern public educational system designed to reach the entire population; it was widely copied across Europe and the United States in the 19th century. The basic foundations of the Prussian primary education system were laid out by Frederick the Great with his "Generallandschulreglement," a decree of 1763, drafted by Johann Julius Hecker. It mandated the schooling of all young Prussians, both girls and boys, to be educated by mainly municipality funded schools from age 5 until age 13 or 14. Prussia was among the first countries in the world to introduce a tax-funded and generally compulsory primary education. In comparison, compulsory schooling in France or Great Britain was not successfully enacted until the 1880s. The Prussian system consisted of an eight-year course of primary education, called Volksschule. It provided not only basic technical skills needed in a modernizing world (as reading and writing), but also music (singing), religious (Christian) education in close cooperation with the churches and tried to impose a strict ethos of duty, soberness and discipline. Mathematic and calculus were not compulsory in the start and taking such courses was requiring additional payment by parents. Frederick the Great also formalized further educational stages, such as the Realschule and the highest stage, the gymnasium (state funded secondary school), which was used as university-preparatory school. The final examination, Abitur, was introduced in 1788, implemented in all Prussian secondary schools by 1812, and extended to all of Germany in 1871 and is in place till the present. Passing the Abitur was a pre-requisite to entering the learned professions and higher echelons of civil service. Generations of Prussian and as well German teachers, which in the 18th century often had no formal education and in the very beginning often were former petty officers without pedagogic training, tried to gain more academic recognition, training and better pay and played an important role in various protest and reform movements. The Prussian system, after its modest beginnings, succeeded in reaching compulsory attendance, specific training for teachers, national testing for all students (of all genders), national curriculum set for each grade and mandatory Kindergarten. In 1810, Prussia introduced state certification requirements for teachers, which significantly raised the standard of teaching. In the 18th century, states were paying more attention to their educational systems because they recognized that their subjects are more useful to the state if they are well educated. The conflicts between the crown and the church helped the expansion of the educational systems. In the eyes of the church and the state, universities and colleges were institutions that existed to maintain the dominance of one over the other. The downside of this conflict was that the freedom of thought on the subjects taught in these institutions was restricted. An educational institution was either a supporter of the monarchy or the religion, never both. Also, changes in educational criteria for higher income professions such as lawyers and physicians became stricter, e.g., requirements to have certain educational experience before being licensed, helped to promote increases in the numbers of students attending universities and colleges. Print culture The explosion of the print culture, which started in the 15th century with Johannes Gutenberg's printing press, was both a result of and a cause of the increase in literacy. The number of books published in the period of the Enlightenment increased dramatically due to the increase in demand for books, which resulted from the increased literacy rates and the declining cost and easier availability of books made possible by the printing press. There was a shift in the percentages of books printed in various categories during the 17th century. Religious books had comprised around 50% of all books published in Paris at that time. However, the percentage of religious books dropped to 10% by 1790 and there was an increase in the popularity of books such as almanacs. The scientific literature in French might have increased slightly but mostly it remained fairly constant throughout the 18th century. However, contemporary literature seems to have increased as the century progressed. Also, there was a change in the languages that books were printed in. Before the 18th century, a large percentage of the books were published in Latin. As time progressed, there was a decline in the percentage of books published in Latin. Concurrently, the percentage of books published in French, and other languages, increased throughout Europe. Of course the importance of print culture to education is not simply about counting publication figures. Students had to use the books that were given to them and they had to use pen and paper to organise and make sense of the information that they were learning. In this sense print culture was closely tied to manuscript culture, particularly the skills and routines associated with note-taking. Perhaps one of the most notable accomplishments of Enlightenment educational systems is that they taught students how to efficiently manage information on paper, both in school and then in university. Public libraries During the Enlightenment period, there were changes in the public cultural institutions, such as libraries and museums. The system of public libraries was a product of the Enlightenment. The public libraries were funded by the state and were accessible to everyone for free. Prior to the Enlightenment, libraries in Europe were restricted mostly to academies and the private collections of aristocrats and other wealthy individuals. With the beginning of state funded institutions, public libraries became places where the general public could study topics of interest and educate themselves. During the 18th century, the prices of books were generally too high for the average person, especially the most popular works such as encyclopedias. Therefore, the public libraries offered commoners a chance of reading literature and other works that previously could only be read by the wealthier classes. Intellectual exchange During the 18th century, the increase in social gathering places such as coffeehouses, clubs, academies and Masonic Lodges provided alternative places where people could read, learn and exchange ideas. In England, coffeehouses became public spaces where political, philosophical and scientific ideas were being discussed. The first coffeehouse in Britain was established in Oxford in 1650 and the number of coffeehouses expanded around Oxford. The coffeehouse was a place for people to congregate, to read, to learn and to debate with each other. Another name for the coffeehouse is the Penny University, because the coffeehouse had a reputation as a place of informal learning. “The popularization of new ideas encouraged further changes in the habits and beliefs of many ordinary people. Reading clubs and coffeehouses allowed many urban artisans and businessmen to discuss the latest reform ideas.” Even though the coffeehouses were generally accessible, most of them did not allow women as customers. Clubs, academies, and Lodges, although not entirely open to the public, established venues of intellectual exchange that functioned as de facto institutions of education. Education of girls and women During the 17th century, there were a number of schools dedicated to girls, but the cultural norm was for girls to be informally educated at home. During the 18th century, there was an increase in the number of girls being educated in schools. This was especially true for middle-class families whose rising financial status and social aspirations made providing an aristocratic style of education for their daughters both desirable and possible. In France, one of the most famous schools for girls was the Saint-Cyr, which was founded by Madame de Maintenon. Although the school Saint-Cyr was meant to educate women, it did not dare to challenge the traditional views towards women. Women were excluded from learning subjects such as science and politics. In October, 1795, France created “a National Institute and Normal Schools that excluded women from the professional study of Philosophy.” In Louise d'Épinay's, recollection of her childhood education, she pointed out that girls were not taught much of anything and that a proper education was considered to be inappropriate for the female sex. Among the earliest published works to challenge notions of women of being the weaker intellectual sex was Francois Poulain de la Barre's De regalite des deux sexes (On the Equality of the Sexes) in 1673 in which he proclaimed "the mind has no sex". John Locke and d'Épinay, were to follow in arguing that women's apparent weakness and lack of accomplishment was due to debilitating expectations and poor education. It was a theme taken up by Germany's first woman medical doctor Dorothea Christiane Erxleben who wrote a Thorough Investigation of the Causes which Prevent the Female Sex from Studying (1742). Locke's child-centred pedagogical theories are said to have "set the terms by which education was debated in eighteenth century Ireland", including for girls. In the 1760s, a primary exemplar of an enlightened approach to co-education was David Manson's self-styled "play school" in Belfast. In Manson's school, which has also been seen as foreshadowing some of the experiments usually ascribed to the new school of educationalists inspired by Rousseau, "young ladies received the same extensive education as the young gentlemen". They moved together in equal rank through the common play and academic hierarchy: queens alongside kings, duchesses alongside dukes, and ladies alongside lords, and both girls and boys attended a Saturday parliament. Such practices were broadly consistent with the pedagogy later proposed by Mary Wollstonecraft. Her Vindication of the Rights of Woman, published in London and Dublin in 1791, was translated almost immediately in French and was printed in the United States. Like Rousseau she thought education should be based on espousing and exploring the natural abilities of a person, but protested his suggestion that this required women's education to be differentiated and tailored to a pre-emptive responsibility for care giving. Women's undoubted caring abilities, she argued, could only be enhanced, morally and intellectually, by securing girls equal education opportunities and not least in the skills of logical reasoning and abstract thinking through mastery of such subjects as mathematics, science, history, literature, and language. Catherine the Great of Russia was a patron of women's education in Russia throughout the 18th century. Heeding to the advice of Ivan Betskoy, an educational reformer and close adviser, the Empress created separate boarding schools for both boys and girls. The Smolny Institute for Noble Girls in 1764 became the first higher learning institute for women in Europe, an institution that Catherine helped establish; the following year the Queen of Russia established the Novodevichii Institute, an all-female institute for the daughters of Russian commoners. Just as Frederick the Great oversaw the establishment of compulsory education in Prussia, Catherine contributed to the evolution of women's education on the continent and enabled for the further modernization of the Russian state during the Enlightenment. Notes Further reading Brockliss, L.W.B. 1987. French Higher Education in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Butts, R. Freeman. A Cultural History of Western Education: Its Social and Intellectual Foundations (2nd ed. 1955) online Cook, T. G. The History of Education in Europe (1974) Cremin, Lawrence A. American Education: The Colonial Experience, 1607–1783 (1970) Cubberley, Ellwood Patterson. The History of Education: Educational Practice and Progress Considered as a Phase of the Development and Spread of Western Civilization (1920) online Lawson, John, and Harold Silver. A social history of education in England (Routledge, 2013) Palmer, Joy A. et al. eds. Fifty Major Thinkers on Education: From Confucius to Dewey (2001) online Ringer, Fritz. Education and Society in Modern Europe (1979); focus on Germany and France with comparisons to US and Britain Wardle, David. English popular education 1780–1970 (Cambridge UP, 1970) Whitehead, Barbara J., ed. Women's education in early modern Europe: a history, 1500–1800 (1999) online specialized topics Primary sources Cubberley, Ellwood Patterson, ed. Readings in the History of Education (1920) Informal education Cowan, Brian, 2005. Social life of Coffee: The Emergence of the British Coffeehouse New Haven:Yale University Press. de Bellaigue, Christina. 2007. Educating Women – Schooling and Identity in England and France, 1800–1867 Oxford: Oxford University Press. Darnton, Robert, 1982. The Literary Underground of the Old Regime. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. "Education Overview (1754–1783)." American Eras. 8 vols. Gale Research, 1997–1998. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. Education. (2009). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved April 5, 2009, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/179408/education Graff, Harvey J. (1987) The Legacies of Literacy: Continuities and Contradictions in Western Culture and Society (1987) from Middle Ages to present Greenhalgh, Liz, Worpole, Ken, & Landry, Charles. 1995. libraries in a world of cultural change London: UCL Press. Hesse, Calra, 2001. "The Other Enlightenment: how French women became modern". Princeton: Princeton University Press. Melton, James Van Horn. 2001. "The Rise of the Public in Enlightenment Europe". Cambridge: Cambridge university Press. Age of Enlightenment History of education by period

Community of interest

A community of interest, or interest-based community, is a community of people who share a common interest or passion. These people exchange ideas and thoughts about the given passion, but may know (or care) little about each other outside this area. Participation in a community of interest can be compelling, entertaining and create a community where people return frequently and remain for extended periods. Frequently, they cannot be easily defined by a particular geographical area. In other words, "a community of interest is a gathering of people assembled around a topic of common interest. Its members take part in the community to exchange information, to obtain answers to personal questions or problems, to improve their understanding of a subject, to share common passions or to play." In contrast to a spatial community, "a 'community of interest' is defined not by space, but by some common bond (e.g. feeling of attachment) or entity (e.g. farming, church group)." "Online communities" connect to communities of interest in that often, they develop out of interests in a particular topic. A benefit of online communities over place-based communities is that of non-physical access to group involvement. See also Community of action Community of circumstance Community of practice Community of innovation Commune Affinity group References Further reading External and shareable artifacts as opportunities for social creativity in communities of interest Communities of Interest: Learning through the Interaction of Multiple Knowledge Systems Interest

Anthrozoology

Anthrozoology, also known as human–animal studies (HAS), is the subset of ethnobiology that deals with interactions between humans and other animals. It is an interdisciplinary field that overlaps with other disciplines including anthropology, ethnology, medicine, psychology, social work, veterinary medicine, and zoology. A major focus of anthrozoologic research is the quantifying of the positive effects of human–animal relationships on either party and the study of their interactions. It includes scholars from fields such as anthropology, sociology, biology, history and philosophy. Anthrozoology scholars, such as Pauleen Bennett, recognize the lack of scholarly attention given to non-human animals in the past, and to the relationships between human and non-human animals, especially in the light of the magnitude of animal representations, symbols, stories and their actual physical presence in human societies. Rather than a unified approach, the field currently consists of several methods adapted from the several participating disciplines to encompass human–nonhuman animal relationships and occasional efforts to develop sui generis methods. Areas of study The interaction and enhancement within captive animal interactions. Affective (emotional) or relational bonds between humans and animals Human perceptions and beliefs in respect of other animals How some animals fit into human societies How these vary between cultures, and change over times The study of animal domestication: how and why domestic animals evolved from wild species (paleoanthrozoology) Captive zoo animal bonds with keepers The social construction of animals and what it means to be animal The human–animal bond Parallels between human–animal interactions and human–technology interactions The symbolism of animals in literature and art The history of animal domestication The intersections of speciesism, racism, and sexism The place of animals in human-occupied spaces The religious significance of animals throughout human history Exploring the cross-cultural ethical treatment of animals The critical evaluation of animal abuse and exploitation Mind, self, and personhood in nonhuman animals The potential human health benefits of companion animal ownership Human-animal hybrids (where each cell has partly human and partly animal genetic contents) Human-animal chimeras (where some cells are human and some cells are animal in origin) Growth of the field There are currently 23 college programs in HAS or a related field in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, Israel and the Netherlands, as well as an additional eight veterinary school programs in North America, and over thirty HAS organizations in the US, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, France, Germany, New Zealand, Israel, Sweden, and Switzerland. In the UK, the University of Exeter runs an MA in Anthrozoology which explores human–animal interactions from anthropological (cross-cultural) perspectives. Human animal interactions (HAI) involving companion animals are also studied by the Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition, which partners with the US National Institutes of Health to research HAI in relation to child development and aging. There are now three primary lists for HAS scholars and students—H-Animal, the Human-Animal Studies listserv, and NILAS, as well as the Critical Animal Studies list. There are now over a dozen journals covering HAS issues, many of them founded in the last decade, and hundreds of HAS books, most of them published in the last decade (see for example, Humanimalia). Brill, Berg, Johns Hopkins, Purdue, Columbia, Reaktion, Palgrave-Macmillan, University of Minnesota, University of Illinois, and Oxford all offer either a HAS series or a large number of HAS books. In addition, in 2006, Animals and Society Institute (ASI) began hosting the Human-Animal Studies Fellowship, a six-week program in which pre- and post-doctoral scholars work on a HAS research project at a university under the guidance of host scholars and distance peer scholars. Beginning in 2011, ASI has partnered with Wesleyan Animal Studies, who will be hosting the fellowship in conjunction with ASI. There are also a handful of HAS conferences per year, including those organized by ISAZ and NILAS, and the Minding Animals conference, held in 2009 in Australia. Finally, there are more HAS courses being taught now than ever before. The ASI website lists over 300 courses (primarily in North America, but also including Great Britain, New Zealand, Australia, Germany, and Poland) in 29 disciplines at over 200 colleges and universities, not including over 100 law school courses. See also Animal behavior ABMAP Animal rights Animal studies Anthropomorphism Birds in culture Cognitive ethology Companion animal Critical animal studies Domestication of the horse Ethnozoology Human–animal bonding Human–canine bond Intersectionality Insects in culture Origin of the domestic dog Pauleen Bennett Pet humanization Service animal Social grooming Trans-species psychology Zooarchaeology References External links Animals and Society Institute Anthrozoology Research Group H-Animal Human-Animal Studies listserve Humanimalia: a journal of human-animal interface studies NILAS Animal rights Animal welfare Anthropology Ethology Interdisciplinary subfields of sociology Environmental humanities Environmental social science Zoology

Reality–virtuality continuum

The virtuality continuum is a continuous scale ranging between the completely virtual, a virtuality, and the completely real, reality. The reality–virtuality continuum therefore encompasses all possible variations and compositions of real and virtual objects. It has been described as a concept in new media and computer science. The concept was first introduced by Paul Milgram. The area between the two extremes, where both the real and the virtual are mixed, is called mixed reality. This in turn is said to consist of both augmented reality, where the virtual augments the real, and augmented virtuality, where the real augments the virtual. Overview This continuum has been extended into a two-dimensional plane of virtuality and mediality. Taxonomy of reality, virtuality, mediality. The origin R denotes unmodified reality. A continuum across the virtuality axis, V, includes reality augmented with graphics (augmented reality), as well as graphics augmented by reality (augmented virtuality). However, the taxonomy also includes modification of reality or virtuality or any combination of these. The mediality axis denotes changes. The modification is denoted by moving up the mediality axis. Further up this axis, for example, we can find mediated reality, mediated virtuality, or any combination of these. Further up and to the right, we have virtual worlds that are responsive to a severely modified version of reality. The virtuality continuum has grown and progressed past labels such as computer science and new media. As the concept has much to do with the way in which humans continue to change how they communicate; the way in which identities form and the way in which they interact to and within the world; it is more accurately described as a subject within anthropology. Changes in attitudes towards and the increase in availability of technology and media have changed and progressed the way it is used. One to one (SMS), one to many (email), and many to many (chat rooms), have become ingrained in society. The use of such items have made once clear distinctions like online and offline obsolete, and the distinctions between reality and virtuality have become blurred as people are incorporating and relying heavily upon virtuality within their everyday personal realities. Daniel Miller and Don Slater are prominent researchers pursuing the concept of the virtuality continuum and the media and its effect on communities, especially in the Caribbean, most notably Trinidad and Jamaica. Steve Woolgar is another researcher who has established four rules of virtuality. These are: The way in which media and technology affect people relies on their non-information communication technology (ICT) related background which may include gender, age, social status, income amongst others. Risks and fears in regards to new media and technology are unevenly socially distributed. Advancements in media and technology supplement rather than replace existing activities in reality. New media and technology tends to create new kinds of localism rather than furthering globalization. See also Computer-mediated reality Extended reality Simulated reality Transreality gaming References External links Mixed Reality Scale – Milgram and Kishino's (1994) Virtuality Continuum paraphrase with examples. Multimodal interaction Virtual reality Mixed reality 1994 introductions

Design and Technology

Design and Technology (D&T) is a school subject taught in England to pupils in primary and secondary schools. It first appeared as a titled subject in the first National Curriculum for England in 1990. It has undergone several reviews when the whole National Curriculum has been reviewed, the most recent in 2013. D&T is also taught in many countries around the world such as India, United States, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Malta, China, South Africa, France and Finland. As a school subject it involves students in designing in a practical context using a range or materials and media. It is also a university course in many countries, including Australia, Canada, the US, Singapore, South Africa, Netherlands and New Zealand, both for the preparation of teachers and for general education in areas such as industrial design. Some of the UK universities which deliver courses include: Brighton, Sheffield Hallam, Goldsmiths, University of London and Greenwich. Design and Technology in England Purpose and aims of D&T The National Curriculum for England states that the purpose of D&T is: "Design and technology is an inspiring, rigorous and practical subject. Using creativity and imagination, pupils design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, considering their own and others’ needs, wants and values. They acquire a broad range of subject knowledge and draw on disciplines such as mathematics, science, engineering, computing and art. Pupils learn how to take risks, becoming resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable citizens. Through the evaluation of past and present design and technology, they develop a critical understanding of its impact on daily life and the wider world. High-quality design and technology education makes an essential contribution to the creativity, culture, wealth and well-being of the nation." And there are four aims: "to ensure that all pupils: develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world build and apply a repertoire of knowledge, understanding and skills in order to design and make high-quality prototypes and products for a wide range of users critique, evaluate and test their ideas and products and the work of others understand and apply the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook" The second goal is known as "design and technology capability" and is the interaction of responding to a design and technology context whilst drawing on the resources of knowledge and experience, where pupils develop “the power to produce change and improvement in the made world”. Design and Technology qualifications GCSE D&T (2017 onwards) Taught primarily to pupils in upper secondary school (years 10-11, aged 14-16) the GCSE incorporates all material areas (with the exception of food which is now a separate GCSE). Similar to the previous GCSE, the new GCSE Specifications have two assessed components - an exam and a non-examined assessment (NEA) but with a 50:50 split of the marks. A level A and AS level examinations prepare students for individualised learning and problem solving, which is essential in business and industry. Time management is a key factor to candidates' success within the coursework elements of the qualification. The examinations are as rigorous as any other subject. Indeed, due to the complexity and variety of tasks and organisation skills required this examination and course is very demanding. The subject covers activities from control technology to aesthetic product design. Students have to use all types of computer software including computer-aided design and manufacture, spreadsheets and computer presentations. Outputs from such work are often sent to CNC machines for manufacture. Previous qualification in D&T With the first National Curriculum new GCSE qualifications were introduced for D&T in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Unlike the National Curriculum the previous subject titles were retained (e.g. craft, design and technology (CDT) and home economics) and others added (e.g. electronics, food technology, textiles technology and systems and control). These GCSE specifications had two assessed components: 50% of the final mark for coursework 50% for an examination of general subject knowledge (materials, processes, techniques and sustainability etc.). GCSE D&T titles that were offered included: GCSE Design and Technology: Electronic Products GCSE Design and Technology: Food Technology GCSE Design and Technology: Graphic Products GCSE Design and Technology: Resistant Materials GCSE Design and Technology: Systems and Control GCSE Design and Technology: Textiles Technology GCSE Design and Technology: Product Design International Baccalaureate in Design Technology The IB Design Technology (DT) is an elective subject offered in many International Baccalaureate schools globally. Design is also offered in the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) as a compulsory subject for grades 6–10, and at the Diploma Programme level (from grades 11-12). IB Design Technology is very similar in content to Design and Technology. It is one of the Group 4 sciences. The primary focus of MYP Design is to give students an understanding of the design cycle, through a practical programme. The student will complete projects based on solving a real and authentic problem. Students document their progress as they follow the design cycle to come to a feasible solution. They create the solution and then evaluate it following thorough testing. The Diploma Programme of Design Technology is a two-year introduction to designing, a range of fundamentals of technology, and global technological issues. It provides students with the knowledge to be able to design and make in school workshops, and also to develop an informed literacy about technology in general. Because it is an international curriculum it has a particular focus on global environmental issues. It covers core topics in human factors and ergonomics, resource management and sustainable production, modeling, raw materials to final production, innovation and design, classic design. It covers advanced higher level topics in user centered design, sustainability, innovation and markets, and commercial production. The diploma is accepted for university entrance in many countries, and is a good preparation for careers in areas such as engineering, architecture, product design, interior design, design and education. Scotland Technological education is part of the Scottish secondary school curriculum. Technological education is segregated into various subjects available at National 4, National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher Standard Subject in Technical Graphic Communication Design and Manufacture Engineering Science Practical Electronics (available to N5 level) Practical Woodwork (available to N5 level) Practical Metalwork (available to N5 level) Specialist Subjects within Technical Architectural technology Automotive engineering Civil engineering Building services Construction Electrical engineering Mechanical engineering Mechatronics Awards In the UK, the Arkwright Scholarships Trust awards two-year scholarships to students who are taking GCSE/Scottish Standard Grade in design & technology. The Arkwright Engineering Scholarships support students through their A levels/Scottish Highers and encourage them to study engineering or a related area of design at a top university or through a high-quality industrial apprenticeship. See also Industrial arts, the equivalent course in the United States and Australia (Victoria). References Education in the United Kingdom Education by subject Industrial design

ISO 9241

ISO 9241 is a multi-part standard from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) covering ergonomics of human-system interaction and related, human-centered design processes (see also human-computer interaction). It is managed by the ISO Technical Committee 159. It was originally titled Ergonomic requirements for office work with visual display terminals (VDTs). From 2006 onwards, the standards were retitled to the more generic Ergonomics of Human System Interaction. As part of this change, ISO is renumbering some parts of the standard so that it can cover more topics, e.g. tactile and haptic interaction. For example, two zeros in the number indicate that the document under consideration is a generic or basic standard. Fundamental aspects are regulated in standards ending with one zero. A standard with three digits other than zero in the number regulate specific aspects. The first part to be renumbered was part 10 (now renumbered to part 110). Part 1 is a general introduction to the rest of the standard. Part 2 addresses task design for working with computer systems. Parts 3 to 9 deal with physical characteristics of computer equipment. Part 110 and parts 11 to 19 deal with usability aspects of software, including Part 110 (a general set of usability heuristics for the design of different types of dialogue) and Part 11 (general guidance on the specification and measurement of usability). Ergonomics of Human System Interaction The revised multipart standard is numbered in series as follows: 100 series: Software ergonomics 200 series: Human system interaction processes 300 series: Displays and display related hardware 400 series: Physical input devices - ergonomics principles 500 series: Workplace ergonomics 600 series: Environment ergonomics 700 series: Application domains - Control rooms 900 series: Tactile and haptic interactions Within those series, the standard currently includes the following parts: Part 100: Introduction to standards related to software ergonomics Part 110: Dialogue principles Part 112: Principles for the presentation of information Part 125: Guidance on visual presentation of information Part 129: Guidance on software individualization Part 151: Guidance on World Wide Web user interfaces Part 143: Forms Part 154: Interactive voice response (IVR) applications Part 161: Guidance on visual user interface elements Part 171: Guidance on software accessibility Part 210: Human-centred design for interactive systems Part 300: Introduction to electronic visual display requirements Part 302: Terminology for electronic visual displays Part 303: Requirements for electronic visual displays Part 304: User performance test methods for electronic visual displays Part 305: Optical laboratory test methods for electronic visual displays Part 306: Field assessment methods for electronic visual displays Part 307: Analysis and compliance test methods for electronic visual displays Part 308: Surface-conduction electron-emitter displays (SED) Part 309 (TR): Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays Part 310 (TR): Visibility, aesthetics and ergonomics of pixel defects Part 400: Principles and requirements for physical input devices Part 410: Design criteria for physical input devices Part 910: Framework for tactile and haptic interaction Part 920: Guidance on tactile and haptic interactions ISO 9241-110 (formerly ISO 9241-10:1996 Ergonomic requirements for office work with visual display terminals (VDTs) -- Part 10: Dialogue principles. / withdrawn) (formerly ISO 9241-110:2006 Ergonomics of human-system interaction — Part 110: Dialogue principles. / withdrawn) The first edition of ISO 9241-110 was issued in 2006. In 2020, a revised version (second edition) was published, titled "Ergonomics of human-system interaction — Part 110: Interaction principles". The core idea of the standard was not changed. Interaction principles are design guidelines for user interfaces that embody principles. The seven interaction principles are applicable to the design of any user interface, whether it is software, hardware or a combination of both. Some principles have been refined to be more appropriate to today's possibilities or forms of interaction and User Engagement has been introduced as a new interaction principle. For each interaction principle, general design recommendations are given, which helps to follow them when designing user interfaces. Suitability for the user’s tasks Self-descriptiveness Conformity with user expectations Learnability Controllability Use error robustness User engagement The 2020 revision tied the earlier principle of individualisation into the principle of controllability, and introduced the principle of user engagement. ISO 9241-210 (formerly ISO 13407:1999 Human-centred design processes for interactive systems, withdrawn) Part 210: Human-centred Design; This part, updated in 2019, provides guidance on human-system interaction as holistic approach to plan, research, conceptualize, specify, design, develop, deploy and maintain interactive systems throughout their life cycle. It also covers the importance of sustainability and accessibility within the human-centered approach. With its introduction in 2008, it revised ISO 13407, Human-centred design for interactive systems. ISO-9241-302, 303, 305, 307:2008 pixel defects Of particular interest to the lay computer user are the definitions of flat-panel TV and monitor pixel defects provided in the ISO-9241-3xx series of standards (which renders obsolete ISO 13406-2). These identify three classes for measuring pixel defects in flat panel monitors: Class 0 panels are completely defect-free, including no full pixel or sub-pixel defects. Class 1 panels permit any or all of the following: 1 full bright (“stuck on white”) pixel 1 full dark (“stuck off”) pixel 2 single or double bright or dark sub-pixels 3 to 5 “stuck on” or “stuck off” sub-pixels (depending on the number of each) Class 2 panels permit any or all of the following: 2 full bright pixels 2 full dark pixels 5-10 single or double bright or dark sub-pixels (again, depending on the number of each; no more than 5 bright (“stuck on”) subpixels are permitted). Class 3 panels permit any or all of the following: 5 full bright pixels 15 full dark pixels 50 single or double sub-pixels stuck on or off (allowed pixed defects per 1 (one) million pixels in the TFT/LCD matrix) As of 2010, most premium branded panel manufacturers specify their products as Class 0, expecting a small number of returns due to early failure where a particular item fails to meet Class 0 but would meet Class 1. Budget panel manufacturers tend to specify their products as Class 1. Most premium branded finished product manufacturers (retail TVs, monitors, laptops, etc.) tend to specify their products as meeting Class 1 even when they have a Class 0 specified panel inside. Some premium branded finished product manufacturers have started to specify their products as Class 0 or offer a Class 0 guarantee for an additional premium. Previous version ISO 9241 was originally titled Ergonomic requirements for office work with visual display terminals (VDTs) and consisted of the following parts: Part 1: General introduction Part 2: Guidance on task requirements Part 3: Visual display requirements Part 4: Keyboard requirements Part 5: Workstation layout and postural requirements Part 6: Guidance on the work environment Part 7: Display requirements with reflections Part 8: Requirements for displayed colors Part 9: Requirements for non-keyboard input devices Part 10: Dialogue principles Part 11: Guidance on usability Part 12: Presentation of information Part 13: User guidance Part 14: Menu dialogues Part 15: Command dialogues Part 16: Direct manipulation dialogues Part 17: Form filling dialogues Part 20: Accessibility guidelines for ICT equipment and services ISO 9241-1 Part 1: (1997) Ergonomic requirements for office work with visual display terminals (VDTs) : General Introduction This part introduces the multi-part standard ISO 9241 for the ergonomic requirements for the use of visual display terminals for office tasks and explains some of the basic underlying principles. It provides some guidance on how to use the standard and describes how conformance to parts of ISO 9241 should be reported. ISO 9241-2 Part 2: (1993) Guidance on task requirements This part deals with the design of tasks and jobs involving work with visual display terminals. It provides guidance on how task requirements may be identified and specified within individual organisations and how task requirements can be incorporated into the system design and implementation process. ISO 9241-3 Part 3: (1993, deprecated) Visual display requirements This part specifies the ergonomics requirements for display screens which ensure that they can be read comfortably, safely and efficiently to perform office tasks. Although it deals specifically with displays used in offices, it is appropriate to specify it for most applications that require general purpose displays to be used in an office-like environment. ISO 9241-4 Part 4: (1998) Keyboard requirements This part specifies the ergonomics design characteristics of an alphanumeric keyboard which may be used comfortably, safely and efficiently to perform office tasks. Keyboard layouts are dealt with separately in various parts of ISO/IEC 9995: 1994 Information Processing - Keyboard Layouts for Text and Office Systems ISO 9241-5 Part 5: (1998) Workstation layout and postural requirements This part specifies the ergonomics requirement for a Visual Display Terminal workplace which will allow the user to adopt a comfortable and efficient posture. ISO 9241-6 Part 6: (1999) Environmental requirements This part specifies the ergonomics requirements for the Visual Display Terminal working environment which will provide the user with comfortable, safe and productive working conditions. ISO 9241-7 Part 7: (1998, deprecated) Display requirements with reflections This part specifies methods of measurement of glare and reflections from the surface of display screens, including those with surface treatments. ISO 9241-8 Part 8: (1997, deprecated) Requirements for displayed colors This part specifies the requirements for multicolour displays which are largely in addition to the monochrome requirements in Part 3. ISO 9241-9 Part 9: (2000) Requirements for non-keyboard input devices This part specifies the ergonomics requirements for non-keyboard input devices which may be used in conjunction with a visual display terminal. It also includes a suggestion for a user-based performance test as an alternative way of showing conformance. The standard covers such devices as the mouse, trackball and other pointing devices, but it does not address voice input. ISO 9241-10 Part 10 (1996, withdrawn) "Dialogue principles": Gives ergonomic principles formulated in general bhhhh terms; they are presented without reference to situations of use, application, environment or technology. These principles are intended to be used in specifications, design and evaluation of dialogues for office work with visual display terminals (VDTs). ISO 9241-11 Part 11: (1998) To examine the quality of how well tasks are fulfilled by the users (usability testing), ISO 9241-11 framework can be employed. There are three components in the framework: System Effectiveness to examine the users’ ability to complete the given tasks, System Efficiency to examine the required user resources to complete the tasks, and System Satisfaction to record the users’ opinions and feedback. System Effectiveness: Participants are asked to complete six tasks, and the success or failure rate of completing each task is measured to evaluate the app’s efficiency. Task completion is considered successful when the user completed the task without producing an error or asking for assistance. System Efficiency: For evaluating system efficiency, the researcher records the time (in seconds) that participants took to complete each task. Each task is initiated by expressing the word ‘start’ and finished when the user mentioned the end. Upon completing each task, the user is asked to fill out the Single Ease Questionnaire (SEQ) to examine the level of task difficulty. The questionnaire is a seven-point Likert scale in which scale 1 indicates the task as ‘very difficult’, and scale 7 indicates the task as ‘very easy’. System Satisfaction is used to evaluate the overall usability of the apps through System Usability Scale (SUS), which is a usability assessment questionnaire with reliable and valid results. It includes ten questions, each with five items ranging from ‘strongly agree’ to ‘strongly disagree’. The score range is from 0 to 100 and scores higher than 80 are considered high usability while those below 70 are considered low usability. ISO 9241-12 Part 12: (1998) Presentation of information This part contains specific recommendations for presenting and representing information on visual displays. It includes guidance on ways of representing complex information using alphanumeric and graphical/symbolic codes, screen layout, and design as well as the use of windows. ISO 9241-13 Part 13: (1998) User guidance This part provides recommendations for the design and evaluation of user guidance attributes of software user interfaces including Prompts, Feedback, Status, On-line Help and Error Management. ISO 9241-14 Part 14: (1997) Menu dialogues This part provides recommendations for the ergonomic design of menus used in user-computer dialogues. The recommendations cover menu structure, navigation, option selection and execution, and menu presentation (by various techniques including windowing, panels, buttons, fields, etc.). ISO 9241-15 Part 15: (1998) Command language dialogues This part provides recommendations for the ergonomic design of command languages used in user-computer dialogues. The recommendations cover command language structure and syntax, command representations, input and output considerations, and feedback and help. ISO 9241-16 Part 16: (1999) Direct manipulation dialogues This part provides recommendations for the ergonomic design of direct manipulation dialogues, and includes the manipulation of objects, and the design of metaphors, objects and attributes. It covers those aspects of Graphical User Interfaces that are directly manipulated, and not covered by other parts of ISO 9241. ISO 9241-17 Part 17: (1998) Form-filling dialogues This part provides recommendations for the ergonomic design of form filling dialogues. The recommendations cover form structure and output considerations, input considerations, and form navigation. References 09241

Orientation (mental)

Orientation is a function of the mind involving awareness of three dimensions: time, place and person. Problems with orientation lead to disorientation, and can be due to various conditions. It ranges from an inability to coherently understand person, place, time, and situation, to complete orientation. Assessment Assessment of a person's mental orientation is frequently designed to evaluate the need for focused diagnosis and treatment of conditions leading to Altered Mental Status (AMS). A variety of basic prompts and tests are available to determine a person's level of orientation. These tests frequently primarily assess the ability of the person (within EMS) to perform basic functions of life (see: Airway Breathing Circulation), many assessments then gauge their level of amnesia, awareness of surroundings, concept of time, place, and response to verbal, and sensory stimuli. Causes of mental disorientation Disorientation has a variety of causes, physiological and mental in nature. Physiological disorientation is frequently caused by an underlying or acute condition. Disease or injury that impairs the delivery of essential nutrients such as glucose, oxygen, fluids, or electrolytes can impair homeostasis, and therefore neurological function causing mental disorientation. Other causes are psycho-neurological in nature (see also Cognitive disorder) stemming from chemical imbalances in the brain, deterioration of the structure of the brain, or psychiatric states or illnesses that result in disorientation. Mental orientation is frequently affected by shock, including physiological shock (see: Shock circulatory) and mental shock (see: Acute stress reaction, a psychological condition in response to acute stressful stimuli.) Areas within precuneus, posterior cingulate cortex, inferior parietal lobe, medial prefrontal cortex, lateral frontal, lateral temporal cortices are believed to be responsible for situational orientation. See also Mental confusion Mental status examination Delirium Altered mental status References Cognition

Culturology

Culturology or the science of culture is a branch of the social sciences concerned with the scientific understanding, description, analysis, and prediction of cultures as a whole. While ethnology and anthropology studied different cultural practices, such studies included diverse aspects: sociological, psychological, etc., and the need was recognized for a discipline focused exclusively on cultural aspects. In Russia The notion of culturology, as an interdisciplinary branch of the humanities, may be traced in the Soviet Union to the late 1960s and associated with the work of Mikhail Bakhtin, Aleksei Losev, Sergey Averintsev, Georgy Gachev, Juri Lotman, Vyacheslav Ivanov, Vladimir Toporov, Edward Markarian, and others. This kind of research challenged Marxist socio-political approach to culture. Between 1980 and 1990, culturology received official recognition in Russia and was legalized as a form of science and a subject of study for institutions of higher learning. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, it was introduced into the Higher Attestation Commission's list of specialties for which scientific degrees may be awarded in Russia and is now a subject of study during the first year at institutions of higher education and in secondary schools. Defined as the study of human cultures, their integral systems, and their influence on human behavior, it may be formally compared to the Western discipline of cultural studies, although it has a number of important distinctions. Over past decades the following basic cultural schools were formed: philosophy of culture (A. Arnold, G. V. Drach, N. S.  Zlobin, M. S. Kagan, V. M. Mezhuyev, Y. N. Solonin, M. B. Turov and others) theory of culture (B. S. Yerasov, A. S. Karmin, V. A. Lukov, A. A. Pelipenko, E. V Sokolov, A. Ya. Fliyer and others), cultural history (S. N. Ikonnikova, I. V. Kondakov, E. A. Shulepova, I. G. Yakovenko and others), sociology of culture (I. Akhiezer, L. G. Ionin, L. N. Kogan, A. I. Shendrik and others), cultural anthropology (A. A. Belik, Ye. A. Orlova, A. S. Orlov-Kretschmer, Yu. M.. Reznik and others), applied cultural studies (O. Astaf'eva, I. M. Bykhovskaya and others), cultural studies art (K. E. Razlogov, N. A. Hrenov and others), semiotics of culture (Juri Lotman, V. N. Toporov, V. V. Ivanov, E. M. Meletinsky and others), cultural education (G. I. Zvereva, A. I. Kravchenko, T. F. Kuznetsova, L. M. Mosolova and others). From 1992, research was started by the Russian Institute for Cultural Research. Today, along the line of the central office located in Moscow, three branches of RIC have been opened – Siberian (opened in 1993 in Omsk), St. Petersburg Department (opened in 1997) and the Southern Branch (opened in 2012 in Krasnodar). Culturology studies at Moscow Lomonosov University In 1990, at the faculty of philosophy, a chair of the history and theory of world culture was created. Many prominent Soviet and Russian scholars like V. V. Ivanov, S. S. Averintsev, A. Y. Gurevich, M. L. Gasparov, G. S. Knabe, E. M. Miletinskiy, V. N. Romanov, T. V. Vasilyeva, N. V. Braginskaya, V. V. Bibikhin, Alexander Dobrokhotov have worked there. Yuri Rozhdestvensky founded a school of Culturology at the Department of Language Studies of Moscow Lomonosov University. Rozhdestvensky's approach to the development of culture (accumulation and mutual influence of layers) can be compared to the approach used in media ecology. Other uses The Oxford English Dictionary records usage of the word "culturology" with the meaning "[t]he science or study of culture or a culture" from 1920 onwards. American anthropologist Leslie White (1900-1975) popularised the term culturology among contemporary Anglophone social scientists. White defined culturology as a field of science dedicated to the study of culture and cultural systems. He notes that "culturology" was earlier known as "science of culture" as defined by English anthropologist Edward Burnett Tylor in his book 1872 Primitive Culture. White also notes that he introduced this term in 1939, and that for the first time the term appeared in English dictionaries in 1954. He also remarks that the corresponding German term, Kulturwissenschaft, was introduced by Wilhelm Ostwald in 1909. Following White, philosopher of science Mario Bunge (1919-2020) defined culturology as the sociological, economic, political, and historical study of concrete cultural systems. "Synchronic culturology" is said to coincide with the anthropology, sociology, economics, and political ideology of cultures. By contrast, "diachronic culturology" is a component of history. According to Bunge, "scientific culturology" also differs from traditional cultural studies as the latter are often the work of idealist literary critics or pseudo-philosophers ignorant of the scientific method and incompetent in the study of social facts and concrete social systems. Bunge's systemic and materialist approach to the study of culture has given birth to a variety of new fields of research in the social sciences. Fabrice Rivault, for instance, was the first scholar to formalize and propose international political culturology as a subfield of international relations in order to understand the global cultural system, as well as its numerous subsystems, and explain how cultural variables interact with politics and economics to impact world affairs. This scientific approach differs radically from culturalism, constructivism, and cultural postmodernism because it is based on logic, empiricism, systemism, and emergent materialism. International political culturology is being studied by scholars around the world. See also Cultural studies Ethnology Cultural anthropology References External links The Russian Institute for Cultural Research Culturology Department at National University "Ostroh Academy" Chair of the history and theory of world culture at the Lomonossov Moscow State University, Russia School of Cultural Studies at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia Cultural studies Science and technology in Russia

Postdigital

Postdigital, in artistic practice, is a term that describes works of art and theory that are more concerned with being human than with being digital, similar to the concept of "undigital" introduced in 1995, where technology and society advances beyond digital limitations to achieve a totally fluid multimediated reality that is free from artefacts of digital computation (quantization noise, pixelation, etc.). The postdigital is concerned with our rapidly changed and changing relationships with digital technologies and art forms. Theory According to Giorgio Agamben (2002), the postdigital is a paradigm that (as with post-humanism) does not aim to describe a life after digital, but rather, attempts to describe the present-day opportunity to explore the consequences of the digital and of the computer age. While the computer age has enhanced human capacity with inviting and uncanny prosthetics, the postdigital provides a paradigm with which it is possible to examine and understand this enhancement. In The Future of Art in a Postdigital Age, Mel Alexenberg defines "postdigital art" as artworks that address the humanization of digital technologies through interplay between digital, biological, cultural, and spiritual systems, between cyberspace and real space, between embodied media and mixed reality in social and physical communication, between high tech and high touch experiences, between visual, haptic, auditory, and kinesthetic media experiences, between virtual and augmented reality, between roots and globalization, between autoethnography and community narrative, and between web-enabled peer-produced wikiart and artworks created with alternative media through participation, interaction, and collaboration in which the role of the artist is redefined, and between tactile art and NFTs. Mel Alexenberg proposes that a postdigital age is defined in Wired by MIT Media Center director Nicholas Negroponte: "Like air and drinking water, being digital will be noticed only in its absence, not by its presence. Face it - the Digital Revolution is over" Music Kim Cascone uses the term in his article The Aesthetics of Failure: "Post-digital" Tendencies in Contemporary Computer Music. He begins the article with a quotation from MIT Media Lab cyberpundit Nicholas Negroponte: "The digital revolution is over." Cascone goes on to describe what he sees as a 'post-digital' line of flight in the music also commonly known as glitch or microsound music, observing that 'with electronic commerce now a natural part of the business fabric of the Western world and Hollywood cranking out digital fluff by the gigabyte, the medium of digital technology holds less fascination for composers in and of itself.' Japanese theorist, Ryota Matsumoto adapts the postdigital discourse of Kim Cascone to their ingenious culture and construes Japanese social structure as the postdigital after the collapse of capitalist accumulation and the subsequent integration of their tradition with the pharmacology of digital age. In Art after Technology, Maurice Benayoun lists possible tracks for "postdigital" art considering that the digital flooding has altered the entire social, economical, artistic landscape, and the artist posture will move in ways that try to escape the technological realm without being able to completely discard it. From lowtech to biotech and critical fusion - critical intrusion of fiction inside reality – new forms of art emerge from the digital era. See also Circuit bending Databending Digital Art Glitch New Aesthetic New media art References Further reading Alexenberg, Mel, (2019), Through a Bible Lens: Biblical Insights for Smartphone Photography and Social Media. Nashville, Tennessee: HarperCollins; . Alexenberg, Mel, (2011), The Future of Art in a Postdigital Age: From Hellenistic to Hebraic Consciousness. Bristol and Chicago: Intellect Books/University of Chicago Press; . Alexenberg, Mel, ed. (2008), Educating Artists for the Future: Learning at the Intersections of Art, Science, Technology, and Culture. Bristol and Chicago: Intellect Books/University of Chicago Press, 344 pp. . (postdigital chapters by Roy Ascott, Stephen Wilson, Eduardo Kac, and others). Ascott, R. (2003), Telematic Embrace. (E.Shaken, ed.) Berkeley: University of California Press. . Barreto, R. and Perissinotto, P. (2002), The Culture of Immanence, in Internet Art. Ricardo Barreto e Paula Perissinotto (orgs.). São Paulo, IMESP. . Benayoun, M. (2008), Art after Technology abstract of the text written by Maurice Benayoun in Technology Review - French edition, N°7 June–July 2008, MIT, ISSN 1957-1380. Full text in English. Benayoun, M., The Dump, 207 Hypotheses for Committing Art, bilingual (English/French), Fyp éditions, France, July 2011, . Berry, D. M. (2014) Critical Theory and the Digital, New York: Bloomsbury. . Berry, D. M. and Dieter (2015) Postdigital Aesthetics: Art, Computation and Design, London: Palgrave. . Birnbaum, D and Kuo (2008) More than Real: Art in the Digital Age, 2018 Verbier Art Summit. London: Koenig Books. . Bolognini, M. (2008), Postdigitale, Rome: Carocci. . Ferguson, J., & Brown, A. R. (2016). "Fostering a post-digital avant-garde: Research-led teaching of music technology". Organised Sound, 21(2), 127–137. Ferreira, P. (2024), Audiovisual Disruption: Post-Digital Aesthetics in Contemporary Audiovisual Arts, Bielefeld, Germany: transcript Verlag. . Pepperell, R. and Punt, M. (2000), The Postdigital Membrane: Imagination, Technology and Desire, Intellect Books, Bristol, UK, 182 pp. Toshiko, Saneoki. (2019). Postigital Theory of Giorgio Agamben, Ryota Matsumoto, Kim Cascone, Japanese Art and Design. Hachimato, Tokyo Institute of Art, Tokyo, Japan. Toshimo, Saniev. (2019). “Postdigital, Giorgio Agamben, Ryota Matsumoto” Tokyo University Press Media Research Journal Japanese Text. Wilson, S. (2003), Information Arts: Intersections of Art, Science, and Technology. . External links Google Books: The Postdigital Membrane What is a paradigm by Giorgio Agamben Post-Digital Humanities: Computation and Cultural Critique in the Arts and Humanities Monoskop: Collection of resources related to Post-Digital Aesthetics Postdigital Science and Education journal Postdigital Science and Education book series Encyclopedia of Postdigital Science and Education Digital art Digital electronics Computer art New media New media art Interactive art Visual arts genres

Creativity techniques

Creativity techniques are methods that encourage creative actions, whether in the arts or sciences. They focus on a variety of aspects of creativity, including techniques for idea generation and divergent thinking, methods of re-framing problems, changes in the affective environment and so on. They can be used as part of problem solving, artistic expression, or therapy. Some techniques require groups of two or more people while other techniques can be accomplished alone. These methods include word games, written exercises and different types of improvisation, or algorithms for approaching problems. Aleatory techniques exploiting randomness are also common. Aleatory techniques Aleatoricism is the incorporation of chance (random elements) into the process of creation, especially the creation of art or media. Aleatoricism is commonly found in music, art, and literature, particularly in poetry. In film, Andy Voda made a movie in 1979 called Chance Chants, which he produced by a flip of a coin or roll of a dice. In music, John Cage, an avant-garde musician, composed music by using the I Ching to determine the position of musical notes, superimposing star maps on blank sheet music, by rolling dice and preparing open-ended scores that depended on the spontaneous decisions of the performers. (1) Other ways of practicing randomness include coin tossing, picking something out of a hat, or selecting random words from a dictionary. The aleatory approach is also demonstrated in the case of the process called provocation, which was initially introduced by Edward de Bono as an aid to research. This method, which Richard Restak said was also employed by Anthony Burgess, aims to achieve novel ideas in writing by directing a plot with creative connections through random words picked from a reference book. Restak explained that the two hundred billion interconnected neural cells in the brain are capable of an abundance of possibilities for long-range connections and creative interactions using random and unrelated words. In short, aleatoricism is a way to introduce new thoughts or ideas into a creative process. Improvisation Improvisation is a creative process which can be spoken, written, or composed without prior preparation. Improvisation, also called extemporization, can lead to the discovery of new ways to act, new patterns of thought and practices, or new structures. Improvisation is used in the creation of music, theater, and other various forms. Many artists also use improvisational techniques to help their creative flow. The following are two significant domains that use improvisation: Improvisational theater is a form of theater in which actors use improvisational acting techniques to perform spontaneously. Many improvisational ("improv") techniques are taught in standard drama classes. The basic skills of listening, clarity, confidence, and performing instinctively and spontaneously are considered important skills for actors to develop. Free improvisation is real-time composition. Musicians of all kinds improvise ("improv") music; such improvised music is not limited to a particular genre. Two contemporary musicians that use free improvisation are Anthony Braxton and Cecil Taylor. In problem solving In problem-solving contexts, the random-word creativity technique is perhaps the simplest method. A person confronted with a problem is presented with a randomly generated word, in the hopes of a solution arising from any associations between the word and the problem. A random image, sound, or article can be used instead of a random word as a kind of creativity goad or provocation. There are many problem-solving tools and methodologies to support creativity: TRIZ (theory which are derived from tools such as ARIZ or TRIZ contradiction matrix) Creative Problem Solving Process (CPS) (complex strategy, also known as Osborn-Parnes-process) Lateral thinking process, of Edward de Bono Six Thinking Hats, of Edward de Bono Ordinal Priority Approach Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument – right brain / left brain Brainstorming and Brainwriting Think outside the box Business war games, for the resolution of competitive problems SWOT analysis The method USIT of convergent creativity Thought experiment Five Ws In project management For project management purposes, group creativity techniques are creativity techniques used by a team in the course of executing a project. Some relevant techniques are brainstorming, the nominal group technique, the Delphi technique, idea/mind mapping, the affinity diagram, and multicriteria decision analysis. These techniques are referenced in the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. Group creativity techniques can be used in a sequence; for example: Gather requirements using idea/mind mapping Continue generating ideas by brainstorming Construct an affinity diagram based on the generated ideas Identify the most important ideas by applying the nominal group technique Obtain several rounds of independent feedback using the Delphi technique Affecting factors Distraction Multiple studies have confirmed that distraction actually increases creative cognition. One such study done by Jonathan Schooler found that non-demanding distractions improve performance on a classic creativity task called the UUT (Unusual Uses Task) in which the subject must come up with as many possible uses for a common object. The results confirmed that decision-related neural processes occur during moments of unconscious thought while a person engages in a non-demanding task. The research showed that while distracted a subject isn’t maintaining one thought for a particularly long time, which in turn allows different ideas to float in and out of one’s consciousness—this sort of associative process leads to creative incubation. Ambient noise is another variable that is conducive to distraction. It has been proven that a moderate level of noise actually heightens creativity. Professor Ravi Mehta conducted a study to research the degree of distraction induced by various noise levels and their effect on creativity. The series of experiments show that a moderate level of ambient noise (70 dB) produces just enough distraction to induce processing disfluency, which leads to abstract cognition. These higher construal levels caused by moderate levels of noise consequently enhance creativity. Walking In 2014, a study found that walking increased creativity. Sleep and relaxation Some advocate enhancing creativity by taking advantage of hypnagogia, the transition from wakefulness to sleep, using techniques such as lucid dreaming. One technique used by Salvador Dalí was to drift off to sleep in an armchair with a set of keys in his hand; when he fell completely asleep, the keys would fall and wake him up, allowing him to recall his mind's subconscious imaginings. Thomas Edison used the same technique, with ball bearings. Meditation A study from 2014 involving 40 Chinese undergraduates found that performing a short 30 minute meditation session each day, for seven days, was sufficient to improve verbal and visual creativity, as measured by the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, due to the positive effects of meditation on emotional regulation. The same researchers also showed in 2015 that short term meditation training could also improve insight-based problem solving (the type commonly associated with an "Ah-ha", or "eureka" type moment of realization) as measured by the Remote Associates Test. See also Association (psychology) Creative computing Decision tree Design tool Ideas bank Ideation (creative process) Imagination Intuition (knowledge) Surrealist techniques Invention Lateral thinking Management de la créativité (in French) Metaphor Oblique Strategies C-K theory Computer supported brainstorming References External links Artistic techniques Problem solving methods

Retrospective

A retrospective (from Latin , "look back"), generally, is a look back at events that took place, or works that were produced, in the past. As a noun, retrospective has specific meanings in medicine, software development, popular culture and the arts. It is applied as an adjective, synonymous with the term retroactive, to laws, standards, and awards. Medicine A medical retrospective is an examination of a patient's medical history and lifestyle. Arts and popular culture A retrospective exhibition presents works from an extended period of an artist's activity. Similarly, a retrospective compilation album is assembled from a recording artist's past material, usually their greatest hits. A television or newsstand special about an actor, politician, or other celebrity will present a retrospective of the subject's career highlights. A leading (usually elderly) academic may be honored with a Festschrift, an honorary book of articles or a lecture series relating topically to a retrospective of the honoree's career. Celebrity roasts good-naturedly mock the career of the guest of honor, often in a retrospective format. Awards A retrospective or retroactive award is one which is created and then awarded to persons who would have received it before. Alternatively, a slight change to the criteria of an existing award may result in retrospective awards being presented to persons who would have won the award under present rules. Comparatively, few awards are presented retrospectively. Law The term is used in situations where the law (statutory, civil, or regulatory) is changed or reinterpreted, affecting acts committed before the alteration. When such changes make a previously committed lawful act now unlawful in a retroactive manner, this is known as an ex post facto law or retroactive law. Because such laws punish the accused for acts that were not unlawful when committed, they are rare, and not permissible in most legal systems. More commonly, changes retroactively worsen the legal consequences (or status) of actions that were committed, or relationships that existed, by bringing it into a more severe category than it was in when it was committed; by changing the punishment or recompense prescribed, as by adding new penalties, extending sentences, or increasing fines and damages payable; or it may alter the rules of evidence in order to make exoneration more difficult than it would have been. Conversely, a form of retrospective law commonly called an amnesty law may decriminalize certain acts. A pardon has a similar effect, in a specific case instead of a class of cases. An in mitius change may alleviate possible consequences for unlawful acts (for example, by replacing the death sentence with lifelong imprisonment) retroactively. Finally, when a previous law is repealed or otherwise nullified, it is no longer applicable to situations to which it had been, even if such situations arose before the law was voided; this principle is known as nullum crimen, nulla poena sine praevia lege poenali. Software development The term is also used in software engineering, where a retrospective is a meeting held by a project team at the end of a project or process (often after an iteration) to discuss what was successful about the project or time period covered by that retrospective, what could be improved, and how to incorporate the successes and improvements in future iterations or projects. Retrospective can be done in many different ways. In agile development, retrospectives play a very important role in iterative and incremental development. At the end of every iteration, a retrospective is held to look for ways to improve the process for the next iteration. Standards In the context of scientific and technical standards, retrospectivity applies current norms to material that pre-dates new rules. An example of a retrospective or retroactive standard is the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN Code), a convention which governs the formal scientific naming of animals, of which the 4th edition is effective since 2000. All previous editions of the ICZN Code, or previous other rules and conventions, are disregarded today, and the scientific names published in former times are to be evaluated only under the present edition of the ICZN Code. See also After action report After-action review Debriefing Lessons learned Morbidity and mortality conference Performance appraisal References External links Film genres Visual arts exhibitions

Artist's impression

An artist's impression, artist's conception, artist's interpretation, or artist's rendition is the representation of an object or a scene created by an artist when no other accurate representation is available. It could be an image, a sound, a video or a model. Artist's impressions are often created to represent concepts and objects that cannot be seen by the naked eye; that are very big, very small, in the past, in the future, fictional, or otherwise abstract. For example, in architecture, artists' impressions are used to showcase the design of planned buildings and associated landscape. Artists' impressions are particularly prominent in space art. Artist's depictions of prehistoric life are known as paleoart. See also Architectural rendering Concept art References Art Articles containing video clips

Reflective writing

Reflective writing is an analytical practice in which the writer describes a real or imaginary scene, event, interaction, passing thought, or memory and adds a personal reflection on its meaning. Many reflective writers keep in mind questions such as "What did I notice?", "How has this changed me?" or "What might I have done differently?" when reflecting. Thus, in reflective writing, the focus is on writing that is not merely descriptive. The writer revisits the scene to note details and emotions, reflect on meaning, examine what went well or revealed a need for additional learning, and relate what transpired to the rest of life. According to Kara Taczak, "Reflection is a mode of inquiry: a deliberate way of systematically recalling writing experiences to reframe the current writing situation." The more someone reflectively writes, the more likely they are to reflect in their everyday life regularly, think outside the box, and challenge accepted practices. Background When writing reflectively, a writer attempts to convey their own thought process. Therefore, reflective writing is one of the more personal styles of writing as the writer is clearly inserted into the work. This style of writing invites both the reader and the writer to introspect and examine their own thoughts and beliefs, and gives the writer and the reader a closer relationship. Reflective writing tends to consist of description, or explaining the event and its context; interpretation, or how the experience challenged existing opinions; and outcome, or how the experience contributed to personal or professional development. Most reflective writing is written in first person, as it speaks to the writer's personal experience, but often it is supplemented with third person in academic works as the writer must support their perspective with outside evidence. Reflective writing is usually a style that must be learned and practiced. Most novice writers are not reflective initially and must progress from imitative writing to their own style of genuine, critical reflection. Kathleen Blake Yancey notes that reflection "is the dialectical process by which we develop and achieve, first, specific goals for learning; second, strategies for reaching those goals; and third, means of determining whether or not we have met those goals or other goals." The concepts of reflection and reflective writing are social constructs prevalent in academic literature, and in different contexts, their meanings have different interpretations. Characteristics of reflective writing The main characteristics of reflective writing include: Reflection: The writer reflects on the issue (that is, the topic they are writing about) and considers how their own experience and points of view might influence their response. This helps the writer learn about themselves as well as contribute to a better final product that considers biases. Evidence: The writer considers and cites different perspectives and evidence to provide a truly comprehensive reflection. "Evidence" can mean either academic evidence or the writer's own reflections and experiences, depending on whether the piece of reflection is personal or academic. Clarity: The writer must be clear and cohesive. As reflective writing takes the reader through both the writer's own thoughts and sometimes other outside perspectives, unity and readability are crucial to ensure the reader does not get lost between points of view. If the reflection is written for academia—that is, it is not a personal reflection or journal—additional features include: Theory: An academic reflection will integrate theories and other academic works to explain the reflection. For example, a writer might say: "Smith's theory of social engagement might explain why I reacted the way I did." Learning outcomes: An academic reflection will include commentary on how the writer learned from the experience, what they would have done differently, or how their perspectives or opinions have changed as a result of the experience. Reflective writing in academia Reflective writing is regularly used in academic settings, as it helps students think about how they think and allows students to think beyond the scope of the literal meaning of their writing or thinking. In other words, it is a form of metacognition. Proper reflective writing is heavily influenced by metacognition. Metacognition allows for better self-reflection and allows the writer to take the material beyond the literal meaning. Reflective writing can be seen as a metacognitive genre that heavily influences literacy narrative assignments due to the increased reflective thinking it applies to students. Students can consciously and unconsciously analyze their experiences and interactions through this assessment tool.It is frequently assigned to postsecondary students and is particularly useful to students and practitioners in composition, education, and health-related fields as it helps them reflect on their practice. Typical academic reflective writings include portfolios, summaries, and journals. Reflective writing is not limited to academic writing because it often takes many different forms. Sometimes it is used in stand-alone assessment tasks, and other times it is incorporated into other tasks such as essays. Reflective writing in education systems aids in adapting students' "knowledge in waiting" into "knowledge in practice" which encourages students to analyze previous professional experiences when applying these to future situations. This type of analytical skill is advantageous for students pursuing professions that have recurring unpredictable situations and allows students to be better prepared for the workplace. Evidence shows that reflective writing is a good way to increase empathy in medical students. Another study showed that students who were assigned reflective writing during a camp developed greater self-awareness, had a better understanding of their goals, and were better able to recognize their personal development. It is also found that students who partake in critical reflective assignments use it as a way to let out their pent-up emotions, making critical reflection a way to seek cathartic relief. Reflective writing is useful to improve collaboration, as it makes writers aware of how they sound when they voice their thoughts and opinions to others. Additionally, it is an important part of the reflective learning cycle, which includes planning, acting, observing, and reflecting. Students can be hesitant to write reflectively as it requires them to not just consider but actively cite things they typically would hide or ignore in academic writing, like their anxieties and shortcomings. Reflective writing in academic settings is sometimes criticized, as concerns exist regarding its effectiveness. Reflective writing assignments are often weighted low in a course's grade calculations, and among a crowded workload, students can see them as an afterthought. It has also been argued that reflective writing assignments are only assigned as "busy work", as they are low maintenance and relatively easy to grade. Additionally, because students know they will be graded on their reflection, it might be written in an inauthentic way. Nonetheless, reflective writing is becoming increasingly important in education, as reflecting on completed work helps students see room for improvement. Benefits of reflective writing There are many benefits to reflective writing. A few are: increased self-awareness about personal writing techniques; improved critical analysis; and ability to examine and understand social, cultural, and political issues that involve language. Within professions, reflective writing can be used as a therapeutic form of expression, especially useful in stress-filled professions. Within a classroom setting, the addition of reflective writing assignments can help improve intellectual thinking by introducing assignments that encourage a deeper relationship between the individual and their writing. The introduction of reflective assignments in classroom settings further aids in student retention of information being discussed in the classroom. See also Narration Storytelling Writing therapy References External links </ref> Medical humanities Writing

Originality

Originality is the aspect of created or invented works that distinguish them from reproductions, clones, forgeries, or substantially derivative works. The modern idea of originality is according to some scholars tied to Romanticism, by a notion that is often called romantic originality. The validity of "originality" as an operational concept has been questioned. For example, there is no clear boundary between "derivative" and "inspired by" or "in the tradition of." The concept of originality is both culturally and historically contingent. For example, unattributed reiteration of a published text in one culture might be considered plagiarism but in another culture might be regarded as a convention of veneration. At the time of Shakespeare, it was more common to appreciate the similarity with an admired classical work, and Shakespeare himself avoided "unnecessary invention". It wasn't until the start of the 18th century that the concept of originality became an ideal in Western culture. Originality in law In law, originality has become an important legal concept with respect to intellectual property, where creativity and invention have manifest as protectable or copyrightable works. In the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (1886) that has been adapted by 181 countries and city-states, "original work" gives a creator exclusive rights; protection for creative works are automatically in force upon their creation without being asserted or declared. In the patent law of the United States, only original inventions can be subject to protection. In addition to being original, inventions submitted for a patent must also be useful and nonobvious. In United States copyright law copyrights protect only original works of authorship, a property which has been historically and legally linked to a concept of "creativity". A work must pass a threshold of originality in order to be copyrightable. In other countries protection of a work often is connected to similar conditions. In United Kingdom intellectual property law, a derived work can demonstrate originality, and must do so if it is to respect copyright. Originality under United States copyright law In the copyright law of the United States, more specifically under 17 U.S.C 102, the work that is sought to be protected must satisfy the threshold for originality. Though most of the countries require certain degree of originality in the work sought to be protected, such requirement does not stem from either the Berne Convention or the TRIPS Agreement. Therefore, there is no uniformity in the standard for originality. In the United States, originality necessitates bare minimum degree of creativity and independent creation. The Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Feist Publications v. Rural Telephone Service Co. held that the work must be independently created and must possess minimum degree of creativity. This interpretation requires an extremely low level of creativity and in the words of the court, "must possess some creative spark no matter how crude, humble or obvious it might be." The court also took the opportunity to reject the previously judicially-established and followed the sweat of the brow doctrine. According to the said doctrine, labour and hard-work alone could suffice to establish originality. After the doctrine was rejected by the Supreme Court in 1991, in the Bridgeman Art Library v. Corel Corp case, the court held that the copies of public domain photographs could not be copyrighted since they lacked originality and while such reproductions may have involved skill and labour, no protection could be granted to them, on account of lack of originality. While the current legal requirements of originality viz. minimum level of creativity and independent labour can be easily assessed and applied in case of literary works, the courts are required to undertake a deeper legal and factual inquiry in photographic works. The United States District Court for Southern District of New York in Mannion v. Coors Brewing Company considered originality in terms of timing, subject and rendition, and held that the nature and extent of the copyright would be independent in the three aspects. The requirement for originality was incorporated in the statute only in the Copyright Act, 1976 and over the course of time, the courts have evolved various metrics to apply the test. Unlike, Patents, novelty is not required for a work to be considered as original. The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Sheldon (1936) had clarified that sometimes it is relevant for other purposes. Therefore, if the work created by you is identical to a pre-existing work but you are unaware of the latter's existence, you may still enjoy copyright protection for your work. Apart from novelty, the work is not required to be made with an intent to be original. What is considered is only that it is actually an independent creation in effect. In 1951, the court in Alfred Bell Co. v. Catalda Arts held that the question as to whether there was intent to be original was not to be considered. The Supreme Court of the United States has also clarified that it is not necessary for the work to be artistic to qualify as original. Furthermore, in the landmark ruling, the court observed that it would be a dangerous undertaking for persons trained only to the law to constitute themselves final judges of the worth of pictorial illustrations, outside of the narrowest and most obvious limits. At the one extreme, some works of genius would be sure to miss appreciation. Their very novelty would make them repulsive until the public had learned the new language in which their author spoke. It may be more than doubted, for instance, whether the etchings of Goya or the paintings of Monet would have been sure of protection when seen for the first time. At the other end, copyright would be denied to pictures which appealed to a public less educated than the judge. This observation was an embodiment of the principle of artistic or aesthetic neutrality which seeks to eliminate the inherent subjectivity involved in the judges deciding whether the work is artistic, and hence, the question as to whether it warrants protection. The principle finds four broad justifications- (i) lack of expertise in the judges (ii) fear of elitism (iii) fear of paternalism (also called parentalism) (iv) lack of consensus on what constitutes art. However, scholars note that the principle of aesthetic neutrality is often violated as the adjudicators end up favouring creators of what they believe is deserving of copyright grant. In the United States, the work is not required to be non-commercial in nature for copyright protection and unlike the US trademark law, the work need to be necessarily lawful. Therefore, works created for commercial purposes, such as advertisements can also be granted a copyright. Originality under Indian copyright law Section 13(1)(a) of the Indian Copyright Act, 1957 mentions 'originality' as a requirement for copyright protection to literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works. Courts have interpreted this requirement of 'originality' in different ways. This has given rise to various doctrines/tests that can be helpful in determining whether a work meets the threshold of originality. The most prominent case with respect to 'originality' under the Indian Copyright Law is the Eastern Book Company v DCB Modak. This judgment gave rise to two doctrines i.e. modicum of creativity and the skill and judgment test. This remains the accepted and current position of law in India as of now. However, prior to this, the Indian Courts used to follow the Sweat of the Brow approach. "Sweat of the brow" doctrine This theory bases the grant of copyright protection on the effort and labour that an author puts into their work as opposed to the creativity involved. Locke's theory of labour as property has often been extended to give jurisprudential basis to this theory of copyright law. In the case of V. Govindan v E.M. Gopalakrishna Kone, it was held that compilations of information would meet the threshold of 'originality' under the Indian Copyright Act since it involves some level of 'skill, labour and brain'. A similar line of reasoning was adopted in the case of Burlington Home Shipping Pvt Ltd v Rajnish Chibber where a database was held to be original enough to be protected by copyright under Indian law. However, like in other jurisdictions, this theory was discarded by the Indian Courts also and the focus was shifted to the creativity involved in any work. EBC Modak case (modicum of creativity and skill and judgment test) The EBC Modak case is the Indian counterpart of the Feist Publications case in terms of the test it laid down. It concerned the copyrightability of Supreme Court judgments that were copy-edited and published by Eastern Book Company. These judgments were published along with 'headnotes' that were written by the Company itself. While explicitly discarding the Sweat of the Brow theory, the Court held that simply copy editing would not meet the threshold of originality under copyright law since it would only demonstrate an "amount of skill, labour and capital put in the inputs of the copy-edited judgments and the original or innovative thoughts for the creativity would be completely excluded.". Thus, it introduced the requirement of 'creativity' under originality. With respect to the level of creativity involved, the court adopted the 'minimal degree of creativity' approach. Following this standard, the headnotes that did not copy from the judgment verbatim were held to be copyrightable. Finally, the Court also gave way to the 'Skill and Judgment Test' which is more or less a compromise between the sweat of the brow theory and the modicum of creativity test. While relying on the CCH Canadian Case, the Court essentially held that a work would meet the originality standard as long as there is labour or effort involved but not only labour. It must involve some level of skill and judgment as well. However, this approach mirrors the Sweat of the Brow theory more closely and is therefore a difficult theory to defend. Further, the Court held the division of a judgment into paragraphs and numbering them was enough to meet this standard of 'Skill and Judgment'. Whether this is the correct interpretation of the test as given in the CCH Canadian Case remains debatable. Originality in science Scientific literature considered as primary must contain original research, and even review articles contain original analysis or interpretation. Originality of ideas and creative works An original idea is one not thought up by another person beforehand. Sometimes, two or more people can come up with the same idea independently. Originality is usually associated with characteristics such as being imaginative and creative. The evaluation of originality depends not only on the creative work itself, but also on the temporal context, the zeitgeist. In a study of the musical originality of 15,618 classical music themes, the importance of objective characteristics and the zeitgeist for popularity was examined. Both the musical originality of a theme relative to its contemporary works (the zeitgeist), as well as its "absolute" originality influenced in similar magnitude the popularity of a theme. Similarly, objective features and temporal context both influenced the evaluation of linguistic originality. Original recording An original painting, photographic negative, analog audio, or video recording, will contain qualities that can be difficult, or under current technology may be impossible to copy in its full integrity. That can also apply for any other artifact. That is why it is often necessary to preserve the original, in order to preserve its original integrity. The copy is made to preserve the original recording by saving the original from degenerating as it is being played, rather than to replace the original. See also Copyright protection of photographs in Switzerland - describes the criteria for the originality of photographs in Swiss law Creativity Derivative work Feist v. Rural and Bridgeman Art Library v. Corel Corp. (US) In fiction narratology, an original is the first-published installment of a series of works, thus having sequels, prequels, etc. Ship of Theseus Synonyms: archetype, prototype (the first draft of an original work), model, template, and pastiche (an imitation of an archetype or prototype in order to pay homage to the original creator) Sweat of the brow Notes References Gregory, Elizabeth (1997) Quotation and Modern American Poetry: Imaginary Gardens with Real Toads Macfarlane, Robert (2007) `Romantic' Originality, in Original copy: plagiarism and originality in nineteenth-century literature, March 2007, pp. 18–50(33) Smith, Logan Pearsall (1924) Four words: romantic, originality, creative, genius, Oxford, Clarendon Press Waterhouse, Francis A. (1926) Romantic 'Originality' in The Sewanee Review, Vol. 34, No. 1 (Jan., 1926), pp. 40–49 External links "Originality", BBC Radio 4 discussion with John Deathridge, Jonathan Rée and Catherine Belsey (In Our Time, Mar. 20, 2003) Why Buildings Are Getting Weirder - A documentary about "Originality" in Architecture by "The Aesthetic City" channel on YouTube Creativity Intellectual property law de:Original

Philosophy and literature

Philosophy and literature involves the literary treatment of philosophers and philosophical themes (the literature of philosophy), and the philosophical treatment of issues raised by literature (the philosophy of literature). The philosophy of literature, a subset of aesthetics, examines the nature of art and the significance of verbal arts, often overlooked in traditional aesthetic discussions. It raises philosophical questions about narrative, empathy, and ethics through fictional characters. Philosophers like Plato critiqued literature's ethical influence, while modern thinkers explore language's role in bridging minds and the truth in fiction, differentiating between the reality of characters and their narratives. The philosophy of literature Strictly speaking, the philosophy of literature is a branch of aesthetics, the branch of philosophy that deals with the question, "What is art"? Much of aesthetic philosophy has traditionally focused on the plastic arts or music, however, at the expense of the verbal arts. Much traditional discussion of aesthetic philosophy seeks to establish criteria of artistic quality that are indifferent to the subject matter being depicted. Since all literary works, almost by definition, contain notional content, aesthetic theories that rely on purely formal qualities tend to overlook literature. The very existence of narrative raises philosophical issues. In narrative, a creator can embody, and readers be led to imagine, fictional characters, and even fantastic creatures or technologies. The ability of the human mind to imagine, and even to experience empathy with, these fictional characters is itself revealing about the nature of the human mind. Some fiction can be thought of as a sort of a thought experiment in ethics: it describes fictional characters, their motives, their actions, and the consequences of their actions. It is in this light that some philosophers have chosen various narrative forms to teach their philosophy (see below). Literature and language Plato, for instance, believed that literary culture had a strong impact on the ethical outlook of its consumers. In The Republic, Plato displays a strong hostility to the contents of the culture of his period, and proposes a strong censorship of popular literature in his utopia. More recently, however, philosophers of various stripes have taken different and less hostile approaches to literature. Since the work of the British Empiricists and Immanuel Kant in the late eighteenth century, Western philosophy has long been preoccupied with a fundamental question of epistemology: the relationship between ideas in the human mind and the external world, if such a world exists. In more recent years, these epistemological concerns have shifted toward an extended discussion of words and meaning, exploring the possibility of language bridging the gap between minds. This cluster of issues concerning the meaning of language and "writings" is sometimes referred to as the linguistic turn. As such, techniques and tools developed for literary criticism and literary theory rose to greater prominence in Western philosophy of the late twentieth century. Philosophers of various stripes paid more attention to literature than their predecessors did. Some sought to examine the question of whether it was in fact truly possible to communicate using words, whether it was possible for an author's intended meaning to be communicated to a reader. Others sought to use literary works as examples of contemporary culture, and sought to reveal unconscious attitudes they felt present in these works for social criticism. The truth of fiction Literary works also pose issues concerning truth and the philosophy of language. In educated opinion, at least, it is commonly reputed as true that Sherlock Holmes lived in London. (see David Lewis 'Truth in Fiction', American Philosophical Quarterly, Vol. 15. No. 1, January 1978) It is also considered true that Samuel Pepys lived in London. Yet Sherlock Holmes never lived anywhere at all; he is a fictional character. Samuel Pepys, contrarily, is judged to have been a real person. Contemporary interests in Holmes and Pepys share strong similarities; the only reason why anyone knows either of their names is because of an abiding interest in reading about their alleged deeds and words. These two statements would appear to belong to two different orders of truth. Further problems arise concerning the truth value of statements about fictional worlds and characters that can be implied but are nowhere explicitly stated by the sources for our knowledge about them, such as Sherlock Holmes had only one head or Sherlock Holmes never traveled to the moon. The literature of philosophy Philosophical poems Several poets have written poems on philosophical themes, and some important philosophers have expressed their philosophy in verse. The cosmogony of Hesiod and the De Rerum Natura of Lucretius are important philosophical poems. The genre of epic poetry was also used to teach philosophy. Vyasa narrated the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata in order to teach Indian philosophy and Hindu philosophy. Homer also presented some philosophical teachings in his Odyssey. Many of the Eastern philosophers worked out their thought in a poetical fashion. Some of the important names include: Vyasa Laozi Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi Omar Khayyám Al-Ma'arri Nizami Ganjavi Sheikh Saadi Hafiz Shirazi Muhammad Iqbal Matsuo Bashō Farid ud-Din Attar Salah Abdel Sabour Mahmoud Darwish Notable Western philosophical poets include: John Ashbery Georges Bataille Giannina Braschi G. K. Chesterton Robert Creeley Samuel Taylor Coleridge T. S. Eliot Homer Søren Kierkegaard Lucretius John Milton Marianne Moore Pablo Neruda Friedrich Nietzsche Mary Oliver Fernando Pessoa Rainer Maria Rilke Percy Bysshe Shelley St. John of the Cross Leslie Marmon Silko Hildegard von Bingen William Carlos Williams C. K. Williams James Wright Philosophical fiction Some philosophers have undertaken to write philosophy in the form of fiction, including novels and short stories (see separate article on philosophical fiction). This is apparent early on in the literature of philosophy, where philosophers such as Plato wrote dialogues in which fictional or fictionalized characters discuss philosophical subjects; Socrates frequently appears as a protagonist in Plato's dialogues, and the dialogues are one of the prime sources of knowledge about Socrates' teaching, though at this remove it is sometimes hard to distinguish Socrates' actual positions from Plato's own. Numerous early Christian writers, including Augustine, Boethius, and Peter Abelard produced dialogues; several early modern philosophers, such as George Berkeley and David Hume, wrote occasionally in this genre. Some philosophers have turned to storytelling to convey their teachings. The 12th century Islamic philosopher Ibn Tufayl wrote a fictional Arabic narrative Hayy ibn Yaqdhan as a response to al-Ghazali's The Incoherence of the Philosophers; the 13th century Islamic theologian-philosopher Ibn al-Nafis later wrote a fictional narrative Theologus Autodidactus as a response to Ibn Tufayl's work. The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche often articulated his ideas in literary modes, most notably in Thus Spoke Zarathustra, a re-imagined account of the teachings of Zoroaster. Marquis de Sade and Ayn Rand wrote novels in which characters served as mouthpieces for philosophical positions, and acted by them in the plot. George Santayana was also a philosopher who wrote novels and poetry; the relationship between Santayana's characters and his beliefs is more complex. The existentialists include among their numbers important French authors who used fiction to convey their philosophical views; these include Jean-Paul Sartre's novel Nausea and play No Exit, and Albert Camus's The Stranger. Maurice Blanchot's entire fictional production, whose titles include The Step Not Beyond, The Madness of the Day, and The Writing of Disaster, among others, constitutes an indispensable corpus for the treatment of the relationship between philosophy and literature. So does Jacques Derrida's The Post Card: From Socrates to Freud and Beyond. Several philosophers have had an important influence on literature. Arthur Schopenhauer, largely as a result of his system of aesthetics, is perhaps the most influential recent philosopher in the history of literature; Thomas Hardy's later novels frequently allude to Schopenhauerian themes, particularly in Jude the Obscure. Schopenhauer also had an important influence on Joseph Conrad. Schopenhauer also had a less specific but more widely diffused influence on the Symbolist movement in European literature. Lionel Johnson also refers to Schopenhauer's aesthetics in his essay The Cultured Faun. Jacques Derrida's entire oeuvre has been hugely influential for so-called continental philosophy and the understanding of the role of literature in modernity. Other works of fiction considered to have philosophical content include: Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness Fyodor Dostoevsky, Brothers Karamazov and Crime and Punishment Jostein Gaarder, Sophie's World Hermann Hesse, The Glass Bead Game James Joyce, Ulysses Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain Iris Murdoch, The Sea, the Sea Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time Dante Alighieri, Divine Comedy William Shakespeare, Macbeth and Hamlet Leo Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Ilyich and War and Peace Sergio Troncoso, The Nature of Truth Marguerite Yourcenar, Memoirs of Hadrian Philosophical writing as literature Several philosophers are read for the literary merits of their works apart from their philosophical content. The philosophy in the Meditations of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius is unoriginal Stoicism, but the Meditations are still read for their literary merit and for the insight they give into the workings of the emperor's mind. Arthur Schopenhauer's philosophy is noted for the quality and readability of its prose, as are some of the works of the British Empiricists, such as Locke and Hume. Søren Kierkegaard's style is frequently regarded as poetic artistry as well as philosophical, especially in Fear and Trembling and Either/Or. Friedrich Nietzsche's works such as Thus Spoke Zarathustra frequently resemble prose poetry and contain imagery and allusion instead of argument. Philosophy in literature Philosophers in literature Socrates appears in a highly fictionalized guise, as a comic figure and the object of mockery, in The Clouds by Aristophanes. In the play, Socrates appears hanging from a basket, where he delivers oracles such as: I'd never come up with a single thing about celestial phenomena,if I did not suspend my mind up high,to mix my subtle thoughts with what's like them—the air. If I turned my mind to lofty things,but stayed there on the ground, I'd never makethe least discovery. For the earth, you see,draws moist thoughts down by force into itself—the same process takes place with watercress. Early Taoist philosopher Zhuang Zhou expressed his ideas primarily through short literary anecdotes and fables such as "Dream of the Butterfly". The other major philosophers of the time appear as characters within these stories, allowing Zhuangzi to playfully explore their ideas and contrast them with his own, as he does with Laozi, Liezi, Hui Shi, and many others. Most prominently in his work is the presence of Confucius and his prominent disciples, who are sometimes used to undermine popular understandings of Confucian philosophy or to reinforce Zhuangzi's own understanding of how one lives by the Dao. Jorge Luis Borges is perhaps the twentieth century's preeminent author of philosophical fiction. He wrote a short story in which the philosopher Averroes is the chief protagonist, Averroes's Search. Many plot points in his stories paraphrase the thought of philosophers, including George Berkeley, Arthur Schopenhauer, and Bertrand Russell; he also attributes various opinions to figures including George Dalgarno. A key plot point in Umberto Eco's novel The Name of the Rose turns on the discovery of a mysterious book that turns out to contain a lost manuscript by Aristotle. Eco's later novel Foucault's Pendulum became the forerunner of a run of thrillers or detective fiction that toss around learned allusions and the names of historical thinkers; more recent examples include Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code and The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason. Also, Philip K. Dick, who has often been compared to Borges, raises a significant number of philosophical issues in his novels, everything from the problem of solipsism to many questions of perception and reality. Fictional philosophers Jorge Luis Borges introduces many philosophical themes, and several fictional philosophers, in his short stories. A fictional philosophical movement is a part of the premise of his story Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius, and the unnamed narrator of his story The Library of Babel could also be called a fictional philosopher. A fictional theologian is the subject of his story Three Versions of Judas. Fictional philosophers occasionally occur throughout the works of Robert A. Heinlein and Ray Bradbury. Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land contains long passages that could be considered successors to the fictionalized philosophical dialogues of the ancient world, set within the plot. See also The arts and politics Literary translation Translation criticism Science fiction as thought experiment References Sources The Oxford Companion to Philosophy, Ted Honderich, ed., (Oxford University Press, 1995) . Borges, Jorge Luis, Collected Fictions, 1998. Translated by Andrew Hurley. . Magee, Bryan, The Philosophy of Schopenhauer (Oxford University Press, revised edition, 1977) . External links Philosophy and Literature at Paideia Archive Philosophy and Literature at Stanford, directed by R. Lanier Anderson and Joshua Landy Duke's Center for Philosophy, Arts, and Literature, directed by Toril Moi Andrew Miller, The Truth Value of Statements Containing Names of Literary Characters as Subjects (2002 thesis) Liter Philosophy of literature

Thematic learning

Thematic teaching (also known as thematic instruction) is the selecting and highlighting of a theme through an instructional unit or module, course, or multiple courses. It is often interdisciplinary, highlighting the relationship of knowledge across academic disciplines and everyday life. Themes can be topics or take the form of overarching questions. Thematic learning is closely related to interdisciplinary or integrated instruction, topic-, project- or phenomenon-based learning.  Thematic teaching is commonly associated with elementary classrooms and middle schools using a team-based approach, but this pedagogy is equally relevant in secondary schools and with adult learners. A common application is that of second or foreign language teaching, where the approach is more commonly known as theme-based instruction. Thematic instruction assumes students learn best when they can associate new information holistically with across the entire curriculum and with their own lives, experiences, and communities. Steps Under the thematic learning instruction, organization of curriculum can be based on a macro or micro theme, depending upon the topic to be covered. Choosing a theme: Themes about the particular topic should be of interest to students and relevant to the curriculum. In some approaches, students choose the thematic topic. Themes should also be topics of interest to the teacher(s) because successful thematic instructions often requires additional research and preparation. Interdisciplinary themes related to multiple academic disciplines such as science, social studies, math, language/writing, and other courses or subjects can be reinforced in lessons throughout the school day. Themes relevant to students' interests encourage active participation. For example, students may express interest in current popular music. This interest can be developed into thematic instructional units and lessons that span across time and cultures, how cultures interact and impact one another, music as a social or political commentary in social studies or history classes. Themes allowing past to present connections and highlight persistent issued faced by society such as war, poverty, pollution, disease, or natural disasters are especially effective. Doing the research: Effective interdisciplinary thematic instruction requires extensive knowledge and research by the teacher. Without a broad knowledge base on which to design relevant activities and lessons, thematic lessons can become randomly selected activities loosely related to a topic that fail to demand higher level thinking from students. Design an essential question(s) relevant to the theme. Essential questions are open-ended, intellectually engaging questions that demand higher-order thinking. Essential questions focus a thematic inquiry, helping the teacher chose the most important facts and concepts relative to the theme and focus planning efforts. Essential questions require students to learn the key facts and concepts related to the theme as well as analyze and evaluate the importance and relevance of that information. Good essential questions cannot be answered with a simple yes/no or true/false; students must discuss, defend, and debate issues related to the theme. Designing thematic instruction around essential questions requires that students learn both content and develop critical analysis skills. Designing instructional units and activities that guide students in answering the essential question. Teachers must choose teaching and learning strategies, activities, classroom materials, and experiences related to the wider theme and guide students in answering the essential question. Strategies can be individual or cooperative; stress various skills such as reading, writing, or presenting. Curriculum For thematic learning to be successful among learners, the following should be considered: Thematic learning consists of a curriculum that is unified and dwells on an identified theme or topic, ideally guided by essential questions. The sources are not limited to textbooks. For example, in the social studies or history classroom, primary source texts and images encourage the development of critical reading skills. For themes related to current events, analysis of modern media hones media literacy skills. Various teaching and learning methods can be used. Projects, cooperative learning, active participation, experiential learning are often highlighted. Thinking and problem solving skills, observation, critical reasoning, analysis and drawing conclusions are key skills in thematic learning. Advantages Students learn better when experiencing knowledge in a larger context. They begin to see relationships and connections across time, place, and disciplines. Learning about wider themes and related concepts and facts more closely resembles how life is experienced outside of school and the classroom. Themes can be chosen that are current and student-centered, incorporating the needs, interests and perspectives of the students. Carefully selecting topics and information related to a theme helps teachers narrow the overwhelming amount of information of any discipline. Thematic instructions aligns with current popular pedagogies and standards including place-based education, project-based education, and cooperative learning. When thematic instruction takes place along with cooperative learning, the advantages include the following: Thematic cooperative learning activities encourage authentic communication. The learner shares one's ideas with others in the group. Interaction encourages the values of respect and cooperation, thus building effective peer learning groups. The teacher becomes the facilitator, reduces the role of dispenser of learning. See also Interdisciplinary teaching References Education theory Pedagogy Learning methods

Family in advertising

Since the Industrial Revolution, use of the family in advertising has become a prominent practice in marketing campaigns to increase profits. Some sociologists say that these advertisements can influence behavior and attitudes; advertisers tend to portray family members in an era's traditional, socially-acceptable roles. History After the Industrial Revolution, advertising increased and the use of family images became prevalent. Advertising changed, from information about the availability of goods in 17th- and 18th-century Europe for an audience who lived and worked near the vendors (and their wares) to multi-million-dollar campaigns which attempted to connect and persuade people around the world. Large companies emerged as mass producers, products were branded, and customers began exhibiting brand loyalty. Persuading consumers to purchase one brand instead of another became vital to advertising in competitive industrial markets. Advertising's size and scope changed as marketing strategies began to target specific audience, using symbols, representations, and stereotypes (including the family). Because family life stresses group benefits, preferences, and successes over those of the individual, collectivist societies tend to use more family symbols in advertising than individualist societies. Collectivist South Korea has more success with family advertisements than the United States, which views itself as individualistic. Post-industrial advertising reaffirmed widely-held social values such as heterosexuality and those of the middle class, neglecting alternative values or lifestyles. Countries such as Japan continue to present the family stereotypically, especially in television advertisements. Many advertising agencies, however, have begun to more accurately reflect consumer diversity in lifestyles and family types. Function The family, a popular symbol in commercial advertising, is used to increase profit and develop a positive reputation with consumers. It functions on three levels of persuasion: social, psychological and personal. Social persuasion appeals to one's role in a group and one's corresponding expectations; it appeals to reference groups, social class, culture and subculture. The family symbol is socially persuasive, appealing to one's role in the family and their corresponding expectations. There is emotional pressure, due to psychological attachments in family relationships. Psychological persuasion in advertising appeals to motivation, attitudes, and personality. A parent might want to purchase a product which limits harm for their child due to their emotional attachment to the child, and emotional and psychological persuasion are popular advertising strategies. Family affects audiences at the psychological level, the level at which advertising is most effective. Personal persuasion appeals to one's demographic identity or consumer behaviors. The family is persuasive because although a family may make a purchase decision as a unit, one family member may make most of its buying decisions. Targeting that person, noting their role in the family and the corresponding responsibility to make family purchase decisions, is more productive than targeting other family members. The McDonald's Corporation in India has successfully marketed itself as "McDonald's Family Restaurant". Sociological interpretations Advertising is used to attract customers to a business's products or services, making statements about race, social class, gender, values, and family. It describes these social categories and prescribes behavior according to social ideals or norms. According to Belk and Pollay (cited in Burke's master's thesis), advertisements show the ideal life and instruct in how to live. Targeting specific groups of people for products and services, advertisements reflect changes in social norms and acceptable behavior. Some argue that the image of a family only plays a symbolic role, reflecting contemporary cultural values. Sociologists have challenged the public to study ads with family images as marketing messages and vehicles for behavior and attitudes towards society. Advertisements depicting families note the transition from modernity to postmodernity. This transition is that of middle class nuclear families (where heterosexuality is the norm) to the recognition and acceptance of a variety of family types, embracing societal polysexuality and plurality, the transition from popular culture to sub-cultures and multiculturalism. According to literary critic Fredric Jameson, "Our advertising ... is fed by postmodernism in all the arts, and is inconceivable without it." Family members Parents Throughout history, mothers have been portrayed as the primary physical caregivers of children. Physical caregiving includes tasks such as breastfeeding and changing diapers. Some theorize that women have a natural instinct to provide care. Fathers have been more likely to be portrayed as playing with their children, more with sons than daughters. Similar to the decline in wives being portrayed solely as housekeepers, the portrayal of mothers as the primary physical caretakers of children has also declined; mothers are portrayed more in recreational activities with their offspring. Other family members Like fathers, other male family members (including sons and grandsons) are primarily portrayed in play activities with children. Young female family members are more likely depicted in activities related to household chores and child care. Grandparents are largely absent from advertising. Family images depend on their source and the audience the source intends to reach. In a women's magazine, such as Good Housekeeping, women are portrayed primarily as housewives. Husbands As wives in advertising have reflected the general view of their appropriate role, husbands also reflect the cultural values surrounding their role; images of the husband working outside the home and handling the family finances are common. These roles were especially prevalent in 1920, 1936, and 1970. Husbands have generally not been depicted in advertising doing household chores, except when they humorously perform them badly. The portrayal of husbands and wives in an intimate, romantic relationship has increased. Wives Advertising generally reflects popular contemporary attitudes toward gender roles. During the 1920s, when relatively few wives worked outside the home, working wives were rarely portrayed in advertising. This changed during the Great Depression, when more wives entered the workforce. Since then, as housekeeping becomes a less-important family role, the number of advertisements depicting women performing household tasks has declined. See also Advertising campaign Capitalism Consumerism Commercialism Outline of marketing Marketing Influence of mass media Representation (arts) Sex in advertising Parental portrayals in the media References Advertising advertising

Consumer culture theory

Consumer culture theory (CCT) is the study of consumption from a social and cultural point of view, as opposed to an economic or psychological one. CCT does not offer a grand unifying theory but "refers to a family of theoretical perspectives that address the dynamic relationships between consumer actions, the marketplace, and cultural meanings". Reflective of a post-modernist society, CCT views cultural meanings as being numerous and fragmented and hence views culture as an amalgamation of different groups and shared meanings, rather than a homogeneous construct (such as the American culture). Consumer culture is viewed as "social arrangement in which the relations between lived culture and social resources, between meaningful ways of life and the symbolic and material resources on which they depend, are mediated through markets" and consumers as part of an interconnected system of commercially produced products and images which they use to construct their identity and orient their relationships with others. This evolution underscores the intricate relationship between technology, consumer behavior, and cultural production in contemporary society. Methodology There is a widely held misperception by people outside CCT researchers that this field is oriented toward the study of consumption contexts. Memorable study contexts, such as the Harley-Davidson subculture or the Burning Man festival probably fueled this perspective, which is far from the theory development aim of this school of thought. Some academic journals associated with research on consumer culture theory are Journal of Consumer Research, Consumption Markets & Culture, and Marketing Theory. CCT is often associated with qualitative methodologies, such as interviews, case studies, ethnography, and netnography, because they are suitable to study the experiential, sociological and cultural aspects of consumption. However, CCT researchers use a variety of methods Fields of study In 2005, Arnould and Thompson identified four research programs in CCT: Consumer identity projects, such as Schau & Gilly study on personal web space, which studied how consumers create a coherent self through marketer-produced materials Marketplace culture. These studies look at consumers as culture producers. Some examples include subcultures of consumption, brand communities, and consumer tribes. Mass-mediated marketplace ideologies and consumers' interpretive strategies, such as Kozinets study of the Burning Man Festival, which looked at consumer ideologies and identities are influenced by economic and cultural globalisation and how cultural product systems orient consumers toward certain ideologies or identity projects. Sociohistoric patterning of consumption, such as Holt study which looked at the influence of social capital on consumption choices. References Consumer behaviour Social theories

Enterbrain

, formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing founded on January 30, 1987 as . Magazines published by Enterbrain are generally focused on video games and computer entertainment as well as video game and strategy guides. In addition, the company publishes a small selection of anime artbooks. Enterbrain is based in Tokyo, Japan, with a paid-in capital of 410 million yen. Enterbrain's current president is Hirokazu Hamamura. Enterbrain publications B's LOG: Magazine focused on female gamers. TECH Win DVD: A magazine aimed specifically to PC users. It comes with two CD-ROMs worth of goodies and information. Tech Gian: A CD-ROM magazine focused on adult video games. Magi-Cu: A seinen visual entertainment manga magazine based on female game characters. Comic Beam: Comic Beam was formerly known as ASCII Comic. It is a seinen manga magazine filled with original manga. Harta (formerly Fellows!): A periodical seinen manga magazine consisting of original manga stories. Monthly Arcadia (月刊アーカディア): a 2000 monthly magazine focused on arcade game machines. It was started by former staff of (bi)monthly arcade game magazine Gamest (ゲーメスト) from 1986 which was published by Shinseisha, Ltd. Arcadia also has game hints and advice for the latest arcade games as well as high score reports from Japanese arcades. Sarabure: A horse racing magazine. Famitsu Connect!On: Magazine focused on online video games. Logout Tabletalk RPG Series: Tabletop role-playing games. biohazard Kaitai Shinsho: a series of guides for the Resident Evil franchise. Enterbrain software RPG Maker: a role-playing game creation tool Fighter Maker: a fighting games creation tool Sim RPG Maker: a tactical RPG games creation tool : a shoot-'em-up games creation tool IG Maker: creates platformer, adventure, and shoot-'em-up games. Also supports creation of games for the Xbox 360 console. Tabletop role-playing games Alshard Alshard GAIA Blade of Arcana : a Japanese superhero role-playing game set in modern Japan and includes elements of Japanese mythology such as yokais. Night Wizard! Star Legend Tenra War Terra the Gunslinger Tokyo NOVA Video games Panzer Front (1999) Tear Ring Saga (2001) Palette (2001) Galerians: Ash (2002) Berwick Saga (2005) KimiKiss (2006) The Magician's Academy (2007) Amagami (2009) Earth Seeker (2011) Photo Kano (2012) Light novels Enterbrain releases light novels under their Famitsu Bunko imprint, which was established in 1998 and is aimed at young adult males. They also publishes B's-LOG Bunko and B's-LOG Bunko Alice imprint focusing on girls and KCG Bunko focused on teens. Enterbrain also publishes stand-alone series without any imprint such as Yōjo Senki or Overlord. Anime Busou Chuugakusei: Basket Army (2012) – short anime and audio drama. Busou Chuugakusei'' is the first venture in Enterbrain's XXolution project, a multimedia initiative that will span manga, novels, anime, illustrations, scripts, music, and other fields. See also ASCII Media Works Kadokawa Shoten References Book publishing companies of Japan Comic book publishing companies of Japan Japanese companies established in 1987 Kadokawa Corporation subsidiaries Magazine publishing companies of Japan Publishing companies established in 1987 Role-playing game publishing companies

Theory U

Theory U is a change management method and the title of a book by Otto Scharmer. Scharmer with colleagues at MIT conducted 150 interviews with entrepreneurs and innovators in science, business, and society and then extended the basic principles into a theory of learning and management, which he calls Theory U. The principles of Theory U are suggested to help political leaders, civil servants, and managers break through past unproductive patterns of behavior that prevent them from empathizing with their clients' perspectives and often lock them into ineffective patterns of decision-making. Some notes about theory U Fields of attention Thinking (individual) Conversing (group) Structuring (institutions) Ecosystem coordination (global systems) Presencing The author of the theory U concept expresses it as a process or journey, which is also described as Presencing, as indicated in the diagram (for which there are numerous variants). At the core of the "U" theory is presencing: sensing + presence. According to The Learning Exchange, Presencing is a journey with five movements: On that journey, at the bottom of the U, lies an inner gate that requires us to drop everything that isn't essential. This process of letting-go (of our old ego and self) and letting-come (our highest future possibility: our Self) establishes a subtle connection to a deeper source of knowing. The essence of presencing is that these two selves – our current self and our best future self – meet at the bottom of the U and begin to listen and resonate with each other. Once a group crosses this threshold, nothing remains the same. Individual members and the group as a whole begin to operate with a heightened level of energy and sense of future possibility. Often they then begin to function as an intentional vehicle for an emerging future. The core elements are shown below. "Moving down the left side of the U is about opening up and dealing with the resistance of thought, emotion, and will; moving up the right side is about intentionally reintegrating the intelligence of the head, the heart, and the hand in the context of practical applications". Leadership capacities According to Scharmer, a value created by journeying through the "U" is to develop seven essential leadership capacities: Holding the space: listen to what life calls you to do (listen to oneself, to others and make sure that there is space where people can talk) Observing: Attend with your mind wide open (observe without your voice of judgment, effectively suspending past cognitive schema) Sensing: Connect with your heart and facilitate the opening process (i.e. see things as interconnected wholes) Presencing: Connect to the deepest source of your self and will and act from the emerging whole Crystallizing: Access the power of intention (ensure a small group of key people commits itself to the purpose and outcomes of the project) Prototyping: Integrating head, heart, and hand (one should act and learn by doing, avoiding the paralysis of inaction, reactive action, over-analysis, etc.) Performing: Playing the "macro violin" (i.e. find the right leaders, find appropriate social technology to get a multi-stakeholder project going). The sources of Theory U include interviews with 150 innovators and thought leaders on management and change. Particularly the work of Brian Arthur, Francisco Varela, Peter Senge, Ed Schein, Joseph Jaworski, Arawana Hayashi, Eleanor Rosch, Friedrich Glasl, Martin Buber, Rudolf Steiner and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe have been critical. Artists are represented in the project from 2001 -2010 by Andrew Campbell, whose work was given a separate index page linked to the original project site. https://web.archive.org/web/20050404033150/http://www.dialogonleadership.org/indexPaintings.html Today, Theory U constitutes a body of leadership and management praxis drawing from a variety of sources and more than 20 years of elaboration by Scharmer and colleagues. Theory U is translated into 20 languages and is used in change processes worldwide. Meditation teacher Arawana Hayashi has explained how she considers Theory U relevant to "the feminine principle". Earlier work: U-procedure The earlier work by Glasl involved a sociotechnical, Goethean and anthroposophical process involving a few or many co-workers, managers and/or policymakers. It proceeded from phenomenological diagnosis of the present state of the organisation to plans for the future. They described a process in a U formation consisting of three levels (technical and instrumental subsystem, social subsystem and cultural subsystem) and seven stages beginning with the observation of organisational phenomena, workflows, resources etc., and concluding with specific decisions about desired future processes and phenomena. The method draws on the Goethean techniques described by Rudolf Steiner, transforming observations into intuitions and judgements about the present state of the organisation and decisions about the future. The three stages represent explicitly recursive reappraisals at progressively advanced levels of reflective, creative and intuitive insight and (epistemologies), thereby enabling more radically systemic intervention and redesign. The stages are: phenomena – picture (a qualitative metaphoric visual representation) – idea (the organising idea or formative principle) – and judgement (does this fit?). The first three then are reflexively replaced by better alternatives (new idea --> new image --> new phenomena) to form the design design. Glasl published the method in Dutch (1975), German (1975, 1994) and English (1997). The seven stages are shown below. In contrast to that earlier work on the U procedure, which assumes a set of three subsystems in the organization that need to be analyzed in a specific sequence, Theory U starts from a different epistemological view that is grounded in Varela's approach to neurophenomenology. It focuses on the process of becoming aware and applies to all levels of systems change. Theory U contributed to advancing organizational learning and systems thinking tools towards an awareness-based view of systems change that blends systems thinking with systems sensing. On the left-hand side of the U the process is going through the three main "gestures" of becoming aware that Francisco Varela spelled out in his work (suspension, redirection, letting-go). On the right-hand side of the U this process extends towards actualizing the future that is wanting to emerge (letting come, enacting, embodying). Criticism Sociologist Stefan Kühl criticizes Theory U as a management fashion on three main points: First of all, while Theory U posits to create change on all levels, including the level of the individual "self" and the institutional level, case studies mainly focus on clarifying the positions of individuals in groups or teams. Except of the idea of participating in online courses on Theory U, the theory remains silent on how broad organisational or societal changes may take place. Secondly, Theory U, like many management fashions, neglects structural conflicts of interest, for instance between groups, organisations and class. While it makes sense for top management to emphasize common values, visions and the community of all staff externally, Kühl believes this to be problematic if organisations internally believe too strongly in this community, as this may prevent the articulation of conflicting interests and therefore organisational learning processes. Finally, the 5 phase model of Theory U, like other cyclical (but less esoteric) management models, such as PDCA, are a gross simplification of decision-making processes in organisation that are often wilder, less structured and more complex. Kühl argues that Theory U may be useful as it allows management to make decisions despite unsure knowledge and encourages change, but expects that Theory U will lose its glamour. See also Appreciative inquiry Art of Hosting Decision cycle Learning cycle OODA loop V-Model References External links C. Otto Scharmer Home Page Presencing Home Page The U-Process for Discovery Change management

Cultural ecology

Cultural ecology is the study of human adaptations to social and physical environments. Human adaptation refers to both biological and cultural processes that enable a population to survive and reproduce within a given or changing environment. This may be carried out diachronically (examining entities that existed in different epochs), or synchronically (examining a present system and its components). The central argument is that the natural environment, in small scale or subsistence societies dependent in part upon it, is a major contributor to social organization and other human institutions. In the academic realm, when combined with study of political economy, the study of economies as polities, it becomes political ecology, another academic subfield. It also helps interrogate historical events like the Easter Island Syndrome. History Anthropologist Julian Steward (1902-1972) coined the term, envisioning cultural ecology as a methodology for understanding how humans adapt to such a wide variety of environments. In his Theory of Culture Change: The Methodology of Multilinear Evolution (1955), cultural ecology represents the "ways in which culture change is induced by adaptation to the environment". A key point is that any particular human adaptation is in part historically inherited and involves the technologies, practices, and knowledge that allow people to live in an environment. This means that while the environment influences the character of human adaptation, it does not determine it. In this way, Steward wisely separated the vagaries of the environment from the inner workings of a culture that occupied a given environment. Viewed over the long term, this means that environment and culture are on more or less separate evolutionary tracks and that the ability of one to influence the other is dependent on how each is structured. It is this assertion - that the physical and biological environment affects culture - that has proved controversial, because it implies an element of environmental determinism over human actions, which some social scientists find problematic, particularly those writing from a Marxist perspective. Cultural ecology recognizes that ecological locale plays a significant role in shaping the cultures of a region. Steward's method was to: Document the technologies and methods used to exploit the environment to get a living from it. Look at patterns of human behavior/culture associated with using the environment. Assess how much these patterns of behavior influenced other aspects of culture (e.g., how, in a drought-prone region, great concern over rainfall patterns meant this became central to everyday life, and led to the development of a religious belief system in which rainfall and water figured very strongly. This belief system may not appear in a society where good rainfall for crops can be taken for granted, or where irrigation was practiced). Steward's concept of cultural ecology became widespread among anthropologists and archaeologists of the mid-20th century, though they would later be critiqued for their environmental determinism. Cultural ecology was one of the central tenets and driving factors in the development of processual archaeology in the 1960s, as archaeologists understood cultural change through the framework of technology and its effects on environmental adaptation. In anthropology Cultural ecology as developed by Steward is a major subdiscipline of anthropology. It derives from the work of Franz Boas and has branched out to cover a number of aspects of human society, in particular the distribution of wealth and power in a society, and how that affects such behaviour as hoarding or gifting (e.g. the tradition of the potlatch on the Northwest North American coast). As transdisciplinary project One 2000s-era conception of cultural ecology is as a general theory that regards ecology as a paradigm not only for the natural and human sciences, but for cultural studies as well. In his Die Ökologie des Wissens (The Ecology of Knowledge), Peter Finke explains that this theory brings together the various cultures of knowledge that have evolved in history, and that have been separated into more and more specialized disciplines and subdisciplines in the evolution of modern science (Finke 2005). In this view, cultural ecology considers the sphere of human culture not as separate from but as interdependent with and transfused by ecological processes and natural energy cycles. At the same time, it recognizes the relative independence and self-reflexive dynamics of cultural processes. As the dependency of culture on nature, and the ineradicable presence of nature in culture, are gaining interdisciplinary attention, the difference between cultural evolution and natural evolution is increasingly acknowledged by cultural ecologists. Rather than genetic laws, information and communication have become major driving forces of cultural evolution (see Finke 2006, 2007). Thus, causal deterministic laws do not apply to culture in a strict sense, but there are nevertheless productive analogies that can be drawn between ecological and cultural processes. Gregory Bateson was the first to draw such analogies in his project of an Ecology of Mind (Bateson 1973), which was based on general principles of complex dynamic life processes, e.g. the concept of feedback loops, which he saw as operating both between the mind and the world and within the mind itself. Bateson thinks of the mind neither as an autonomous metaphysical force nor as a mere neurological function of the brain, but as a "dehierarchized concept of a mutual dependency between the (human) organism and its (natural) environment, subject and object, culture and nature", and thus as "a synonym for a cybernetic system of information circuits that are relevant for the survival of the species." (Gersdorf/ Mayer 2005: 9). Finke fuses these ideas with concepts from systems theory. He describes the various sections and subsystems of society as 'cultural ecosystems' with their own processes of production, consumption, and reduction of energy (physical as well as psychic energy). This also applies to the cultural ecosystems of art and of literature, which follow their own internal forces of selection and self-renewal, but also have an important function within the cultural system as a whole (see next section). In literary studies The interrelatedness between culture and nature has been a special focus of literary culture from its archaic beginnings in myth, ritual, and oral story-telling, in legends and fairy tales, in the genres of pastoral literature, nature poetry. Important texts in this tradition include the stories of mutual transformations between human and nonhuman life, most famously collected in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, which became a highly influential text throughout literary history and across different cultures. This attention to culture-nature interaction became especially prominent in the era of romanticism, but continues to be characteristic of literary stagings of human experience up to the present. The mutual opening and symbolic reconnection of culture and nature, mind and body, human and nonhuman life in a holistic and yet radically pluralistic way seems to be one significant mode in which literature functions and in which literary knowledge is produced. From this perspective, literature can itself be described as the symbolic medium of a particularly powerful form of "cultural ecology" (Zapf 2002). Literary texts have staged and explored, in ever new scenarios, the complex feedback relationship of prevailing cultural systems with the needs and manifestations of human and nonhuman "nature." From this paradoxical act of creative regression they have derived their specific power of innovation and cultural self-renewal. German ecocritic Hubert Zapf argues that literature draws its cognitive and creative potential from a threefold dynamics in its relationship to the larger cultural system: as a "cultural-critical metadiscourse," an "imaginative counterdiscourse," and a "reintegrative interdiscourse" (Zapf 2001, 2002). It is a textual form which breaks up ossified social structures and ideologies, symbolically empowers the marginalized, and reconnects what is culturally separated. In that way, literature counteracts economic, political or pragmatic forms of interpreting and instrumentalizing human life, and breaks up one-dimensional views of the world and the self, opening them up towards their repressed or excluded other. Literature is thus, on the one hand, a sensorium for what goes wrong in a society, for the biophobic, life-paralyzing implications of one-sided forms of consciousness and civilizational uniformity, and it is, on the other hand, a medium of constant cultural self-renewal, in which the neglected biophilic energies can find a symbolic space of expression and of (re-)integration into the larger ecology of cultural discourses. This approach has been applied and widened in volumes of essays by scholars from over the world (ed. Zapf 2008, 2016), as well as in a recent monograph (Zapf 2016). Similar approaches have also been developed in adjacent fields, such as film studies (Paalman 2011). In geography In geography, cultural ecology developed in response to the "landscape morphology" approach of Carl O. Sauer. Sauer's school was criticized for being unscientific and later for holding a "reified" or "superorganic" conception of culture. Cultural ecology applied ideas from ecology and systems theory to understand the adaptation of humans to their environment. These cultural ecologists focused on flows of energy and materials, examining how beliefs and institutions in a culture regulated its interchanges with the natural ecology that surrounded it. In this perspective humans were as much a part of the ecology as any other organism. Important practitioners of this form of cultural ecology include Karl Butzer and David Stoddart. The second form of cultural ecology introduced decision theory from agricultural economics, particularly inspired by the works of Alexander Chayanov and Ester Boserup. These cultural ecologists were concerned with how human groups made decisions about how they use their natural environment. They were particularly concerned with the question of agricultural intensification, refining the competing models of Thomas Malthus and Boserup. Notable cultural ecologists in this second tradition include Harold Brookfield and Billie Lee Turner II. Starting in the 1980s, cultural ecology came under criticism from political ecology. Political ecologists charged that cultural ecology ignored the connections between the local-scale systems they studied and the global political economy. Today few geographers self-identify as cultural ecologists, but ideas from cultural ecology have been adopted and built on by political ecology, land change science, and sustainability science. Conceptual views Human species Books about culture and ecology began to emerge in the 1950s and 1960s. One of the first to be published in the United Kingdom was The Human Species by a zoologist, Anthony Barnett. It came out in 1950-subtitled The biology of man but was about a much narrower subset of topics. It dealt with the cultural bearing of some outstanding areas of environmental knowledge about health and disease, food, the sizes and quality of human populations, and the diversity of human types and their abilities. Barnett's view was that his selected areas of information "....are all topics on which knowledge is not only desirable, but for a twentieth-century adult, necessary". He went on to point out some of the concepts underpinning human ecology towards the social problems facing his readers in the 1950s as well as the assertion that human nature cannot change, what this statement could mean, and whether it is true. The third chapter deals in more detail with some aspects of human genetics. Then come five chapters on the evolution of man, and the differences between groups of men (or races) and between individual men and women today in relation to population growth (the topic of 'human diversity'). Finally, there is a series of chapters on various aspects of human populations (the topic of "life and death"). Like other animals man must, in order to survive, overcome the dangers of starvation and infection; at the same time he must be fertile. Four chapters therefore deal with food, disease and the growth and decline of human populations. Barnett anticipated that his personal scheme might be criticized on the grounds that it omits an account of those human characteristics, which distinguish humankind most clearly, and sharply from other animals. That is to say, the point might be expressed by saying that human behaviour is ignored; or some might say that human psychology is left out, or that no account is taken of the human mind. He justified his limited view, not because little importance was attached to what was left out, but because the omitted topics were so important that each needed a book of similar size even for a summary account. In other words, the author was embedded in a world of academic specialists and therefore somewhat worried about taking a partial conceptual, and idiosyncratic view of the zoology of Homo sapiens. Ecology of man Moves to produce prescriptions for adjusting human culture to ecological realities were also afoot in North America. In his 1957 Condon Lecture at the University of Oregon, entitled "The Ecology of Man", American ecologist Paul Sears called for "serious attention to the ecology of man" and demanded "its skillful application to human affairs". Sears was one of the few prominent ecologists to successfully write for popular audiences. Sears documents the mistakes American farmers made in creating conditions that led to the disastrous Dust Bowl. This book gave momentum to the soil conservation movement in the United States. The "ecology of man" as a limiting factor which "should be respected", placing boundaries around the extent to which the human species can be manipulated, is reflected in the views of Popes Benedict XVI, and Francis. Impact on nature During this same time was J.A. Lauwery's Man's Impact on Nature, which was part of a series on 'Interdependence in Nature' published in 1969. Both Russel's and Lauwerys' books were about cultural ecology, although not titled as such. People still had difficulty in escaping from their labels. Even Beginnings and Blunders, produced in 1970 by the polymath zoologist Lancelot Hogben, with the subtitle Before Science Began, clung to anthropology as a traditional reference point. However, its slant makes it clear that 'cultural ecology' would be a more apt title to cover his wide-ranging description of how early societies adapted to environment with tools, technologies and social groupings. In 1973 the physicist Jacob Bronowski produced The Ascent of Man, which summarised a magnificent thirteen part BBC television series about all the ways in which humans have moulded the Earth and its future. Changing the Earth By the 1980s the human ecological-functional view had prevailed. It had become a conventional way to present scientific concepts in the ecological perspective of human animals dominating an overpopulated world, with the practical aim of producing a greener culture. This is exemplified by I. G. Simmons' book Changing the Face of the Earth, with its telling subtitle "Culture, Environment History" which was published in 1989. Simmons was a geographer, and his book was a tribute to the influence of W.L Thomas' edited collection, Man's role in 'Changing the Face of the Earth that came out in 1956. Simmons' book was one of many interdisciplinary culture/environment publications of the 1970s and 1980s, which triggered a crisis in geography with regards its subject matter, academic sub-divisions, and boundaries. This was resolved by officially adopting conceptual frameworks as an approach to facilitate the organisation of research and teaching that cuts cross old subject divisions. Cultural ecology is in fact a conceptual arena that has, over the past six decades allowed sociologists, physicists, zoologists and geographers to enter common intellectual ground from the sidelines of their specialist subjects. 21st Century In the first decade of the 21st century, there are publications dealing with the ways in which humans can develop a more acceptable cultural relationship with the environment. An example is sacred ecology, a sub-topic of cultural ecology, produced by Fikret Berkes in 1999. It seeks lessons from traditional ways of life in Northern Canada to shape a new environmental perception for urban dwellers. This particular conceptualisation of people and environment comes from various cultural levels of local knowledge about species and place, resource management systems using local experience, social institutions with their rules and codes of behaviour, and a world view through religion, ethics and broadly defined belief systems. Despite the differences in information concepts, all of the publications carry the message that culture is a balancing act between the mindset devoted to the exploitation of natural resources and that, which conserves them. Perhaps the best model of cultural ecology in this context is, paradoxically, the mismatch of culture and ecology that have occurred when Europeans suppressed the age-old native methods of land use and have tried to settle European farming cultures on soils manifestly incapable of supporting them. There is a sacred ecology associated with environmental awareness, and the task of cultural ecology is to inspire urban dwellers to develop a more acceptable sustainable cultural relationship with the environment that supports them. Educational framework Cultural Core To further develop the field of Cultural Ecology, Julian Steward developed a framework which he referred to as the cultural core. This framework, a “constellation” as Steward describes it, organizes the fundamental features of a culture that are most closely related to subsistence and economic arrangements. At the core of this framework is the fundamental human-environment relationship as it pertains to subsistence. Outside of the core, in the second layer, lies the innumerable direct features of this relationship - tools, knowledge, economics, labor, etc. Outside of that second, directly correlated layer is the less-direct but still influential layer, typically associated with larger historical, institutional, political or social factors. According to Steward, the secondary features are determined greatly by the “cultural-historical factors” and they contribute to building the uniqueness of the outward appearance of cultures when compared to others with similar cores. The field of Cultural Ecology is able to utilize the cultural core framework as a tool for better determining and understanding the features that are most closely involved in the utilization of the environment by humans and cultural groups. See also Cultural materialism Dual inheritance theory Ecological anthropology Environmental history Environmental racism Human behavioral ecology Political ecology Sexecology References Sources Barnett, A. 1950 The Human Species: MacGibbon and Kee, London. Bateson, G. 1973 Steps to an Ecology of Mind: Paladin, London Berkes, F. 1999 Sacred ecology: traditional ecological knowledge and resource management. Taylor and Francis. Bronowski, J. 1973 The Ascent of Man, BBC Publications, London Finke, P. 2005 Die Ökologie des Wissens. Exkursionen in eine gefährdete Landschaft: Alber, Freiburg and Munich Finke, P. 2006 "Die Evolutionäre Kulturökologie: Hintergründe, Prinzipien und Perspektiven einer neuen Theorie der Kultur", in: Anglia 124.1, 2006, p. 175-217 Finke, P. 2013 "A Brief Outline of Evolutionary Cultural Ecology," in Traditions of Systems Theory: Major Figures and Contemporary Developments, ed. Darrell P. Arnold, New York: Routledge. Frake, Charles O. (1962) "Cultural Ecology and Ethnography" American Anthropologist. 64 (1: 53–59. ISSN 0002-7294. Gersdorf, C. and S. Mayer, eds. Natur – Kultur – Text: Beiträge zu Ökologie und Literaturwissenschaft: Winter, Heidelberg Hamilton, G. 1947 History of the Homeland: George Allen and Unwin, London. Hogben, L. 1970 Beginnings and Blunders: Heinemann, London Hornborg, Alf; Cultural Ecology Lauwerys, J.A. 1969 Man's Impact on Nature: Aldus Books, London Maass, Petra (2008): The Cultural Context of Biodiversity Conservation. Seen and Unseen Dimensions of Indigenous Knowledge among Q'eqchi' Communities in Guatemala. Göttinger Beiträge zur Ethnologie - Band 2, Göttingen: Göttinger Universitätsverlag online-version Paalman, F. 2011 Cinematic Rotterdam: The Times and Tides of a Modern City: 010 Publsihers, Rotterdam. Russel, W.M.S. 1967 Man Nature and History: Aldus Books, London Simmons, I.G. 1989 Changing the Face of the Earth: Blackwell, Oxford Steward, Julian H. 1972 Theory of Culture Change: The Methodology of Multilinear Evolution: University of Illinois Press Technical Report PNW-GTR-369. 1996. Defining social responsibility in ecosystem management. A workshop proceedings. United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Turner, B. L., II 2002. "Contested identities: human-environment geography and disciplinary implications in a restructuring academy." Annals of the Association of American Geographers 92(1): 52–74. Worster, D. 1977 Nature’s Economy. Cambridge University Press Zapf, H. 2001 "Literature as Cultural Ecology: Notes Towards a Functional Theory of Imaginative Texts, with Examples from American Literature", in: REAL: Yearbook of Research in English and American Literature 17, 2001, p. 85-100. Zapf, H. 2002 Literatur als kulturelle Ökologie. Zur kulturellen Funktion imaginativer Texte an Beispielen des amerikanischen Romans: Niemeyer, Tübingen Zapf, H. 2008 Kulturökologie und Literatur: Beiträge zu einem transdisziplinären Paradigma der Literaturwissenschaft (Cultural Ecology and Literature: Contributions on a Transdisciplinary Paradigm of Literary Studies): Winter, Heidelberg Zapf, H. 2016 Literature as Cultural Ecology: Sustainable Texts: Bloomsbury Academic, London Zapf, H. 2016 ed. Handbook of Ecocriticism and Cultural Ecology: De Gruyter, Berlin External links Cultural and Political Ecology Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers. Archive of newsletters, officers, award and honor recipients, as well as other resources associated with this community of scholars. Notes on the development of cultural ecology with an excellent reference list: Catherine Marquette Cultural ecology: an ideational scaffold for environmental education: an outcome of the EC LIFE ENVIRONMENT programme Cultural anthropology Ecology terminology Environmental humanities Human geography Interdisciplinary historical research

Deviancy amplification spiral

The deviancy amplification spiral and deviancy amplification are terms used by interactionist sociologists to refer to the way levels of deviance or crime can be increased by the societal reaction to deviance itself. Origin of term The process of deviancy amplification was first described by Leslie T. Wilkins. Process According to sociologist Stanley Cohen, the spiral starts with some deviant act. Usually the deviance is criminal, but it can also involve lawful acts considered morally repugnant by a large segment of society. With the new focus on the issue, hidden or borderline examples that would not themselves have been newsworthy are reported, confirming the pattern. This confirmation of the pattern was first documented by Stanley Cohen in Folk Devils and Moral Panic, a study of the media response to clashes between the Mods and Rockers, two rival subcultures of the time. Reported cases of such deviance are often presented as the ones we know about, or the "tip of the iceberg", an assertion that is nearly impossible to disprove immediately. For a variety of reasons, the less sensational aspects of the spiraling story that would help the public keep a rational perspective (such as statistics showing that the behavior or event is actually less common or less harmful than generally believed) tend to be ignored by the press. As a result, minor problems begin to look serious and rare events begin to seem common. Members of the public are motivated to keep informed on these events, leading to high readership for the stories, feeding the spiral. The resulting publicity has the potential to increase the deviant behavior by glamorizing it, or by making it seem common or acceptable. In the next stage, public concern typically forces the police and the law enforcement system to focus more resources on dealing with the specific deviancy than it warrants. Judges and magistrates then come under public pressure to deal out harsher sentences and politicians pass new laws to increase their popularity by giving the impression that they are dealing with the perceived threat. The responses by those in authority tend to reinforce the public's fear, while the media continue to report police and other law enforcement activity, amplifying the spiral. The theory does not contend that moral panics always include the deviancy amplification spiral. Eileen Barker asserts that the controversy surrounding certain new religious movements can turn violent in a deviancy amplification spiral. In his autobiography, Lincoln Steffens details how news reporting can be used to create the impression of a crime wave where there is none, in the chapter "I Make a Crime Wave". Button and Tunley have also presented a theory that offers the opposite to deviancy amplification, which they call deviancy attenuation. In this, they argue using the case of fraud that there are some large problems which those in positions of power are able to seemingly attenuate through not accurately measuring them, leading to statistics which underestimate the problem, leading to fewer resources dedicated to them, reinforcing the belief of those in power that they are not a problem. See also Availability heuristic Crowd psychology Culture of fear Folk devil Love Jihad Group sex Jenkem Junk food news Knockout game Mass hysteria Mass media Mean world syndrome Missing white woman syndrome Rainbow party Representativeness heuristic Sensationalism Social control Yellow journalism References Further reading Cohen, Stanley. Folk devils and moral panics. London: Mac Gibbon and Kee, 1972. . Section 3.4 Interpreting the crime problem of Free OpenLearn LearningSpace Unit DD100_1 originally written for the Open University Course, DD100. Button, Mark and Tunley, Martin. (2015) Explaining Fraud Deviancy Attenuation in the United Kingdom. Crime, Law and Social Change, 63: 49-64 Media studies Social phenomena Social influence Mass media issues Deviance (sociology) Criticism of journalism News media manipulation Media bias

Article structure

Article structures in journalism encompass various formats to present information in news stories and feature articles. These structures reflect not only a writer's deliberate choice but also a response to editorial guidelines or the inherent demands of the story itself. While some writers may not consciously adhere to these structures, they often find them retrospectively aligned with their writing process. Conversely, others might consciously adopt a style as their story develops or adhere to predefined structures based on publisher guidelines. Common Article Structures This section provides an in-depth look at various article structures used in journalism. Inverted Pyramid The inverted pyramid is a classic structure that begins with the most critical information, followed by supporting details, and concludes with background or supplementary data. It is predominantly used in news reporting and is sometimes critiqued for its direct approach. Example 1: A news report on an earthquake would start with the magnitude and location, followed by details on damages and rescue efforts, and end with historical data on regional seismic activity. Example 2: In a political context, a news article about an election might begin with the election results, followed by an analysis of key races, and conclude with background information on the candidates. Narrative The narrative structure follows events in a chronological order, commonly utilized in feature writing and long-form journalism. Example 1: A profile piece on a chef would start with their early life, follow their career development, and conclude with their current achievements. Example 2: In a historical feature article, the narrative structure could trace the timeline of a significant event, providing context and analysis along the way. Hourglass The hourglass combines the inverted pyramid and narrative styles, beginning with crucial details, transitioning into a narrative body, and ending with a summary. Example 1: An article on new traffic regulations starts with the key decisions made, then narrates public reactions, and concludes with an overview of expected impacts. Example 2: In a scientific report, the hourglass structure may present research findings first, followed by the methodology used, and conclude with implications and future research directions. Nut Graph In the nut graph structure, a short paragraph provides the context and significance of the story, usually following the lead. Example 1: A report on declining bee populations would start with this phenomenon, followed by a nut graph explaining its importance, and then delve into causes and effects. Example 2: In an economic analysis article, the nut graph could introduce a key economic trend, followed by a concise explanation of its implications for businesses and consumers. Diamond The diamond structure begins with an engaging anecdote, includes a nut graph, broadens with detailed information, and then converges back to the initial story. This format is favored in opinion journalism. Example 1: An opinion piece about young entrepreneurs might start with a specific story, expand to discuss the broader trend, and then tie back to the initial anecdote. Example 2: In a cultural critique, the diamond structure could begin with a personal experience, delve into a broader analysis of cultural phenomena, and conclude by relating it to the initial experience. Christmas Tree The Christmas tree structure features a series of narrative developments or twists, often used for complex or evolving stories. Example 1: A feature on a new technological breakthrough would present various aspects (science, impact, challenges) in a sequence of developments, each adding a new layer to the story. Example 2: In a crime investigation report, the Christmas tree structure could suspensefully unveil successive discoveries and revelations, building intrigue. Organic Jon Franklin's organic structure is characterized by a series of visual images creating a cinematic narrative. It involves "foci" for action depiction and transitions for time, mood, subject, and character establishment. Example 1: A travel article might describe vivid scenes from a market, transitioning into discussions about cultural significance and then focusing on individual stories. Example 2: In a documentary review, the organic structure could use visual storytelling techniques to analyze the film's narrative style, cinematography, and thematic elements. Five-Boxes Developed by Rick Bragg, this structure includes five parts: a captivating hook, a nut graph, a secondary lead, detailed support, and a strong concluding "kicker." Example 1: An environmental piece might start with a startling fact about climate change, summarize the issue, delve into specific effects and responses, and end with a powerful call to action. Example 2: In a sports feature article, the five-boxes structure could begin with an intriguing sports anecdote, followed by background information, player profiles, and game analysis, and conclude with a memorable moment from the match. See also Journalism Mainstream media References Journalism Mass media Writing Copy editing Prose Broadcast journalism

Hallin's spheres

Hallin's spheres is a theory of news reporting and its rhetorical framing posited by journalism historian Daniel C. Hallin in his 1986 book The Uncensored War to explain the news coverage of the Vietnam War. Hallin divides the world of political discourse into three concentric spheres: consensus, legitimate controversy, and deviance. In the sphere of consensus, journalists assume everyone agrees. The sphere of legitimate controversy includes the standard political debates, and journalists are expected to remain neutral. The sphere of deviance falls outside the bounds of legitimate debate, and journalists can ignore it. These boundaries shift, as public opinion shifts. Hallin's spheres, which deals with the media, are similar to the Overton window, which deals with public opinion generally, and posits a sliding scale of public opinion on any given issue ranging from conventional wisdom to unacceptable. Hallin used the concept of framing to describe the presentation and reception of issues in public. For example, framing the use of drugs as criminal activity can encourage the public to consider that behavior anti-social. Hallin's work was later referred to in the controversial formulation of the concept of an opinion corridor, in which the range of acceptable public opinion narrows, and opinion outside that corridor moves from legitimate controversy into deviance. Description Sphere of consensus This sphere contains those topics on which there is widespread agreement, or at least the perception thereof. Within the sphere of consensus, 'journalists feel free to invoke a generalized "we" and to take for granted shared values and shared assumptions'. Examples include such things as motherhood and apple pie. For topics in this sphere, journalists feel free to be advocating cheerleaders without having to be neutral or present any opposing view point and be disinterested observers." Sphere of legitimate controversy For topics in this sphere rational and informed people hold differing views within limited range. These topics are therefore the most important to cover, and also ones upon which journalists are seemingly obliged to remain disinterested reporters, rather than advocating for or against a particular view. Schudson notes that Hallin, in his influential study of the US media during the Vietnam War, argues that journalism's commitment to objectivity has always been compartmentalized. That is, within a certain sphere—the sphere of legitimate controversy—journalists seek conscientiously to be balanced and objective. The work of Walter Williams professor at the University of Missouri, Rod Petersen, advanced the idea that priming—controlling the narratives that media covers—can be the tool that media use to get deviant news subjects into the legitimate controversial circles of new coverage. Sphere of deviance Topics in this sphere are rejected by journalists as being unworthy of general consideration. Such views are perceived as being out of hand, unfounded, taboo, or of such minor consequence that they are not newsworthy. Hallin argues that in the sphere of deviance, 'journalists also depart from standard norms of objective reporting and feel authorized to treat as marginal, laughable, dangerous". They either avoid mentioning or ridicule the controversial subject as outside the bounds of acceptable controversy; and they censor the individuals and groups who are associated with it. A simple example: a person claiming that aliens are manipulating college basketball scores might have difficulty finding sports media coverage for such a claim. A more political example: the US media regulator FCC's "Fairness Doctrine" aimed at radio stations, advocated balance between right and left political news and opinions, yet specified that broadcasters did not have to reserve any space or time for Communist viewpoints. Uses of the terms Craig Watkins (2001, pp. 92–4) makes use of the Hallin's spheres in a paper examining ABC, CBS, and NBC television network television news coverage of the Million Man March, a demonstration that took place in Washington, D.C. on October 16, 1995. Watkins analyzes the dominant framing practices—problem definition, rhetorical devices, use of sources, and images—employed by journalists to make sense of this particular expression of political protest. He argues that Hallin's three spheres are a way for media framing practices to develop specific reportorial contexts, and each sphere develops its own distinct style of news reporting resources by different rhetorical tropes and discourses. Piers Robinson (2001, p. 536) uses the concept in relation to debates that have emerged over the extent to which the mass media serves elite interests or, alternatively, plays a powerful role in shaping political outcomes. His article reviews Hallin's spheres as an example of media-state relations, that highlights theoretical and empirical shortcomings in the 'manufacturing consent' thesis (Chomsky, McChesney). Robinson argues that a more nuanced and bi-directional understanding is needed of the direction of influence between media and the state that builds upon, rather than rejecting, existing theoretical accounts. Hallin's theory assumed a relatively homogenized media environment, where most producers were trying to reach most consumers. A more fractured media landscape can challenge this assumption because different audiences may place topics in different spheres, a concept related to the filter bubble, which posits that many members of the public choose to limit their media consumption to the areas of consensus and deviance that they personally prefer. See also Ambit claim Argument to moderation Creeping normality Cultural hegemony Door-in-the-face technique Political suicide Slippery slope Spiral of silence Third rail of politics Overton window References External links Rosen, Jay. "Audience Atomization Overcome: Why the Internet Weakens the Authority of the Press," PressThink.org (January 12, 2009). Smith, Christopher. The Sphere of Deviance WNYmedia Network, 2009. "Does NPR have a Liberal Bias?", On the Media (New York Public Radio) (September 14, 2012). Retrieved 11 February 2013. Framing (social sciences) Knowledge representation Propaganda techniques Journalism

Cultural intelligence

Cultural intelligence or cultural quotient (CQ), refers to an individual's capability to function effectively in culturally diverse settings. The concept was introduced by London Business School professor P. Christopher Earley and Nanyang Business School professor Soon Ang in 2003. While cultural intelligence is comparable to emotional intelligence (EQ), individuals with a high EQ can grasp "what makes us human and, at the same time, what makes each of us different from one another." In contrast, individuals with a high CQ can discern universal, individual, and non-idiosyncratic features within the behavior of a person or group. The authors cited behavioral, motivational, and metacognitive aspects of cultural intelligence. Four CQ capabilities The authors described four CQ capabilities: motivation (CQ Drive), cognition (CQ Knowledge), meta-cognition (CQ Strategy), and behavior (CQ Action). CQ Assessments report scores on all four capabilities as well as several sub-dimensions for each capability. The four capabilities stem from the intelligence-based approach to intercultural adjustment and performance. See also Cosmopolitanism Cultural anthropology Intercultural communication Intercultural competence Intelligence cycle Organizational culture References Further reading Ang, S. and Van Dyne L (eds). (2008) "The Handbook of Cultural Intelligence." New York: ME Sharpe Livermore, David A. (2011). "The Cultural Intelligence Difference." New York: AMACOM Middleton, Julia (2014). "Cultural Intelligence: CQ: The Competitive Edge for Leaders Crossing Borders." London: A&C Black Business Information and Development Cultural concepts Management Multiculturalism Organizational behavior

COLLADA

COLLADA (for 'collaborative design activity') is an interchange file format for interactive 3D applications. It is managed by the nonprofit technology consortium, the Khronos Group, and has been adopted by ISO as a publicly available specification, ISO/PAS 17506. COLLADA defines an open standard XML schema for exchanging digital assets among various graphics software applications that might otherwise store their assets in incompatible file formats. COLLADA documents that describe digital assets are XML files, usually identified with a .dae (digital asset exchange) filename extension. History Originally created at Sony Computer Entertainment by Rémi Arnaud and Mark C. Barnes, it has since become the property of the Khronos Group, a member-funded industry consortium, which now shares the copyright with Sony. The COLLADA schema and specification are freely available from the Khronos Group. The COLLADA DOM uses the SCEA Shared Source License 1.0. Several graphics companies collaborated with Sony from COLLADA's beginnings to create a tool that would be useful to the widest possible audience, and COLLADA continues to evolve through the efforts of Khronos contributors. Early collaborators included Alias Systems Corporation, Criterion Software, Autodesk, Inc., and Avid Technology. Dozens of commercial game studios and game engines have adopted the standard. In March 2011, Khronos released the COLLADA Conformance Test Suite (CTS). The suite allows applications that import and export COLLADA to test against a large suite of examples, ensuring that they conform properly to the specification. In July 2012, the CTS software was released on GitHub, allowing for community contributions. ISO/PAS 17506:2012 Industrial automation systems and integration -- COLLADA digital asset schema specification for 3D visualization of industrial data was published in July 2012. Software tools COLLADA was originally intended as an intermediate format for transporting data from one digital content creation (DCC) tool to another application. Applications exist to support the usage of several DCCs, including: Game engines Originally intended as an interchange format, many game engines now support COLLADA, including: Applications Some games and 3D applications have started to support COLLADA: Physics As of version 1.4, physics support was added to the COLLADA standard. The goal is to allow content creators to define various physical attributes in visual scenes. For example, one can define surface material properties such as friction. Furthermore, content creators can define the physical attributes for the objects in the scene. This is done by defining the rigid bodies that should be linked to the visual representations. More features include support for ragdolls, collision volumes, physical constraints between physical objects, and global physical properties such as gravitation. Physics middleware products that support this standard include Bullet Physics Library, Open Dynamics Engine, PAL and NVIDIA's PhysX. These products support by reading the abstract found in the COLLADA file and transferring it into a form that the middleware can support and represent in a physical simulation. This also enables different middleware and tools to exchange physics data in a standardized manner. The Physics Abstraction Layer provides support for COLLADA Physics to multiple physics engines that do not natively provide COLLADA support including JigLib, OpenTissue, Tokamak physics engine and True Axis. PAL also provides support for COLLADA to physics engines that also feature a native interface. Versions 1.0: October 2004 1.2: February 2005 1.3: June 2005 1.4.0: January 2006; added features such as character skinning and morph targets, rigid body dynamics, support for OpenGL ES materials, and shader effects for multiple shading languages including the Cg programming language, GLSL, and HLSL. First release through Khronos. 1.4.1: July 2006; primarily a patch release. 1.5.0: August 2008; added kinematics and B-rep as well as some FX redesign and OpenGL ES support. Formalised as ISO/PAS 17506:2012. See also glTF (Graphics Library Transmission Format) FBX (Filmbox) List of vector graphics markup languages Open Game Engine Exchange (OpenGEX) Universal Scene Description (USD) Universal 3D (U3D) VRML WebGL X3D (Extensible 3D Graphics) References External links 2004 software 3D graphics file formats 3D graphics software CAD file formats Graphics standards XML-based standards

Stock issues

In the formal speech competition genre known as policy debate, a widely accepted doctrine or "debate theory" divides the argument elements of supporting the resolution affirmative into five subtopical issues, called the stock issues. Stock issues are sometime referred to as on-case arguments or simply on-case or case arguments as opposed off-case arguments. Logicality Three issues must first be present in the affirmative case and are the main ideas or values to vote on for taking any action (in policy debate or in everyday life). They ask: What are we doing now (inherency stock issue)? What could we be doing differently (solvency stock issue)? What are the results of what we are doing now versus what we could be doing (significance stock issue)? The last stock issue, topicality, is procedural and unique (or one-of-kind or intrinsic or necessary, aka "warranted as presented") to debate as it concerns how germane the plan (specifically, plan as stated) is to the given resolution. Components The stock issues are inherency, solvency, topicality, and significance: Significance: This answers the "why" of debate. All advantages and disadvantages to the status quo (resulting from inherency) and of the plan (resulting from solvency) are evaluated under significance. A common equivocation is to confuse "significance" with the word "significantly" that appears in many resolutions. Significance is derived from judicious weighing between advantages and disadvantages, whereas significant policy changes are judged by how much the policy itself changed independently of how good or bad the effects or Solvency are. Policy debate does not assume determinism, but every effect or consequence has to be argued with evidence that those effects or consequences can or do occur. Harms: Harms are a way of elucidating the problems or shortcomings of the status quo. Since they prove the "so, no" of continuing with the status quo, harms are closely related to, but not the same as, Significance. Inherency: The actual situation and causes of the status quo. A case is "not inherent" when the status quo is already implementing the plan or solving the harms. Clearly, a solution that is new or different from the status quo is not warranted in such a case. Three common types of inherency are: Structural inherency: Laws or other barriers to the implementation of the plan or causes of harms Attitudinal inherency: Beliefs or attitudes which prevent the implementation of the plan or causing harms Existential inherency: The harms exist and res ipsa loquitur, the status quo must not be able to solve the problem. It just is. Topicality: The Affirmative case must affirm the resolution, since that is the job of the Affirmative in a debate round. The Affirmative case often is shown to be within the bounds of the resolution as defined by appropriate definitions, or functional implementation or resolution instrumentality through the Affirmative plan. When the resolution seems vague, the most likely or best likely intent, and even the deeper beneficial meaning of the resolution, is often considered and upheld. In practice, most debate strategies and debate club practice regions do not consider Topicality to be a "stock issue" per se; instead, it is a high-level debate brought up by the Negative that does not excuse the Affirmative plan or case approach from defects that are not found prima facie in the resolution. A straightforward Topicality in-round debate is different from a counter-resolution brought up by the Negative, different from a Negative counterplan, and different from the rare Affirmative counterplan. Topicality is an intrinsic, unstated Affirmative burden in the Affirmative's first speech. A Negative counterplan does not have to be topical, or it can be even more topical and more supportive of the resolution than the Affirmative's plan. There are no constraints on Negative counter-resolutions that aim to have better Solvency than the Affirmative if both sides agree on the status quo harms; any constraints would have to be debated. Solvency: The advantages of the plan itself are presented in Solvency. Who or what does the plan benefit, and why is that good or valuable? Here the harms are often demonstrated to be solved by the plan, or the link to new advantages are shown. Without solvency, a plan is useless. Thus, the Affirmative almost always loses a debate without Solvency, no matter how well the debate speech described problems of the status quo. Depending on the allowance by judges to the cleverness of debate arguments, not all Affirmative strategies need to present a policy plan. They can, as the Affirmative case, affirm the resolution as a policy at the doctrinal, protocol, constitutional, treaty, or such supportive level and present partial plans, typically parts of the status quo, merely as examples. These types of Affirmative presentations are sometimes referred to as "d'accord with the resolution" or "agreement with the resolution" without specifying any particular plan to pursue. The affirmative case without a plan asks that the Negative plan must deter better the status quo harms or be better than the obvious Significance and Solvency already provided by the resolution. In that way, ratification of the resolution has binding effects, once affirmed, that scopes the feasibility of and judgment on the value of specific plans. For example, if the Federal government is already solving the problem, then plans that want to reach horizontal or reciprocal federalism solvency at the interstate level are considered redundant. Justification: Do the case and the plan justify the resolution? This issue usually hinges on whether the topic at hand is one that the United States Federal Government should be involved in, or if the harms would be better addressed by the states (for domestic topics) or the United Nations or some other country or non-governmental organization (for foreign topics). Even though a plan could be straightforwardly topical as to the resolution's policy agency, the action of the policy (the plan) has to justify the resolution by some standard, such as necessary and sufficient, for example. While logically these issues are distinguishable, in practice they might not be addressed individually or in any particular order. Other Components Other components have been advocated by advanced debaters and can be found during some tournament rounds of intercollegiate policy debate. These types of arguments or, sometimes, components of policy debate, can be linked to stock issues by good debaters. Typicality: Is the Affirmative case or plan good enough for the resolution? If too generic, many other plans that could fall under the resolution could be run by the Negative, making Affirmative's Significance arguments nonunique or not significant enough. If too specific or complex, the atypicality of the Affirmative side is an extraordinary exception supporting the resolution which, while being straightforward, is difficult to support readily. Typicality is often used as an argument by either side to avoid clash on Topicality. The debate world's pet term for atypical plans is squirrelly: squirrelly cases, squirrelly arguments, squirrelly variety of policy debate. Specificity: Is the resolution and the Affirmative case correctly, neatly, or clearly specifying what is to be debated? A vague resolution is difficult for the Affirmative to support and, hence, difficult for the Negative to challenge, the problem of the "moving target" or "patch of fog" resolution or plan. For example, if the Affirmative claims that not going with the resolution will end in evil and the devil will appear, the Affirmative has not yet met the stock issue burden of specifying anything in particular unique or significant or inherent or justifiable about arguing for or against the supposedly anti-devil resolution; that would be a fight to the death rather than a debate. Another example. The Negative can argue that the wording in the resolution is imprecise and that there is better diction for the meaning as stated. If say, the resolution is to "significantly enhance the prospects of" some social-economic class, the unintended consequence of such a resolution allows for Affirmative plans to include prostitution, anarchy, human trafficking, and such vices. The Negative has to straightforwardly argue what the better diction is, for example, that the resolution is to "significantly enhance the economic standard of living of" some social-economic group of persons. Grounds: Is the format, stock issue outline, or allowances within the debate round fair to both sides? Grounds is often argued by both sides that certain types of arguments unfairly overscope, overly limit, or overburdens one side's pool of arguments in favor of the other side. Many frowned upon experimental arguments lose debate grounds and are not encouraged by debate coaches and judges, because they detract from the educational value of the activity. Policy debate is organized, attentive, and formalized to a fair degree, with etiquette and usual expectations of good demeanor in speech. Arguments that diminish the value of debating are argued at the Grounds level of debate. For example, because the Affirmative usually runs a case and has to demonstrate stock issue burdens have been cleared, running a values-versus-virtue debate on the Negative to shift the debate's qualitative format and tone to Lincoln-Douglas steals ground from policy debate. Subversion is a high-level Grounds debate, often brought up by the Affirmative. The Affirmative is granted "good faith" in supporting the resolution at the beginning of the debate round. A Negative position that undermines that good faith without direct argumentation is considered subversive. Some examples: kritik is a subversion, homophobia and misogyny against sources cited is subversion, punditry creep or discursiveness is a subversion, provisional plans and tentative counterplans that need too many moving parts in place in order to work by not assuming fiat are also subversive, omniscience and speculative politicking is subversive. Negative subversion is difficult for the Affirmative to counter, in which the Negative can validly argue that changing the status quo is subversive, has dire unknown consequences, a form of Negative Inherency that seeks to preserve the underlying value of the resolution without the stated resolution itself, such as in clandestine operations by C.I.A. For example, inadvertently removing certain treaties outside of the resolution is not good for the resolution. Nonpolicy solutions: Are there nonpolicy actions that can be taken within the scope of the resolution? For example, it can be argued that changing out the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is a significant workflow solution within the status quo policy that also supports the resolution. The area of leadership studies claims efficient solutions, limited to the few, to institutional problems incurred by the many. These are considered "emergency measures" that have already been planned for or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, are categorized as "ordinary ado". Usually, the substock issue burden granted to these types of argument is "reasonably feasible", where at least the reasonableness part of the solution as a duty has already been accounted for by the status quo. Another example. "Technically", prayer is not a policy solution but a cultural tradition. A policy that allows for or disallows prayer can be debated, but the prayers themselves are not subject to policy inspection nor oversight. Prayer is a valid support of the resolution, such as practiced by some state courts as a "call to action". The nonpolicy call to action is a Model U.N.-style of debate such as "urging", "recommending", "condoning", or some policy position that is important to the policy itself but does not substitute for policy. Arguments from supersystem or transcendental arguments are above-and-beyond policy, such as arguments for regime change. Such arguments rank regime higher than policy, because regimes follow many policies concurrently. In another example, an exciting debate round narrows the policy under consideration between process legalism and virtue ethics that affects many policies concurrently, capturing, supporting, or eschewing the resolution. In a different example, revolution is a quirky argument that has seen some support in academic policy debate circles, where it is argued that all important policies have broken down and the only realistic solution is revolution, the "moment of change" argument. Interest arguments clarify interests or values, to change policy debate itself affecting both the resolution and the types of policy plans that can be considered by Affirmative and Negative sides. For example, an Affirmative running an "environment case" on a "climate change" topic will clash with a Negative case that gives evidence to support the argument that scientists have been the lackeys of politicians and that statistical evidence for climate change are the effects to policy causation rather than scientific discovery activities that are poorly understood by the layman as if discovery activities are done independent of policies, which they are not. Idempotency: Is the plan or resolution redundant to the status quo? Idempotency gives clear case argument against redundancy. If something is done once or is already initiated, there is no countervailing need to redo certain steps in or repeat certain portions of the policy plan, the argument from incremental idempotency. Segmented idempotency argues that there exists unnecessary steps or components of the policy plan, whether proposed or existing in the status quo. Affirmative Idempotency grants stock issue burden clearance or good faith that the Affirmative is assumed to not be redundant to the resolution itself but is a specimen of the species, or to the status quo but is a qualified implementation of the non-status quo resolution. On the theory side of in-round debate, Argumentation Idempotency is known as to "lump and dump", which is to take many arguments at once and debate their merits in one strong, succinct argument. Negative Idempotency, if argued well, can capture Affirmative Uniqueness with a lower burden of proof but greater stylistic flair for the speaker. Intrinsic, or Integrity: Argument from intrinsic values is a type of Inherency argument, whereas argument from Integrity is a Justification argument; it has rarely been argued the other way around, that intrinsic values belong to Justification and integrity belongs to Inherency, because that is the presumption of the status quo, and the Negative tends to clash with the Affirmative rather than supporting the status quo. These types of Inherency-versus-Justification debates sometime clash, that is, give good opposition or direct differentiation between them. Are the values assumed by the resolution intrinsic to the interests of the policy plan? Are the values assumed by the policy plan intrinsic to the goals of the resolution? And vice-versa. Likewise, is the integrity of the resolution-as-policy preserved or enhanced by the plan? Is the plan's integrity necessary to affirm the resolution? Intrinsic-integrity tend to differ from argument-for instrumentality but not much from argument-from instrumentality. Instrumentality is the deciding factor of which policy plan or position, in implementation as an instrument of a value, upholds the better set of values overall: the status quo, the Affirmative supporting the resolution, or the Negative undermining the Affirmative. Instrumentality evaluates feasibility and best-fit at the same time within a values debate judgment about policy interests rather that straight weighing of advantages and disadvantages of stock issue burdens. It is rare but does occur in debate rounds that the stock issues approach is not the best way to evaluate advantages and disadvantages because stock issues overly focus on harms and there is a cost or risk burden when participating in certain policies that would be dangerous to the implementing agency or benefits recipient group. The difference is not what one can do as a plan or should do as a resolution but what is best to do, rightly understood, as policy debate. For example, in order to affirm the resolution, the Affirmative can challenge that debate against the resolution must not censure the Press, for national security reasons. On the other hand, with direct clash, the Negative could counter that any topical debate must not avoid censuring the Press sometimes, for protected free speech reasons different from propaganda. Another example. One could advocate the position that the Pentagon is under threat from prayerful worship. Because the Pentagon are agents of war or representatives of time-consuming war studies maintenance and exercises, passive prayerful worship captures Significance by nullifying disruptions endemic in militaristic policy solutions. The underlying values between the two positions are at odds with one another. Nullification: Does the plan sustain the resolution? The Nullification argument is also known as "plan eats resolution", in which some part or instance or iteration of the plan nullifies the resolution entirely, having shifted away from the resolution. This type of argument allows for only partial Inherency and partial Topicality, challenging total Significance. Resolution decompletedness is the argument, typically argued by the Negative by inflating Significance. For example, if the resolution desires "significant increase in the use of" some policy element and the plan, under some weird condition, has taken away all need for any use, then the resolution becomes moot because the plan is too successful. Case topics such as nuclear weapons tend to run into this issue, in which "significant use of" nuclear deterrence does not achieve the same solvency as deproliferation but the opposite, heightening threat awareness linked to civil unrest. References Bates, Ben. (2002). Inherency, Strategy, and Academic Debate. Rostrum. Retrieved December 30, 2005. Kerpen, Phil. (1999). Debate Theory Ossification. Rostrum. Retrieved August 4, 2006. Negative Strategy Lecture from the Dartmouth Debate Workshop Ethos Debate. Policy debate sv:Nyemission

Social determinism

Social determinism is the theory that social interactions alone determine individual behavior (as opposed to biological or objective factors). A social determinist would only consider social dynamics like customs, cultural expectations, education, and interpersonal interactions as the contributing factors to shape human behavior. Non-social influences, like biology, would be ignored in their contribution towards behavior. Thus, in line with the nature-nurture debate, social determinism is analogous to the 'nurture' side of the argument. Overview Social determinism was studied by the French philosopher Emile Durkheim (1858–1917), who was considered the father of social science. Social determinism is most commonly understood in opposition to biological determinism. However, within the media studies discipline, social determinism is understood as the counterpart of technological determinism. Technological determinism is the notion that technological change and development are inevitable and that the characteristics of any given technology determine how it is used by the society in which it is developed. The concept of technological determinism is dependent on the premise that social changes come about as a result of the new capabilities that new technologies enable. Technological determinism Social determinism perceives technology as a result of the society in which it is developed. A number of contemporary media theorists have provided persuasive accounts of social determinism, including Lelia Green (2001). In her book Technoculture, Green examines in detail the workings of a social determinist perspective, and argues “social processes determine technology for social purposes.” She claims that every technological development throughout history was born of a social need, be this need economical, political or military. According to Green (2001), technology is always developed with a particular purpose or objective in mind. As the development of technology is necessarily facilitated by financial funding, a social determinist perspective recognizes that technology is always developed to benefit those who are capable of funding its development. Thus, social determinists perceive that technological development is not only determined by the society in which it occurs, but that it is inevitably shaped by the power structures that exist in that society. Background Social determinism branches off the overarching concept of determinism, which is the notion that pre-existing causes determine all events, circumstances, or behaviors. Determinism proposes that all behavior has either an external or internal cause. Theories and concepts Listed below are some theories and concepts that relate to the perspective of social determinism. As psychology is a constantly developing field, this is not a definitive list but includes significant studies and ideas. Behaviorism Social determinism aligns with the concept of behaviorism, which is the study of observable human behavior. Behaviorists believe that an individual's behavior can be explained by the response to the environment around them. Classical conditioning and operant conditioning provide an example of socially deterministic factors on behavior. These processes of conditioning provide evidence to suggest that behavior is learned and associated with consequences from the environment. Conditioning has been argued to be deterministic, as there is a lack of free will in the response of learning. Social determinism aligns with the theory of behaviorism and conditioning, due to the social influences and environmental factors that determine a person's behavior. Obedience The concept of compliance and following orders relates to social determinism, as it follows the idea that individuals follow orders based on environmental and social variables. This relates to the concept of social influence determining behavior, as demonstrated from the Milgram Experiment conducted in 1963. This study looked at environmental stimuli and social pressure on the responses of participants, namely whether they would inflict harm on another person. The results from this study showed that participants were more or less likely to follow orders based on the perceived authority and prestige of the experimenter. Milgram's study was replicated in the 21st century, with similar findings developed, suggesting the conclusions withstand the test of time. These studies into destructive obedience are prime example of how individuals are predetermined by their social environment, causing them to behave in certain ways which they may not have under different circumstances. Sociocultural theory of cognitive development The sociocultural theory emphasises how social contexts and interactions can determine children's behavior. Lev Vygotsky developed this theory prior to his death in 1934; his manuscripts and essays were translated and published posthumously, allowing the theory to be developed. Vygotsky explores how inputs from an individual's society, culture and interactions contribute to development, demonstrating the socially deterministic aspects in advancing mental abilities. His essays are compiled in his book, Mind in Society, which focuses on the effect of cultural and parental interaction on child development. Examples of the theory in practice can be seen cross-culturally, looking at the life-cycle of human development, with changes in development dependent on their context. Children of war, poverty and famine are likely to have lower cognitive abilities and mental illnesses like PTSD and anxiety. This can be owed to the trauma from their environments and distress from exposure to stressful social contexts. This reinforces the concept that their mental health, behavioural responses and abilities are determined by the societal interactions and environment. Social learning theory The social learning theory provides a model which accounts for the range of learning experiences that occur during child development and interaction. This theory was proposed by Albert Bandura in 1977. The theory is behavioral and cognitive in nature, suggesting that learning is a cognitive process that occurs based on the social context, with reinforcement and modelling playing a key role. Bandura provided evidence to suggest that a child's development and behavior is determined by the social interactions they have in their lives. Bandura illustrated this concept through observational learning, demonstrated in his 1961 Bobo doll experiment. This experiment looked at imitation, namely looking at whether children copied the behaviour of an adult. In this contex, it was aggressive physical and verbal behaviour. Through the experiment and further research, Bandura outlined the contribution of modelling and social behavior in determining children's behavior, providing evidence for the concept of social determinism. Cross-cultural studies Cross-cultural studies demonstrate how cultural variation can significantly impact an individual's inherent beliefs and behavior. Considering the results of cross-cultural psychological studies, the social context has a significant impact on a person's behavior and responses. This is notable when considering socialization and attitudes towards mental health and crises. This section looks at a limited number of human behavioral responses and interactions, and how the context plays a key part in the individuality of response. Helping behaviour Levine et al.’s 2001 study was conducted in 23 large, global cities. The study looked at the likelihood of individuals from different cultures on helping in non-emergency situations. The results indicated that altruistic behaviour varied depending on the society that an individual was a part of. This variation was owed to the factors such as the normality of amiable social behavior (simpatia), economic productivity, socialization and cultural traditions. Levine's study supports the concept of social determinism, as it suggests that helping behavior is primarily influenced by socialization and cultural determinants. Well-being Across different cultures, the population have varied opinions on the 'ideal' level of subjective well-being. Evidence has shown that it is important to consider individual perspectives when rating happiness and well-being. Attempts to identify a universal indicator for subjective well-being has been unsuccessful, due to the significant variation in cultural contexts. Social interactions and context play heavily into individual desires to express certain emotions; for example, studies have shown that East Asians tend to have lower levels of well-being, and emotions that are considered 'positive' and desired differ. For example, European Americans enjoy feeling high-energy emotions, like excitement, whilst individuals from Hong Kong prefer calmer states. Similarly, the nature of a society being individualist or collectivist can play a part in ideals of well-being. Studies have suggested that individuals within collectivist societies have lower life satisfaction due to stringent cultural norms and amplified societal pressure. Well-being is a good example of social determination. It demonstrates that an individual's perspectives on what constitutes as being satisfied and well is dependent on socialization and cultural context. Conflict resolution Cultural and social practices play a critical role in the way individuals handle conflict. It appears that societal aspects, like collectivism, can explain differences in approaches to dealing with conflicts.  A quasi-experimental study found that Mexicans use negotiating techniques far more than their US counterparts when dealing with conflict, a finding owed to the collectivist nature of society and social cues. Ideology The creation of an ideology within the society of the individual can cause an individual's actions and reactions to stimuli to become predetermined to adhere to the social rules imposed on them. Ideologies can be created using social institutions such as schooling, which "have become the terrain upon which contending forces express their social and political interest," or the mass media, which has "significant power in shaping the social agenda and framing of public opinion to support that agenda." Social determinism can favor a political party's agenda by setting social rules so that the individual considers the party's agenda to be morally correct, an example being the 2010 G20 summit riots in Toronto. An individual's view on the subject was influenced by the media and their reactions are predetermined by that social form of control. "We have been taught to think that censorship is the main mechanism of how the media uses information as a form of social control, but in fact what is said, and how it is selectively presented, is a far more powerful form of information control." Arguments against social determinism Biology The arguments that are against social determinism largely fall under biological determinism, which aligns closely with the 'nature' side of the nature vs nurture debate. Social pre-wiring hypothesis Scientific studies have shown that social behavior is partly inherited and can influence infants and also even influence foetuses. "Wired to be social" means that infants are not taught that they are social beings, but they are born with inherited social skills. Social pre-wiring refers to the ontogeny of social interaction, which is informally referred to as, "wired to be social." This concept deals with the study of fetal social behavior and social interactions in a multi-fetal environment. Specifically, the theory questions whether there is a propensity to socially oriented action already present before birth. Research in the theory concludes that newborns are born into the world with a unique genetic wiring to be social. Circumstantial evidence supporting the social pre-wiring hypothesis can be revealed when examining newborns' behavior. Newborns, not even hours after birth, have been found to display a preparedness for social interaction. This preparedness is expressed in ways such as their imitation of facial gestures. This observed behavior cannot be contributed to any current form of socialization. Rather, newborns most likely inherit to some extent social behavior and identity through genetics. Principal evidence of this theory is uncovered by examining twin pregnancies. The main argument is, if there are social behaviors that are inherited and developed before birth, then one should expect twin foetuses to engage in some form of social interaction before they are born. Thus, ten foetuses were analyzed over a period of time using ultrasound techniques. Using kinematic analysis, the results of the experiment were that the twin foetuses would interact with each other for longer periods and more often as the pregnancies went on. Researchers were able to conclude that the performance of movements between the co-twins were not accidental but specifically aimed. The social pre-wiring hypothesis was proved correct, "The central advance of this study is the demonstration that 'social actions' are already performed in the second trimester of gestation. Starting from the 14th week of gestation twin foetuses plan and execute movements specifically aimed at the co-twin. These findings force us to predate the emergence of social behavior: when the context enables it, as in the case of twin foetuses, other-directed actions are not only possible but predominant over self-directed actions." This suggests that there are inherent, biological factors which are responsible for factors like social behaviour, which disputes the argument of social determinism. Traumatic brain injuries Findings from head-injury studies suggest that some aspects of behavior can change after a traumatic brain injury. Significant brain damage is associated with poorer decision making, reduced regulation ability and changes in personality. The 1848 case of Phineas Gage is the first recorded case study into the localisation of brain function, providing evidence to show that personality and behaviour is determined by brain structure. After a large rod was driven through his head, destroying most of his left frontal lobe, his personality shifted to become significantly more hostile and aggressive. Accounts from his doctor, family and friends claimed after the accident his personality and behaviors changed so radically that he was "no longer Gage". Researchers have argued this provides evidence for the nature side of the debate on behaviour, as evidence has shown that it was the physical trauma that caused the shift in Gage's social interactions and perspectives. This is reinforced by research into brain tumors and contemporary studies into brain injuries. The location of a tumor can have a significant impact on personality and cognitive abilities, suggesting that behavior and socialization is not solely owed to social aspects. Neuroscientific evidence into brain localisation and function suggests that once the integrity of the brain is disturbed, there are far-reaching consequences with changes in personality, emotions and behaviour usually experienced. See also References Sources Determinism Social theories

Dramatization

A dramatization is the creation of a dramatic performance of material depicting real or fictional events. Dramatization may occur in any media, and can play a role in education and the psychological development of children. The production of a dramatization presents potential legal issues, arising both from the use of elements of fictional works created by others, and with the depiction of real persons and events. Usage Dramatization may occur in many circumstances, and be presented in many forms of media: In television, a dramatization is "the preparation of a television drama from a work which was not previously in dramatic form, for example a prose narrative". The form is often used in television commercials depicting the benefits of using an advertised product, "because dramatization is a form particularly well suited to television". Although dramatization and adaptation are sometimes used interchangeably, the BBC distinguishes a dramatization from an adaptation by the criteria that an adaptation is a preparation derived from a dramatic work. When the events being dramatized are historical, this may also be considered a form of historical reenactment, and occurs within the genre of docudrama. In some cases, in conveying the lives of historical figures "dramatization is a necessity due to lack of documentation". Dramatization has been described as "a primitive instinct and very early people expressed their thoughts and emotions through this medium, or at least through that of pantomime, which is so closely connected with it". In particular, "[w]hen children identify with the various characters in the story, it is natural for them to want to imitate those characters". To a degree, any attempt to describe an event other than in a clinical sense requires some dramatization: Children, through play, unconsciously begin to act out the dramatization of events in their lives and events of which they learn. Research has shown that "with a variety of students from different grades and socioeconomic backgrounds, through expression of feelings and thoughts in story dramatization and creative drama, self concept is improved". Legal issues Legally, the creation of a dramatization may infringe on the intellectual property rights of the work from which it is derived. A dramatization of real events might infringe the personalty rights of the individuals involved. However, it is also understood that the dramatization itself maybe entitled to its own intellectual property protections: See also Novelization References External links Drama

Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence

"Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence" is a 1980 essay by Adrienne Rich, which was also published in her 1986 book Blood, Bread, and Poetry: Selected Prose 1979-1985 as a part of the radical feminism movement of the late '60s, '70s, and '80s. Summary "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence" is a text that is constructed to think about and inspire change about lesbian visibility, structures of lesbian sexuality, and the role of literary criticism in relationship to lesbianism. Adrienne Rich argues that heterosexuality is not "natural" or intrinsic in human instincts, but an institution imposed upon many cultures and societies that render women in a subordinate situation. It was written to challenge the erasure of lesbian existence from a large amount of scholarly feminist literature. It was not written to widen divisions but to encourage heterosexual feminists to examine heterosexuality as a political institution which disempowers women and to change it. "Compulsory" means required or obligatory, and "heterosexuality" means the assumption that all romantic relationships are between a man and a woman. The normalcy of heterosexuality and the defiance of that are both political in nature. Adrienne Rich argues that heterosexuality is a violent political institution making way for the "male right of physical, economical, and emotional access" to women. She urges women to direct their attention and energies towards other women rather than men, and she portrays lesbianism as an extension of feminism. Rich challenges the notion of women's dependence on men as social and economic supports as well as for adult sexuality and psychological completion. She calls for what she describes as a greater understanding of lesbian experience, and she believes that once such an understanding is obtained, these boundaries will be widened and women will be able to experience the "erotic" in female terms. In order to gain this physical, economical, and emotional access for women, Rich lays out a framework developed by Kathleen Gough (a social anthropologist and feminist) that lists "eight characteristics of male power in archaic and contemporary societies". Along with the framework given, Rich sets to define the term lesbianism by giving three separate definitions for the term. First, Rich sees lesbian existence as an act of resistance to this institution, but also as an individual choice, when in fact, the principles of radical lesbianism see lesbianism as necessary and consider its existence as necessarily outside of the heterosexual political sphere of influence. Next that, "Lesbian Identity is the sense of self of a woman bonded primarily to women who is sexually and emotionally independent of men." Lastly, that the concept of a lesbian continuum, suggests that female sexual bonding is the only way that women experience women identification. The lesbian continuum is the overall "range—through each woman's life and throughout history—of woman-identified experiences, not simply the fact that a woman has had or consciously desired genital sexual experience with another woman". Below are the characteristics in which male power has demonstrated the suppression of female sexuality. Forcing male sexuality upon women: rape, incest, torture, a constant message that men are better, and superior in society to women. Exploiting their labor to control production: women have no control over choice of children, abortion, birth control and furthermore, no access to knowledge of such things. Control over their children: lesbian mothers seen as unfit for motherhood, malpractice in society and the courts to further benefit the man. Confinement: women unable to choose their own wardrobe (feminine dress seen as the only way), full economic dependence on the man, limited life in general. Male transactions: women given away by fathers as gifts or hostesses by the husband for their own benefit, pimping women out. Cramp women's creativeness: male seen as more assimilated in society (they can participate more, culturally more important). Men withholding attainment of knowledge: "Great Silence" (never speaking about lesbian existence in history), discrimination against women professionals. All of the characteristics show how the denial of sexuality for women is a means to control and suppress any transition, creativeness, and economic advancement of women. What is essential to lesbian identity is not women's genital activities with other women. It is their resistance to compulsory heterosexuality to a cultural system that compels women to invest their erotic energies in men. All of the above are forces that inhibit men to further ignore women as historically, culturally, and currently important. The characteristics show that society has forgotten that it is necessary (in order to function) to include women in both public and private spheres. Furthermore, the ignorance of a female's choice in sexuality has caused her position in society to be thought of as less, and more importantly, secondary to that of a man. A recurring point that Rich points out is the destruction of lesbian experiences in history (misplacement of documents, or destroying them in general) has led to a society in which having a lesbian experience, or being a lesbian all together is seen as 'the other' and unacceptable to most men and women. Rich claims that women may not have a preference toward heterosexuality, but may find it imposed, managed, organized, propagandized, and maintained by society. In the workplace, for example, lesbian women are often still sexualized and forced to play the role of the 'heterosexual female'. Rich states, "Women endure sexual harassment to keep their jobs and learn to behave in a complaisant and ingratiatingly heterosexual manner... the woman who too decisively resists sexual overtures in the workplace is accused of being 'dried-up and sexless, or lesbian." She holds that women receive messages every day that promote heteronormativity in the form of myths and norms perpetuated by society. Rich argues that these myths have been accepted because of the historical lack of exposure that lesbians have received, being either stigmatized as diseased or ignored as non-existent. Indeed, Rich objects to the term lesbianism, which she sees as a stigmatized clinical term, instead advocating the terms lesbian existence for the historical and contemporary presence of lesbian creation and lesbian continuum to include the entire range of a woman-identified experience; she feels that new understanding and language must be created to counter the limited and clinical terms that society has historically used to describe those it views as deviant. Rich claims that once women see lesbian existence as more than mere sexuality, it is more likely that more forms of "primary intensity" between and among women will be embraced. At certain points in history, homosexual men and lesbians have shared a social existence, and acknowledged a common fight against society; but Rich writes that to treat the lesbian experience as a version of male homosexuality is to discard it, denying the female experience and the realities it brings, falsifying lesbian history. In other words, she argues that heterosexuality has been constructed by men historically and culturally to be the only way of existence to further the male need. Yet, if we forget about this ideology and experiment in order to see what one really needs, then it can truly be a woman's decision instead of a man's. Rich even goes to the extent to pose that women in the twelfth and fifteenth century, called the Beguines, shared living quarters, work and labor were even part of the lesbian continuum. Rich thinks of the word lesbian as meaning more than a sexual attraction and physical act, but an emotional and strong bond that women can share as they go through the same experiences. Furthermore, Rich explains that if heterosexuality is the natural way, as it was constructed over time, then women like in her examples would and were seen as deviants of society. Rich demonstrates that the debate over what is good, bad, right, or wrong is a detailed and subjective one. She asserts that if one understands the term lesbian, as broken down into either the lesbian continuum or lesbian existence, a woman can further her understanding of her own sexuality and the construction of female sexuality throughout history. Rich explains, "historians need to ask at every point how heterosexuality as institution has been organized and maintained through the female wage scale, the enforcement of middle-class women's 'leisure', the glamorization of so-called sexual liberation, the withholding of education from women, the imagery of 'high art' and popular culture, the mystification of the 'personal sphere, and much else'". In 2004, Rich wrote "Reflections on Compulsory Heterosexuality" in order to address the criticism she received on her former essay "Compulsory Heterosexuality". Furthermore, Rich re-appropriates her argument and describes her initial intent for writing the essay. Rich states, "I undertook 'Compulsory Heterosexuality' ... to contribute to an issue on sexuality, from any perspective I chose. That it should be read as a manifesto or doctrine never occurred to me." Rich discloses that the purpose of "Compulsory Heterosexuality" was to complicate the proverbial, i.e., heterosexuality. In no way was Rich seeking a lesbian revolution against heterosexuality. See also Feminist sexology Lesbian separatism References Further reading External links Full text of Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence; Feminist essays Feminist theory Feminism and sexual orientation Lesbian non-fiction books Lesbian feminist literature 1980s LGBTQ literature Political lesbianism Radical feminist literature LGBTQ literature in the United States

Dance theory

Dance theory is the philosophy underpinning contemporary dance, including formal ideologies, aesthetic concepts, and technical attributes. It is a fairly new field of study, developing largely in the 20th century. It can be considered a branch of expression theory and is closely related to music theory and specifically musicality. While musicality deals with finding a particular matching pair of dance and music that fit each other in various respects, dance theory is a broad term encompassing the origins, styles, genre, footwork and artistic expression of dance. Three broad categories of dance theory, as you may find them described in universities or dance institutes, are philosophy (concerning the aesthetic meanings behind dance, or semiotics), choreology (movement analysis and description), sociology (regarding the role of dance in society and culture). Dance theory deals with anatomical movements (such as foot-work, etc.), as well as partner interactions, and their associations to each other and to music as art. It explores the communicative, physical, mental, emotional, and artistic aspects of dance as a medium of human expression and interaction. In doing so the various nuances between the dance genres and styles are analyzed with respect to their social settings and cultures. As dance is a ubiquitous element of culture, dance theory attempts to determine the instinctual nature of dance, and what makes various movements appear natural or forced. It is possible, through the writing and drawing of dances within a sphere, to understand that all dance is based on natural body movements, that is the moving of joints limbs and legs and fingers. Dance theory is based on these founding principles, that is the sphere and lines of the body, to derive, show and demonstrate how dance is done. This is achieved by showing which movements to do by and at what speed. It is hypothetically possible to draw and work out a dance by using sphere lines and arrows. Many dance books state how this is done. See also Dance research References Theory Dance research

Morphological analysis (problem-solving)

Morphological analysis or general morphological analysis is a method for exploring possible solutions to a multi-dimensional, non-quantified complex problem. It was developed by Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky. General morphology has found use in fields including engineering design, technological forecasting, organizational development and policy analysis. Overview General morphology was developed by Fritz Zwicky, the Bulgarian-born, Swiss-national astrophysicist based at the California Institute of Technology. Among others, Zwicky applied morphological analysis to astronomical studies and jet and rocket propulsion systems. As a problem-structuring and problem-solving technique, morphological analysis was designed for multi-dimensional, non-quantifiable problems where causal modelling and simulation do not function well, or at all. Zwicky developed this approach to address seemingly non-reducible complexity: using the technique of cross-consistency assessment (CCA), the system allows for reduction by identifying the possible solutions that actually exist, eliminating the illogical solution combinations in a grid box rather than reducing the number of variables involved. Decomposition versus morphological analysis Problems that involve many governing factors, where most of them cannot be expressed numerically can be well suited for morphological analysis. The conventional approach is to break a complex system into parts, isolate the parts (dropping the 'trivial' elements) whose contributions are critical to the output and solve the simplified system for desired scenarios. The disadvantage of this method is that many real-world phenomena do not have obviously trivial elements and cannot be simplified. Morphological analysis works backwards from the output towards the system internals without a simplification step. The system's interactions are fully accounted for in the analysis. References Further reading Duczynski, Guy; dov Bachmann, Sascha; Smith, Matthew; Knight, Charles (August 2023). "Operational and Strategic Progress in Ukraine: Identifying the Condition Changes". Naval Post-Graduate School, Insights, Monterrey. available at: https://nps.edu/web/ecco/global-ecco-insights See also Corporate strategy Futures studies Influence diagrams Market research Morphological box Scenario analysis Scenario planning Socio-technical systems Stakeholder analysis Strategic planning TRIZ Wicked problem Morphology Problem solving methods

False statement

A false statement, also known as a falsehood, falsity, misstatement or untruth, is a statement that is false or does not align with reality. This concept spans various fields, including communication, law, linguistics, and philosophy. It is considered a fundamental issue in human discourse. The intentional dissemination of misstatements (disinformation) is commonly termed as deception or lying, while unintentional inaccuracies may arise from misconceptions, misinformation, or mistakes. Although the word fallacy is sometimes used as a synonym for false statement, that is not how the word is used in most formal contexts. Overview Characteristics Intention: Misstatements can be made deliberately with the intent to deceive or unintentionally due to misconception. Consequences: Impact of misstatements can vary, ranging from minor misconceptions to significant societal repercussions. In legal contexts, making false statements can have serious repercussions such as defamation, fraud, or perjury. The accuracy of statements is pivotal in maintaining trust within interpersonal relationships, professional settings, and broader societal structures. Types Lie: Deliberate misstatement intended to deceive. Misinformation: Inaccurate information spread without the intent to deceive. Disinformation: Misinformation spread with the intent to deceive and manipulate opinions. Causes and Motivations Understanding the motivations behind misstatements is complex. Individuals may lie to protect themselves, gain an advantage, manipulate perceptions, or evade accountability. Psychological factors, societal pressures, and cognitive biases can contribute to the inclination to make misstatements. Cognitive dissonance may also play a role when individuals resist acknowledging the falsity of their statements. The ethics surrounding misstatements are multifaceted. Honest communication is often considered a fundamental value, but ethical dilemmas may arise in situations where the truth conflicts with other moral principles or when individuals face personal or professional consequences for honesty. Detection and Correction Fact checking: Verification of statements through fact-checking organizations helps identify and correct misinformation. Technology plays a role in both the spread and prevention of misinformation, with algorithms and artificial intelligence being employed to identify and combat false narratives. Media literacy: Promoting media literacy can empower individuals to critically evaluate information and discern between true and false statements. Historical Examples Propaganda: Throughout history, misstatements have been used in propaganda to manipulate public opinion during times of war or political unrest. Political campaign: Throughout history, misstatements have played significant roles in shaping narratives, influencing public opinion, discrediting dissidents and affecting political landscapes. In law In some jurisdictions, false statement is a crime similar to perjury. United States In U.S. law, a "false statement" generally refers to United States federal false statements statute, contained in . Most commonly, prosecutors use this statute to reach cover-up crimes such as perjury, false declarations, and obstruction of justice and government fraud cases. Its earliest progenitor was the False Claims Act of 1863, and in 1934 the requirement of an intent to defraud was eliminated to enforce the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 (NIRA) against producers of "hot oil", oil produced in violation of production restrictions established pursuant to the NIRA. The statute criminalizes a government official who "knowingly and willfully": (1) falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact;(2) makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; or(3) makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry. See also Misinformation Fake news False accusation False statements of fact Jumping to conclusions Making false statements References Statements

Erotic plasticity

Erotic plasticity is the degree to which one's sex drive can be changed by cultural or social factors. Someone has "high erotic plasticity" when their sex drives can be affected by situational, social and cultural influences, whereas someone with "low erotic plasticity" has a sex drive that is relatively rigid and unsusceptible to change. Since social psychologist Roy Baumeister coined the term in 2000, only two studies directly assessing erotic plasticity have been completed . The female erotic plasticity hypothesis states that women have higher erotic plasticity than men, and therefore their sex drives are more socially flexible and responsive than those of men (factors such as religion, culture and education have a greater effect on women's sexual behaviors). Men, on the other hand, remain relatively rigid after puberty but can still be affected by these factors. Female erotic plasticity hypothesis As women have been theorised to possess a weaker sex drive than men, they may more readily accept substitutes or alternate forms of satisfaction. Baumeister theorized that weaker motivations tend to lead to greater plasticity. However, a lower sex drive does not necessarily imply that sex is less important for women, or that females have a lower capacity to become aroused. Rather, Baumeister's hypothesis supports the notion that women are less willing to engage in sex than their male counterparts. Evidence for female erotic plasticity Culture According to Baumeister, the culture a woman is raised in affects her sexual attitudes and behaviours more than it would affect a man raised in the same culture. Factors such as politics, cultural and societal views on sexual behaviours would all play a role. A multinational study by Lippa (2009) found that women are more variable in their sex drives, suggesting that their sexuality is more malleable and influenced by society than men's. Another study showed that South Korean women had a higher median age of first intercourse, lower rates of premarital sex, and greater disapproval of premarital sex. In South Korea, there are strong gender-based sexual double standards such that women are expected to be passive and virgins at marriage. Therefore, Baumeister theorized that cultural norms have affected women's attitudes and behaviours more so than men. Another study showed that female, but not male, Hispanic immigrants to the United States were less likely to engage in vaginal, oral, and anal sex than Hispanics who had been born and raised in the United States. Condom use was unaffected by whether or not the person was an immigrant, suggesting that upbringing and acculturation had a significant impact on engaging in sexual activity and not on how they would protect themselves during sex. Baumeister predicted that acculturation, the process of adopting the behaviour patterns and attitudes of the surrounding culture, should have a greater effect on the sexual behaviours and attitudes of female immigrants. However, in a study conducted by Benuto and Meana, one of the two studies conducted about erotic plasticity, supporting evidence was not found. When examining the acculturation of college students from an American college of non-American background, acculturation had the same effect on sexual behaviours and attitudes of both men and women. Numerous potential methodological flaws of the study are indicated that may have produced this contradictory data, such as women trying to appear socially desirable in their responses (see social desirability bias) or that participants were too acculturated. Religion Catholic nuns are more successful at fulfilling their vows of celibacy and more willing to commit to their promises of sexual abstinence than male clergy, suggesting women can more easily adapt to such high non-permissive standards. A study on older unmarried adults found that those who were highly religious were less likely to have recently had sex compared to non-religious unmarried adults. However, this effect was stronger in women, suggesting a stronger influence on women's sexual behaviour. Church attendance and religiosity is also associated with lower odds of reporting masturbation among females. One possible explanation is that higher levels of spirituality and religiosity are associated with higher levels of sex guilt in women. One study even suggests that this differs amongst women of different culture. Religious Euro-Canadian women reported significantly higher levels of sexual desire and less sex guilt than Eastern Asian women. This is an example of two societal pressures, religion and culture, interacting to shape sexuality. Finally, Farmer and colleagues (2009) found that unreligious women are more likely to engage in unrestricted premarital intercourse behaviour than religious women. Such a difference was not demonstrated in religious and non-religious men. Adolescent sexuality Religiosity can also affect whether adolescents choose to abstain from sexual conduct. Commitment to religion and having friends with similar commitments has a stronger impact on girls than boys. Other factors, such as family members' disapproval of adolescent sexual behaviour also play a significant role. Heritability Heritability is the amount of differences between individuals that is the product of genetics. According to female erotic plasticity theory, sexual behaviours of men should be more heritable because there is a stronger biological component driving these behaviours. A study examining adult twins in Sweden found a lower genetic component for the engagement in same-sex behaviours in women than in men. Shared environment also played a larger role in women's same-sex behaviours than in men's, although unique environmental factors were roughly the same. On the other hand, in their study of Australian twins, Bailey, Dunne and Martin found a concordance in sexual behaviour of 20% for male MZ twins, and of 24% for female MZ twins. Another twin study showed male identical twins are more likely than female identical twins to begin having sex at the same age. Shared environment plays a greater role than genetics in risky sexual behaviours in adolescent females. Attitude–behaviour inconsistencies Baumeister's 3rd prediction states that women should have greater inconsistencies between their attitudes towards sexual behaviours and whether they actually engage in said behaviours. Wives are more likely than husbands to report that they changed a "great deal" in their habits, ideas and expectations of sex over 20 years of marriage. Even more husbands reported that their spouses changed than did wives. Another example is condom use, for which women in the past have demonstrated difficulty in expressing their desire to use them during sex. However, a 2008 study by Woolf and Maisto found that this trend is declining, suggesting traditional gender roles in culture may be changing. Gender similarities Although the female erotic plasticity theory states that the men's and women's sexuality are different, some evidence suggests that men's sexuality too can be affected by sociocultural factors. Although religious commitment and family member's stances on adolescent sexual behaviours have a significant impact on females' choice to abstain, to a lesser extent it affects males' choice as well. Also, the fact that some male clergy are successful in maintaining their vows of celibacy suggests some degree of erotic plasticity. College education is associated with an increase in variety of sexual behaviours in both men and women. Asian males and females consistently report more conservative sexual attitudes than Hispanic and Euro-Americans. Sexual arousal According to Meredith Chivers, straight women are physically aroused by a greater variety of erotic images than men, and this physical arousal does not match subjective arousal. Similar results were found in a study that showed both consensual and non-consensual sex scenes to men and women. Neither men nor women reported sexual arousal to the rape scenes, but women's bodies responded in a similar way to both scenarios. This may be because women's physical arousal, regardless of psychological arousal, is an evolutionary automatic response to prevent damage during rape. A study that measured sexual arousal through pupil dilation found that physical response of lesbian and bisexual women to erotic images was more category-specific than that of straight women, with lesbian women showing more response to women, and bisexual women showing more response to the preferred sex than the other. This may be due to masculinization of the brain via prenatal hormones. The difference between straight and non-straight women was consistent with Chivers' findings, although straight women did show more consistency with their orientation with this measure than with the genital measure. Sexual fluidity and same-sex behaviours Sexual fluidity is the concept that sexual orientation or sexuality is not rigid, but rather can change over time. According to Lisa Diamond, developer of the concept, women generally tend to be more fluid in their sexuality than men. In her study of lesbian, bisexual and unlabeled women, she found that these had a tendency of changing their sexual identities and behaviour over time. Other studies have shown as well greater fluidity among lesbians, compared with homosexual men. However, heterosexual men and women were equally stable in their orientation, and bisexual men and women were similarly unstable. Often, sexual orientation and sexual orientation identity are not distinguished, which can impact accurately assessing sexual identity and whether or not sexual orientation is able to change; sexual orientation identity can change throughout an individual's life, and may or may not align with biological sex, sexual behavior or actual sexual orientation. Sexual orientation is stable and unlikely to change for the vast majority of people, but some research indicates that some people may experience change in their sexual orientation, and this is more likely for women than for men. The American Psychological Association distinguishes between sexual orientation (an innate attraction) and sexual orientation identity (which may change at any point in a person's life). Women who remained in relationships with male-to-female transsexuals maintained a heterosexual identity, yet reported changes in their sexual lives. (Aramburu Alegría, 2012) Some women reported that their relationships no longer included sexual activity, while others reported that things were still changing. According to Lippa (2006), heterosexual women with high sex drives tend to be attracted to both women and men, whereas heterosexual men with high sex drives are only associated with attraction to either women or men, suggesting greater plasticity in women's sexuality. Erotic plasticity and gender/sexual variation Lesbians are more likely than gay men to engage in heterosexual sex, suggesting greater variability in their sexuality. No research has been done on people with gender variation, such as transgender people. Little is known about erotic plasticity in transsexuals. Sexual reassignment surgery and hormone therapy (i.e. testosterone) in female-to-male transsexuals produce an increase in their sexual desire, but it is uncertain how erotic plasticity plays a role. Heterosexual female-to-male transsexuals – those who are sexually attracted to women – have more sexual partners than nonheterosexual female-to-male transsexuals, but again, erotic plasticity's role in this - if one actually exists - is uncertain. Erotic Plasticity Questionnaire In her Ph.D. dissertation in 2009, Lorraine Benuto attempted to create a scale measuring erotic plasticity. Her scale, the EPQ (Erotic Plasticity Questionnaire), contained the following subscales, each believed to be a component of erotic plasticity: Fluidity (of behaviours on the same-sex/opposite-sex continuum) Attitude-Behaviour Inconsistency Changes in Attitudes (over time) Perception of Choice Sociocultural Influence When administered to a test population, women scored higher on fluidity, attitude-behaviour inconsistency, and overall erotic plasticity. There were no significant gender differences in changes in attitudes, perception of choice and sociocultural influences. The test also did not demonstrate any relationship between erotic plasticity and locus of control, sexual liberality and openness. Benuto also did not find a negative correlation between sex drive and EPQ score, which is unexpected. This is either because of a methodological problem in the scale or a problem in Baumeister's hypothesis that plasticity is related to sex drive. Furthermore, the subscales of the EPQ did not correlate well with each other, leading Benuto to hypothesize that perhaps there is not just one type of plasticity, but plasticities, and erotic plasticity is a much more complicated construct than initially imagined. Contrary to the numerous studies Baumeister cites as evidence of sociocultural influences on women, Benuto did not find a gender difference on the sociocultural influence subscale. However, Baumeister's cited studies were not self-report studies, whereas Benuto's scale was, which may have contributed to the discrepancy. Applications in sex therapy Baumeister provided three applications of the theory of erotic plasticity in sex therapy. Sex differences in erotic plasticity can change how therapists will approach providing sex therapy to men and women. Baumeister found that cognitive therapy would be a better approach for female patients because sexual responses and behaviours are influenced by what things mean, therefore working with women's interpretations and understanding of these responses and behaviours would be of greatest benefit. Physiological therapy, such as hormone therapy, would therefore be best for male patients, since the focus would be more on the body than on the man's cognitions. Also, someone with high erotic plasticity will have less sexual self-knowledge and self-understanding than someone with low erotic plasticity since their behaviours and tastes are susceptible to change; this knowledge could be useful in helping someone perhaps confused about his or her sexual identity. Finally, prospects for successful sex therapy may be better for women than men, because if men develop a problem, their low plasticity will make it difficult to allow significant change after puberty. Other useful applications of erotic plasticity in sex therapy include having women place much consideration in family and peer relationships, and any internal and external pressures that may be affecting their sexual identity, such as religious influences, cultural norms and politics. Criticism and alternate explanations Baumeister's theory of female erotic plasticity has been met with some criticism. Some argue Baumeister makes causal inferences from correlational research when discussing how education affects men and women differently. He was also criticized for his use of extreme groups to support his predictions, such as people of the least and most education. Below are two posited alternate explanations of erotic plasticity: Shibley Hyde and Durik In a 2000 paper, Janet Shibley Hyde and Amanda M. Durik argued that a more sociocultural explanation could be used to explain erotic plasticity. Firstly, education does not affect men's and women's sexual behaviour differently. Instead, it increases women's power, therefore women with the greatest amount of education are nearly equal in power with men. On the other hand, women who are the least educated have the least power relative to men. When comparing sexual behaviours of most educated and least educated men and women, they found that education actually increased the prevalence of many sexual activities in both sexes, including oral sex, anal sex, and having a same sex partner. The differences between men and women were much smaller in the most educated group than in the least educated group. Shibley Hyde and Durik speculate that more educated women are better at communicating their desires and have enough self-confidence to do so. They also may perform a greater variety of sexual activities because of their greater exposure to ideas and their commitment to learning. Shibley Hyde and Durik also asserted that religion has a greater effect on women's sexual behaviours because a group with less power – in this case, women – will shape their behaviour to be more like the group with power, in this case, men. Therefore, women pay more attention to and conform more to religious teachings since it is the culture to which they must adapt. They back up this claim by presenting evidence that non-religious women and men are similar in the prevalence of all sexual activities, minus masturbation. On the contrary, Conservative Protestant men and women differed significantly in all sexual behaviours. They also argued for a modern sexual double standard that is more restrictive of female sexuality than male sexuality. They claimed that now, extramarital sex is more tolerated in women than in the past, but it is still less acceptable in women than in men. Therefore, these different gender roles will exert powerful influences on both men's and women's behaviour and sexuality. Finally, they claim that the greater evidence for attitude-behaviour inconsistency in women is not the result of high erotic plasticity, but because of men's greater interpersonal power. Although women may, for example, have the intention of using condoms or have negative attitudes towards anal sex, men may use their greater power to do what it is they desire if it differs from what their partner wants. Benuto Benuto (2009) argues that heightened fluidity and sociocultural influences, two components of erotic plasticity, actually stand in opposition to each other. Although scientific evidence exists that women's sexual behaviours are indeed more fluid than men's, Benuto argues there is nothing in society that would encourage women to engage in same-sex behaviour. She hypothesizes that, based on the properties of her EPQ scale (Benuto, 2009), erotic plasticity may not be a unitary construct like Baumeister initially proposed, and that there perhaps may be multiple "plasticities", each composed of different constructs. Such constructs include sociocultural influences, locus of control and changes of sexual attitudes over time. Finally, it is possible that the heightened attitude-behaviour inconsistency in women could either be due to the powerlessness of women, or women wanting to maintain harmony and nurturance in their relationship. See also Environment and sexual orientation Lovemap References Human sexuality Sexuality and society

Protoscience

In the philosophy of science, protoscience is a research field that has the characteristics of an undeveloped science that may ultimately develop into an established science. Philosophers use protoscience to understand the history of science and distinguish protoscience from science and pseudoscience. The word roots proto- + science indicate first science. History Protoscience as a research field with the characteristics of an undeveloped science appeared in the early 20th century. In 1910, Jones described economics: I confess to a personal predilection for some term such as proto-science, pre-science, or nas-science, to give expression to what I conceive to be the true state of affairs, which I take to be this, that economics and kindred subjects are not sciences, but are on the way to become sciences. Thomas Kuhn later provided a more precise description, protoscience as a field that generates testable conclusions, faces "incessant criticism and continually strive for a fresh start", but currently, like art and philosophy, appears to have failed to progress in a way similar to the progress seen in the established sciences. He applies protoscience to the fields of natural philosophy, medicine and the crafts in the past that ultimately became established sciences. Philosophers later developed more precise criteria to identify protoscience using the cognitive field concept. Thought collective This material is from Ludwik Fleck § Thought collective Thomas Kuhn later discovered that Fleck 1935 had voiced concepts that predated Kuhn's own work. That is, Fleck wrote that the development of truth in scientific research was an unattainable ideal as different researchers were locked into thought collectives (or thought-styles). This means "that a pure and direct observation cannot exist: in the act of perceiving objects the observer, i.e. the epistemological subject, is always influenced by the epoch and the environment to which he belongs, that is by what Fleck calls the thought style". Thought style throughout Fleck's work is closely associated with representational style. A "fact" was a relative value, expressed in the language or symbolism of the thought collective in which it belonged, and subject to the social and temporal structure of this collective. He argued, however, that within the active cultural style of a thought collective, knowledge claims or facts were constrained by passive elements arising from the observations and experience of the natural world. This passive resistance of natural experience represented within the stylized means of the thought collective could be verified by anyone adhering to the culture of the thought collective, and thus facts could be agreed upon within any particular thought style. Thus while a fact may be verifiable within its own collective, it may be unverifiable in others. He felt that the development of scientific facts and concepts was not unidirectional and does not consist of just accumulating new pieces of information, but at times required changing older concepts, methods of observations, and forms of representation. This changing of prior knowledge is difficult because a collective attains over time a specific way of investigating, bringing with it a blindness to alternative ways of observing and conceptualization. Change was especially possible when members of two thought collectives met and cooperated in observing, formulating hypothesis and ideas. He strongly advocated comparative epistemology. He also notes some features of the culture of modern natural sciences that recognize provisionality and evolution of knowledge along the value of pursuit of passive resistances. This approach anticipated later developments in social constructionism, and especially the development of critical science and technology studies. Conceptual framework Cognitive field Philosophers describe protoscience using the cognitive field concept. In every society, there are fields of knowledge (cognitive fields). The cognitive field consists of a community of individuals within a society with a domain of inquiry, a philosophical worldview, logical/mathematical tools, specific background knowledge from neighboring fields, a set of problems investigated, accumulated knowledge from the community, aims and methods. Cognitive fields are either belief fields or research fields. A cognitive research field invariably changes over time due to research; research fields include natural sciences, applied sciences, mathematics, technology, medicine, jurisprudence, social sciences and the humanities. A belief field (faith field) is "a cognitive field which either does not change at all or changes due to factors other than research (such as economic interest, political or religious pressure, or brute violence)." Belief fields include political ideology, religion, pseudodoctrines and pseudoscience. Science field A science field is a research field that satisfies 12 conditions: i) all components of the science field invariably change over time from research in the field, especially logical/mathematical tools and specific background/presuppositions from other fields, ii) the research community has special training, "hold strong information links", initiates or continues the "tradition of inquiry" iii) researchers have autonomy to pursue research and receive support from the host society, iv) the researchers worldview is the real world as contains "lawfully changing concrete" objects, an adequate view of the scientific method, a vision of organized science achieving truthfull descriptions and explanations, ethical principles for conducting research, and the free search for truthful, deep and systematic understanding, v) up-to-date logical/mathematical tools precisely determine and process information, vi) the domain of research are real objects/entities, vii) specific background knowledge is up-to-date, confirmed data, hypotheses and theories from relevant neighboring fields, viii) the set of problems investigated are from the domain of inquiry or within the research field, ix) the accumulated knowledge includes worldview-compatible, up-to-date testworthy/testable theories, hypotheses and data, and special knowledge previously accumlated in the research field, x) the aims are find and apply laws and theories in the domain of inquiry, systemize acquired knonwledge, generalized information into theories, and improve research methods, xi) appropriate scientific methods are "subject to test, correction and justification", xii) the research field is connected with a wider research field with similar capable researchers capable of "scientific inference, action and discussion", similar hosting society, a domain of inquiry containing the domain of inquiry of the narrower field, and shared worldview, logical/mathematical tools, background knowledge, accumulated knowledge, aims and methods. Protoscience Philosophers define protoscience as an undeveloped science field, undeveloped meaning an incomplete or approximate science field. Mario Bunge defined a protoscience as a research field that approximately satisfies a similar set of the 12 science conditions. A protoscience that is evolving to ultimately satisfy all 12 conditions is an emerging or developing science. Bunge states, "The difference between protoscience and pseudoscience parallels that between error and deception." A protoscience may not survive or evolve to a science or pseudoscience. Kuhn was skeptical about any remedy that would reliably transform a protoscience to a science stating, "I claim no therapy to assist the transformation of a proto-science to a science, nor do I suppose anything of this sort is to be had." Raimo Tuomela defined a protoscience as a research field that satisfies 9 of the 12 science conditions; a protoscience fails to satisfy the up-to-date conditions for logic/mathematical tools, specific background knowledge from neighboring fields, and accumulated knowledge (v, vii, ix), and there is reason to believe the protoscience will ultimately satisfy all 12 conditions. Protosciences and belief fields are both non-science fields, but only a protoscience can become a science field. Tuomela emphasizes that the cognitive field concept refers to "ideal types" and there may be some persons within a science field with non-scientific "attitudes, thinking and actions"; therefore, it may be better to apply scientific and non-scientific to "attitudes, thinking and actions" rather than directly to cognitive fields. Developmental stages of science Bunge stated that protoscience may occur as the second stage of a five-stage process in the development of science. Each stage has a theoretical and empirical aspect: Prescience has unchecked speculation theory and unchecked data. Protoscience has hypotheses without theory accompanied by observation and occasional measurement, but no experiment. Deuteroscience has hypotheses formulated mathematically without theory accompanied by systematic measurement, and experiment on perceptible traits of perceptible objects. Tritoscience has mathematical models accompanied by systematic measurements and experiments on perceptible and imperceptible traits of perceptible and imperceptible objects. Tetartoscience has mathematical models and comprehensive theories accompanied by precise systematic measurements and experiments on perceptible and imperceptible traits of perceptible and imperceptible objects. Origin of protoscience Protoscience may arise from the philosophical inquiry that anticipates science. Philosophers anticipated the development of astronomy, atomic theory, evolution and linguistics. The Greek philosopher Anaximander (610–546 BC) viewed the earth as a non-moving free-floating cylinder in space. The atomist doctrine of Democritus (460–370 BC) to Epicurus (341–270 BC) was that objects were composed of non-visible small particles. Anaximander had anticipated that humans may have developed from more primitive organisms. Wittgenstein’s study of language preceded the linguistic studies of J. L. Austin and John Searle. Popper describes how scientific theory arises from myths such as atomism and the corpuscular theory of light. Popper states that the Copernican system was "inspired by a Neo-Platonic worship of the light of the Sun who had to occupy the center because of his nobility", leading to "testable components" that ultimately became "fruitful and important." Some scholars use the term "primitive protoscience" to describe ancient myths that help explain natural phenomena at a time prior to the development of the scientific method. Protoscience examples Physical science Ancient astronomical protoscience was recorded as astronomical images and records inscribed on stones, bones and cave walls. Luigi Ferdinando Marsili (1658–1730) contributed to protoscience oceanography, describing the ocean currents of the Bosporus and physical oceanography, and Benjamin Franklin contributed by identifying the currents of the Gulf Stream. Philosophers consider physics before Galileo and Huygens, chemistry before Lavoisier, medicine before Virchow and Bernard, electricity before the mid-eighteenth century, and the study of heredity and phylogeny before the mid-nineteenth century as protosciences that eventually became established science. Prior to 1905, leading scientists, Ostwald and Mach, viewed atomic and molecular-kinetic theory as a protoscience, a theory indirectly supported by chemistry and statistical thermodynamics; however, Einstein's theory of Brownian motion, and Perrin's experimental verification led to widespread acceptance of atomic and molecular-kinetic theory as established science. The early stage of plate tectonics, beginning with Wegener's theory of continental drift, was a protoscience until experimental research confirmed the theory many years later. The initial widespread rejection of Wegener's theory is an example of the importance of not dismissing a protoscience. Psychology Critics state that psychology is a protoscience because some practices occur that prevent falsification of research hypotheses. Folk psychology and coaching psychology are protosciences. Medicine The use of scientifically invalid biomarkers to identify adverse outcomes is a protoscience practice in medicine. The process for reporting adverse medical events is a protoscience because it relies on uncorroborated data and unsystematic methods. Technology Hatleback describes cybersecurity as a protoscience that lacks transparency in experimentation, scientific laws, and sound experimental design in some cases; however cybersecurity has the potential to become a science. See also History of science Hypothesis Pseudoscience Methodical culturalism Natural philosophy Obsolete scientific theories Pathological science Notes References . (written in German, 1935, Entstehung und Entwickelung einer wissenschaftlichen Tatsache: Einführung in die Lehre vom Denkstil und Denkkollectiv) English translation by Thaddeus J. Trenn and Fred Bradley, 1979 Edited by Thaddeus J. Trenn and Robert K. Merton. Foreword by Robert K. Merton External links History of science Scientific method

20th-century art

Twentieth-century art—and what it became as modern art—began with modernism in the late nineteenth century. Overview Nineteenth-century movements of Post-Impressionism, Art Nouveau and Symbolism led to the first twentieth-century art movements of Fauvism in France and Die Brücke ("The Bridge") in Germany. Fauvism in Paris introduced heightened non-representational colour into figurative painting. Die Brücke strove for emotional Expressionism. Another German group was Der Blaue Reiter ("The Blue Rider"), led by Kandinsky in Munich, who associated the blue rider image with a spiritual non-figurative mystical art of the future. Kandinsky, Kupka, R. Delaunay and Picabia were pioneers of abstract (or non-representational) art. Cubism, generated by Picasso, Braque, Metzinger, Gleizes and others rejected the plastic norms of the Renaissance by introducing multiple perspectives into a two-dimensional image. Futurism incorporated the depiction of movement and machine age imagery. Dadaism, with its most notable exponents, Marcel Duchamp, who rejected conventional art styles altogether by exhibiting found objects, notably a urinal, and too Francis Picabia, with his Portraits Mécaniques. Parallel movements in Russia were Suprematism, where Kasimir Malevich also created non-representational work, notably a black canvas. The Jack of Diamonds group with Mikhail Larionov was expressionist in nature. Dadaism preceded Surrealism, where the theories of Freudian psychology led to the depiction of the dream and the unconscious in art in work by Salvador Dalí. Kandinsky's introduction of non-representational art preceded the 1950s American Abstract Expressionist school, including Jackson Pollock, who dripped paint onto the canvas, and Mark Rothko, who created large areas of flat colour. Detachment from the world of imagery was reversed in the 1960s by the Pop Art movement, notably Andy Warhol, where brash commercial imagery became a Fine Art staple. The majority of his art served as a critique of American consumer culture and its obsession with celebrity and wealth. Warhol also minimised the role of the artist, often employing assistants to make his work and using mechanical means of production, such as silkscreen printing. Another pop artist, Keith Haring, used cartoons and graffiti as a means of political activism, fighting against the stigma surrounding gay men and drug addicts during the 1980 AIDS epidemic. This marked a change from Modernism to Post-Modernism. Photorealism evolved from Pop Art and as a counter to Abstract Expressionists. Subsequent initiatives towards the end of the century involved a paring down of the material of art through Minimalism, and a shift toward non-visual components with Conceptual art, where the idea, not necessarily the made object, was seen as the art. The last decade of the century saw a fusion of earlier ideas in work by Jeff Koons, who made large sculptures from kitsch subjects, and in the UK, the Young British Artists, where Conceptual Art, Dada and Pop Art ideas led to Damien Hirst's exhibition of a shark in formaldehyde in a vitrine. Some important movements Symbolism (arts) Divisionism Fauvism Cubism Futurism Cubo-Futurism Orphism Purism Synchromism Surrealism Suprematism Bauhaus Dadaism De Stijl Social Realism American Regionalism Butoh Biomorphism Abstract Expressionism Tachisme Lyrical Abstraction Informalism COBRA Outsider art (art brut) Fluxus Neo-Dada Rayonism Art Deco Color Field painting Arte Povera Zero Group Pop Art Photorealism Minimalism Conceptual art Neo-expressionism Appropriation art Installation art Digital art Op Art Modernism Late Modernism Remodernism Funk art See also History of painting Western painting List of modern artists 20th-century Western painting List of 20th-century women artists Contemporary art Postmodern art Classificatory disputes about art List of art movements References External links Modern art Modernism Western art

Cultural property

Cultural property, also known as cultural patrimony, comprises the physical items that are part of the cultural heritage of a group or society, as opposed to less tangible cultural expressions. They include such items as cultural landscapes, historic buildings, works of art, archaeological sites, as well as collections of libraries, archives, and museums. Cultural property is legally protected by a number of international agreements and national laws. There is intensive cooperation between the United Nations, UNESCO and Blue Shield International on the protection of cultural goods. Definition The phrase was used in various contexts in the 19th century. In 1891, The Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission described various countries' relationships to their fishing-related cultural properties including Germany, England, France, Italy, and Holland. In 1899, it was also used in the context of oyster fishing in Holland. There is no universally agreed-upon definition of cultural property. One widely used definition is provided by Article 1 of the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict of 1954: "The term 'cultural property' shall cover, irrespective of origin or ownership: (a) movable or immovable property of great importance to the cultural heritage of every people, such as monuments of architecture, art, or history, whether religious or secular; archaeological sites; groups of buildings which, as a whole, are of historical or artistic interest; works of art; manuscripts, books and other objects of artistic, historical or archaeological interest; as well as scientific collections and important collections of books or archives or reproductions of the property defined above; (b) buildings whose main and effective purpose is to preserve or exhibit the movable cultural property defined in sub-paragraph (a) such as museums, large libraries and depositories of archives, and refuges intended to shelter, in the event of armed conflict, the movable cultural property defined in sub-paragraph (a); (c) centers containing a large amount of cultural property as defined in sub-paragraphs (a) and (b), to be known as 'centers containing monuments'." Cultural heritage has been described as the 'most distinguishing form of a culture's expression' and includes both tangible and intangible elements such as 'traditional dances, customs and ceremonies'. Cultural property is the essential elements of a culture that allow it to determined and identified. Emblem Article 16 of the Convention describes the internationally recognized mark for cultural property as follows: (1) The distinctive emblem of the Convention shall take the form of a shield, pointed below, persaltire blue and white (a shield consisting of a royal-blue square, one of the angles of which forms the point of the shield, and of a royal-blue triangle above the square, the space on either side being taken up by a white triangle). Use of the Emblem is restricted under international humanitarian law. Guidance for using the emblem is available from The Blue Shield, and UNESCO. History The theme of the 1998 and 1999 International Museum Day was "The Fight against Illicit Traffic of Cultural Property." See also Heritage asset Heritage site World Heritage Site National Heritage Site National Monument Philippine Registry of Cultural Property National Commission for Culture and the Arts References International law Cultural heritage

Media archaeology

Media archaeology or media archeology is a field that attempts to understand new and emerging media through close examination of the past, and especially through critical scrutiny of dominant progressivist narratives of popular commercial media such as film and television. Media archaeologists often evince strong interest in so-called dead media, noting that new media often revive and recirculate material and techniques of communication that had been lost, neglected, or obscured. Some media archaeologists are also concerned with the relationship between media fantasies and technological development, especially the ways in which ideas about imaginary or speculative media affect the media that actually emerge. The theories and concepts of media archaeology have been primarily elaborated by the scholars and cultural critics Thomas Elsaesser, Erkki Huhtamo, Siegfried Zielinski, and Wolfgang Ernst, taking off from earlier work by Michel Foucault on the archaeology of knowledge, Walter Benjamin on the culture of mass media, and film scholars such as C.W. Ceram on the archaeology of cinema. Other writers who have contributed to the discipline's emergence include Eric Kluitenberg, Anne Friedberg, Friedrich Kittler, and Jonathan Crary. New media theorist Jussi Parikka defines media archaeology as follows: Media archaeology exists somewhere between materialist media theories and the insistence on the value of the obsolete and forgotten through new cultural histories that have emerged since the 1980s. I see media archaeology as a theoretically refined analysis of the historical layers of media in their singularity—a conceptual and practical exercise in carving out the aesthetic, cultural, and political singularities of media. And it's much more than paying theoretical attention to the intensive relations between new and old media mediated through concrete and conceptual archives; increasingly, media archaeology is a method for doing media design and art. Further reading Alloa, Emmanuel. Looking Through Images. A Phenomenology of Visual Media. Columbia University Press, 2021. Elsaesser, Thomas. Film History as Media Archaeology: Tracking Digital Cinema. Amsterdam University Press, 2016. Grau, Oliver. Into the Belly of the Image: Historical Aspects of Virtual Reality. In: Leonardo: Journal of the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology. Vol. 32, Issue 5, 1999, S. 365–372. (English extract of Master Thesis: Die Sehnsucht im Bild zu sein, Hamburg 1994). Huhtamo, Erkki and Jussi Parikka (Eds.). Media Archaeology: Approaches, Applications, and Implications. University of California Press, 2011. Huhtamo, Erkki. "Time traveling in the gallery: an archeological approach in media art." In Immersed in technology, Mary Anne Moser and Douglas MacLeod (Eds.). MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, USA 233–268. 1996. Kluitenberg, Eric. Book of Imaginary Media: Excavating the Dream of the Ultimate Communication Medium. Rotterdam NAI Publishers, 2006. Parikka, Jussi. What Is Media Archaeology? Polity, 2012. Zielinski, Siegfried. Deep Time of the Media: Toward an Archaeology of Hearing and Seeing by Technical Mean. MIT Press, 2008. References Archaeological sub-disciplines Media studies Cultural studies

Tinbergen's four questions

Tinbergen's four questions, named after 20th century biologist Nikolaas Tinbergen, are complementary categories of explanations for animal behaviour. These are also commonly referred to as levels of analysis. It suggests that an integrative understanding of behaviour must include ultimate (evolutionary) explanations, in particular: behavioural adaptive functions phylogenetic history; and the proximate explanations underlying physiological mechanisms ontogenetic/developmental history. Four categories of questions and explanations When asked about the purpose of sight in humans and animals, even elementary-school children can answer that animals have vision to help them find food and avoid danger (function/adaptation). Biologists have three additional explanations: sight is caused by a particular series of evolutionary steps (phylogeny), the mechanics of the eye (mechanism/causation), and even the process of an individual's development (ontogeny). This schema constitutes a basic framework of the overlapping behavioural fields of ethology, behavioural ecology, comparative psychology, sociobiology, evolutionary psychology, and anthropology. Julian Huxley identified the first three questions. Niko Tinbergen gave only the fourth question, as Huxley's questions failed to distinguish between survival value and evolutionary history; Tinbergen's fourth question helped resolve this problem. Evolutionary (ultimate) explanations First question: Function (adaptation) Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection is the only scientific explanation for why an animal's behaviour is usually well adapted for survival and reproduction in its environment. However, claiming that a particular mechanism is well suited to the present environment is different from claiming that this mechanism was selected for in the past due to its history of being adaptive. The literature conceptualizes the relationship between function and evolution in two ways. On the one hand, function and evolution are often presented as separate and distinct explanations of behaviour. On the other hand, the common definition of adaptation is a central concept in evolution: a trait that was functional to the reproductive success of the organism and that is thus now present due to being selected for; that is, function and evolution are inseparable. However, a trait can have a current function that is adaptive without being an adaptation in this sense, if for instance the environment has changed. Imagine an environment in which having a small body suddenly conferred benefit on an organism when previously body size had had no effect on survival. A small body's function in the environment would then be adaptive, but it would not become an adaptation until enough generations had passed in which small bodies were advantageous to reproduction for small bodies to be selected for. Given this, it is best to understand that presently functional traits might not all have been produced by natural selection. The term "function" is preferable to "adaptation", because adaptation is often construed as implying that it was selected for due to past function. This corresponds to Aristotle's final cause. Second question: Phylogeny (evolution) Evolution captures both the history of an organism via its phylogeny, and the history of natural selection working on function to produce adaptations. There are several reasons why natural selection may fail to achieve optimal design (Mayr 2001:140–143; Buss et al. 1998). One entails random processes such as mutation and environmental events acting on small populations. Another entails the constraints resulting from early evolutionary development. Each organism harbors traits, both anatomical and behavioural, of previous phylogenetic stages, since many traits are retained as species evolve. Reconstructing the phylogeny of a species often makes it possible to understand the "uniqueness" of recent characteristics: Earlier phylogenetic stages and (pre-) conditions which persist often also determine the form of more modern characteristics. For instance, the vertebrate eye (including the human eye) has a blind spot, whereas octopus eyes do not. In those two lineages, the eye was originally constructed one way or the other. Once the vertebrate eye was constructed, there were no intermediate forms that were both adaptive and would have enabled it to evolve without a blind spot. It corresponds to Aristotle's formal cause. Proximate explanations Third question: Mechanism (causation) Some prominent classes of Proximate causal mechanisms include: The brain: For example, Broca's area, a small section of the human brain, has a critical role in linguistic capability. Hormones: Chemicals used to communicate among cells of an individual organism. Testosterone, for instance, stimulates aggressive behaviour in a number of species. Pheromones: Chemicals used to communicate among members of the same species. Some species (e.g., dogs and some moths) use pheromones to attract mates. In examining living organisms, biologists are confronted with diverse levels of complexity (e.g. chemical, physiological, psychological, social). They therefore investigate causal and functional relations within and between these levels. A biochemist might examine, for instance, the influence of social and ecological conditions on the release of certain neurotransmitters and hormones, and the effects of such releases on behaviour, e.g. stress during birth has a tocolytic (contraction-suppressing) effect. However, awareness of neurotransmitters and the structure of neurons is not by itself enough to understand higher levels of neuroanatomic structure or behaviour: "The whole is more than the sum of its parts." All levels must be considered as being equally important: cf. transdisciplinarity, Nicolai Hartmann's "Laws about the Levels of Complexity." It corresponds to Aristotle's efficient cause. Fourth question: Ontogeny (development) Ontogeny is the process of development of an individual organism from the zygote through the embryo to the adult form. In the latter half of the twentieth century, social scientists debated whether human behaviour was the product of nature (genes) or nurture (environment in the developmental period, including culture). An example of interaction (as distinct from the sum of the components) involves familiarity from childhood. In a number of species, individuals prefer to associate with familiar individuals but prefer to mate with unfamiliar ones (Alcock 2001:85–89, Incest taboo, Incest). By inference, genes affecting living together interact with the environment differently from genes affecting mating behaviour. A simple example of interaction involves plants: Some plants grow toward the light (phototropism) and some away from gravity (gravitropism). Many forms of developmental learning have a critical period, for instance, for imprinting among geese and language acquisition among humans. In such cases, genes determine the timing of the environmental impact. A related concept is labeled "biased learning" (Alcock 2001:101–103) and "prepared learning" (Wilson, 1998:86–87). For instance, after eating food that subsequently made them sick, rats are predisposed to associate that food with smell, not sound (Alcock 2001:101–103). Many primate species learn to fear snakes with little experience (Wilson, 1998:86–87). See developmental biology and developmental psychology. It corresponds to Aristotle's material cause. Causal relationships The figure shows the causal relationships among the categories of explanations. The left-hand side represents the evolutionary explanations at the species level; the right-hand side represents the proximate explanations at the individual level. In the middle are those processes' end products—genes (i.e., genome) and behaviour, both of which can be analyzed at both levels. Evolution, which is determined by both function and phylogeny, results in the genes of a population. The genes of an individual interact with its developmental environment, resulting in mechanisms, such as a nervous system. A mechanism (which is also an end-product in its own right) interacts with the individual's immediate environment, resulting in its behaviour. Here we return to the population level. Over many generations, the success of the species' behaviour in its ancestral environment—or more technically, the environment of evolutionary adaptedness (EEA) may result in evolution as measured by a change in its genes. In sum, there are two processes—one at the population level and one at the individual level—which are influenced by environments in three time periods. Examples Vision Four ways of explaining visual perception: Function: To find food and avoid danger. Phylogeny: The vertebrate eye initially developed with a blind spot, but the lack of adaptive intermediate forms prevented the loss of the blind spot. Mechanism: The lens of the eye focuses light on the retina. Development: Neurons need the stimulation of light to wire the eye to the brain (Moore, 2001:98–99). Westermarck effect Four ways of explaining the Westermarck effect, the lack of sexual interest in one's siblings (Wilson, 1998:189–196): Function: To discourage inbreeding, which decreases the number of viable offspring. Phylogeny: Found in a number of mammalian species, suggesting initial evolution tens of millions of years ago. Mechanism: Little is known about the neuromechanism. Ontogeny: Results from familiarity with another individual early in life, especially in the first 30 months for humans. The effect is manifested in nonrelatives raised together, for instance, in kibbutzs. Romantic love Four ways of explaining romantic love have been used to provide a comprehensive biological definition (Bode & Kushnick, 2021): Function: Mate choice, courtship, sex, pair-bonding. Phylogeny: Evolved by co-opting mother-infant bonding mechanisms sometime in the recent evolutionary history of humans. Mechanisms: Social, psychological mate choice, genetic, neurobiological, and endocrinological mechanisms cause romantic love. Ontogeny: Romantic love can first manifest in childhood, manifests with all its characteristics following puberty, but can manifest across the lifespan. Sleep Sleep has been described using Tinbergen's four questions as a framework (Bode & Kuula, 2021): Function: Energy restoration, metabolic regulation, thermoregulation, boosting immune system, detoxification, brain maturation, circuit reorganization, synaptic optimization, avoiding danger. Phylogeny: Sleep exists in invertebrates, lower vertebrates, and higher vertebrates. NREM and REM sleep exist in eutheria, marsupialiformes, and also evolved in birds. Mechanisms: Mechanisms regulate wakefulness, sleep onset, and sleep. Specific mechanisms involve neurotransmitters, genes, neural structures, and the circadian rhythm. Ontogeny: Sleep manifests differently in babies, infants, children, adolescents, adults, and older adults. Differences include the stages of sleep, sleep duration, and sex differences. Use of the four-question schema as "periodic table" Konrad Lorenz, Julian Huxley and Niko Tinbergen were familiar with both conceptual categories (i.e. the central questions of biological research: 1. - 4. and the levels of inquiry: a. - g.), the tabulation was made by Gerhard Medicus. The tabulated schema is used as the central organizing device in many animal behaviour, ethology, behavioural ecology and evolutionary psychology textbooks (e.g., Alcock, 2001). One advantage of this organizational system, what might be called the "periodic table of life sciences," is that it highlights gaps in knowledge, analogous to the role played by the periodic table of elements in the early years of chemistry. This "biopsychosocial" framework clarifies and classifies the associations between the various levels of the natural and social sciences, and it helps to integrate the social and natural sciences into a "tree of knowledge" (see also Nicolai Hartmann's "Laws about the Levels of Complexity"). Especially for the social sciences, this model helps to provide an integrative, foundational model for interdisciplinary collaboration, teaching and research (see The Four Central Questions of Biological Research Using Ethology as an Example – PDF). References Sources Alcock, John (2001) Animal Behaviour: An Evolutionary Approach, Sinauer, 7th edition. . Buss, David M., Martie G. Haselton, Todd K. Shackelford, et al. (1998) "Adaptations, Exaptations, and Spandrels," American Psychologist, 53:533–548. http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/comm/haselton/webdocs/spandrels.html Buss, David M. (2004) Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind, Pearson Education, 2nd edition. . Cartwright, John (2000) Evolution and Human Behaviour, MIT Press, . Krebs, John R., Davies N.B. (1993) An Introduction to Behavioural Ecology, Blackwell Publishing, . Lorenz, Konrad (1937) Biologische Fragestellungen in der Tierpsychologie (I.e. Biological Questions in Animal Psychology). Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie, 1: 24–32. Mayr, Ernst (2001) What Evolution Is, Basic Books. . Gerhard Medicus (2017, chapter 1). Being Human – Bridging the Gap between the Sciences of Body and Mind, Berlin VWB Medicus, Gerhard (2017) Being Human – Bridging the Gap between the Sciences of Body and Mind. Berlin: VWB 2015, Nesse, Randolph M (2013) "Tinbergen's Four Questions, Organized," Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 28:681-682. Moore, David S. (2001) The Dependent Gene: The Fallacy of 'Nature vs. Nurture''', Henry Holt. . Pinker, Steven (1994) The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language, Harper Perennial. . Tinbergen, Niko (1963) "On Aims and Methods of Ethology," Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie, 20: 410–433. Wilson, Edward O. (1998) Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge'', Vintage Books. . External links Diagrams The Four Areas of Biology pdf The Four Areas and Levels of Inquiry pdf Tinbergen's four questions within the "Fundamental Theory of Human Sciences" ppt Tinbergen's Four Questions, organized pdf Derivative works On aims and methods of cognitive ethology (pdf) by Jamieson and Bekoff. Behavioral ecology Ethology Evolutionary psychology Sociobiology

Geisteswissenschaft

Geisteswissenschaften (, "sciences of mind", "spirit science") is a set of human sciences such as philosophy, history, philology, musicology, linguistics, theater studies, literary studies, media studies, religious studies and sometimes even jurisprudence, that are traditional in German universities. Most of its subject matter would come under Humanities in the typical English-speaking university. History The concept of Geist dates back to eighteenth- and nineteenth-century German idealism, in particular to Herder's and Hegel's concept of a Volksgeist, the alleged common "spirit", or rather, mind, of a people. To understand the term Geisteswissenschaften, one should bear in mind that the continental faculty of philosophy inherited the medieval faculty of arts. Besides philosophy itself it encompassed the natural sciences with mathematics as well as the philological and historical disciplines and later on psychology and the social sciences. The term Geisteswissenschaften first was used as translation of John Stuart Mill’s term “moral sciences”. The historian, philosopher and sociologist Wilhelm Dilthey popularised the term, arguing that psychology and the emerging field of sociology – like the philological and historical disciplines – should be considered as Geisteswissenschaft rather than as Naturwissenschaft (natural science), and that their methodology should reflect this classification. His arguments were very influential in the theories of the prominent German sociologist Max Weber, though Weber preferred the term Kulturwissenschaft, which has been promoted by his neokantian colleagues (Wilhelm Windelband and Heinrich Rickert). Current use Since the times of Dilthey it became common to speak of the Naturwissenschaften on the one hand and the Geisteswissenschaften on the other – not particularly considering the status of mathematics and of philosophy itself. After the separation of the natural sciences and mathematics into a particular faculty (in some universities not until the 1950s), the Geisteswissenschaften were left alone in the philosophical faculty and even philosophy often was subsumed under the term Geisteswissenschaften. Meanwhile, many of the German universities have split up these faculties in smaller departments, so that the old common interests and the old borders are less visible. The term is now used irregularly. In administrative contexts it is used broadly to discuss how to organise the academic institutions and describe the culture of academic discussions, so that the faculties of Theology and Law are added to the Geisteswissenschaften. In some contexts of science policy the Geisteswissenschaften are described as non-empirical sciences, drawing them near philosophy and excluding the social sciences from their area. In the context of methodology on the contrary it has been emphasised, that Geisteswissenschaften such as history and the philological disciplines, relying on empirical data (documents, books and utterances), along with psychology and the social sciences, have a common empirical character, which is essentially based on comprehension (Verstehen) or understanding of expressions of meaning. Other authors, like Rudolf Steiner, used the term Geisteswissenschaft in a historically quite distinct sense to refer to a proposed "Science of Spirit". Example usage From Kulturgeschichte Frankreichs, Suchanek-Fröhlich, p. 633: Man hat Taine vorgeworfen, dass er, dessen Hauptziel die Einführung naturwissenschaftlicher Methoden in die Geisteswissenschaften war, selbst nicht induktiv, sondern deduktiv vorging. Translation: Some reproach Taine in that he himself, whose goal was the introduction of the methods of natural science into the Geisteswissenschaften, proceeded from methods which were not inductive but rather deductive. References Bibliography Gunter Scholz, Zwischen Wissenschaftsanspruch und Orientierungsbedürfnis. Zu Grundlage und Wandel der Geisteswissenschaften Frankfurt am Main, Suhrkamp 1991, Bernward Grünewald, Geist – Kultur – Gesellschaft. Versuch einer Prinzipientheorie der Geisteswissenschaften auf transzendentalphilosophischer Grundlage, Berlin, Duncker & Humblot, 2009, . Albrecht Behmel, Erfolgreich im Studium der Geisteswissenschaften, Francke, Tübingen 2005, Humanities education Education in Germany Wilhelm Dilthey

Suggestopedia

Suggestopedia, a portmanteau of "suggestion" and "pedagogy" is a teaching method used to learn foreign languages developed by the Bulgarian psychiatrist Georgi Lozanov. It is also known as desuggestopedia. First developed in the 1970s, suggestopedia utilised positive suggestions in teaching language. In 1978, Lozanov presented the method to a commission in Paris at UNESCO. Two years later in 1980, UNESCO issued their final report with various mixed views on the theory. On the one hand, it affirmed suggestopedia as a language learning technique for second-language speakers, but the report also included various criticisms of the theory. Practice Suggestopedia asserts that the physical surroundings and atmosphere of classroom are vital factors in making sure that "students feel comfortable and confident". It also promotes various techniques, including art and music, in teaching languages. The pedagogy of suggestopedia consists of three phases: deciphering, concert session, and elaboration. Deciphering: In the deciphering phase, a teacher introduces to their students some written or spoken content. In most materials the foreign-language text is on the left half of the page with a translation on the right half. Concert session: The concert session phase consists of active and passive sessions. In the active session, the teacher reads the text at a normal speed, while their students follow. In the passive session, the students relax and listen to the teacher reading the text. Baroque music is played in the background. Elaboration: The students express what they have learned through acting, songs, and games. A fourth phrase, production, is also sometimes used. Production: The students spontaneously speak and interact in the target language without interruption or correction. Suggestopedia teachers Suggestopedia asserts that teachers should not act in a directive way. For example, teachers should act as partners to their students, participating in activities such as games and songs "naturally" and "genuinely". Lozanov asserts that teachers should be versed in the "communication in the spirit of love, respect for man as a human being, the specific humanitarian way of applying their 'techniques' ". Suggestopedia for children The suggestopedia pedagogy for adult learners includes long sessions without movement, and other techniques that Lozanov claims are effective for adults. Lozanov asserts that children have brains that are more delicate than those of adults, and another approach should be applied to children. Suggestopedia lessons for children are shorter in order to keep children away from the negative pedagogical suggestions of society. Claims Its proponents claim that suggestopedia imparts better health and intellectual abilities onto its learners. Lozanov claims that the effect of suggestopedia is in not only language learning but also producing favourable side effects on health, the social and psychological relations, and the subsequent success in other subjects. Criticism Suggestopedia has been called a "pseudo-science". In response, Lozanov claimed that suggestopedia cannot be compared to a placebo as he regarded placebos as being effective. Another point of criticism is brought forward by Baur, who claims that in suggestopedia students only receive input by listening, reading and musical-emotional backing, while other important factors of language acquisition are being neglected. Several other features of the method – like the 'nonconscious' acquisition of language, or bringing the learner into a childlike state – are questioned by critics. Lukesch also claims that suggestopedia lacks scientific backing and is criticized by psychologists as being based on pseudoscience. Later variations Suggestopedia yielded four main offshoots. The first – still called Suggestopedia, and developed in eastern Europe – used different techniques from Lozanov's original version. The other three are named Superlearning, Suggestive Accelerated Learning and Teaching (SALT), and Psychopädie. Superlearning and SALT originated in North America, while Psychopädie was developed in West Germany. While all four are slightly different from the original suggestopedia and from each other, they still share the common traits of music, relaxation, and suggestion. References Idiomos Aprendizagem Acelerada = http://www.idiomos.com Edelmann, Walter, Suggestgopädie/Superlearning, Heidelberg: Ansanger, 1998. Lozanov, Georgi, Suggestology and Outlines of Suggestopedy, New York: Gordon & Breach 1978 (Translation of: ). Meier, Josef, Mehr Freude und Erfolg beim Englischlernen mit innovativen Lern- und Mentaltechniken, München:IBS, 1999. Riedel, Katja, Persönlichkeitsentfaltung durch Suggestopädie, Hohengehren: Schneider, 1995. Schiffler, Ludger, Suggestopädie und Superlearning - empirisch geprüft. Einführung und Weiterentwicklung für Schule und Erwachsenenbildung, Frankfurt am Main: Diesterweg, 1989. Schiffler, Ludger, La Suggestopédie et le Superlearning - Mise à l'épreuve statistique, Paris: Didier Erudition, 1991. Schiffler, Ludger: "Suggestopedic Methods and Applications", Philadelphia, Tokyo, Paris etc.: Gordon & Breach Science Publisher, 1992. Schiffler, Ludger, Effektiver Fremdsprachen lehren und lernen - Beide Gehirnhälften aktivieren, Donauwörth: Auer, 2002. Schiffler, Ludger, Interhemispheric Foreign Language Learning - Activating Both Sides of the Brain, online 2003 (732KB )(download available: http://www.ludger-schiffler.de). Negrete, Paulo Sergio, Accelerating the Foreign Language Teaching Through Suggestopedia/Neuropedia, published in 2015. External links Language-teaching methodology Pseudoscience

Biosignature

A biosignature (sometimes called chemical fossil or molecular fossil) is any substance – such as an element, isotope, molecule, or phenomenon – that provides scientific evidence of past or present life on a planet. Measurable attributes of life include its physical or chemical structures, its use of free energy, and the production of biomass and wastes. The field of astrobiology uses biosignatures as evidence for the search for past or present extraterrestrial life. Types Biosignatures can be grouped into ten broad categories: Isotope patterns: Isotopic evidence or patterns that require biological processes. Chemistry: Chemical features that require biological activity. Organic matter: Organics formed by biological processes. Minerals: Minerals or biomineral-phases whose composition and/or morphology indicate biological activity (e.g., biomagnetite). Microscopic structures and textures: Biologically-formed cements, microtextures, microfossils, and films. Macroscopic physical structures and textures: Structures that indicate microbial ecosystems, biofilms (e.g., stromatolites), or fossils of larger organisms. Temporal variability: Variations in time of atmospheric gases, reflectivity, or macroscopic appearance that indicates life's presence. Surface reflectance features: Large-scale reflectance features due to biological pigments. Atmospheric gases: Gases formed by metabolic processes, which may be present on a planet-wide scale. Technosignatures: Signatures that indicate a technologically advanced civilization. Viability Determining whether an observed feature is a true biosignature is complex. There are three criteria that a potential biosignature must meet to be considered viable for further research: Reliability, survivability, and detectability. Reliability A biosignature must be able to dominate over all other processes that may produce similar physical, spectral, and chemical features. When investigating a potential biosignature, scientists must carefully consider all other possible origins of the biosignature in question. Many forms of life are known to mimic geochemical reactions. One of the theories on the origin of life involves molecules developing the ability to catalyse geochemical reactions to exploit the energy being released by them. These are some of the earliest known metabolisms (see methanogenesis). In such case, scientists might search for a disequilibrium in the geochemical cycle, which would point to a reaction happening more or less often than it should. A disequilibrium such as this could be interpreted as an indication of life. Survivability A biosignature must be able to last for long enough so that a probe, telescope, or human can be able to detect it. A consequence of a biological organism's use of metabolic reactions for energy is the production of metabolic waste. In addition, the structure of an organism can be preserved as a fossil and we know that some fossils on Earth are as old as 3.5 billion years. These byproducts can make excellent biosignatures since they provide direct evidence for life. However, in order to be a viable biosignature, a byproduct must subsequently remain intact so that scientists may discover it. Detectability A biosignature must be detectable with the most latest technology to be relevant in scientific investigation. This seems to be an obvious statement, however, there are many scenarios in which life may be present on a planet yet remain undetectable because of human-caused limitations. False positives Every possible biosignature is associated with its own set of unique false positive mechanisms or non-biological processes that can mimic the detectable feature of a biosignature. An important example is using oxygen as a biosignature. On Earth, the majority of life is centred around oxygen. It is a byproduct of photosynthesis and is subsequently used by other life forms to breathe. Oxygen is also readily detectable in spectra, with multiple bands across a relatively wide wavelength range, therefore, it makes a very good biosignature. However, finding oxygen alone in a planet's atmosphere is not enough to confirm a biosignature because of the false-positive mechanisms associated with it. One possibility is that oxygen can build up abiotically via photolysis if there is a low inventory of non-condensable gasses or if the planet loses a lot of water. Finding and distinguishing a biosignature from its potential false-positive mechanisms is one of the most complicated parts of testing for viability because it relies on human ingenuity to break an abiotic-biological degeneracy, if nature allows. False negatives Opposite to false positives, false negative biosignatures arise in a scenario where life may be present on another planet, but some processes on that planet make potential biosignatures undetectable. This is an ongoing problem and area of research in preparation for future telescopes that will be capable of observing exoplanetary atmospheres. Human limitations There are many ways in which humans may limit the viability of a potential biosignature. The resolution of a telescope becomes important when vetting certain false-positive mechanisms, and many current telescopes do not have the capabilities to observe at the resolution needed to investigate some of these. In addition, probes and telescopes are worked on by huge collaborations of scientists with varying interests. As a result, new probes and telescopes carry a variety of instruments that are a compromise to everyone's unique inputs. For a different type of scientist to detect something unrelated to biosignatures, a sacrifice may have to be made in the capability of an instrument to search for biosignatures. General examples Geomicrobiology The ancient record on Earth provides an opportunity to see what geochemical signatures are produced by microbial life and how these signatures are preserved over geologic time. Some related disciplines such as geochemistry, geobiology, and geomicrobiology often use biosignatures to determine if living organisms are or were present in a sample. These possible biosignatures include: (a) microfossils and stromatolites; (b) molecular structures (biomarkers) and isotopic compositions of carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen in organic matter; (c) multiple sulfur and oxygen isotope ratios of minerals; and (d) abundance relationships and isotopic compositions of redox-sensitive metals (e.g., Fe, Mo, Cr, and rare earth elements). For example, the particular fatty acids measured in a sample can indicate which types of bacteria and archaea live in that environment. Another example is the long-chain fatty alcohols with more than 23 atoms that are produced by planktonic bacteria. When used in this sense, geochemists often prefer the term biomarker. Another example is the presence of straight-chain lipids in the form of alkanes, alcohols, and fatty acids with 20–36 carbon atoms in soils or sediments. Peat deposits are an indication of originating from the epicuticular wax of higher plants. Life processes may produce a range of biosignatures such as nucleic acids, lipids, proteins, amino acids, kerogen-like material and various morphological features that are detectable in rocks and sediments. Microbes often interact with geochemical processes, leaving features in the rock record indicative of biosignatures. For example, bacterial micrometer-sized pores in carbonate rocks resemble inclusions under transmitted light, but have distinct sizes, shapes, and patterns (swirling or dendritic) and are distributed differently from common fluid inclusions. A potential biosignature is a phenomenon that may have been produced by life, but for which alternate abiotic origins may also be possible. Morphology Another possible biosignature might be morphology since the shape and size of certain objects may potentially indicate the presence of past or present life. For example, microscopic magnetite crystals in the Martian meteorite ALH84001 are one of the longest-debated of several potential biosignatures in that specimen. The possible biomineral studied in the Martian ALH84001 meteorite includes putative microbial fossils, tiny rock-like structures whose shape was a potential biosignature because it resembled known bacteria. Most scientists ultimately concluded that these were far too small to be fossilized cells. A consensus that has emerged from these discussions, and is now seen as a critical requirement, is the demand for further lines of evidence in addition to any morphological data that supports such extraordinary claims. Currently, the scientific consensus is that "morphology alone cannot be used unambiguously as a tool for primitive life detection". Interpretation of morphology is notoriously subjective, and its use alone has led to numerous errors of interpretation. Chemistry No single compound will prove life once existed. Rather, it will be distinctive patterns present in any organic compounds showing a process of selection. For example, membrane lipids left behind by degraded cells will be concentrated, have a limited size range, and comprise an even number of carbons. Similarly, life only uses left-handed amino acids. Biosignatures need not be chemical, however, and can also be suggested by a distinctive magnetic biosignature. Chemical biosignatures include any suite of complex organic compounds composed of carbon, hydrogen, and other elements or heteroatoms such as oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur, which are found in crude oils, bitumen, petroleum source rock and eventually show simplification in molecular structure from the parent organic molecules found in all living organisms. They are complex carbon-based molecules derived from formerly living organisms. Each biomarker is quite distinctive when compared to its counterparts, as the time required for organic matter to convert to crude oil is characteristic. Most biomarkers also usually have high molecular mass. Some examples of biomarkers found in petroleum are pristane, triterpanes, steranes, phytane and porphyrin. Such petroleum biomarkers are produced via chemical synthesis using biochemical compounds as their main constituents. For instance, triterpenes are derived from biochemical compounds found on land angiosperm plants. The abundance of petroleum biomarkers in small amounts in its reservoir or source rock make it necessary to use sensitive and differential approaches to analyze the presence of those compounds. The techniques typically used include gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. Petroleum biomarkers are highly important in petroleum inspection as they help indicate the depositional territories and determine the geological properties of oils. For instance, they provide more details concerning their maturity and the source material. In addition to that they can also be good parameters of age, hence they are technically referred to as "chemical fossils". The ratio of pristane to phytane (pr:ph) is the geochemical factor that allows petroleum biomarkers to be successful indicators of their depositional environments. Geologists and geochemists use biomarker traces found in crude oils and their related source rock to unravel the stratigraphic origin and migration patterns of presently existing petroleum deposits. The dispersion of biomarker molecules is also quite distinctive for each type of oil and its source; hence, they display unique fingerprints. Another factor that makes petroleum biomarkers more preferable than their counterparts is that they have a high tolerance to environmental weathering and corrosion. Such biomarkers are very advantageous and often used in the detection of oil spillage in the major waterways. The same biomarkers can also be used to identify contamination in lubricant oils. However, biomarker analysis of untreated rock cuttings can be expected to produce misleading results. This is due to potential hydrocarbon contamination and biodegradation in the rock samples. Atmospheric The atmospheric properties of exoplanets are of particular importance, as atmospheres provide the most likely observables for the near future, including habitability indicators and biosignatures. Over billions of years, the processes of life on a planet would result in a mixture of chemicals unlike anything that could form in an ordinary chemical equilibrium. For example, large amounts of oxygen and small amounts of methane are generated by life on Earth. An exoplanet's color—or reflectance spectrum—can also be used as a biosignature due to the effect of pigments that are uniquely biologic in origin such as the pigments of phototrophic and photosynthetic life forms. Scientists use the Earth as an example of this when looked at from far away (see Pale Blue Dot) as a comparison to worlds observed outside of our solar system. Ultraviolet radiation on life forms could also induce biofluorescence in visible wavelengths that may be detected by the new generation of space observatories under development. Some scientists have reported methods of detecting hydrogen and methane in extraterrestrial atmospheres. Habitability indicators and biosignatures must be interpreted within a planetary and environmental context. For example, the presence of oxygen and methane together could indicate the kind of extreme thermochemical disequilibrium generated by life. Two of the top 14,000 proposed atmospheric biosignatures are dimethyl sulfide and chloromethane. An alternative biosignature is the combination of methane and carbon dioxide. The detection of phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus is being investigated as a possible biosignature. Atmospheric disequilibrium A disequilibrium in the abundance of gas species in an atmosphere can be interpreted as a biosignature. Life has greatly altered the atmosphere on Earth in a way that would be unlikely for any other processes to replicate. Therefore, a departure from equilibrium is evidence for a biosignature. For example, the abundance of methane in the Earth's atmosphere is orders of magnitude above the equilibrium value due to the constant methane flux that life on the surface emits. Depending on the host star, a disequilibrium in the methane abundance on another planet may indicate a biosignature. Agnostic biosignatures Because the only form of known life is that on Earth, the search for biosignatures is heavily influenced by the products that life produces on Earth. However, life that is different from life on Earth may still produce biosignatures that are detectable by humans, even though nothing is known about their specific biology. This form of biosignature is called an "agnostic biosignature" because it is independent of the form of life that produces it. It is widely agreed that all life–no matter how different it is from life on Earth–needs a source of energy to thrive. This must involve some sort of chemical disequilibrium, which can be exploited for metabolism. Geological processes are independent of life, and if scientists can constrain the geology well enough on another planet, then they know what the particular geologic equilibrium for that planet should be. A deviation from geological equilibrium can be interpreted as an atmospheric disequilibrium and agnostic biosignature. Antibiosignatures In the same way that detecting a biosignature would be a significant discovery about a planet, finding evidence that life is not present can also be an important discovery about a planet. Life relies on redox imbalances to metabolize the resources available into energy. The evidence that nothing on an earth is taking advantage of the "free lunch" available due to an observed redox imbalance is called antibiosignatures. Polyelectrolytes The Polyelectrolyte theory of the gene is a proposed generic biosignature. In 2002, Steven A. Benner and Daniel Hutter proposed that for a linear genetic biopolymer dissolved in water, such as DNA, to undergo Darwinian evolution anywhere in the universe, it must be a polyelectrolyte, a polymer containing repeating ionic charges. Benner and others proposed methods for concentrating and analyzing these polyelectrolyte genetic biopolymers on Mars, Enceladus, and Europa. Specific examples Methane on Mars The presence of methane in the atmosphere of Mars is an area of ongoing research and a highly contentious subject. Because of its tendency to be destroyed in the atmosphere by photochemistry, the presence of excess methane on a planet can indicate that there must be an active source. With life being the strongest source of methane on Earth, observing a disequilibrium in the methane abundance on another planet could be a viable biosignature. Since 2004, there have been several detections of methane in the Mars atmosphere by a variety of instruments onboard orbiters and ground-based landers on the Martian surface as well as Earth-based telescopes. These missions reported values anywhere between a 'background level' ranging between 0.24 and 0.65 parts per billion by volume (p.p.b.v.) to as much as 45 ± 10 p.p.b.v. However, recent measurements using the ACS and NOMAD instruments on board the ESA-Roscosmos ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter have failed to detect any methane over a range of latitudes and longitudes on both Martian hemispheres. These highly sensitive instruments were able to put an upper bound on the overall methane abundance at 0.05 p.p.b.v. This nondetection is a major contradiction to what was previously observed with less sensitive instruments and will remain a strong argument in the ongoing debate over the presence of methane in the Martian atmosphere. Furthermore, current photochemical models cannot explain the presence of methane in the atmosphere of Mars and its reported rapid variations in space and time. Neither its fast appearance nor disappearance can be explained yet. To rule out a biogenic origin for the methane, a future probe or lander hosting a mass spectrometer will be needed, as the isotopic proportions of carbon-12 to carbon-14 in methane could distinguish between a biogenic and non-biogenic origin, similarly to the use of the δ13C standard for recognizing biogenic methane on Earth. Martian atmosphere The Martian atmosphere contains high abundances of photochemically produced CO and H2, which are reducing molecules. Mars' atmosphere is otherwise mostly oxidizing, leading to a source of untapped energy that life could exploit if it used by a metabolism compatible with one or both of these reducing molecules. Because these molecules can be observed, scientists use this as evidence for an antibiosignature. Scientists have used this concept as an argument against life on Mars. Missions inside the Solar System Astrobiological exploration is founded upon the premise that biosignatures encountered in space will be recognizable as extraterrestrial life. The usefulness of a biosignature is determined not only by the probability of life creating it but also by the improbability of non-biological (abiotic) processes producing it. Concluding that evidence of an extraterrestrial life form (past or present) has been discovered requires proving that a possible biosignature was produced by the activities or remains of life. As with most scientific discoveries, discovery of a biosignature will require evidence building up until no other explanation exists. Possible examples of a biosignature include complex organic molecules or structures whose formation is virtually unachievable in the absence of life: Cellular and extracellular morphologies Biomolecules in rocks Bio-organic molecular structures Chirality Biogenic minerals Biogenic isotope patterns in minerals and organic compounds Atmospheric gases Photosynthetic pigments The Viking missions to Mars The Viking missions to Mars in the 1970s conducted the first experiments which were explicitly designed to look for biosignatures on another planet. Each of the two Viking landers carried three life-detection experiments which looked for signs of metabolism; however, the results were declared inconclusive. Mars Science Laboratory The Curiosity rover from the Mars Science Laboratory mission, with its Curiosity rover is currently assessing the potential past and present habitability of the Martian environment and is attempting to detect biosignatures on the surface of Mars. Considering the MSL instrument payload package, the following classes of biosignatures are within the MSL detection window: organism morphologies (cells, body fossils, casts), biofabrics (including microbial mats), diagnostic organic molecules, isotopic signatures, evidence of biomineralization and bioalteration, spatial patterns in chemistry, and biogenic gases. The Curiosity rover targets outcrops to maximize the probability of detecting 'fossilized' organic matter preserved in sedimentary deposits. ExoMars Orbiter The 2016 ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) is a Mars telecommunications orbiter and atmospheric gas analyzer mission. It delivered the Schiaparelli EDM lander and then began to settle into its science orbit to map the sources of methane on Mars and other gases, and in doing so, will help select the landing site for the Rosalind Franklin rover to be launched in 2022. The primary objective of the Rosalind Franklin rover mission is the search for biosignatures on the surface and subsurface by using a drill able to collect samples down to a depth of , away from the destructive radiation that bathes the surface. Mars 2020 Rover The Mars 2020 rover, which launched in 2020, is intended to investigate an astrobiologically relevant ancient environment on Mars, investigate its surface geological processes and history, including the assessment of its past habitability, the possibility of past life on Mars, and potential for preservation of biosignatures within accessible geological materials. In addition, it will cache the most interesting samples for possible future transport to Earth. Titan Dragonfly NASA's Dragonfly lander/aircraft concept is proposed to launch in 2025 and would seek evidence of biosignatures on the organic-rich surface and atmosphere of Titan, as well as study its possible prebiotic primordial soup. Titan is the largest moon of Saturn and is widely believed to have a large subsurface ocean consisting of a salty brine. In addition, scientists believe that Titan may have the conditions necessary to promote prebiotic chemistry, making it a prime candidate for biosignature discovery. Europa Clipper NASA's Europa Clipper probe is designed as a flyby mission to Jupiter's smallest Galilean moon, Europa. The mission launched in October 2024 and is set to reach Europa in April 2030, where it will investigate the potential for habitability on Europa. Europa is one of the best candidates for biosignature discovery in the Solar System because of the scientific consensus that it retains a subsurface ocean, with two to three times the volume of water on Earth. Evidence for this subsurface ocean includes: Voyager 1 (1979): The first close-up photos of Europa are taken. Scientists propose that a subsurface ocean could cause the tectonic-like marks on the surface. Galileo (1997): The magnetometer aboard this probe detected a subtle change in the magnetic field near Europa. This was later interpreted as a disruption in the expected magnetic field due to the current induction in a conducting layer on Europa. The composition of this conducting layer is consistent with a salty subsurface ocean. Hubble Space Telescope (2012): An image was taken of Europa which showed evidence for a plume of water vapor coming off the surface. The Europa Clipper probe includes instruments to help confirm the existence and composition of a subsurface ocean and thick icy layer. In addition, the instruments will be used to map and study surface features that may indicate tectonic activity due to a subsurface ocean. Enceladus Although there are no set plans to search for biosignatures on Saturn's sixth-largest moon, Enceladus, the prospects of biosignature discovery there are exciting enough to warrant several mission concepts that may be funded in the future. Similar to Jupiter's moon Europa, there is much evidence for a subsurface ocean to also exist on Enceladus. Plumes of water vapor were first observed in 2005 by the Cassini mission and were later determined to contain salt as well as organic compounds. In 2014, more evidence was presented using gravimetric measurements on Enceladus to conclude that there is in fact a large reservoir of water underneath an icy surface. Mission design concepts include: Enceladus Life Finder (ELF) Enceladus Life Signatures and Habitability Enceladus Organic Analyzer Enceladus Explorer (En-Ex) Explorer of Enceladus and Titan (E2T) Journey to Enceladus and Titan (JET) Life Investigation For Enceladus (LIFE) Testing the Habitability of Enceladus's Ocean (THEO) All of these concept missions have similar science goals: To assess the habitability of Enceladus and search for biosignatures, in line with the strategic map for exploring the ocean-world Enceladus. Searching outside of the Solar System At 4.2 light-years (1.3 parsecs, 40 trillion km, or 25 trillion miles) away from Earth, the closest potentially habitable exoplanet is Proxima Centauri b, which was discovered in 2016. This means it would take more than 18,100 years to get there if a vessel could consistently travel as fast as the Juno spacecraft (250,000 kilometers per hour or 150,000 miles per hour). It is currently not feasible to send humans or even probes to search for biosignatures outside of the Solar System. The only way to search for biosignatures outside of the Solar System is by observing exoplanets with telescopes. There have been no plausible or confirmed biosignature detections outside of the Solar System. Despite this, it is a rapidly growing field of research due to the prospects of the next generation of telescopes. The James Webb Space Telescope, which launched in December 2021, will be a promising next step in the search for biosignatures. Although its wavelength range and resolution will not be compatible with some of the more important atmospheric biosignature gas bands like oxygen, it will still be able to detect some evidence for oxygen false positive mechanisms. The new generation of ground-based 30-meter class telescopes (Thirty Meter Telescope and Extremely Large Telescope) will have the ability to take high-resolution spectra of exoplanet atmospheres at a variety of wavelengths. These telescopes will be capable of distinguishing some of the more difficult false positive mechanisms such as the abiotic buildup of oxygen via photolysis. In addition, their large collecting area will enable high angular resolution, making direct imaging studies more feasible. See also Bioindicator MERMOZ (remote detection of lifeforms) Taphonomy Technosignature References Astrobiology Astrochemistry Bioindicators Biology terminology Search for extraterrestrial intelligence Petroleum geology

Elegance

Elegance is beauty that shows unusual effectiveness and simplicity. Elegance is frequently used as a standard of tastefulness, particularly in visual design, decorative arts, literature, science, and the aesthetics of mathematics. Elegant things often exhibit refined grace and suggest maturity, and in the case of mathematics, a deep mastery of the subject matter. General concept Essential components of the concept include simplicity and consistency of design, focusing on the essential features of an object. In art of any kind one might also require dignified grace, or restrained beauty of style. Visual stimuli are frequently considered elegant, if a small number of colors and stimuli are used, emphasizing the remainder. In philosophy of science In the philosophy of science, there are two concepts referring to two aspects of simplicity: elegance (syntactic simplicity), which means the number and complexity of hypotheses, and parsimony (ontological simplicity), which is the number and complexity of things postulated. In mathematics In mathematical problem solving, the solution to a problem (such as a proof of a mathematical theorem) exhibits mathematical elegance if it is surprisingly simple and insightful yet effective and constructive. Such solutions might involve a minimal amount of assumptions and computations, while outlining an approach that is highly generalizable. Similarly, a computer program or algorithm is elegant if it uses a small amount of code to great effect. In engineering In engineering, a solution may be considered elegant if it uses a non-obvious method to produce a solution which is highly effective and simple. An elegant solution may solve multiple problems at once, especially problems that are not thought to be inter-related. Elegance can arguably be measured for engineering problems as the ratio of problem complexity to that of solution complexity. Thus a simple (low complexity) solution to a problem of high complexity is seen as elegant. This measure does not advise of process to produce elegant solutions, and is merely a way of comparing between multiple solutions for elegance assessment. In chemistry In chemistry, chemists might look for elegance in theory, method, technique and procedure. For example, elegance might comprise creative parsimony and versatility in the utilization of resources, in the manipulation of materials, and in the effectiveness in syntheses and analysis. In pharmacy In pharmacy, elegance in formulation is important for quality as well as for effectiveness in dosage form design, a major component of pharmaceuticals. In fashion The concept of elegance in fashion is often associated with the modern taste for subtraction and understatement that capitalistic societies have developed to convey a sense of status. Unlike similar concepts such as glamour, elegance is a unisex practice, and it was initially developed amongst the male ruling classes after the French Revolution. Elegance was later adopted by ladieswear, from the 20th century onwards. This approach to clothes based on subtraction and understatement is pursued by the upper classes to avoid vulgarity, hence belonging to a lower social status. Several elements that determine the adoption of elegance and its rule have been recognized: a key role is played by class, gender, morality and taste. References Further reading Concepts in aesthetics

Polymorphous perversity

Polymorphous perversity is Sigmund Freud's descriptive term for the non-specific nature of childhood sexuality in its primordial form. In psychoanalytic theory, infantile sexual energy (libido) is yet to be definitively channelled into specific aims and objects, and is capable of focusing itself in any direction and on any object. The term points to the amorphous and changeable nature of the libido prior to being shaped in the processes of socialization and psycho-sexual development. Sexual pleasure in this sense is not merely genital, but potentially present in all sensual interactions, including touching, smelling, sucking, viewing, exhibiting, rocking, defecating, urinating, hurting, and being hurt. It is this original non-specificity of the libido in early childhood that makes possible the variations of the sexual drive that later manifest as so-called 'perversions’ in the adult. Freud's theory Freud theorized that some are born with unfocused pleasure/libidinal drives, deriving pleasure from any part of the body. The objects and modes of pleasurable satisfaction are multifarious, directed at every object that might provide pleasure. Polymorphous perverse sexuality continues from infancy through about age five, progressing through three distinct developmental stages: the oral stage, anal stage, and genital/phallic stage. Only in subsequent developmental stages do children learn to constrain drives towards pleasure-satisfaction to socially accepted norms, culminating in adult heterosexual behavior focused on the genitals and reproduction or sublimations of the procreative drive. Freud thought that during this stage of undifferentiated impulse for pleasure, incestuous and bisexual urges are normal. Lacking knowledge that certain modes of gratification are forbidden, the polymorphously perverse child seeks gratification wherever it occurs. In the earliest phase, the oral phase, the child forms a libidinal bond with the mother via the inherent pleasure gained from suckling at the breast. For Freud, "perversion" is a non-judgmental term. He used it to designate behavior outside the socially acceptable norms of his era. See also Oedipus complex Sexual fetishism Paraphilia References Sources Freud, Sigmund. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. Trans. James Strachey. 24 vols. London: Hogarth, 1953–74. External links Freudian psychology Paraphilias Psychoanalytic terminology Sexual orientation and psychology Sexual attraction Sexual fetishism

Polish School of Posters

Beginning in the 1950s and through the 1980s, the Polish School of Posters combined the aesthetics of painting and the use of metaphor with the succinctness of the poster. By utilizing characteristics such as painterly gesture, linear quality, and vibrant colors, as well as individual personality, humor, and fantasy, the Polish poster made the distinction between designer and artist less apparent. Posters of the Polish Poster School significantly influenced the international development of graphic design in poster art. Influenced by the vibrant colors of folk art, they combine printed slogans, often hand-lettered, with popular symbols, to create a concise metaphor. As a hybrid of words and images, these posters created a certain aesthetic tension. In addition to aesthetic aspects, these posters revealed the artist's emotional involvement with the subject. They did not solely exist as an objective presentation, rather they were also the artist's interpretation and commentary on the subject and on society. History The Polish School of Posters was an approach to poster design which started during the post-World War II period in Poland from the 1950s continuing through the 1980s. In its early years, the Polish People's Republic (PRL, 1947–1989) was in a phase of rebuilding its cultural institutions. In the post-war economy under bureaucratic censorship and regulation, Polish artists had limited artistic opportunities, but they were able to use the poster as their means of artistic expression and career. Some reasons the poster continued to thrive during this time period were the reopening of cultural venues such as theatres for cinema and performances as well as the state sponsorship of poster making. Before the Polish School of Posters, during the Stalin era, Socialist Realism was the only sanctioned aesthetic for the fine arts and design in Poland. Not to be confused with Social Realism which also depicted the working class, Socialist Realism in Poland was used solely as propaganda for the communist government. Socialist Realist posters depicted the elevated laborer pursuing the state’s political goals using a strictly realist style. Due to the vetting process for the arts, artists couldn’t exhibit abstract or subjective work, but they were able to use symbolism, metaphor, and allusion to convey their ideas. These visual techniques became characteristic of poster designers of the Polish School of Posters and near the mid 1950s, as Stalin-era repressions loosened and state sponsorship of poster making continued, poster designers gained more artistic freedom. Furthermore, unlike their Western counterparts that juggled with the need of producing profitable ad contents in a free market context, Polish artists, and more generally from Central and Eastern Europe, operated without facing the pressure of making a profit. The title Polish School of Posters was first applied to the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts in the early 1950s and may have been first used by designer Jan Lenica. In this academy, poster making was given its own category and was seen as an equal to the institution's other artistic disciplines. Often Polish posters of this era were not effective forms of advertisement, nor were they necessarily meant to be, rather they were made for the purpose of being works of art. Polish Poster School designers used allusion, symbolism, and metaphor to engage the viewer in interpreting the imagery on their posters. The conceptual imagery was meant to evoke subjective associations in the viewer that were not literally visible on the paper. Many of these posters were witty, humorous, and included fantastical and allegorical elements in their design. Critics experienced difficulty trying to find the common thread between these posters because of their individuality, but they tended to group them by their painterly gesture and linear style and traced their vibrant colors back to folk art. Global Influence Works created by the Polish School of Posters influenced poster design internationally. One major contribution is in their use of allusion. Collections The largest and most complete private collection of Polish posters, dating from 1909 to the modern era, is the Rosenberg Poster Collection. The collection includes posters that were made during political oppression after the Second World War. In this environment of censorship and regulation, artists focused on the poster as a medium to express meaning and add color to the streets of post-war Poland. The largest state-owned collection of Polish posters is the Poster Museum at Wilanów. It is the world's oldest poster museum, founded in 1968, housed at the Wilanów Palace complex in Warsaw. Notable Examples 1948: Czarny Narcyz by Henryk Tomaszewski. Black Narcissus film poster. 1948: The Last Stage by Tadeusz Trepkowski. Film poster. 1952: “Nie!” (“No!”) by Tadeusz Trepkowski. Political poster. 1962: Ewa Kossakowska. Circus poster. 1963: Jerzy Srokowski. Circus poster. 1963: Zawrót Głowy by Roman Cieślewicz. Vertigo film poster. 1964: Wozzeck by Jan Lenica. Opera Poster. 1967: Dziewczyna O Zielonych Oczach by Maria Ihnatowicz. Girl with Green Eyes film poster. 1970: Maciej Urbaniec. Circus poster. 1972: Kabaret by Wictor Gorka. Cabaret film poster. 1973: Zbrodniarka Czy Ofiara by Ewa Gargulinska. Kuro no bonryu, Ordinary Darkness film poster. 1979: Andrzej Pagowski. Circus poster. 1981: Possession by Barbara Baranowska, for the 1981 film. Artists Barbara Baranowska, aka Basha Maks Bereski Roman Cieślewicz Jacek Ćwikła Rafal Olbinski Wojciech Fangor Mieczyslaw Gorowski Tadeusz Jodlowski Jan Lenica Bogusław Lustyk Jan Młodożeniec Józef Mroszczak Jerzy Napieracz Jan Sawka Franciszek Starowieyski Waldemar Świerzy Piotr Szyhalski Henryk Tomaszewski Maciej Urbaniec Mieczyslaw Wasilewski Further reading Praca Zbiorowa: Encyklopedia sztuki polskiej, hasło "plakat". Kraków: Wydawnictwo Ryszard Kluszczyński, 2002, s. 500–501. . Praca Zbiorowa: Polska Szkoła Plakatu w latach 1956–1965. Warszawa: Muzeum Plakatu w Wilanowie, Oddz. Muzeum Narodowego w Warszawie, 1988. Art of Polish Poster, Dorota Folga-Januszewska, Bosz, 2018 Plakaty w zbiorach Muzeum Plakatu w Wilanowie, Maria Kurpik, Agata Szydlowska, Warszawa: Muzeum Plakatu w Wilanowie, Oddz. Muzeum Narodowego w Warszawie, 2008 Elizabeth E. Guffey: Posters: A Global History. Reaktion Books, 2014. . Joseph Czestochowski: Contemporary Polish Posters in Full Color, Dover Publications (June 1, 1979) Jacek Mrowczyk: VeryGraphic. Polish Designets of the 20th Century, Culture PL (February 23, 2016) Kempa, Karolina (2018), Polnische Kulturplakate im Sozialismus. Eine kunstsoziologische Untersuchung zur (Be-)Deutung des Werkes von Jan Lenica und Franciszek Starowieyski, Wiesbaden: Springer, References External links The Origins of the Polish School of Posters 6 Legends of the Polish Poster School 18 Most Important Polish Graphic Designers of the 20th Century The Legacy Of Polish Posters Classic Polish Film Posters Database Polish poster artists Graphic design

Kkonminam

Kkonminam (; kkot/n [꽃] = flower, minam [미남] = handsome man) has been commonly used in South Korea since the late-1990s to refer to men who are especially concerned with personal style, grooming and fashion. This lifestyle also includes the significant usage of cosmetics. Although they are sometimes regarded as bishōnen (androgynous), generally gender or sexual orientation is unambiguous. History The Hwarang, or "flower youths" or "flowering knights/gentlemen", were an elite group of male warriors in Silla, an ancient Korean kingdom. Chinese sources referred only to the physical beauty of the "flower boys" who were known for their androgynous good looks. The word "kkonminam" is a neologism that was first used to describe "pretty boy characters from girls comics who regularly appeared against backgrounds filled with flowery patterns". The Korean kkonminam concept of soft masculinity originates from the Japanese concept of bishōnen in shōjo manga and anime, but, according to Sun Jung, with more purity, innocence and politeness. The emergence of kkonminam was a socio-cultural phenomenon associated with the influence of Mandatory Military Service (strong and tall physical appeal) and Japanese entertainment's androgyny such as manga, dramas, beauty products and music (particularly visual-kei rock bands like X Japan and L'Arc-en-Ciel) in the 1990s. Even though Japanese popular culture was officially banned before 1998, Koreans gathered information in a variety of ways, mainly through underground personalized human networks, internet, trips to Japan and piracy. H.O.T., a revolutionary K-pop group, credited for effeminating Korean masculinity, was heavily criticized at the time for borrowing Japanese style. Professor Kim Hyun Mee at Yonsei University attributes this to the growing independence and confidence of Asian women: "[they] can afford to be more selective when choosing a mate." The National Security Act affected South Korea in the 1990s when restrictions were placed on international imports. Due to the Act, Korea experienced restrictions on television programming. Television companies turned instead to establishing channels such as Mnet in order to broadcast commercial programs such as K-pop. Mnet is a South Korean television music channel that has a variety of talk, game, and live music shows. In the late 1990s, Kkonminam images became notable in the Korean entertainment industry, glorifying "pretty" boys with smooth, fair skin, silky hair, and a feminine manner. These new images replaced the previous ones of tough and aggressive Korean men in television commercials, dramas, and on billboards. The Kkonminam phenomenon is prominent in Korean popular culture; it can be seen in fashion, music, photography, advertising, and television. Television In 2009, a Korean television series called Boys over Flowers (based on Japanese manga Hana Yori Dango) gained popularity in South Korea and across Asia. The plot follows an average high school girl who gets involved in the life of an arrogant rich boy and his friends. In Boys over Flowers: "the males have childlike and boyish features in contrast to their strong and muscular bodies. The popularity of the show influenced many South Korean men to take their appearance more seriously. An increasing number of South Korean males began applying cosmetics, wearing preppy and cruise-like outfits and sporting traditionally feminine looks, colors, and prints". Korean boy pop bands Crystal S. Anderson, a Cultural Studies research scholar at Longwood University, found a variety of ways in which global fans refer to the unique masculinity of male K-pop groups. One respondent wrote: "I am also really curious about flower boys and the varying expressions of masculinity in Korean boy bands." Another respondent noted: "The first thing that attracted me when I was young is that Korean artists were exceptionally handsome/beautiful and possessed unique style, both in their music and fashion," linking appearance to a certain style. Hybrid bands Examples of Korean boy bands that exemplify this phenomenon are 2PM, Highlight, and MBLAQ. These bands draw on elements of "gangster" and hip-hop themes in their performances. The hybridized aspects help the bands appeal to broader audiences. Analysts note that these boy bands display masculinity of both kawaii and kkonminam elements. These boy bands test stereotypical masculinity. Due to their tough masculine image, 2PM have been nicknamed by local Korean media and netizens as Jimseungdol. On-stage, they showcase theatrical manliness. In performances of "Heartbeat", the title song of their first album, they put on a hyper-masculine, beast-like performance. In the performances, Taecyeon tears off his shirt, Nichkhun symbolically rips out Taecyeon's heart in a brutal manner, and Chan-Sung breathes fiercely while lifting Nichkhun over his head. See also Aegyo Bishōnen Himbo Hwarang Ikemen Little fresh meat Metrosexual – Western equivalent Moe Ulzzang References Beauty Effeminacy Korean words and phrases Gay culture Popular culture neologisms LGBTQ and society Masculinity Male beauty Men in South Korea LGBTQ culture in South Korea South Korean popular culture Stereotypes Stereotypes of men Stereotypes of urban people Terms for men South Korean youth culture

Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights

Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights provides the right to freedom of expression and information. A fundamental aspect of this right is the freedom to hold opinions and receive and impart information and ideas, even if the receiver of such information does not share the same opinions or views as the provider. Article text Limitations to the freedom of expression Freedom of expression is not an absolute right, meaning it can be interfered with by states and other public authority bodies. However, each state is allowed a margin of appreciation. An acceptance of varying historical, legal, political, and cultural differences, which may lead the application of such freedom to be slightly varied in its nature despite the widespread adoption of the article. Such differences in the application have been allowed as long as the freedom of expression is as found in The Observer and The Guardian v United Kingdom (1991). "Narrowly interpreted and the necessity for any restrictions must be convincingly established" by national authorities. Voorhoof and Gannie suggest that for a state to legally interfere with a person's freedom of expression they need to pass the 'triple test' of conditions in Article 10(2): such interferences have to be laid out in the nation's national law, be justified through the coverage of one of the objectives listed in the latter half of the section, and necessary in a democratic society. Although by attempting to have a uniform application through the request of the 'triple test' and narrow interpretation of the article's content in individual national circumstances it has led some states through a belief the European court is being too stringent to neglect their duties and responsibilities of protection as required by the convention. Importantly, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) recognises the development and use of the internet to exercise this right and also the restrictions on it also being able to be justified by the same objectives. Comparison to the US First Amendment Although widely accepted as a right within the European Convention, it is the First Amendment within the US constitution that is synonymous globally with freedom of expression and speech. Without closer inspection, it could be suggested that both are covering the same right, just in differing contexts; however, this would not be an accurate assessment. The structure of the freedoms in the US Constitution and the European Convention as revealed by Bleich are different from each other and arguably cover opposite things. "The US constitution categorically upholds the value of Free Speech whereas the European Court of Human Rights Article 10 explicitly lists the reasons that free expression can be constrained." Similarly, Docherty suggests that institutionally, the US First Amendment through the nature of the American judicial system and the difficulty of constitutional reform affords greater protection as well as fewer restrictions on the freedom of speech; whereas through the margin of appreciation and the reliance upon members' constitutions being sufficiently robust, freedom of expression within the ECtHR does not directly afford the same level of protection of expression to citizens.   The main point of similarity the two sources of freedom of expression share is that they are both not absolute and can be limited; this is also enhanced through the varying criteria by which they can be restricted also being very similar. Namely, those listed in Article 10(2) include "in the interests of national security, territorial integrity, or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime". It is this that often leads to a common belief they are one of the same by many of the population. However it should be acknowledged as above that achieving such limitation is a point of difference between the two judicial systems and legislation. Hate speech Hate speech is highly contextual and subjective in terms of content and victim, which makes it very difficult to legislate against on a national and especially on a multinational level. As revealed by Foster, Article 10 is applicable to all forms of speech and expressions, but the ECtHR as highlighted by Handyside v United Kingdom demands a level of tolerance and pluralism of the exercise of the same freedom of expression right of others who share views which may not be shared by the receiver of the information or opinions. However, despite the expectancy of citizens to exercise tolerance, it may be difficult to achieve not only as stated before due to the subjective nature of offence being taken but also the complexity of the ECHR failing to define hate speech within either Article 10 or any other convention, ruling or European wide statute to date. This could be explained through the need to provide states with a margin of appreciation, due to varying cultures finding offence to differing things. It has been seen as an area of great debate that Article 10 and the wider ECHR, not having a definition of hate speech within its content, could leave the fundamental concepts of freedom of expression and freedom of speech to be abused by its users. But any limitations on freedom of expression would damage a crucial right of those who live within a democracy, as some deem it to be counter what is laid out in Article 10(2) as not being necessary in a democratic society. The licensing exception The provision about "licensing of broadcasting, television or cinema enterprises", i.e. the state's right to license the media companies, was included because of the limited number of available frequencies and the fact that, at that time, most European states had a monopoly of broadcasting and television. Later court decisions held that due to "the technical progress in the last decades, the justification of these restrictions cannot be made by reference to the number of available frequencies and channels." The public monopolies within the audiovisual media were seen by the court as contrary to Article 10, primarily because they cannot provide a plurality of sources of information. The court also held that devices for receiving broadcasting information, such as satellite dishes, do not fall under the restriction provided for in the last sentence of the first paragraph. Connections to Articles 8, 9 and 11 It has been noted by a number of sources that when examining the ECHR articles those from Article 8 to Article 11 have a very comparable structure allowing for a similar examination by the ECtHR for when there has been a possible breach. In the same way as Article 10, similarly Articles 8 (right to respect for private and family life), 9 (freedom of thought, conscience and religion), and 11 (freedom of assembly and association) briefly describe the convention right and within the second section of the article describe the restrictions that can be used by a state or public authority body that can be imposed upon the right. Van Dijk et al. discuss how within Article 8 through the concept of private correspondence expression of an opinion can often take the form of the correspondence and so there needs to be adequate protection for the privacy of the correspondence and the expression within it from state interference. In a similar way, the freedom of thought, conscience, and religion in particular the latter is a form of self-expression. Consequently, Article 10 covers such expression too due to its wide scope. Lastly, expression is a vital aspect of freedom of assembly and association as "Demonstration always constitutes an expression of opinion." Case law Handyside v United Kingdom (1976) (Article 10 stated obiter to cover even speech that may "offend, shock or disturb"; conviction for obscenity was nonetheless not in breach) Lingens v Austria (1986) 8 EHRR 407 (statements of opinion, rather than fact, are protected and cannot be actionable as defamatory) Mueller and Others v Switzerland (1988), application number 10737/84 (conviction for obscenity was not in breach; the vagueness in "obscene" was accepted as inevitable given the necessity of it changing with charging moral standards in order to be "necessary in a democratic society") The Observer and The Guardian v United Kingdom (1991) 14 EHRR 153, the "Spycatcher" case (the government's ban on reporting on a book about the British security services was in breach) Otto-Preminger-Institut v Austria (1994) (banning the film Liebeskonzil was not a breach) Jersild v. Denmark (1994) (conviction for reporting racist statements that constituted hate crimes was a breach) Bowman v United Kingdom [1998] ECHR 4, (1998) 26 EHRR 1 (excessively tight restrictions on political campaign spending were in breach) Appleby v United Kingdom (2003) 37 EHRR 38 (the courts permitting the private owner of a shopping centre to ban collection of signatures for a petition was not in breach) Steel and Morris v United Kingdom (2005), ancillary to the 'McLibel case' (English courts were in breach by finding conduct to be defamatory that should have been protected under Article 10) Yildirim v Turkey (2012) (Turkish block on Google websites was in breach because it was not reasonably foreseeable or in accordance with the rule of law) MGN Ltd v United Kingdom (2011) 39401/04, the Naomi Campbell success fee case (success fees, designed to improve access to justice, would be an acceptable interference with Article 10 rights under part 2, but in this case were excessive and not justified for this purpose in the case of a wealthy complainant) Delfi AS v. Estonia (2015) (civil liability for defamatory comments posted on defendant's website by anonymous third parties, despite their removal, was not a breach) Peruzzi v. Italy (2015) (fine for criminal defamation of a judge held not to be in breach as "necessary in a democratic society" to "uphold the authority and impartiality of the judiciary") E.S. v. Austria (2018) (fine for "disparaging religious doctrines" by calling Muhammad a paedophile was not in breach) See also Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen – Article XI states: "The free communication of thoughts and of opinions is one of the most precious rights of man: any citizen thus may speak, write, print freely, except to respond to the abuse of this liberty, in the cases determined by the law." First Amendment to the United States Constitution – government "shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech" Universal Declaration of Human Rights – Article 19 is nearly identical to Article 10 of the ECHR Notes External links 10

Constructivism (philosophy of science)

Constructivism is a view in the philosophy of science that maintains that scientific knowledge is constructed by the scientific community, which seeks to measure and construct models of the natural world. According to constructivists, natural science consists of mental constructs that aim to explain sensory experiences and measurements, and that there is no single valid methodology in science but rather a diversity of useful methods. They also hold that the world is independent of human minds, but knowledge of the world is always a human and social construction. Constructivism opposes the philosophy of objectivism, embracing the belief that human beings can come to know the truth about the natural world not mediated by scientific approximations with different degrees of validity and accuracy. Constructivism and sciences Social constructivism in sociology One version of social constructivism contends that categories of knowledge and reality are actively created by social relationships and interactions. These interactions also alter the way in which scientific episteme is organized. Social activity presupposes human interaction, and in the case of social construction, utilizing semiotic resources (meaning-making and signifying) with reference to social structures and institutions. Several traditions use the term Social Constructivism: psychology (after Lev Vygotsky), sociology (after Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann, themselves influenced by Alfred Schütz), sociology of knowledge (David Bloor), sociology of mathematics (Sal Restivo), philosophy of mathematics (Paul Ernest). Ludwig Wittgenstein's later philosophy can be seen as a foundation for social constructivism, with its key theoretical concepts of language games embedded in forms of life. Constructivism in philosophy of science Thomas Kuhn argued that changes in scientists' views of reality not only contain subjective elements but result from group dynamics, "revolutions" in scientific practice, and changes in "paradigms". As an example, Kuhn suggested that the Sun-centric Copernican "revolution" replaced the Earth-centric views of Ptolemy not because of empirical failures but because of a new "paradigm" that exerted control over what scientists felt to be the more fruitful way to pursue their goals. The view of reality as accessible only through models was called model-dependent realism by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow. While not rejecting an independent reality, model-dependent realism says that we can know only an approximation of it provided by the intermediary of models. These models evolve over time as guided by scientific inspiration and experiments. In the field of the social sciences, constructivism as an epistemology urges that researchers reflect upon the paradigms that may be underpinning their research, and in the light of this that they become more open to considering other ways of interpreting any results of the research. Furthermore, the focus is on presenting results as negotiable constructs rather than as models that aim to "represent" social realities more or less accurately. Norma Romm, in her book Accountability in Social Research (2001), argues that social researchers can earn trust from participants and wider audiences insofar as they adopt this orientation and invite inputs from others regarding their inquiry practices and the results thereof. Constructivism and psychology In psychology, constructivism refers to many schools of thought that, though extraordinarily different in their techniques (applied in fields such as education and psychotherapy), are all connected by a common critique of previous standard objectivist approaches. Constructivist psychology schools share assumptions about the active constructive nature of human knowledge. In particular, the critique is aimed at the "associationist" postulate of empiricism, "by which the mind is conceived as a passive system that gathers its contents from its environment and, through the act of knowing, produces a copy of the order of reality." In contrast, "constructivism is an epistemological premise grounded on the assertion that, in the act of knowing, it is the human mind that actively gives meaning and order to that reality to which it is responding". The constructivist psychologies theorize about and investigate how human beings create systems for meaningfully understanding their worlds and experiences. Constructivism and education Joe L. Kincheloe has published numerous social and educational books on critical constructivism (2001, 2005, 2008), a version of constructivist epistemology that places emphasis on the exaggerated influence of political and cultural power in the construction of knowledge, consciousness, and views of reality. In the contemporary mediated electronic era, Kincheloe argues, dominant modes of power have never exerted such influence on human affairs. Coming from a critical pedagogical perspective, Kincheloe argues that understanding a critical constructivist epistemology is central to becoming an educated person and to the institution of just social change. Kincheloe's characteristics of critical constructivism: Knowledge is socially constructed: World and information co-construct one another Consciousness is a social construction Political struggles: Power plays an exaggerated role in the production of knowledge and consciousness The necessity of understanding consciousness—even though it does not lend itself to traditional reductionistic modes of measurability The importance of uniting logic and emotion in the process of knowledge and producing knowledge The inseparability of the knower and the known The centrality of the perspectives of oppressed peoples—the value of the insights of those who have suffered as the result of existing social arrangements The existence of multiple realities: Making sense of a world far more complex than we originally imagined Becoming humble knowledge workers: Understanding our location in the tangled web of reality Standpoint epistemology: Locating ourselves in the web of reality, we are better equipped to produce our own knowledge Constructing practical knowledge for critical social action Complexity: Overcoming reductionism Knowledge is always entrenched in a larger process The centrality of interpretation: Critical hermeneutics The new frontier of classroom knowledge: Personal experiences intersecting with pluriversal information Constructing new ways of being human: Critical ontology Constructivist approaches Critical constructivism A series of articles published in the journal Critical Inquiry (1991) served as a manifesto for the movement of critical constructivism in various disciplines, including the natural sciences. Not only truth and reality, but also "evidence", "document", "experience", "fact", "proof", and other central categories of empirical research (in physics, biology, statistics, history, law, etc.) reveal their contingent character as a social and ideological construction. Thus, a "realist" or "rationalist" interpretation is subjected to criticism. Kincheloe's political and pedagogical notion (above) has emerged as a central articulation of the concept. Cultural constructivism Cultural constructivism asserts that knowledge and reality are a product of their cultural context, meaning that two independent cultures will likely form different observational methodologies. Genetic epistemology James Mark Baldwin invented this expression, which was later popularized by Jean Piaget. From 1955 to 1980, Piaget was Director of the International Centre for Genetic Epistemology in Geneva. Radical constructivism Ernst von Glasersfeld was a prominent proponent of radical constructivism. This claims that knowledge is not a commodity that is transported from one mind into another. Rather, it is up to the individual to "link up" specific interpretations of experiences and ideas with their own reference of what is possible and viable. That is, the process of constructing knowledge, of understanding, is dependent on the individual's subjective interpretation of their active experience, not what "actually" occurs. Understanding and acting are seen by radical constructivists not as dualistic processes but "circularly conjoined". Radical constructivism is closely related to second-order cybernetics. Constructivist Foundations is a free online journal publishing peer-reviewed articles on radical constructivism by researchers from multiple domains. Relational constructivism Relational constructivism can be perceived as a relational consequence of radical constructivism. In contrary to social constructivism, it picks up the epistemological threads. It maintains the radical constructivist idea that humans cannot overcome their limited conditions of reception (i.e., self-referentially operating cognition). Therefore, humans are not able to come to objective conclusions about the world. In spite of the subjectivity of human constructions of reality, relational constructivism focuses on the relational conditions applying to human perceptional processes. Björn Kraus puts it in a nutshell: Social Constructivism Criticisms Numerous criticisms have been levelled at Constructivism. The most common one is that it either explicitly advocates or implicitly reduces to relativism. Another criticism of constructivism is that it holds that the concepts of two different social formations be entirely different and incommensurate. This being the case, it is impossible to make comparative judgments about statements made according to each worldview. This is because the criteria of judgment will themselves have to be based on some worldview or other. If this is the case, then it brings into question how communication between them about the truth or falsity of any given statement could be established. The Wittgensteinian philosopher Gavin Kitching argues that constructivists usually implicitly presuppose a deterministic view of language, which severely constrains the minds and use of words by members of societies: they are not just "constructed" by language on this view but are literally "determined" by it. Kitching notes the contradiction here: somehow, the advocate of constructivism is not similarly constrained. While other individuals are controlled by the dominant concepts of society, the advocate of constructivism can transcend these concepts and see through them. See also Autopoiesis Consensus reality Constructivism in international relations Cultural pluralism Epistemological pluralism Tinkerbell effect Map–territory relation Meaning making Metacognition Ontological pluralism Personal construct psychology Perspectivism Pragmatism References Further reading Devitt, M. 1997. Realism and Truth, Princeton University Press. Gillett, E. 1998. "Relativism and the Social-constructivist Paradigm", Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology, Vol.5, No.1, pp. 37–48 Ernst von Glasersfeld 1987. The construction of knowledge, Contributions to conceptual semantics. Ernst von Glasersfeld 1995. Radical constructivism: A way of knowing and learning. Joe L. Kincheloe 2001. Getting beyond the Facts: Teaching Social Studies/Social Science in the Twenty-First Century, NY: Peter Lang. Joe L. Kincheloe 2005. Critical Constructivism Primer, NY: Peter Lang. Joe L. Kincheloe 2008. Knowledge and Critical Pedagogy, Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. Kitching, G. 2008. The Trouble with Theory: The Educational Costs of Postmodernism, Penn State University Press. Björn Kraus 2014: Introducing a model for analyzing the possibilities of power, help and control. In: Social Work and Society. International Online Journal. Retrieved 3 April 2019.(http://www.socwork.net/sws/article/view/393) Björn Kraus 2015: The Life We Live and the Life We Experience: Introducing the Epistemological Difference between "Lifeworld" (Lebenswelt) and "Life Conditions" (Lebenslage). In: Social Work and Society. International Online Journal. Retrieved 27 August 2018.(http://www.socwork.net/sws/article/view/438). Björn Kraus 2019: Relational constructivism and relational social work. In: Webb, Stephen, A. (edt.) The Routledge Handbook of Critical Social Work. Routledge international Handbooks. London and New York: Taylor & Francis Ltd. Friedrich Kratochwil: Constructivism: what it is (not) and how it matters, in Donatella della Porta & Michael Keating (eds.) 2008, Approaches and Methodologies in the Social Sciences: A Pluralist Perspective, Cambridge University Press, 80–98. Mariyani-Squire, E. 1999. "Social Constructivism: A flawed Debate over Conceptual Foundations", Capitalism, Nature, Socialism, vol.10, no.4, pp. 97–125 Matthews, M.R. (ed.) 1998. Constructivism in Science Education: A Philosophical Examination, Kluwer Academic Publishers. Edgar Morin 1986, La Méthode, Tome 3, La Connaissance de la connaissance. Nola, R. 1997. "Constructivism in Science and in Science Education: A Philosophical Critique", Science & Education, Vol.6, no.1-2, pp. 55–83. Jean Piaget (ed.) 1967. Logique et connaissance scientifique, Encyclopédie de la Pléiade, vol. 22. Editions Gallimard. Herbert A. Simon 1969. The Sciences of the Artificial (3rd Edition MIT Press 1996). Slezak, P. 2000. "A Critique of Radical Social Constructivism", in D.C. Philips, (ed.) 2000, Constructivism in Education: Opinions and Second Opinions on Controversial Issues, The University of Chicago Press. Suchting, W.A. 1992. "Constructivism Deconstructed", Science & Education, vol.1, no.3, pp. 223–254 Paul Watzlawick 1984. The Invented Reality: How Do We Know What We Believe We Know? (Contributions to Constructivism), W W. Norton. Tom Rockmore 2008. On Constructivist Epistemology. Romm, N.R.A. 2001. Accountability in Social Research, Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. https://www.springer.com/social+sciences/book/978-0-306-46564-2 External links Journal of Constructivist Psychology Radical Constructivism Constructivist Foundations Epistemological theories Epistemology of science Metatheory of science Philosophical analogies Social constructionism Social epistemology Systems theory Theories of truth Constructivism

Queering

Queering (also called queer reading) is a technique used to challenge heteronormativity by analyzing places in a text that use heterosexuality or identity binaries. Coming out of queer theory in the late 1980s through the 1990s, queering is a method that can be applied to literature, film, and other media. Originally, the method of queering dealt more strictly with gender and sexuality, but quickly expanded to become more of an umbrella term for addressing identity as well as a range of systems of oppression and identity politics. Even the term queer itself can be queered, because much of queer theory involves working to fight against normalization even in the field itself. In the context of queer theory, "queering is something we do, rather than something we are (or are not)." An example of queering would be to reexamine the primary sources from the life of King Richard I of England, to search for evidence that he exhibited homosexual behavior or attitudes. Queering, as a tool of historical analysis, does not necessarily mean an attempt to determine if historical figure actually engaged in homosexual behaviors. It embraces a more fluid spectrum of gender attitudes which may have been entirely emotional, e.g., if celibate monks who wrote letters of intimate affection could be said to be exhibiting a form of romantic love, even if they never engaged in intimate physical behavior, or even consciously considered their behavior to be a parallel of romantic physical relationships. Origins and other uses Historically, queer was a word that referred to something as odd or strange. As the verb form of queer, queering can refer to the act of taking something and looking at it through a lens that makes it strange or troubles it in some way. By the 1940s (in the United States), queer came to be used in reference to sexuality that deviated from heterosexual norms. It was in the period of the late 1980s and early 1990s when LGBT AIDS activist groups, such as Act Up and Queer Nation, began to reclaim the term queer as a positive identifier and as a process of questioning mainstream ideas about what was considered normal. Cathy Cohen argues that groups like these also extended the use of queer to move past “assimilationist tendencies" present in AIDS activism. This is based on sentiments expressed by groups like Queer Nation who felt that queer as a word and a sentiment was too focused on assimilation of non-normative sexualities and identities. Within such groups, queer as a noun was reclaimed again to mean something radical. Queering then became a tool for social and political subversion of dominant culture. Because it is rooted in queer theory, it is also closely tied into queer politics and queer activism. Because the idea of queering comes from the term queer, it has a wide variety of definitions as well as uses. For example, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, a foundational theorist of queer theory says that queer can mean "the open mesh of possibilities, gaps…and excesses of meaning when the constituent elements of anyone’s gender, of anyone’s sexuality aren't made (or can't be made) to signify monolithically." Literary critic Michael Warner offers this definition: "Queer gets a critical edge by defining itself against the normal rather than the heterosexual." Judith Butler, another theorist credited with the founding of queer theory, talks about queer as being an act that can be performed. In a more current context, methods of queering extend beyond critiquing literature to examine topics from popular culture to more abstract topics like theology and time. In her essay about the benefits of queering theology, Thelathia "Nikki" Young, says that queering is a way to "[deconstruct] the logics and frameworks operating within old and new theological and ethical concepts." In addition to these deconstructions, she argues that queering "dismantles the dynamics of power and privilege persisting among diverse subjectivities." Uses in literature In Pia Livia Hekanaho's essay "Queering Catcher: Flits, Straights, and Other Morons," she uses queering to analyze “the leaking boundaries of 'straight' (heterosexual) masculinity and the queer identities that may lie beyond those boundaries” in J.D. Salinger's 1951 novel Catcher in the Rye. In it, she looks at how the narrator Holden Caufield is caught between the strictness of normative masculinity and a fear of non-normative sexualities and manhood. Judith Butler uses a queer reading of the 1929 novel Passing by Nella Larson to see the possibilities of blurring the binaries of both race and attraction. Genre literature such as fantasy and science fiction also remain popular texts for queer analysis. In Anna Bark Persson's article "Home and Hell: Representation of Female Masculinity in Action-Driven Science Fiction Literature," she explores the narratives of characters Nyxnissa so Dasheem from the series The Bel Dame Apocrypha by Kameron Hurley and Catherine Li from the series The Spin Trilogy by Robert Charles Wilson. Persson examines their roles as masculine women who take up space and hold positions of power, and how their science fiction settings are used to reject cis and hetero-normative conventions. Uses in design There is a growing movement to queer design seen in initiatives like Queering the Map and work by designers and design researchers like Ece Canli, Emeline Brulé, Luiza Prado de O. Martins and Tiphaine Kazi-Tani. Isabel Prochner wrote that queerness and queer theory have radical, chaotic, and deconstructive potential in design by "engaging critically with design goals, challenging their assumptions, and encouraging greater multiplicity." Disco music Queering also occurred in popular music in disco culture. Prior to the Stonewall Rebellions in New York that arguably mark the birth of disco, heterosexual norms dominated the club scene. It was only after disco music came out did queering begin to take its mark. This was seen especially on the dance floors at straight and gay clubs alike. Whereas before, the norm was for a man and a woman to dance together, queering allowed for individuals to dance by themselves, or for dance partners of the same gender to take the floor. References Queer

History of courtship in the United States

Courtship practices in the United States changed gradually throughout its history. The transition from primarily rural colonies to cities and the expansion across the continent with major waves of immigration, accompanied by developments in transportation, communication, education, industrialization, and the economy, contributed to changes over time in the national culture that influenced how young people met, interacted, and married. Courtship is generally considered to be the process of people meeting and marrying. Marriage and the formation of families was of critical importance to the success of the colonies. Each colony was influenced by the customs of the founding group, reflecting the cultural and religious expectations of the society that provided the colonists. Parents generally had an active role in their children's courtships, as did the surrounding community to a lesser extent. The concept of romantic love gradually evolved from a minor consideration to a major deciding factor in marriage. With the advent of dating in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, families had less control over the courting process. Competitive dating in the 1930s and 1940s rapidly transitioned into the serial monogamy of going steady in the 1950s. The societal upheaval of the 1960s erased most old courtship traditions and scripts, but failed to replace them with any new mores. By the 21st century, although people still meet, pair off, and sometimes marry, there is an absence of widely accepted social norms with which to comply. Colonial times In the early days of the colonies, parents played a decisive role in choosing their offspring's partner, as it was considered a critical decision with both financial and social consequences for the individuals and the community. Wealth, social position, and love were considered to be the primary objectives of marriage, with wealth and social position taking precedence. Romantic love was considered an immature basis for marriage. In the 17th century, most colonies' laws required consent of parents to marriage, with some, such as New Haven and Plymouth Colony, requiring a young man to obtain a woman's father's consent even to pay court to her. Enforcement of such laws fell into disuse by the 18th century as the practice of young people choosing their own mates became commonly accepted. Young people's courting would take place in conjunction with ordinary daily activities, such as accompanying each other to church or performing chores. Opportunities for privacy, such as gathering berries and tending far-away fields, were welcomed by the couples. Despite the watchful eyes of the families and communities, it was not uncommon for courting couples to engage in premarital sex and many colonial brides were pregnant on their wedding day. The customs for courtship in the early colonies varied according to the religious and cultural framework of each colony. In the Chesapeake Colonies, marriages were often arranged by families, while in Delaware Colony, Quakers forbid any marriage to a non-Quaker or to a first or second cousin, and the entire community had to consent to any marriage. The custom of the Moravians in New York and Pennsylvania was for church elders to pair off couples, although the members of the couples could veto the pairing. In the Puritan colonies of New England, marriage required the consent of both parents and children. Law and custom governed courtship. Marriage in New England was considered a civil contract, rather than a sacrament. A potential suitor would approach a young woman's parents, often with a small gift, and seek their consent. With the parents' approval, the courting couple were given sufficient privacy to determine if they were compatible. One custom, brought to New England from Europe, was bundling, the practice of wrapping a couple together in a bed with a board between the two of them. When the courting couple agreed to marry, banns of marriage were published and they were considered to be betrothed. Breaking a betrothal damaged the reputations of both individuals, although more often the woman's character incurred the greatest harm. In Quaker communities, a man and woman declared their intent to marry at the meetinghouse assembly. A Men's Meeting committee would investigate the prospective groom and a Women's Meeting committee investigated the prospective bride. As the couple had to announce their intent twice before the monthly meeting in consecutive months, their formal engagements lasted at least two months. There was an imbalance in numbers of women and men in the early colony of Georgia, so courtships were often quite brief and women tended to marry young. As in other colonies, parental permission was usually required before betrothal, although colonists from the Rhineland brought with them the custom that those of "a certain age" could decide to marry without their parents' consent. Later in the 18th century, as greater numbers of settlers moved to Georgia, courtships lasted longer and less often involved girls younger than 16. As the colonies matured, upper-class families might travel or send unmarried daughters to visit in other cities to widen their exposure to potential mates of the proper class. This was particularly the case in the south, where families on rural plantations were more isolated. Mothers would take their daughters to cities such as Savannah, Williamsburg, and Charleston for a social season of teas, balls, and formal dinners. Courtship among the elite families relied heavily on parental consent and was informally governed by strict protocol. Young women felt pressured to find a mate, as those unmarried by age 20 were often considered "old maids". Many immigrants during the 18th century were indentured servants and were constrained from marrying while serving their indenture. A man could purchase his prospective wife's freedom so that they could marry, although it was not unknown for a man to court and seduce a young woman with the promise of buying out her indenture. In the years around the American Revolution, respected figures in early American society, such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, and John Witherspoon, wrote tracts on courtship, marriage, and choosing a good partner. Witherspoon went so far as to place the dominant responsibility for ill-suited matches on men, as men had the freedom to choose while women could only assent or deny when asked. Franklin and Paine decried the practice of marrying for wealth rather than mutual affection.Benjamin Rush and Enos Hitchcock called for more practical education for women to better prepare them as partners in the joint management of family in a new society. Periodicals and magazines ran frequent stories encouraging marriage and making fun of bachelors and spinsters. In the years after American independence, young people enjoyed considerable autonomy in their social activities, with little oversight of courtships. Greater numbers of young people lacked nearby families, whether by being orphaned, having moved away from their homes, or immigrating on their own, leading to an absence of the familial and social ties that would restrict their activities. The idea that the fundamental reason for marriage should be love and that partners should select each other on the basis of love grew in popular acceptance. Courtships could last several years while the young man worked toward a state of financial stability to support a family. By 1800, young people generally selected their own partners. The perception of marriage as a joining of two people in emotional intimacy meant that only the two people involved could judge each other's suitability for partnership; parents and families had little control over the matter. Young men continued to seek permission from parents to marry their daughter, though more as a formality or ritual. 19th century In the 19th century, courting was the term for socializing between unmarried men and women. When the socializing between a man and woman included an explicit intent to eventually marry, it was called courtship. Men and women met through families and friends, in church, and at school. Courting often began in the teenage years with group activities such as picnics, riding, parties, and dances. Romance By mid-century, the ideal of romantic love was firmly established in middle-class America, becoming even more meaningful than religion. With heightened expectations of happiness and fulfillment from marriage and the strict disapproval of divorce, courtship was a high-stakes pursuit of the right partner. This frequently played out in the form of obstacles, expressed doubts, and emotional crises to "test" the prospective partner. The deliberately created dramas were intended to strengthen the emotional bond between the pair and to reassure each one of the other's devotion. One gentleman expressed his view of the testing: Love letters In Victorian America, strict observance of social codes was adhered to in public, but private life was expected to be free of constraint. Thus, the frequent exchange of love letters was a widespread courtship activity, particularly among the upper- and middle-class and even when the couple were only separated by being in different residences. Etiquette manuals, magazines, and book-length guides provided advice and sample letters while at the same time insisting that the writer should write naturally and sincerely. Reading and writing love letters was seen as an extremely intimate experience, akin to being in their loved one's presence. Written correspondence as a major element of a courtship was greatly diminished by the last part of the 19th century. Sex Courting couples were expected to refrain from premarital intercourse, however they engaged in a wide range of non-genital sexual behaviors. Chaperonage was uncommon and courting couples were generally given privacy. Couples also engaged in group activities, such as picnics and parties. In higher class society, chaperonage was more common. Personal ads Between 1820 and 1860, when populations in cites increased by 797%, many of the new urbanites lacked social or family networks through which they might meet potential partners. Women in particular found personal ads to be a means for exercising some control over their circumstances. An 1890 study of female respondents to personal ads in the United States found that they sought independence from societal expectations and a degree of equality in the matter of marriage. (The criminologist who performed the study was scandalized by the responses, believing "they bordered on moral depravity".) The years following the Civil War in the United States brought a huge mismatch in the number of available men in the east (more than 600,000 killed in the war) and in the number of available women on the western frontier, where mostly men had migrated to pursue mining, fur trading, farming, logging, and exploring. Rural areas of Illinois in the 1850s, for example, averaged one woman for every twenty-five men. States in the west which suffered from the imbalance between men and women passed numerous laws intended to encourage women to immigrate, such as property protection for women (as opposed to coverture laws common in eastern states) and female suffrage. The welcoming political climate was an incentive for women to respond to marriage ads and marriage recruiting efforts. During the Civil War, soldiers and sailors placed personal ads to find correspondents, and for a woman to reply to these ads was considered a patriotic act. Many military men and their correspondents formed romantic relationships. Calling In the late 19th century, a young woman's family would invite a young man to "call" on her, a middle-class system in which the young woman's family provided hospitality while supervising their courtship. A young man would not call on a young woman without that invitation, although he could imply by his manner that he would welcome one. The system of calling was governed by rules promulgated by national magazines, advice columns, and books of etiquette, which prescribed how soon one should make a call after being invited to do so, whether refreshments should be served, to what degree the call should be chaperoned, proper topics of conversation, and how the call should be ended. The clear implication was that the etiquette of calling displayed one's manners and breeding. Primarily a system among the middle class, those with aspirations to the middle class would also follow the conventions of calling. Treating Among the urban working class, as young women became employed and were living on their own, the practice of treating developed. Treating was the practice of providing companionship and intimate activity in exchange for entertainment outings, gifts, and other items of monetary value, such as tickets and clothes, leading to the working class slang term "date". These working girls were labelled "charity girls" by reformers, who were shocked to learn that the "charity girls" were not interested in being "rescued". In urban areas such as the Bowery, the expectation of sexual activity in exchange for presents and outings became part of courtship patterns in the youth culture. 1900 to 1960 The beginning of the 20th century was accompanied by a reversal of the Victorian era system of gender segregation. Young people were more independent, often working outside of the home; more women went to college. Opportunities for men and women to socialize were more widely available. As an illustration of the changes taking place, a chapter in Emily Post's Etiquette was titled "The Chaperon and Other Conventions" in 1922; it was retitled "The Vanishing Chaperon and Other New Conventions" in 1927, and then "The Vanished Chaperon and Other Lost Conventions" by 1937. From calling to dating While the previous decade's practice of calling on a young woman in her home was initiated by the woman and her family, the newer custom of dating gave the initiative to the man as he was expected to pay for their entertainment. The transition from calling to dating was a significant transformation in the courtship process. Women had controlled the calling system and took the initiative. In dating, men held control and took the initiative. Dating took courtship out of the private home and into the public sphere. The expectations of entertainment (dining, dancing, movies, and so forth) added economic issues to dating, and the practice was often viewed as an economic transaction. Older standards of conduct were quickly abandoned during and after the First World War. By the 1920s, dating and petting became social rituals that define courtship. Couples had always paired off, but the peer-enforced expectations around dating behaviors were new and quickly dominated courting behavior. Dating filled the social gap between casual group activities and serious courtship with the intent to marry. The Kinsey Report found that the generation that became adults during the 1910s and 1920s had the greatest increase in premarital sexual activity, and "later generations appear to have accepted the new pattern and maintained or extended it". The general public acceptance of dating around 1910 coincided with the introduction of sex education in public schools. Activities With a greater part of the population now living in urban areas, entertainments outside of the home and church were popular options for courting. Couples (by themselves or with other couples) went to movies, dance halls, vaudeville shows, and restaurants. Dancing, always a popular courting activity, became the most popular pastime in the 1920s, both in high school and college. Numerous dances were held at colleges, usually by fraternities. A common feature at these dances in the 1920s was the "stag line", young men who would "cut in" to take another man's partner. Frequent cut-ins raised the social status of both the young woman and her date. The increasing number of enclosed cars resulted in the automobile becoming an essential for courting, with the privacy that they provided encouraging intimacy. "Parking" (making out in a car) at lovers' lanes was common. Young men and women, both in high school and college, often attended "petting parties" at which couples could experiment while the quasi-public setting limited the extent of the sexual experimentation. In a survey of young women in college in the 1920s, 92% reported having engaged in petting. Competitive dating Although the practice of dating dominated American courtship, it also became the arena for social competition and popularity. In a series of lectures at Stanford University in 1946, anthropologist Margaret Mead stated that dating was primarily a form of competition rather than a form of courtship, and that Americans "had no courtship rituals". During the 1930s, high school and college students generally dated multiple people, colloquially called "playing the field". Dating patterns involved variety and competition, and multiple partners were a signal of popularity. Sociologists characterize this form of dating as "competitive". In 1937, sociologist Willard Waller, based on a study at Penn State College, described it as a "rating and dating complex" in which males and females were rated in popularity by themselves and their peers on characteristics such as having money and good clothes, belonging to the best sorority or fraternity, and dating the "right" people, although some later researchers question whether Waller's observations reflected as widespread a pattern as he implied and note that some individuals chose to pair off exclusively before it became the style. Waller did not consider dating to be "true courtship" as the participants typically did not have an objective of marriage. Magazines and etiquette guides reinforced the "rating and dating complex", advising female college freshmen on how to create an "image of popularity" and encouraging male college students to date many women. The system of dating multiple partners in order to be considered "popular" spread from the colleges to the general public, and competitive dating became the custom in high schools. The competition was particularly visible at dances, where the ideal for a woman was to be "cut in" so frequently that she never had the same partner for more than one turn around the dance floor. Gender roles From the 1930s through the 1950s, increased importance was placed on how men and women conformed to culturally-constructed gender roles. Young people in the courtship phase of their lives were bombarded with messaging aimed to impose strict adherence to masculine and feminine ideals. The clearly defined roles resulted in an etiquette that provided a roadmap to young men and young women; with all of the rules made explicit, each knew how to behave on a date. Dutch dating, in which both participants split the cost of a date, was almost universally condemned as demonstrating independence on the part of the woman which would threaten the masculinity of the man. Men should order for both in a restaurant; a woman should never open a door for herself. Women were told to avoid any display of independence or intelligence, and men were told to resent those displays should they occur. Men were told to be in charge and demonstrate mastery of any situation, and women were told to expect men to make all decisions. Only men should initiate physical displays of affection, which women could reject or respond to. The rigid conventions of this etiquette were also a source of resentment and insecurity, as both young men and young women felt constantly judged against a cultural ideal. Going steady The Great Depression put a damper on courtship; few could afford an extravagant social whirl, much less consider early marriage. In 1932, the marriage rate, which had been 10.14 per 1,000 three years earlier, fell to 7.9 per 1,000. Men were less likely to consider themselves financially secure enough for marriage. With the end of the depression being quickly followed by the onset of World War II and millions of young men entering the military, "marriageable men" became a scarcity. Even with the end of the war, national magazines repeatedly warned that many women would never marry because of a "man shortage" and a "surplus of women". Steady dating began to supplant dating multiple partners. There was a rapid move away from competitive dating and toward committed relationships. The marriage rate, which had been 7.9 per 1,000 in 1932,, increased to 13.2 per 1,000 in 1942 and to 16.4 per 1,000 in 1946. Some historians credit the shortage of male partners during the war; however, the end of the war did not end the practice, and going steady became even more pervasive after the war ended. Going steady was a form of serial monogamy. Initially, going steady was seen as a generally serious commitment with an intent to marry eventually. By the 1950s, steady couples no longer expected to marry each other at some point, but they behaved as if they were married. Going steady was a frequent theme in popular teen novels of the time. High school students were expected to enter committed heterosexual relationships or become socially marginalized. Sociologist Wini Breines characterizes it as "a routinized sexual system that controlled and punished female spontaneity and ensured that young women followed the prescribed steps to marriage". Early marriage There is speculation that the emphasis on early marriage during and after WWII was linked to the impulse to go steady. Toward the end of the 1940s and into the 1950s, marrying young was encouraged and celebrated. Women's magazines promoted the notion that the purpose of women going to college was to find a husband. Respected academics endorsed the trend of early marriage. Parents' magazines suggested that parents should provide financial support to enable their children to marry young. The average age at marriage had grown younger over the decades, with a brief exception during the depression. By 1959, 47% of all brides were younger than 19. The convention of early marriages, which came to be seen as the "natural" condition, lasted until the mid-1960s. The results of a study by the Institute of Marital Relations published in 1948 found that only 56% of women stated that they had married for love. The rest cited financial security, the desire to have children, and the fear of being a spinster as their reasons for marrying. Dating in the 1950s With early marriage becoming the accepted norm, participation in dating and petting occurred at even younger ages in the 1950s. Junior high and even elementary school students were encouraged to attend "boy-girl" parties and dances. A 1966 study found that children as young as 11 were dating, going steady, had "kissed seriously", and considered themselves to have been "in love". By high school, dating was one of the most time-consuming activities in young peoples' lives, with the majority of high school students going steady by the time they were seniors. The decade was a period of pre-marital monogamy. In 1957, the president of Amherst College said: Men who did not marry were viewed suspiciously by employers and colleagues; they felt pressured by society to marry so as to be seen as mature and successful. Women who did not marry were often ostracized. Studies in the 1950s found that stability, security, and companionship were key factors in women identifying their marriages as "happy". 1960 to present The 1960s were marked by disruption to American society by movements driven by the youth culture: Vietnam War protests, the civil rights movement, the women's liberation movement, and the gay liberation movement. The formal dating rituals of the 1950s began to decline and the rigidity of gender role expectations loosened. Young men and women continued to date, but the motivations were "intrinsic satisfaction" and increased intimacy rather than for prestige or expectations of it leading to marriage. The sexual revolution of the 1960s that introduced casual sex and questioned gender roles contributed to the abolishment of traditional courtship. The norms of dating relaxed to incorporate intercourse prior to engagement. More couples chose cohabitation before (or instead of) marriage. For many members of Generation X, cohabitation is considered to be like a "trial marriage" or even a commitment similar to marriage with some seeing little distinction between living together and being married. Young couples experimented with individualized courtship patterns. Fewer young people met prospective partners through the family and more through friends. Marriage was no longer considered the "master event" of their sexual lives and adulthood. Socializing in mixed-sex groups began to displace dating. The old rituals of dating, courtship, and marriage were replaced by conflict and uncertainty, although many young people continued to comply with some of the gendered conventions, such as who can ask someone out. To many, the dating scene was daunting, even hazardous, as the guardrails around dating and premarital sex vanished. The old-fashioned dating scripts that relied on outdated expectations of gender roles were gradually discarded; the absence of those social norms resulted in "courtships that are fraught with confusion and mixed messages". From the sexual revolution of the 1960s through the start of the twenty-first century, the accepted linear patterns of courtship dissolved, as did the expectation that emotional, physical, and financial investments in a relationship would lead to a permanent commitment. Sociologist Barbara Dafoe Whitehead says: Marrying at later ages By the 1980s, there were few remaining rules for courtship. Clear expectations for how a couple would meet, socialize, and commit to each other were gone, leaving only uncertainty and occasional nostalgia for "traditional" courtship customs. The median age at marriage in 1980 had risen to 24.7 for men and 22 for women; by 2010, the median age at marriage was 28.2 for men and 26.1 for women. By 2016, the median age at which individuals first married was 30 for men and 28 for women. Marriage lost significance as the primary marker of adulthood by the beginning of the 21st century. While 80% of households in the 1950s consisted of married couples, by 2000 it was only 51%, and only 25% of households were married couples with children. By 2000, the proportion of unmarried Americans was higher than couples with children (married and unmarried). In 1960, households with one person were slightly more than 5% of all households; by 2022, more than 30% of all households were a single person. Ads and online dating Although personal advertisements began to appear in the 19th century, their use as a means of meeting potential partners saw a resurgence in the mid-20th century. In the 1960s, The Village Voice began publishing personal ads, and ads from swingers appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle in 1961. By the late 1980s, publications as disparate as the New York Law Journal and The New York Review of Books added personal ads to their content. Placing an ad to find a romantic partner had become an acceptable alternative to conventional methods of meeting people. Despite the prevalence of personals ads, research found that fewer than 1% of Americans met their partners using that approach. Matrimonial or "lonely hearts" clubs began forming in the 20th century. These clubs accepted ads from their members for an enrollment fee. As computer dating and single clubs became available, lonely hearts clubs diminished. Video dating, in which members would view another's profile and photograph before deciding to watch their "video pitch", emerged in the 1980s, but was not a mainstream method for finding romantic partners. Operation Match, begun in 1965, was the first online dating service in the United States. These services involved questionnaires and computer matching. Match.com in 1995 was one of the first sites to host personal ads online. At the time, few people had computer access. As Internet access increased, so did interest in online personal ads and computer dating, with the first free dating sites appearing between 2005 and 2010. With smartphones, dating apps such as Tinder became popular. Online personal ads are freed from the space limitations of print ads. Additionally, websites and apps that host personals typically provide automated menus or sortable categories for common information, freeing the advertiser to tailor the narrative portion of the ad to their specific objectives. Online dating expands a person's field of eligible partners beyond their own social network and geographic location. In May 2005, 26.6 million people viewed online dating sites and almost 25 million in April 2011. A 2009 study found that the Internet was the second-most common way that heterosexual couples had met (the most common was through friends). Over half of U.S. adults who have never been married have used a dating app, according to a 2022 Pew Research Center survey. Hooking up versus dating Hooking up was relatively widespread by the early 2000s, although traditional dating persisted on campuses in the South and schools associated with active religious affiliations. The pattern of engaging in various degrees of sexual activity outside of a relationship had spread from colleges to high schools and middle schools. Sociologist Kathleen Bogle states that students meet in large mixed-sex settings rather than have formal dates, and from there may "hook up". The tradition of dating leading to emotional commitment and then sex is reversed in the practice of engaging in sexual activity first, which then may lead to emotional commitment and a relationship. Researchers from Bowling Green State University found a decline in high school dating in the 1990s. Some female students have said that academics, sports, and work leave them little time to invest in a relationship. The practice of hooking up typically involves white, upper middle class students. Black students are far less likely to engage in hook-up culture. Bogle found that after college, people were more likely to date than to continue the practice of hooking up, although it was still common for them to meet potential partners at bars and parties. One common factor cited for the avoidance of hooking up after college is safety. A 2016 journal paper by sociologists Tracy Luff, Kristi Hoffman, and Marit Berntson states that their research found that college students continue to date. It asserts that dating and hooking up are "coexisting and even complementary patterns", and that students engage in both activities. See also Culture of Domesticity :Matchmaking Notes References External links "Rising Share of U.S. Adults Are Living Without a Spouse or Partner", Pew Research Study (2021) Dating

Arts in education

Arts in education is an expanding field of educational research and practice informed by investigations into learning through arts experiences. In this context, the arts can include Performing arts education (dance, drama, music), literature and poetry, storytelling, Visual arts education in film, craft, design, digital arts, media and photography. It is distinguished from art education by being not so much about teaching art, but focused on: how to improve learning through the arts how to transfer learning in and through the arts to other disciplines discovering and creating understanding of human behavior, thinking, potential, and learning especially through the close observation of works of art and various forms of involvement in arts experiences Projects The European Union has funded the ARTinED (a new approach to education using the arts) project to integrate the arts into every primary school subject ARTinED. The Fondazione Nazionale Carlo Collodi is the project coordinator of the ARTinED project. The European Commission has funded the ART4rom, a project based on the practice of the arts in school and non school environments. The aim of the project is to foster intercultural dialogue, mutual understanding and social inclusion for Roma and non-Roma children aged between 5 and 10. Weaknesses The various models of education theory are predicated on Pedagogy while almost entirely ignoring the fact that most art schools are directly involved in the teaching of adults. This blind spot means that the pedagological model of learning is unsuitable for institutions that are intended to focus on andragogy which is term used specifically in relation to the teaching of adult learners. Importance "As the repression builds, art comes to be regarded as 'time off for good behaviour' or as 'therapy'" and how the ease and carefreeness of the arts are supposed to bring joy and a sense of calmness." It is used to destroy the monotony of a regular school day, put a dent in the relentlessness of arithmetic and reading. Art should be seen as means of therapy, never something made to cause unrelenting stress and difficulty. If a student becomes less tense and wired up from stress in their learning environments, then they will raise up their grades in other classes, such as maths, English, or science. To give off a relaxed vibe, putting art on the wall tends to provide a calming environment that produces a sense of peace and serenity. Arts-related activities are important for so much more than just keeping your child busy or relaxed. They've been proven to boost a child's self-image. The self esteem, confidence and pride that comes from art in education is truly incredible and each child should be able to experience that. The benefits of arts education programs in schools can also extend beyond therapeutic practices. Involvement in the arts can lead to increased academic performance. For example, students who participate in an arts centered program show increased performance in both verbal and mathematical assessments (Vaughn and Winner, 2000). In places like the United States, arts education is not as valued. However, some national reforms like the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) requires that arts education, visual and performing, be considered core subjects as they have been proven by many tests to work. Through these requirements schools gain the funds to implement subjects and supplementary items, like books and calculators, that students may need to be successful. Schools can also gain funds by participating in national and regional standardized tests, these tests however, only test students on their ability to perform high in subjects such as math, literacy, and science. Art courses aid student's ability to perform high in these subjects as they challenge a student's brain. Tests like the Mozart effect, the effect that learning and listening to classical music have on the brain, gives students the ability to learn, reduce stress, and positively change sleeping patterns more easily. Art programs within education has its importance in not only expanding the mind but keeping kids off the streets and out of the correctional system. Studies show that students with art programs are three times more likely to graduate than those who don't. Art programs give kids somewhere to express themselves if they don't have the support to do that at home, it also gets kid to think creatively and inventively, expanding a kids way of thinking in general. Kids that had access to art programs or afterschool programs had better grades, it allowed them to improve their overall skills in school. All of these things are ways that kids keep from getting "bored" in school and getting in with the wrong crowd. Keeping art programs in schools is an important way to keep our kids safe and smart. Professor P Vijayakumar, chairperson,Centre for Social and Organisational Leadership (C SOL) at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai, India uses art as a teaching tool extensively in the Organisation Development and Change course for masters students states "Art facilitates reflection. Reflective practice needs to be an integral part of any management education". See also The arts Visual arts Applied arts Notes External links Art for Art's Sake? The Impact of Arts Education at OECD.org Educational research Visual arts education

Neumorphism

Neumorphism is a design style used in graphical user interfaces. It is commonly identified by a soft and light look (for which it is sometimes referred to as soft UI) with elements that appear to protrude from or dent into the background rather than float on top of it. It is sometimes considered a medium between skeuomorphism and flat design. History The term neumorphism was coined by Jason Kelly in 2019 as a portmanteau of neo and skeuomorphism, emphasizing its role as a semi-revival of skeuomorphism. Many neumorphic design concepts can be traced to Alexander Plyuto, who created a mockup for a banking app showing various elements of neumorphic design. He posted it to the website Dribbble, where it quickly blew up to 3,000 views. On November 12, 2020, Apple released macOS Big Sur. The update included graphical designs that featured neumorphism prominently, such as the app icons and use of translucency. Characteristics and purpose Neumorphism is a form of minimalism characterized by a soft and light look, often using pastel colors with low contrast. Elements are usually the same color as the background, and are only distinguished by shadows and highlights surrounding the element. This gives the elements the appearance that they are "protruding" from the background, or that they are dented into it. Designers may like the look and feel of neumorphism because it provides a middle ground between skeuomorphism and flat design. Specifically, it aims to look plausibly realistic, while still looking clean and adhering to minimalism. Criticism Neumorphism has received a lot of criticism, notably for its lack of accessibility, difficulty in implementation, low contrast, and incompatibility with certain brands. References Design Graphical user interfaces 2019 neologisms

Educational perennialism

Educational perennialism is a normative educational philosophy. Perennialists believe that the priority of education should be to teach principles that have persisted for centuries, not facts. Since people are human, one should teach first about humans, rather than machines or techniques, and about liberal, rather than vocational, topics. Perennialism appears similar to essentialism but focuses first on personal development, while essentialism focuses first on essential skills. Essentialist curricula tend to be more vocational and fact-based, and far less liberal and principle-based. Both philosophies are typically considered to be teacher-centered, as opposed to student-centered philosophies of education such as progressivism. Teachers associated with perennialism are authors of the Western masterpieces and are open to student criticism through the associated Socratic method. Secular perennialism The word "perennial" in secular perennialism suggests something that lasts an indefinite amount of time, recurs again and again, or is self-renewing. Robert Hutchins and Mortimer Adler promoted a universal curriculum based upon the common and essential nature of all human beings and encompassing humanist and scientific traditions. Hutchins and Adler implemented these ideas with great success at the University of Chicago, where they still strongly influence the Undergraduate Common Core. Other notable figures in the movement include Stringfellow Barr and Scott Buchanan (who together initiated the Great Books program at St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland), Mark Van Doren, Alexander Meiklejohn, and Sir Richard Livingstone, an English classicist with an American following. Inspired by Adler's lectures, Sister Miriam Joseph wrote a textbook on the scholastic trivium and taught it as the Freshman seminar at Saint Mary's College. Secular perennialists espouse the idea that education should focus on the historical development of a continually advancing common orienting base of human knowledge and art, the timeless value of classic thought on central human issues by landmark thinkers, and revolutionary ideas critical to historical paradigm shifts or changes in world view. A program of studies which is highly general, nonspecialized, and nonvocational is advocated. They firmly believe that exposure of all people to the development of thought by those most responsible for the evolution of the occidental oriented tradition is integral to the survival of the freedoms, human rights, and responsibilities inherent to a true democracy. Adler states: ... our political democracy depends upon the reconstitution of our schools. Our schools are not turning out young people prepared for the high office and the duties of citizenship in a democratic republic. Our political institutions cannot thrive, they may not even survive, if we do not produce a greater number of thinking citizens, from whom some statesmen of the type we had in the 18th century might eventually emerge. We are, indeed, a nation at risk, and nothing but radical reform of our schools can save us from impending disaster... Whatever the price... the price we will pay for not doing it will be much greater. Hutchins writes in the same vein: The business of saying ... that people are not capable of achieving a good education is too strongly reminiscent of the opposition of every extension of democracy. This opposition has always rested on the allegation that the people were incapable of exercising the power they demanded. Always the historic statement has been verified: you cannot expect the slave to show the virtues of the free man unless you first set him free. When the slave has been set free, he has, in the passage of time, become indistinguishable from those who have always been free ... There appears to be an innate human tendency to underestimate the capacity of those who do not belong to "our" group. Those who do not share our background cannot have our ability. Foreigners, people who are in a different economic status, and the young seem invariably to be regarded as intellectually backward ... As with the essentialists, perennialists are educationally conservative in the requirement of a curriculum focused upon fundamental subject areas, but they stress that the overall aim should be exposure to history's finest thinkers as models for discovery. The student should be taught such basic subjects as English, languages, history, mathematics, natural science, philosophy, and fine arts. Adler states: "The three R's, which always signified the formal disciplines, are the essence of liberal or general education." Secular perennialists agree with progressivists that memorization of vast amounts of factual information and a focus on second-hand information in textbooks and lectures does not develop rational thought. They advocate learning through the development of meaningful conceptual thinking and judgement by means of a directed reading list of the profound, aesthetic, and meaningful great books of the Western canon. These books, secular perennialists argue, are written by the world's finest thinkers, and cumulatively comprise the "Great Conversation" of humanity with regard to the central human questions. Their basic argument for the use of original works (abridged translations being acceptable as well) is that these are the products of "genius". Hutchins remarks: Great books are great teachers; they are showing us every day what ordinary people are capable of. These books come out of ignorant, inquiring humanity. They are usually the first announcements for success in learning. Most of them were written for, and addressed to, ordinary people. The Great Conversation is not static but, along with the set of related great books, changes as the representative thought of man changes or progresses. In this way, it seeks to represent an evolution of thought not based upon the latest cultural fads. Hutchins clarifies this: In the course of history... new books have been written that have won their place in the list. Books once thought entitled to belong to it have been superseded; and this process of change will continue as long as men can think and write. It is the task of every generation to reassess the tradition in which it lives, to discard what it cannot use, and to bring into context with the distant and intermediate past the most recent contributions to the Great Conversation. ...the West needs to recapture and reemphasize and bring to bear upon its present problems the wisdom that lies in the works of its greatest thinkers and in the name of love Perennialism was proposed in response to what many considered a failing educational system. Again Hutchins writes: The products of American high schools are illiterate; and a degree from a famous college or university is no guarantee that the graduate is in any better case. One of the most remarkable features of American society is that the difference between the "uneducated" and the "educated" is so slight. In this regard John Dewey and Hutchins were in agreement. Hutchins's book The Higher Learning in America deplored the "plight of higher learning" that had turned away from cultivation of the intellect and toward anti-intellectual practicality due, in part, to a lust for money. In a highly negative review of the book, Dewey wrote a series of articles in The Social Frontier which began by applauding Hutchins' attack on "the aimlessness of our present educational scheme. Perennialists believe in reading being supplemented by mutual investigations involving both teacher and student and minimally-directed discussions through the Socratic method in order to develop a historically oriented understanding of concepts. They argue that accurate, independent reasoning distinguishes the developed or educated mind and stress the development of this faculty. A skilled teacher keeps discussions on topic, corrects errors in reasoning, and accurately formulates problems within the scope of texts being studied but lets the class reach their own conclusions. Perennialists argue that many of the historical debates and the development of ideas presented by the great books are relevant to any society at any time, making them suitable for instructional use regardless of their age. They acknowledge disagreement between various great books but believe that the student must learn to recognize these disagreements, think about them, and reach a reasoned, defensible conclusion. This is a major goal of the Socratic discussions. Religious perennialism Perennialism was originally religious in nature, developed first by Thomas Aquinas in the thirteenth century in his work (On the Teacher). In the nineteenth century, John Henry Newman presented a defense of religious perennialism in The Idea of a University. Discourse 5 of that work, "Knowledge Its Own End", is a recent statement of a Christian educational perennialism. There are several epistemological options, which affect the pedagogical options. The possibilities may be surveyed by considering four extreme positions - idealistic rationalism, idealistic fideism, realistic rationalism and realistic fideism. Teaching pupils to think critically and rationally are the main objectives of perennialist educators. A perennialist classroom seeks to be a highly structured and disciplined setting that fosters in pupils a never-ending search for the truth. Colleges exemplifying this philosophy Reed College in Portland, Oregon is a well-known secular liberal arts college which requires a year-long humanities course covering ancient Greek and Roman literature, history, art, religion, and philosophy. Students may pursue an optional extension to this core curriculum in later years. St. John's College (Annapolis/Santa Fe) in Annapolis, Maryland and Santa Fe, New Mexico is a secular liberal arts college with an undergraduate program described as "an all-required course of study based on the great books of the Western tradition". The Core Curriculum of Columbia College of Columbia University, is another well-known example of educational perennialism. The University of Chicago's Common Core, established by Mortimer Adler and Robert Maynard Hutchins is another well-known example of educational perennialism. Similar to Columbia College of Columbia University, it is an uncommon example of an educational perennialistic college within a large research institution. Integral Program at Saint Mary's College of California in is a Great Books major at the Lasallian Catholic liberal arts college in Moraga, California. The program was designed with the assistance of faculty from St. John's College, U.S. Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, California is a Catholic Christian college with a Great Books curriculum. The college was founded by a group of graduates and professors of the Integral Program at Saint Mary's College of California, who were discouraged by the liberalism that became common place among the faculty and administration on Saint Mary's campus shortly after Vatican II. Gutenberg College in Eugene, Oregon provides "a broad-based liberal arts education in a Protestant Christian environment", with a "great books" curriculum emphasizing "the development of basic learning skills (reading, writing, mathematics, and critical thinking) and the application of these skills to profound writings of the past". Shimer College in Chicago grants a Bachelor of Arts to students who complete a program composed of humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, integrative studies and a capstone senior thesis. The Torrey Honors Institute at Biola University is a Christian Great Books program. George Wythe University in Cedar City, Utah, is an unaccredited liberal arts school. Thomas More College in Merrimack, New Hampshire is a Catholic College with an integrated Liberal Arts curriculum . The program includes poetry and folk, art and wood guild. The college also offers a Rome Semester, when students have the chance to study Ancient and Medieval Art & Architecture. The Great Books Program at Benedictine College is an example of perennialism, teaching ancient, medieval, renaissance, and modern works from the Western cannon with an emphasis on Catholicism. See also Philosophy of Education Education reform Aristotelianism Thomism Paidea proposal, a reform plan initiated by Adler for public schools References External links Searle, John. "The Storm Over the University". The New York Review of Books. December 6, 1990. Philosophy of education Liberal arts education

Neofunctionalism (sociology)

Neofunctionalism is the perspective that all integration is the result of past integration. The term may also be used to literally describe a social theory that is "post" traditional structural functionalism. Whereas theorists such as Jeffrey C. Alexander openly appropriated the term, others, such as the post-structuralist philosopher Michel Foucault, have been categorized as contemporary functionalists by their critics. History Functionalism in international relations theory was developed by David Mitrany. International relations neofunctionalism was developed by Ernst Haas in the 1960s to give a formal explanation to the work of Jean Monnet (1888–1979). Parsonian thinking In sociology, neofunctionalism represents a revival of the thought of Talcott Parsons by Jeffrey C. Alexander, who sees neofunctionalism as having five central tendencies: to create a form of structural functionalism that is multidimensional and includes micro as well as macro levels of analysis to push functionalism to the left and reject Parsons's optimism about modernity to argue for an implicit democratic thrust in functional analysis to incorporate a conflict orientation, and to emphasize uncertainty and interactional creativity. While Parsons consistently viewed actors as analytical concepts, Alexander defines action as the movement of concrete, living, breathing persons as they make their way through time and space. In addition he argues that every action contains a dimension of free will, by which he is expanding functionalism to include some of the concerns of symbolic interactionism. Neil J. Smelser sets out to establish the concept of ambivalence as an essential element of understanding individual behaviour and social institutions. His approach, based on Sigmund Freud's theory, takes intrapsychic processes rather than roles at the starting point. He sees ambivalence (to hold opposing affective orientations toward the same person object or symbol) as most applicable in situations where persons are dependent on one another. The common element of dependency is in his opinion that freedom to leave is restricted because it is costly either politically, ideologically or emotionally. Thus dependence entails entrapment. Following his views on ambivalence, Smelser argues that attitude surveys should be seen as distorted structures of reality that minimize and delegitimizes ambiguity and ambivalence. Niklas Luhmann's objection Niklas Luhmann sees Parsons' theory as missing the concepts of self-reference and complexity. Self-reference is a condition for the efficient functioning of systems. It means that a system is able to observe itself, can reflect on itself and can make decisions as a result of this reflection. In Luhmann's theory, the chief task performed by social systems is to reduce complexity, which brings more choices and more possibilities; it takes more noes to reach a "yes". Religion or functional equivalents in modern society can provide actors with shared standards of action accepted on faith, which allow complex sets of interactions to proceed in a world that would otherwise be chaotic and incomprehensible. Furthermore Luhmann makes the distinction between risk, a potential harm threatening an individual that is based on a decision made by the individual, and danger, a potential harm to which an individual is passively exposed. The critical difference between the decision maker and the people affected by the decision is that what is a risk for one is a danger for the other. Whereas people in primitive societies were threatened primarily by dangers, people in modern society are threatened primarily by risks caused by our dependency on the decision makers. See also Marxism Critical theory Positivism Antipositivism Structure and agency Auguste Comte Émile Durkheim Herbert Spencer Bronisław Malinowski Anthony Giddens Jürgen Habermas References Anthropology Social philosophy Sociological theories Functionalism (social theory)

Communitas

Communitas is a Latin noun commonly referring either to an unstructured community in which people are equal, or to the very spirit of community. It also has special significance as a loanword in cultural anthropology and the social sciences. Victor Turner, who defined the anthropological usage of communitas, was interested in the interplay between what he called social 'structure' and 'antistructure'; Liminality and Communitas are both components of antistructure. Communitas refers to an unstructured state in which all members of a community are equal allowing them to share a common experience, usually through a rite of passage. Communitas is characteristic of people experiencing liminality together. This term is used to distinguish the modality of social relationship from an area of common living. There is more than one distinction between structure and communitas. The most familiar is the difference of secular and sacred. Every social position has something sacred about it. This sacred component is acquired during rites of passages, through the changing of positions. Part of this sacredness is achieved through the transient humility learned in these phases, this allows people to reach a higher position. Victor and Edith Turner Communitas is an acute point of community. It takes community to the next level and allows the whole of the community to share a common experience, usually through a rite of passage. This brings everyone onto an equal level: even if you are higher in position, you have been lower and you know what that is. Turner (1969, Pg.132; see also ) distinguishes between: existential or spontaneous communitas, the transient personal experience of togetherness; e.g. that which occurs during a counter-culture happening. normative communitas, which occurs as communitas is transformed from its existential state to being organized into a permanent social system due to the need for social control. ideological communitas, which can be applied to many utopian social models. Communitas as a concept used by Victor Turner in his study of ritual has been criticized by anthropologists such as John Eade and Michael J. Sallnow's book Contesting the Sacred (1991). Edith Turner, Victor's widow and anthropologist in her own right, published in 2011 a definitive overview of the anthropology of communitas, outlining the concept in relation to the natural history of joy, including the nature of human experience and its narration, festivals, music and sports, work, disaster, the sacred, revolution and nonviolence, nature and spirit, and ritual and rites of passage. Paul and Percival Goodman Communitas is also the title of a book published in 1947 by the 20th-century American thinker and writer Paul Goodman and his brother, Percival Goodman. Their book examines three kinds of possible societies: a society centered on consumption, a society centered on artistic and creative pursuits, and a society which maximizes human liberty. The Goodmans emphasize freedom from both coercion by a government or church and from human necessities by providing these free of cost to all citizens who do a couple of years of conscripted labor as young adults. Roberto Esposito In 1998, Italian philosopher Roberto Esposito published a book under the name Communitas challenging the traditional understanding of this concept. It was translated in English in 2010 by Timothy Campbell. In this book, Esposito offers a very different interpretation of the concept of communitas based on a thorough etymological analysis of the word: "Community isn't a property, nor is it a territory to be separated and defended against those who do not belong to it. Rather, it is a void, a debt, a gift to the other that also reminds us of our constitutive alterity with respect to ourselves." He goes on with his "deconstruction" of the concept of communitas: "From here it emerges that communitas is the totality of persons united not by a "property" but precisely by an obligation or a debt; not by an "addition" but by a "subtraction": by a lack, a limit that is configured as an onus, or even as a defective modality for him who is "affected", unlike for him who is instead "exempt" or "exempted". Here we find the final and most characteristic of the oppositions associated with (or that dominate) the alternative between public and private, those in other words that contrast communitas to immunitas. If communis is he who is required to carry out the functions of an office ― or to the donation of a grace ― on the contrary, he is called immune who has to perform no office, and for that reason he remains ungrateful. He can completely preserve his own position through a vacatio muneris. Whereas the communitas is bound by the sacrifice of the compensatio, the immunitas implies the beneficiary of the dispensatio.""Therefore the community cannot be thought of as a body, as a corporation in which individuals are founded in a larger individual. Neither is community to be interpreted as a mutual, intersubjective "recognition" in which individuals are reflected in each other so as to confirm their initial identity; as a collective bond that comes at a certain point to connect individuals that before were separate. The community isn't a mode of being, much less a "making" of the individual subject. It isn't the subject's expansion or multiplication but its exposure to what interrupts the closing and turns it inside out: a dizziness, a syncope, a spasm in the continuity of the subject." Others For more on this perspective, see also Jean-Luc Nancy's paper "The Confronted Community" as well as his book The Inoperative Community. See also Maurice Blanchot's book The Unavowable Community (1983) which is an answer to Jean-Luc Nancy's Inoperative Community. Giorgio Agamben engages in a similar argument about the concept of community in his 1990 book The Coming Community (translated in English by Michael Hardt in 1993). Rémi Astruc, a French scholar, recently proposed in his essay Nous? L'aspiration à la Communauté et les arts (2015), to operate a distinction between Community with a capital C as the longing for communitas and communities (plural and small c) to name the numerous actualizations in human societies. Finally, on the American side, see The Community of Those Who Have Nothing in Common by Alphonso Lingis. Christian author Alan Hirsch used the term to describe a more active, tighter-knit community in his book "The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church." References Further reading Read the introduction from Roberto Esposito's book Communitas. The Origin and Destiny of Community : Introduction: Nothing In Common Turner, Victor. "Rituals and Communitas." Creative Resistance. 26 Nov. 2005 Eade & Sallnow, 'Contesting the Sacred' (1991) Carse, James P. "The Religious Case Against Belief", Penguin, New York, 2008 Community Spirituality Latin words and phrases es:Communitas

Digital content

Digital content is any content that exists in the form of digital data. Digital content is stored on digital media or analog storage in specific formats. Forms of digital content include information that is digitally broadcast, streamed, or contained in computer files. Viewed narrowly, digital content includes popular media types, while a broader approach considers any type of digital information (e. g. digitally updated weather forecasts, GPS maps, and so on) as digital content. Digital content has increased as more households have accessed the Internet. Expanded access has made it easier for people to receive their news and watch TV online, challenging the popularity of traditional platforms. Increased access to the Internet has also led to the mass publication of digital content through individuals in the form of eBooks, blog posts, and even Facebook posts. History At the beginning of the Digital Revolution, computers facilitated the discovery, retrieval, and creation of new information in every field of human knowledge. As information became increasingly more accessible, the Digital Revolution also facilitated the creation of digital content. Despite an evolution to digital technology, which occurred somewhere between the late 1970s, distribution of digital content did not begin until the late 1990s with the rise in popularity of the Internet. In the past, digital content was primarily distributed through computers and the Internet. Methods of distribution are rapidly changing as the Digital Revolution brings new channels, such as mobile apps and eBooks. These new technologies will create challenges for content creators, as they determine the best channel to bring content to their consumers. Despite the benefits, new technologies have created new intellectual property issues. Users can easily share, modify, and redistribute content outside of the creator's control. While new technologies have made digital content available to large audiences, managing copyright and limiting content movement will continue to be an issue that digital content creators face in the future. Types of digital content Examples include: Video – Types of video content include home videos, music videos, TV shows, and movies. Many of these can be viewed on websites such as YouTube, Hulu, Paramount+, Disney+, Max, and so on, in which people and companies alike can post content. However, many movies and television shows are not available for free legally, but rather can be purchased from sites such as iTunes and Amazon. Audio – Music is the most common form of audio. Spotify has emerged as a popular way for people to listen to music either over the Internet or from their computer desktop. Digital content in the form of music is also available through Pandora and last.fm, both of which allow listeners to listen to music online for no charge. Images – Photo and image sharing is another example of digital content. Popular sites used for this type of digital content includes Imgur, where people share self-created pictures, Flickr, where people share their photo albums, and DeviantArt, where people share their artwork. Popular apps that are used for images include Instagram and Snapchat. Visual Stories - Stories are a new type of digital content that got introduced by Snapchat. Since then, stories as a format has been introduced in a couple of other platforms such as Facebook and Linkedin. In 2018, Google introduced their AMP Stories, which provides content publishers with a mobile-focused format for delivering news and information as visually rich, tap-through stories. Text - Type of digital content which is available in text or written format. Blog websites which store data in form of textual format. Paid digital content In order to have access to more premium digital goods, consumers usually have to pay an upfront charge for digital content, or a subscription based fee. Video – Many licensed videos, such as movies and television shows, require money in order to be viewed or downloaded. Popular services used by many include streaming giant Netflix and Amazon's streaming service, as well as recent notice put forth by the online video platform YouTube. Audio – While songs can be streamed for free, generally in order to download most licensed music, consumers need to purchase songs from web stores, such as the popular iTunes. However, Spotify Premium is emerging as a new model for purchasing digital content on the web: consumers pay a monthly fee to unlimited streaming and downloading from Spotify's music library. According to a report done by IHS Inc. in 2013, the global consumer spending on digital content grew to over $57 billion in 2013, which was up almost 30% from $44 billion in 2012. In past years, the US has always been a leader in consumer expenditure on digital content, but as of 2013, many countries have emerged with great consumer expenditure. South Korea's overall digital spend per capita is now greater than the US. Non-purchasable digital content Not all digital content is purchasable, and is simply anything published digitally. This would include: News – in recent years newspapers have attempted to expand their readership by creating access to their newspapers digitally. As of 2012, 39% of readers learned about news from online formats, making news a prevalent form of digital content. Advertisements – as media consumers increasingly use digital formats to watch TV, check the weather, and search for content, advertisements have shifted to digital forms to keep up with their viewership. Advertisements are now being made digitally and placed on sites ranging from Facebook to YouTube. Question and Answer sites – these sites are a type of Internet forum where people can post questions they want answered, or provide responses to previous inquiries. With millions of questions posted each day, anyone has the ability to create content on these sites, so the information provided may not be 100% reliable or accurate. Popular sites include Yahoo! Answers, WikiAnswers and Quora. Web mapping – sites such as MapQuest and Google Maps provide users with map content. These sites give people the ability to quickly look up the location of a landmark and create routes to a destination. Online maps are a form of free content provided by companies such as Google and AOL, serving as much more efficient alternatives to the traditional Thomas Guide. Business implications Digital companies Digital content businesses can include news, information, and entertainment distributed over the Internet and consumed digitally by both consumers and businesses. Based on revenue, the leading digital businesses are ranked Google, China Mobile, Bloomberg, Reed Elsevier, and Apple. The 50 companies with the highest revenue are split between those offering free and paid digital content, but these top 50 companies combined generate revenue of $150 billion. Educational opportunities Programs such as CUNY's Macaulay Honors College in their New Media Lab, run by industry professional Robert Small, is set up to train and introduce students to the various disciplines within the digital content industry. The goal is to offer information and access to professional work opportunities. They also explore within an incubator how to create businesses and start ups within the world of digital content. There are many educational events in support of choosing digital content as a career. Government support The Irish government adopted a "Strategy for the Digital Content Industry in Ireland" in 2002. See also Digital economy Digital marketing Paid content User-generated content References Digital media

Anglicism

An anglicism is a word or construction borrowed from English by another language. With the rise in Anglophone media and the global spread of British and US colonialism in the 20th century and cultures in the 21st century, many English terms have become widespread in other languages. Technology-related English words like internet and computer are prevalent across the globe, as there are no pre-existing words for them. English words are sometimes imported verbatim and sometimes adapted to the importing language in a process similar to anglicisation. In languages with non-Latin alphabets, these borrowed words can be written in the Latin alphabet anyway, resulting in a text made up of a mixture of scripts; other times they are transliterated. Transliteration of English and other foreign words into Japanese generally uses the katakana script. In some countries, such anglicisation is seen as relatively benign, and the use of English words may even take on a chic aspect. In Japan, marketing products for the domestic market often involves using English or pseudo-English brand names and slogans. In other countries, anglicisation is seen much more negatively, and there are efforts by public-interest groups and governments to reverse the trend. It is also important to note that while the word anglicism is rooted in the word English, the process does not necessarily denote anglicisms from England. It can also involve terms or words from all varieties of English so that it becomes necessary to use the term Americanism for the loan words originating from the United States. Definitions Definitions of anglicism differ significantly across various fields. The word is employed in various situations of language contact. The criteria for being considered an anglicism by the Usage Dictionary of Anglicisms in Selected European Languages are as follows: a loanword that is recognisably English in form with regards to spelling, pronunciation and morphology. In this specific sense, loan translations and calques are excluded (as well as words that are etymologically derived from languages related to modern French). Some see anglicisms as harmless and useful, others perceive them as bad influences to be countered. Other definitions of anglicism include: a word or construction peculiar to English; a word or phrase that is peculiar to British English; or English syntax, grammar, or meaning transposed in another language resulting in incorrect language use or incorrect translation. Adaptation A number of scholars agree that for anglicism to take place, adaptation must first occur such as in the case of the integration of a great number of anglicisms in Europe. Fischer said that it is similar to neologism in the sense that it completes several phases of integration, which include: 1) the beginning, when it is still new and not known to many speakers; 2) the phase where it begins to spread and take part in the process of institutionalisation; and, 3) the word becomes part of the common core of the language. There are experts who propose a more detailed framework such as the model of anglicism adaptation that transpires on four levels: orthographic, phonological, morphological, and semantic. By language Chinese These are English terms, expressions, or concepts that have been absorbed into the Chinese language, including any of its varieties, and should not be confused with Chinglish, the variety of the English language used by native Chinese speakers. The origins of Chinese anglicisms vary, one of the most common being those obtained by phonetic borrowing. For example, a "bus" (, in Mainland China or Taiwan) is usually called in Hong Kong and Macao because its Cantonese pronunciation is similar to its English counterpart. Another type of anglicism is syntactic anglicism, when a sentence is rendered following the English word order instead of the standard Chinese word order; for example, the word for "network" is or , where can be translated as "net". Finnish The anglicisms can be divided to four types: direct phonetic imitation, lexical and grammatical calques, and contamination of orthography. Official language (as given by the Language Planning Office) deprecates Anglicisms, and for the most part, native constructions are sufficient even in spoken language. Nevertheless, some anglicisms creep in. Computer jargon is generally full of direct imitation, e.g. "swap". Other jargons with abundant anglicisms are pop music, scifi, gaming, fashion, automobile and to some extent scientific jargon. This is regarded a sign of overspecialisation, if used outside the context of the jargon. Generally, direct imitation is not as common, but there are examples. For example, the word sexy , pronounced with an Y unlike in English , might be used as an adjective. This is teenager-specific. Lexical calques take an English expression, like killer application, and produce , which does mean "an application that kills" just as in English. Readers need to know the equivalent English term to understand this. Some speakers, especially those in frequent contact with the English language have created a grammatical calque of the English you-impersonal. The English impersonal utilises the second person pronoun you, e.g. You can't live if you don't eat. Here, the word you does not refer explicitly to the listener, but signifies a general statement. The same example is rendered in Finnish as , where a separate grammatical impersonal (also known as ) is used. When translated word-by-word, , it will refer directly to the listener. Here the contraction of spoken language is used instead of the of spoken language. Then, you will need to understand that it is an anglicism, or you can be offended by the commanding "You there!" tone produced. (There are also native examples of the same construction, so the origin of this piece of grammar may not always be English.) An English orthographical convention is that compound words are written separately, whereas in Finnish, compound words are written together, using a hyphen with acronyms and numbers. In Finnish, and would be correct, but process engineering or Intel 80286 processor would not. Failure to join the words or omitting the hyphen can be either an honest mistake, or contamination from English. Another orthographical convention is that English words tend to be written as the originals. For example, the computer jargon term from to chat is written as (chat + frequentative), even if it is pronounced . The forms or are used, too. Sometimes, it is even standard language, e.g. , instead of according to English pronunciation . French A distinction is made between well-established English borrowings into French, and other words and structures regarded as incorrect. The term is often pejorative, carries a large amount of political weight, and frequently denotes an excessive use of English in the French language. French has many words of English origin for which the English roots are unknown or unrecognised due to a lack of salience or the length of time since the borrowing took place, as well as other words which are seen as English but that are well accepted as part of French (e.g., parking, week-end). Other examples include (pronounced ), (meaning "public square"), and (meaning "melancholy" rather than the organ). These are not considered anglicisms but are fully accepted as French words by the . Occasionally governments and linguistic institutions of both Quebec and France have undertaken strenuous efforts to eradicate anglicisms, often by suggesting French replacements with French phonology and morphology. Although efforts in Quebec have been met with some success (e.g., for ), attempts by the Académie have largely been unsuccessful. Sociolinguists have attributed these failures to the general inability of linguistic institutions to enforce a linguistic norm. The Académie regularly updates a list of prescribed linguistic norms, many of which include using suggested French replacements instead of anglicisms (e.g., for ). Replacements have taken many different forms. For example, in Quebec French, the portmanteau word is increasingly gaining acceptance. This neologism is a word coined from the words ("keyboard") and ("chat"). Other replacements have various forms created by the Académie and . Quebec French and Metropolitan French tend to have entirely different anglicisms for historical reasons. Quebec French acquired its anglicisms in a gradual process of linguistic borrowing resulting from linguistic contact with English speakers for the roughly 250 years since the Battle of the Plains of Abraham of 1759. Metropolitan French, on the other hand, mostly adopted its anglicisms in recent decades due to the post-Second World War international dominance of English, or the rise of English as a lingua franca. Due to the differences in English borrowings between Canada and France, the people of Quebec and France often consider each other's anglicisms to be incorrect or humorous, while considering their own to be perfectly normal. An example of a Metropolitan French anglicism not used in Quebec French: : short for , but pronounced like the English word "sweet" An example of a Quebec French anglicism not used in France; : to French kiss The social meaning and acceptance of anglicisms also differs from country to country due to the differences in the historical relationship to French. In Quebec, anglicisms are never used in formal documentation (government papers, instruction sheets) and very rarely used in informal writing (magazines, journals). In 1993, the French passed the legislation Loi Toubon which forbids the use of anglicisms (or those from other languages) in commercial and government publications. In both countries, wherever the use of an anglicism is unavoidable, it is often written in italics or in quotations. Various anglicisms are largely differentiated on the way in which they entered the language. One type of anglicism is a calque, or a direct translation from English. For example, the valediction is regarded as an anglicism, since it is a direct translation of the English "sincerely yours". Other anglicisms include the wholesale adoption of English terms such as "business" or "start-up". Additionally, some English words in French might not have the same meaning as those words in English. One example is the word "golf", which has an increased semantic field, referring not just to the game of golf, but also to a golf course, as in (trans: "were going to the golf course"). Anglicism is a political term and does not necessarily indicate the etymology or history of the word itself. Rather, it indicates the common attitudes and perceptions about the (theoretically English) history of the word. For example, because English itself borrowed a great amount of French vocabulary after the Norman Conquest, some anglicisms are actually Old French words that dropped from usage in French over the centuries but were preserved in English and have now come full circle back into French. For instance, one attested origin of the verb "to flirt" cites influence from the Old French expression , which means "to (try to) seduce". Other possible origins for the word include , E. Frisian (a flick or light stroke), and E. Frisian (a giddy girl). This expression is no longer used in French, but the English Gallicism "to flirt" has now returned to French and is considered an anglicism, despite its likely French origins. German Denglisch is a pejorative term used in German describing the increased use of anglicisms and pseudo-anglicisms in the German language. It is a portmanteau of the German words (German) and . The term is first recorded from 1965. To some extent, the influence of English on German can be from normal language contact. The term Denglisch is however mostly reserved for forced, excessive exercises in anglicisation, or pseudo-anglicisation, of the German language. Italian Under Benito Mussolini, efforts were made to purify Italian of anglicisms and other foreign words. A well-known example of anglicism used in Italian is guardrail, which has always been totally rooted in common usage, given that the Italian alternatives proposed in the last century such as: guardavia, sicurvia, guardastrada and the Helvetism guidovia have not met with any success, being little used. Today, Italian is one of the most receptive languages for anglicisms. Japanese Anglicised words in Japanese are altered to reflect the absence of certain phonemes in Japanese, such as 'l' (changed to 'r') and 'v' (changed to 'b'). Other changes occur when, for example, an English word ending in "l" becomes "ru". For example, "hotel" becomes , as in the expression (love hotel), the word is strictly speaking not an anglicism, coming from the French (with). Latvian The first anglicisms in the written sources of Latvian appear at the end of the 18th century, however, up until the middle 1970s they were barely researched as their number remained low and since they mostly appeared in the terminology of sports and engineering. The direct contact between Latvian and English at that time was very limited, thus most of the anglicisms entered Latvian through German or Russian. Ever since Latvia regained its independence, there has been an influx of anglicisms into the Latvian language due to the fact that media in English is more accessible than ever. Polish Sporadic linguistic contacts between Polish and English-speaking areas have been noted at least since the 15th century. However, most early anglicisms in Polish were mostly limited to names for places in Great Britain and the Americas. The first proper anglicisms were also related to geography and were recorded in an 18th-century work by Franciszek Siarczyński. By the end of that century there were at least 21 lexemes of English provenance in Polish usage. The 1859 dictionary of foreign words by Michał Amszejewicz contains roughly 100 anglicisms, the so-called Vilnian dictionary of 1861 contains roughly 180 of such words. The anglicisms recorded in the 19th century were in large part words related to social, political, legal and economic concepts used in English society and lacking corresponding institutions in contemporary Poland. Another group comprised naval, sports-related and technical terms. Typically new words were initially being written in their original form, especially when they were used to describe English or American contexts. Such was the case of the word budget, first recorded as such in 1792 in relation to English economy, but soon also used in Polish context. With time the word was assimilated and remains in modern Polish dictionaries, written as . Early 19th century Dictionary of the Polish Language by Samuel Linde includes the following anglicisms: (after London's suburb of Vauxhall; meaning an evening garden party in contemporary Polish), , , , , , and . The assimilation of new English words into Polish sped up in the 20th century and gradually English replaced Czech, German, French, Italian and other languages as the primary source of new imports into the Polish language. At the turn of the century there were roughly 250 English words in use, by 1961 the number of English lexemes in Polish rose to over 700, breaking 1000 lexemes in the 1980s and at least 1600 in 1994. Borrowings from English language used in modern Polish fall into a number of thematic categories: Science and technology: , , , , , , (used as a generic word for personal stereo rather than a trademark); Sports and healthcare: aerobic, lifting, jogging, peeling, , , , , , , , jockey, , , , , , , , , , , ; Computers: , , (a semantic blueprint), , , ; Economy: , , , , , , , , , , , ; Fashion: , , , ; Politics: , Daily life: , , , , , , , , , , , , ; Maritime terms: , , , , , ; Food: , , , , , , , , , Take note, that some of the borrowed words already have Polish equivalents and therefore are not recognised by all language users: (manager) instead of (quad bike) instead of (CCTV) instead of , (English: How can I help you) instead of (English: How can I serve you). In addition to lexical borrowings, there is also a number of calques in everyday use. Spanish Spanglish (a portmanteau of the words "Spanish" and "English") is a name sometimes given to various contact dialects, pidgins, or creole languages that result from interaction between Spanish and English used by people who speak both languages or parts of both languages, mainly spoken in the United States. It is a blend of Spanish and English lexical items and grammar. Spanglish can be considered a variety of Spanish with heavy use of English or vice versa. It can be more related either to Spanish or to English, depending on the circumstances. Since Spanglish arises independently in each region, it reflects the locally spoken varieties of English and Spanish. In general different varieties of Spanglish are not necessarily mutually intelligible. In Mexican and Chicano Spanish the common term for "Spanglish" is "Pocho". Urdu Urdish (a portmanteau of the words "Urdu" and "English") is used, when referring to code-switching between the two languages (this also applies to other varieties of Hindustani, including Hindi). Standard Urdu includes a limited amount of anglicisms. However, many urban Urdu speakers tend to use many more anglicisms when code-switching in speech. In standard written Urdu, anglicisms and code-switching are not common. Examples: (Standard Urdu: / See also Englishization Francization Barbarism (grammar) Influence of French on English Béarlachas (False Irish) Calque Eurospeak Engrish Loanword Pseudo-anglicism Americanism (disambiguation) References External links Les emprunts à l’anglais is the thematic section on anglicisms of the Banque de dépannage linguistique ("Linguistic Troubleshooting Bank") of the Office québécois de la langue française, including explanations of the various anglicism types (e.g. Qu'est-ce qu'un emprunt intégral?) Lazaro Observatory, an observatory of anglicism usage in the Spanish press. English-language influence on other languages English language English as a global language Types of words Word coinage Transliteration False friends

Positive youth development

Positive youth development (PYD) programs are designed to optimize youth developmental progress. This is sought through a positivistic approach that emphasizes the inherent potential, strengths, and capabilities youth hold. PYD differs from other approaches within youth development work in that it rejects an emphasis on trying to correct what is considered wrong with children's behavior or development, renouncing a problem-oriented lens. Instead, it seeks to cultivate various personal assets and external contexts known to be important to human development. Youth development professionals live by the motto originally coined by Karen Pittman, "problem free is not fully prepared", as they work to grow youth into productive members of society. Seen through a PYD lens, young people are not regarded as "problems to be solved"; rather, they are seen as assets, allies, and agents of change who have much to contribute in solving the problems that affect them most. Programs and practitioners seek to empathize with, educate, and engage children in productive activities in order to help youth "reach their full potential". Though the field is still growing, PYD has been used across the world to address social divisions, such as gender and ethnic differences. Background Positive youth development originated from ecological systems theory to focus on the strengths of adolescents. Central to this theory is the understanding that there are multiple environments that influence children. Similar to the principles of positive psychology, the theory of PYD suggests that "if young people have mutually beneficial relations with the people and institutions of their social world, they will be on the way to a hopeful future marked by positive contributions to self, family, community, and civil society." The major catalyst of positive youth development came as a response to the punitive methods of the "traditional youth development" approach. The traditional approach makes a connection between the changes occurring during adolescent years and the beginning or peaking of several public health and social problems, including homicide, suicide, substance use and abuse, sexually transmitted infections, teen and unplanned pregnancies. This connection was made infamous by developmental psychologist G. Stanley Hall who described adolescence as a time of "storm and stress". Another aspect of the traditional approach is that many professionals and mass media portrayed adolescents as inevitable problems that simply needed to be fixed. This "fixing" motivated the "solving" of single-problem behavior, such as substance abuse. Specific evidence of this "problem-centered" model is present across professional fields that deal with young people. Language that reflects this approach includes the “at-risk child” and “the juvenile delinquent”. Many connections can also be made to the current U.S. criminal justice model that favors punishment as opposed to prevention. The concept and practice of positive youth development "grew from the dissatisfaction with a predominant view that underestimated the true capacities of young people by focusing on their deficits rather than their development potential." PYD asserts that youth have inherent strengths and if given opportunities, support, and acknowledgement they can thrive. Encouraging the positive development of adolescents can ease the transition into healthy adulthood. Therefore, emphasis is placed on asset-building. Crucial to the outlining of asset-building is Peter Benson's list of developmental assets. This list is divided into two categories: internal assets (positive individual characteristics) and external assets (community characteristics). Furthermore, research findings point out that PYD provides a sense of “social belonging”, participatory motivation in academic-based and community activities for positive educational outcomes, a sense of social responsibility and civic engagement, and participation in organized activities that would aid in self-development. Goals PYD focuses on the active promotion of optimal human development, rather than on the scientific study of age related change, distinguishing it from the study of child development or adolescent development. or as solely a means of avoiding risky behaviors. Rather than grounding its developmental approach in the presence of adversity, risk or challenge, a PYD approach considers the potential and capacity of each individual young person. A hallmark of these programs is that they are based on the concept that children and adolescents have strengths and abilities unique to their developmental stage and that they are not merely "inadequate" or "undeveloped" adults. Lerner and colleagues write: "The goal of the positive youth development perspective is to promote positive outcomes. This idea is in contrast to a perspective that focuses on punishment and the idea that adolescents are broken". Positive youth development is both a vision, an ideology and a new vocabulary for engaging with youth development. Its tenets can be organized into the 5 C's which are: competence, confidence, connection, character, and caring. When these 5 C's are present, the 6th C of "contribution" is realized. Key features Positive youth development programs typically recognize contextual variability in youths' experience and in what is considered healthy or optimal development for youth in different settings or cultures. This cultural sensitivity reflects the influence of Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory. The influence of ecological systems theory is also seen on the emphasis many youth development programs place on the interrelationship of different social contexts through which the individual moves (e.g. family, peers, school, work, and leisure). This means that PYD seeks to involve youth in multiple kinds of prosocial relationships to promote the young person's wellness, safety, and healthy maturation. Such engagement may be sought "within their communities, schools, organizations, peer groups, and families". As a result, PYD seeks to build "community capacity". The community is involved in order to facilitate a sense of security and identity. Likewise, youth are encouraged to be involved in the community. The University of Minnesota's Keys to Quality Youth Development summarizes eight key elements of programs that successfully promote youth development. Such programs are physically and emotionally safe, give youth a sense of belonging and ownership, foster self-worth, facilitates discovery of their "selves" (identities, interests, strengths), foster high-quality and supportive relationships with peers and adults, help youth recognize conflicting values and develop their own, foster the development of new skills, creates a fun environment, and develops hope for the future. In addition, programs that employ PYD principles generally have one or more of the following features: promote bonding foster resilience promote social, emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and moral competence encourages service foster self-determination foster spirituality foster self-efficacy foster clear and positive identity foster belief in the future sets expectations facilitation of identity creation provide recognition for positive behavior and opportunities for pro-social involvement promote empowerment promotes responsibility foster pro-social norms Using PYD to address stereotypes and inequality Gender Positive youth development principles can be used to address gender inequities through the promotion of programs such as "Girls on the Run." Physical activity-based programs like "Girls on the Run" are being increasingly used around the world for their ability to encourage psychological, emotional, and social development for youth. "Girls on the Run" enhances this type of physical activity program by specifically targeting female youth in an effort to reduce the gendered view of a male-dominated sports arena. "Girls on the Run" is a non-profit organization begun in 1996 that distributes a 12-week training program to help girls prepare for a 5k running competition. This particular program is made available to 3rd through 5th grade female students throughout the United States and Canada to be implemented in either school or community-based settings. Another example of positive youth development principles being used to target youth gender inequities can be seen in that of a participatory diagramming approach in Kibera, Kenya. This community development effort enabled participants to feel safe discussing their concerns regarding gender inequities in the community with the dominant male group. This approach also enabled youth to voice their needs and identify potential solutions related to topics like HIV/AIDS and family violence. Ethnic minorities in the United States Positive youth development can be used to combat negative stereotypes surrounding youth of minority ethnic groups in the U.S. after-school programs have been directly geared to generate increased participation for African American and Latino youth with a focus on academic achievement and increasing high school graduation rates. Studies have found programs targeting African American youth are more effective when they work to bolster a sense of their cultural identity. PYD has even been used to help develop and strengthen the cultural identities of American Indian and Alaskan Native youth. PYD methods have been used to provide a supportive setting in which to engage youth in traditional activities. Various programs have been implemented related to sports, language, and arts and crafts. Sports programs that use positive youth development principles are commonly referred to as "sports-based youth development" (SBYD) programs. SBYD incorporates positive youth development principles into program and curricula design and coach training. Many factors, such as low income, redlining, racial barriers and racial prejudice, mental health illness or challenges and substance abuse, have impacted ethnic minorities in the United States. Youth who are at-risk of falling into negative behaviors need positive youth development programs to help them avoid going to juvenile system. Research shows that there is improvement in youth's behavior with PYD, "Programs consisting of repressive and punitive elements were ineffective, whereas programs targeting positive social relations of at-risk youth (providing informal and supportive social control) proved to be successful". When PYD is incorporated in after-school programs, youth receive academic support and mental health services. PYD also provides mentors who lend support to youth and encourage them to believe in themselves, despite what the system and society tells them. Models of implementation Asia The key constructs of PYD listed above have been generally accepted throughout the world with some regional distinctions. For example, a Chinese Positive Youth Development Scale has been developed to conceptualize how these features are applicable to Chinese youth. The Chinese Positive Youth Development Scale was used as a measure in a study of Chinese youth in secondary schools in Hong Kong that indicated positive youth development has a direct impact on life satisfaction and reducing problem behavior for Chinese youth. One specific example of PYD implementation is seen in the project "P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programmes) to Adulthood: A Jockey Club Youth Enhancement Scheme." This program targets junior secondary school students in Hong Kong (grades 7 through 9 in the North American System). The program is composed of two terms, the first of which is a structured curriculum focusing on the 15 PYD constructs and designed for all students as a "universal prevention initiative." The Tier 2 Program is a more selective prevention model directly targeting students with greater psychosocial needs identified by the school social work service providers. The label "at-risk" is intentionally avoided because the term denotes a very negative stigma in Chinese culture, and therefore discourages participation in the program. Although Chinese social work agencies commonly target students with greater psychosocial needs, these PYD programs have rarely undergone thorough systemic evaluation and documentation. Europe In Portugal, the utility of positive youth development principles in sporting contexts is beginning to be recognized. Several athletic-based programs have been implemented in the country, but more research is necessary to determine their effectiveness at this point. Latin America and the Caribbean Positive youth development has also been seen in the form of youth volunteer service throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. From Mexico and the Caribbean to Central and South America, this form of implementation has been acknowledged for encouraging both personal and community development, while oftentimes contributing to poverty reduction. It has furthermore been seen as a way of promoting civil engagement through various service opportunities in communities. Positive youth development efforts can be seen in the work of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in collaboration with various regional governments and the private sector across Latin America and the Caribbean. This work has focused on providing broader educational options, skills training, and opportunities for economically disadvantaged youth to obtain apprenticeships. The ¡Supérate! Centers across El Salvador are one example, as they are supported by USAID in combination with private companies and foundations, and offer expanded education for high-performing students from poorer economic backgrounds. As of 2011, there were 7 centers in El Salvador and USAID expressed plans to expand this model across Central America. In Brazil, the Jovem Plus program offers high-demand skills training for youth in disadvantaged communities in Rio de Janeiro and the northeastern area of the nation. Other programs include the "Youth Movement against Violence" in Guatemala and "Youth Upliftment through Employment" in Jamaica. USA The rates of juvenile offenders were increasing, as youth were steering to bad habits affecting their academic standing and outside of school. The rates of juvenile offenders affected the community's well-being, so it became a governmental issue to find positive development solutions for youth to behave well at schools and elsewhere. The government realized they would need to start working with youth at the school level, as youth who got suspended have a higher chance of getting involved in the juvenile system. A debate that has been happening is the socio-emotional learning (SEL) program that consists of Monarch Room(MR) intervention, a trauma-informed alternative to school discipline. The MR was to promote socio-emotional regulation, and the staff were trained in counseling and trauma-informed to help the youth with sensory states, thoughts, feelings, and "subsequent behaviors". The research for SEL was a 10-year study, and the results showed that Grade 9 students had the highest use of the MR, and, on average, students used it five times a year. The program was successful overall as it showed interest in the youth wanting support, and the introduction of MR led to a decrease in the use of school suspension. However, there was no comparison group to help determine if the decreased levels of the School Disciplinary Act (SDA) were due to the MR initiative. Another solution up for debate to reduce school suspension is the Positive Behaviour Interventions and Support framework (PBIS). This program worked in 3 tiers approach to improve school climate. Tier 1 is teaching the expectations to all students; tier 2 is target support for the small groups of students displaying challenging behavior; tier 3 is individually intervening when working with students with intense behavioral needs. PBIS did find a statistical difference between the schools using PBIS and not for reducing SDA for all students, particularly students with disability and BIPOC students. However, the researchers did acknowledge that using a PBIS framework does not significantly affect the most severe behaviors, e.g., weapons offenses, because, as an intervention, it does not target those types of incidents. PBIS is a proactive and preventative approach. The ratings from the participants were overwhelmingly positive; however, there are concerns about the time requirement to implement the study, which is worth exploring further. An additional solution is Restorative Practices, which are associated with reduced suspension rates and suggest that school-based restorative practices are a promising approach to reducing exclusionary discipline outcomes. The practices are to build a positive school culture and environment. They focus on the problem and not blaming or punishing. To see the effectiveness of this study, they looked at interviews, focus groups, observations, school artifacts, and suspension data to determine the effectiveness of RJP. RJP uses responsive circles, mediations, and re-entry circles for students involved in conflict. They implement RJP to facilitate conflict resolution and remove policies that compete with these practices, i.e., punitive consequences. See also Comprehensive sex education Culture and positive psychology Growth mindset Positive education Youth services Youth intervention References External links Youth

River morphology

The terms river morphology and its synonym stream morphology are used to describe the shapes of river channels and how they change in shape and direction over time. The morphology of a river channel is a function of a number of processes and environmental conditions, including the composition and erodibility of the bed and banks (e.g., sand, clay, bedrock); erosion comes from the power and consistency of the current, and can effect the formation of the river's path. Also, vegetation and the rate of plant growth; the availability of sediment; the size and composition of the sediment moving through the channel; the rate of sediment transport through the channel and the rate of deposition on the floodplain, banks, bars, and bed; and regional aggradation or degradation due to subsidence or uplift. River morphology can also be affected by human interaction, which is a way the river responds to a new factor in how the river can change its course. An example of human induced change in river morphology is dam construction, which alters the ebb flow of fluvial water and sediment, therefore creating or shrinking estuarine channels. A river regime is a dynamic equilibrium system, which is a way of classifying rivers into different categories. The four categories of river regimes are Sinuous canali- form rivers, Sinuous point bar rivers, Sinuous braided rivers, and Non-sinuous braided rivers. The study of river morphology is accomplished in the field of fluvial geomorphology, the scientific term. See also Bedload, Suspended load Sediment, sedimentation, erosion River, Stream, Canal Water, Water resource Flood References Rosgen, Dave (1996). Applied River Morphology. 2nd ed. (Fort Collins, CO: Wildland Hydrology, publ.) . Brice J C. Planform properties of meandering rivers [C].River Meandering, Proceedings of the October 24–26, 1983 Rivers '83 Conference, ASCE. New Orleans, Louisi- ana, 1983. 1-15. External links River Morphology at Delft University of Technology River Engineering and Morphology at WL | Delft Hydraulics River morphology in Delft Cluster Rivers Hydraulic engineering Water streams Geomorphology Sedimentology Fluvial landforms

Miller Analogies Test

The Miller Analogies Test (MAT) was a standardized test used both for graduate school admissions in the United States and entrance to high I.Q. societies. Created and published by Harcourt Assessment (now a division of Pearson Education), the MAT consisted of 120 questions in 60 minutes (an earlier iteration was 100 questions in 50 minutes). The test was discontinued in 2023, with the last tests administered on or before November 15, 2023. Content and use The test aimed to measure an individual's logical and analytical reasoning through the use of partial analogies. A sample test question might have been: Bach : Composing :: Monet : a. painting b. composing c. writing d. orating This should be read as "Bach is to (:) Composing as (::) Monet is to (:) ___." The answer would be a. painting because just as Bach is most known for composing music, Monet is most known for his painting. The open slot may appear in any of the four positions. Unlike analogies found on past editions of the GRE and the SAT, the MAT's analogies demanded a broad knowledge of Western culture, testing subjects such as science, music, literature, philosophy, mathematics, art, and history. Thus, exemplary success on the MAT required more than a nuanced and cultivated vocabulary. Format and scoring In the fall of 2004, the exam became computerized. Out of the 120 questions, only 100 counted in the test-taker's score. The remaining 20 questions were experimental. There was no way for test-takers to identify any of the 20 experimental questions on a given test form, as the two types of questions are intermingled. Tests taken before October 2004 were scored simply by the number of questions the test-taker answered correctly, with a range from 0-100. Scores using this metric have historically been known as "raw" scores. Tests taken in October 2004 or later had a score range from 200 to 600. The median score was 400, with a standard deviation of 25 points. These scores, based on a normal curve, are known as "scaled" scores. Because of their grounding in this model, scaled MAT scores of 500-600 were extremely rare, as they would have been more than four standard deviations above the norm of 400. Percentile ranks were also provided along with the official score report. Test-takers received an overall percentile rank as well as a percentile rank within their intended graduate school discipline. The Miller Analogies Test used to be accepted by American Mensa, and still is by Intertel, the Triple Nine Society, the International Society for Philosophical Enquiry and the Prometheus Society for its admission requirements. Intertel requires a raw score of 74 on the "old" MAT, or a score at the 99th percentile on the modern one. The ISPE and the Triple Nine Society require at least a raw score of 85 on the "old" MAT, and at least 472 on the modern one. The Prometheus Society requires at least a raw score of 98 on the "old" MAT, and at least 500 on the modern one. Validity Kuncel and colleagues investigated the predictive validity of the MAT in both academic and occupational settings. Their meta-analytic study indicated that the MAT is a valid predictor in both domains and that it measures the same abilities as other cognitive ability instruments. Selected validity coefficients from the study are presented in the table below. Criticism According to Kaplan & Saccuzo, the Miller Analogies Test is age-biased. The scores over-predict the GPAs (Grade Point Average) of people ages 25 to 34 and achievement for people 45 and older, and under-predict the GPAs of people 35 to 44. See also Entrance examination Graduate Record Examination References External links Miller Analogies Homepage Intertel Qualifying Scores including the MAT Triple Nine Society Qualifying Scores including the MAT ISPE Qualifying Scores including the MAT Standardized tests in the United States Intelligence tests

Carper's fundamental ways of knowing

In healthcare, Carper's fundamental ways of knowing is a typology that attempts to classify the different sources from which knowledge and beliefs in professional practice (originally specifically nursing) can be or have been derived. It was proposed by Barbara A. Carper, a professor at the College of Nursing at Texas Woman's University, in 1978. The typology identifies four fundamental "patterns of knowing": Empirical Factual knowledge from science, or other external sources, that can be empirically verified. Personal Knowledge and attitudes derived from personal self-understanding and empathy, including imagining one's self in the patient's position. Ethical Attitudes and knowledge derived from an ethical framework, including an awareness of moral questions and choices. Aesthetic Awareness of the immediate situation, seated in immediate practical action; including awareness of the patient and their circumstances as uniquely individual, and of the combined wholeness of the situation. (Aesthetic in this sense is used to mean "relating to the here and now", from the Greek αἰσθάνομαι (aisthanomai), meaning "I perceive, feel, sense"; the reference is not to the consideration of beauty, art and taste). The emphasis on different ways of knowing is presented as a tool for generating clearer and more complete thinking and learning about experiences, and broader self-integration of classroom education. As such it helped crystallize Johns' (1995) framework for reflective investigation to develop reflective practice. The typology has been seen as leading a reaction against over-emphasis on just empirically derived knowledge, so called "scientific nursing", by emphasising that attitudes and actions that are perhaps more personal and more intuitive are centrally important too, and equally fit for discussion. References Social epistemology Nursing theory

Uncertainty avoidance

In cross-cultural psychology, uncertainty avoidance is how cultures differ on the amount of tolerance they have of unpredictability. Uncertainty avoidance is one of five key qualities or dimensions measured by the researchers who developed the Hofstede model of cultural dimensions to quantify cultural differences across international lines and better understand why some ideas and business practices work better in some countries than in others. According to Geert Hofstede, "The fundamental issue here is how a society deals with the fact that the future can never be known: Should we try to control it or just let it happen?" The uncertainty avoidance dimension relates to the degree to which individuals of a specific society are comfortable with uncertainty and the unknown. Countries displaying strong uncertainty avoidance index (UAI) believe and behave in a strict manner. Individuals belonging to those countries also avoid unconventional ways of thinking and behaving. Weak UAI societies display more ease in regards to uncertainty. People in cultures with high uncertainty avoidance try to minimize the occurrence of unknown and unusual circumstances and to proceed with careful changes step by step by planning and by implementing rules, laws and regulations. In contrast, low uncertainty avoidance cultures accept and feel comfortable in unstructured situations or changeable environments and try to have as few rules as possible. People in these cultures tend to be more pragmatic and more tolerant of change. When it comes to the tolerance of unpredictability, the areas which uncertainty avoidance deals with the most are technology, law, and religion. Technology assists with the uncertainty done by nature with new developments. Law defends the uncertainty of behavior by the people with rules that are set. Religion accepts the uncertainty people cannot get protected from. Individuals use their beliefs to get through their uncertainties. Key concepts There is a wide scale on where specific cultures fall under the uncertainty avoidance. Three types of uncertainty avoidance are high, low, and moderate uncertainty avoidance. Hofstede's uncertainty avoidance scale shows the want to reduce any visible uncertainty that is placed in the life of a person. High uncertainty avoidance There are many ways to detect if someone has a high amount of uncertainty avoidance. Typically, the use of formality in interaction with others, dependence of formalized policies and procedures, apparent resistance of change, and intolerance of untraditional ways are all characteristics of high uncertainty avoidance. Also, people from high uncertainty avoidance cultures demonstrate higher stress and anxiety levels. These individuals have a high value on control, which means that having a set structure in everything of their life helps. The use of rigid rules assists them with defining what they believe in and how they behave. The development of new ideas makes them uncomfortable and only take risks that they know have success rates. Older people in high UA are highly respected and feared of. When children are being taught the beliefs of their culture, they cannot question them. People in high uncertainty avoidance societies may be afraid of people who are different from them. They may show signs of Xenophobia. High uncertainty avoidance countries Some of the highest uncertainty avoidance countries include Finland, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Japan, Mexico, Portugal, and South Korea. Low uncertainty avoidance In contrast, people can also exhibit characteristics of low uncertainty avoidance. Unlike high UA, those with a low level use informality in interaction with others, they often rely on informal norms and behaviors in most matters. Also, they will show moderate resistance to change. Individuals that come from a culture with low UA care about letting the future come without the control or plan of it. Rules that are placed do not have an influence on them. Those with a low UA believe that it is okay to question the people in higher positions. They have lower stress and anxiety rates. Younger people in low UA are respected and when they are being taught the beliefs within their culture, they do not have to follow them right away. When new ideas are brought up, they are open-minded when hearing about them. People from low UA don't find situations that aren't clear as problems that might cause them trouble. Originality will have higher value and likely to be taken into consideration. Additionally, people with low uncertainty avoidance do not have any difficulty with interacting with people who are different from them. Low uncertainty avoidance countries Some of the lowest uncertainty avoidance countries include Jamaica, Denmark, Singapore, Sweden, and Ireland. Moderate uncertainty avoidance People of moderate uncertainty avoidance cultures are in between the high and the low uncertainty avoidances. These in take some characteristics from both avoidances. The people with moderate UA are those who live in the United States and Canada. Risk Uncertainty avoidance is commonly mistakenly associated with risk avoidance. However, UAI does not deal with risk avoidance. In fact, it deals with the habits and rituals in which a society feels comfortable practicing. Applications Business David S. Baker and Kerry D. Carson performed a study to evaluate uncertainty avoidance among field sales personnel. They selected 155 subjects from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. Their research pointed towards individuals using both attachment and avoidance to lower their uncertainty avoidance in the workplace. People who were high on uncertainty avoidance and those low on it behaved differently. Sales personnel who were low on uncertainty avoidance saw no need to attach with their team or adapt to their environment, but those high on it used both avoidance and attachment to deal with situations. Those who reported moderate levels of uncertainty avoidance preferred to use adaptation rather than attachment when needed. In a study conducted by Nelson O. Ndubisi, Naresh K. Malhotra, Dilber Ulas, and Gibson C. Ndubisi it was found that customer loyalty is less in countries with low uncertainty avoidance. Additionally, it can be inferred from the study that customer trust is higher in countries with high uncertainty avoidance. It is also believed that the uncertainty avoidance index (UAI) has a significant effect on consumers' acceptance of unfamiliar brands in the retail market. Brand familiarity, celebrity endorsement, and cultural differences all have an effect on determining an individual's UAI. Eliane Karsaklian has studied the effect UAI has on consumers' attitudes towards familiar and unfamiliar brands in different cultures (specifically American and French). She concludes that uncertainty avoidance has a deep role in shaping consumers' attitudes towards brands. However, the claim that UAI (or any other dimension) has an "effect" is inconsistent with Hofstede's acknowledgement in his reply to Brendan McSweeney (Human Relations, 55.11 - 2002) that "dimensions do not exist" and therefore cannot be causal i.e. they cannot have effects. Like many studies, Karsaklian analysis confuses correlation with causation. Hofstede concluded that people in high uncertainty avoidance societies may avoid changing jobs. Whereas, people in low uncertainty avoidance societies may feel more at ease with changing jobs. Politics In politics, cultures with high uncertainty avoidance citizens tend to have low interest in politics and citizen protests are repressed. This is because political unrest would bring about changes which the majority would not be comfortable with. There also tends to be many laws with laws being more specific as to avoid any uncertainty in the interpretation and to guide which behavior is acceptable. On the other side of the spectrum in cultures with low uncertainty avoidance citizens tend to be very interested in politics as it serves as a tool for change. Protests are accepted as another tool for change and laws are general. Crime In 2005 Robert M. Wiedenhaefer conducted a study on the factors contributing to terrorism. Wiedenhaefer concluded that uncertainty avoidance has a high association with terrorism. He asserted through his analysis that uncertainty avoidance is the strongest predictor in such crimes. Ellen Giebels, Miriam Oostinga, Paul Taylor, and Joanna Curtis conducted a study in February 2017 on the impact between police-civilian interactions. They hypothesized that a clear and more communicative style of interaction would be used by high uncertainty avoidance negotiators. Their study supported this hypothesis. In addition, they found that uncertainty avoidance highly influences interactions between said individuals. Education In cultures with high uncertainty avoidance, teachers are viewed as having all the answers and learning is structured. In cultures with low uncertainty avoidance, teachers are not necessarily viewed as all knowing and the learning is open minded with less focus on facts. Nursing In the study of Transformational Leadership, Creative Self-Efficacy, Trust in Supervisor, Uncertainty Avoidance, and Innovative Work Behavior of Nurses done by Bilal Afsar and Mariam Masood in Mansehra, Pakistan, there were two groups of nurses to see how the relationship among transformational leadership relate to their work behaviors in self-efficacy, trust in superiors, and uncertainty avoidance. The first study hypothesized that there is a correlation between transformational leadership, trust, and uncertainty avoidance that takes a toll on the successfulness or effectiveness of their work behavior. The second study hypothesized that the correlation between transformational leadership, trust, and uncertainty avoidance is due to self-efficacy. With a strong and effective transformational leader, leader that finds a change that needs to be done and makes the change following a specific path with the help of members in the group, providing them with what is necessary to work with; makes their work behavior more successful when nurses have a high level of trust and uncertainty avoidance. The nurses from Study 1 were from public sector hospitals where they were allowed to test out new ideas without the fear of losing their job. They were allowed to take risks in their job location. Employees with high uncertainty avoidance deal with uncertainty through the use of rules and regulations that are set in place. Transformational leaders assist their employees or people below them to take their risks with the correct research and knowledge prior to taking them. These employees with high UA are more open to their transformational leaders. The nurses from Study 2 were from private sector hospitals where they were allowed to do the same as Study 1. Both studies turned out to have the same conclusion, where there were high levels of trust and uncertainty avoidance, transformational leadership had a higher relationship with innovative behavior. Also, creative self-efficacy did have a correlation among transformational leadership, trust, and uncertainty avoidance. Although, it was discovered that transformational leadership was only useful when there was high levels of trust and high uncertainty avoidance. The leadership wouldn't work if there was a high level of trust and low uncertainty avoidance or the opposite. See also Ambiguity aversion also known as uncertainty aversion Cross-cultural communication Cross-cultural leadership Cross-cultural psychology Cultural norms Culture shock Edward T. Hall Emotions and culture Fons Trompenaars Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory Intercultural communication National character studies National identity References Further reading Cross-cultural psychology

Pornification

Pornification is the absorption by mainstream culture of styles or content of the sex industry and the sexualisation of Western culture, sometimes referred to as raunch culture. Pornification, particularly the use of sexualised images of women, is said to demonstrate "how patriarchal power operates in the field of gender representation". In Women in Popular Culture, Marion Meyers argues that the portrayal of women in modern society is primarily influenced by "the mainstreaming of pornography and its resultant hypersexualization of women and girls, and the commodification of those images for a global market". Pornification also features in discussions of post-feminism by Ariel Levy, Natasha Walter, Feona Attwood, and Brian McNair. Pornography began to move into mainstream culture in the second half of the 20th century, now known as the Golden Age of Porn. Several Golden Age films referred to mainstream film titles, including "Alice in Wonderland" (1976), "Flesh Gordon" (1974), "The Opening of Misty Beethoven" (1976) and "Through the Looking Glass" (1976). Pornification is a product of the widespread availability of porn on the internet. Effects on culture Bernadette Barton, Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies at Morehead State University, cites as examples of "raunch culture" there being little consequence for Donald Trump's own words regarding his treatment of women; or his wife's past behavior as a model. Pole dancing has become a form of exercise for suburban women, and sexually suggestive words find their way into everyday public statements. Effects of media Advertising Advertising by Carl's Jr. in 2016 featuring scantily clad women and suggestive language were replaced by a "food-centric" approach in 2019, the change attributed to the #MeToo movement. Books Literature which people read for sexual satisfaction is one of the earliest forms of media portraying sexuality. Now, there are various websites to satisfy most people's varied sexual preferences and tastes. As erotica was a form of social protest against the values of the culture at the time, as was with the famous book The Romance of Lust, written as a few volumes between 1873 and 1876. Described in the book are homosexuality, incest, and other socially unacceptable concepts. The values of the Victorian era perpetuated purity and innocence. So this book offered a new perspective. In recent years, erotica has become the new norm, and is extremely popular. The most recent commercial success was Fifty Shades of Grey, describing in detail scenes of sadomasochism and other forms of kink. It sold over "31 million worldwide", and has been adapted into a film starring Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan. Film The real-life effects of watching film sex and violence have been heavily disputed. While some groups argue that media violence causes viewers to be more violent, there is no academic consensus on this and indeed large studies suggest that there is no causative link between images of violence and violence in spectators, nor between images of sex and sexual behavior. The links between films and spectator behavior are complex and while pornography undoubtedly plays a big role in how people view sex and relationships, we should always be wary of attributing a single source (e.g. pornography) to a single action (e.g. sexual violence) as human behavior is so much more complex than this. Television Teens who were exposed to highly sexual content on TV were more likely to "act older" than their age. If what was being shown on TV was educational, it could yield a positive result on teenagers. For example, on one specific episode of Friends, which had nearly 2 million viewers at the time, one of the characters had gotten pregnant even after using contraception. After the episode, teens were actually more likely to engage in safer sexual activity, and as much as 65% remembered what was in that episode. See also Female Chauvinist Pigs Rule 34 (Internet meme) Sexualization Sexual objectification References Further reading Pdf. Paper presentation at the conference 'Nordic Forum', Tallinn, Estonia 8 June 2005. (Sørensen is project manager, The Nordic Institute of Women and Gender Studies, (NIKK), Oslo University.) Cultural appropriation Gender and society Sex industry Sexualization Women in society

Vernacular culture

Vernacular culture is the cultural forms made and organised by ordinary, often indigenous people, as distinct from the high culture of an elite. One feature of vernacular culture is that it is informal. Such culture is generally engaged in on a non-profit and voluntary basis, and is almost never funded by the state. The term is used in the modern study of geography and cultural studies. It generally implies a cultural form that differs markedly from a deeply rooted folk culture, and also from tightly organised subcultures and religious cultures. In cultural and communication studies, vernacular rhetoric is the discursive aspect of vernacular culture, referring to "mundane, bottom-up, and informal discursive expressions that challenge and criticize the institutional". Examples the making and shaping of personal gardens, market garden allotments amateur photography, family albums scrapbooking the making and showing of home movies self-organising creative circles, such as for knitting, sewing, quilting, storytelling, photography, dance, and painting amateur dramatics and youth dance groups local history and historical re-enactment groups book reading and discussion circles local horticultural produce and pet shows inventors groups, and leagues of amateur robot builders amateur beauty pageants local food networks and "annual dinners" informal investment clubs, which meet regularly in a social setting to jointly decide which stocks and investment vehicles to invest their money in fetes, parades, seasonal and traditional celebrations children's street culture parent-organised informal child sports and gym teams roadside shrines to traffic victims, and small self-made shrines at gravesites some forms of weblog, internet culture, or participatory media. One could also include the design of home-made vernacular signage and notices Some of these activities, such as gardens, family albums, and grave memorials, will be organized on a family basis. Larger activities are usually organized through informal variations of the British committee system, consisting of a chairman, secretary, treasurer, agenda, minutes, and an annual meeting with elections based on a quorum. See also Vernacular (disambiguation) Vernacular dance Vernacular literature Vernacular architecture Spirit of place Grassroots Stuckism References Handicrafts Cultural geography Traditions Cultural anthropology