Brain‐like structures have evolved by performing signal processing initially by minimizing “tracking errors” on a competitive basis. Such systems are highly complex and at the…
Abstract
Brain‐like structures have evolved by performing signal processing initially by minimizing “tracking errors” on a competitive basis. Such systems are highly complex and at the same time notoriously “disordered”. The functional trace of the cerebral cortex of the (human) brain is a good example. The Electroencephalogram (E.E.G) appears particularly fragmented during the execution of mental tasks, as well as during the recurrent episodes of R.E.M. sleep. A stochastically regular or a highly synchronized E.E.G on the other hand, characterises a drowsy (relaxing) or epileptic subject respectively and indicates—in both cases—a very incompetent information processor. We suggest that such behavioral changeovers are produced via bifurcations which trigger the thalamocortical non‐linear pacemaking oscillator to switch from an unstable limit cycle to a strange attractor regime (i.e. to chaos), or vice versa. Our analysis aims to show that the E.E.G's characteristics are not accidental but inevitable and even necessary and, therefore, functionally significant.
The human mind possesses the unique capability of “mapping” the external (as well as part of the organism's internal) world i.e. it “compresses” long and complex strings of…
Abstract
The human mind possesses the unique capability of “mapping” the external (as well as part of the organism's internal) world i.e. it “compresses” long and complex strings of impinging environmental stimuli (“observations”) and then uses these “minimal length algorithms” in order to simulate physical phenomena‐thereby revealing the “laws of nature”. In this paper we theorize that this process of “Self”‐organization and category formation is implimented via a set of coexisting (strange) attractors in the cognizant apparatus each one of which attracts (and therefore compresses) whole subsets of “initial conditions” the sum‐total of which constitute the set of external stimuli. This set of the initial conditions forms the “Basin” of the attractors and the processes of partition and category formation in the mind involves the topology of the separatrixes amongst the individual subsets of the Basin. We examine in particular how the information processing is mediated by the thalamocortical pacemaker of the brain and, therefore, what might be the role of E.E.G (which is measurable on a routine basis) in Cognition.
JOHN S. NICOLIS, JOHN MILIAS‐ARGITIS and D. CARABALIS
The evolution of the conflict of “blackmail” between two individuals is dealt with—both for symmetric and asymmetric contests. State—space diagrams are presented illustrating the…
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The evolution of the conflict of “blackmail” between two individuals is dealt with—both for symmetric and asymmetric contests. State—space diagrams are presented illustrating the dynamical coevolution of the cooperathe propensities of the partners when the games are played inductively—and learning takes place via storing the result of the previous outcome. By changing the three parameters of the game α, č, k (the probability of yield— “chicken”—the tempting factor and the coefficient of mutual loss, respectively) we can modify drastically the probability of “locking‐in” at the cooperative state as well as the dynamical repertoire for each contestant (i.e. the number of states between which his strategy undergoes transitions as well as the probabilities of these transitions). Finally, we study the result of additive white noise on the trajectories of the cooperative propensities, both in the symmetric and the asymmetric case.
Russell Foote and Eglantina Hysa
In this chapter, the authors present several current issues that are representative of chinks’ in the armor of university administration today. This study brings into attention…
Abstract
In this chapter, the authors present several current issues that are representative of chinks’ in the armor of university administration today. This study brings into attention the importance of philosophy, society, development and education that serve to strengthen the operational–development nexus in higher education institutions. The objectives are (i) to draw the attention of administrators to these “chinks” in the armor of university operations; (ii) to indicate how their resolution can strengthen the operations–development nexus; and (iii) to encourage continuous reflection on the background of better understandings of a philosophy of management, society, development and education.
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Enakshi Sengupta, Patrick Blessinger and Nasiruddin Nezaami
The current scenario of higher education is undergoing a paradigm shift due to, among other factors, globalization, internationalization, cross border exchange of students and…
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The current scenario of higher education is undergoing a paradigm shift due to, among other factors, globalization, internationalization, cross border exchange of students and student mobility. This socioeconomic change has prompted educational institutions to brace themselves to deliver education in new ways. The authors are living in an age marked by information revolution where the phenomena of physical distance have shrunk giving way to online education and other innovative pedagogies. With the advent of new ways to teach and learn, education the concept of autonomy, accountability and responsibility has become the new buzz words in academia. Universities need to be more flexible and incorporate the needs of society into their mission and vision. Since education at all levels has become a key driver in economic and social development, universities must reorient their focus on the needs of society and the economy. Autonomy in governance and management in education has become the prerogative of higher education institutions and optimum allocation and use of resources have become one of the chief aims of all higher education institutions.
This book explores the creation of knowledge and its dissemination in order to create significant impacts in society. The chapters talk about the highly competitive education market and the transformation it has undergone. Authors from across the globe have suggested interventions that will help in sustainable growth of universities while enhancing quality standards. The chapters present a better understanding of a philosophy of management, society, development and education.
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Presents the scientific methodology from the enlarged cybernetical perspective that recognizes the anisotropy of time, the probabilistic character of natural laws, and the entry…
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Presents the scientific methodology from the enlarged cybernetical perspective that recognizes the anisotropy of time, the probabilistic character of natural laws, and the entry that the incomplete determinism in Nature opens to the occurrence of innovation, growth, organization, teleology communication, control, contest and freedom. The new tier to the methodological edifice that cybernetics provides stands on the earlier tiers, which go back to the Ionians (c. 500 BC). However, the new insights reveal flaws in the earlier tiers, and their removal strengthens the entire edifice. The new concepts of teleological activity and contest allow the clear demarcation of the military sciences as those whose subject matter is teleological activity involving contest. The paramount question “what ought to be done”, outside the empirical realm, is embraced by the scientific methodology. It also embraces the cognitive sciences that ask how the human mind is able to discover, and how the sequence of discoveries might converge to a true description of reality.
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Political economies evolve institutionally and technologically over time. This means that to understand evolutionary political economy one must understand the nature of the…
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Political economies evolve institutionally and technologically over time. This means that to understand evolutionary political economy one must understand the nature of the evolutionary process in its full complexity. From the time of Darwin and Spencer natural selection has been seen as the foundation of evolution. This view has remained even as views of how evolution operates more broadly have changed. An issue that some have viewed as an aspect of evolution that natural selection may not fully explain is that of emergence of higher order structures, with this aspect having been associated with the idea of emergence. In recent decades it has been argued that self-organization dynamics may explain such emergence, with this being argued to be constrained, if not overshadowed, by natural selection. Just as the balance between these aspects is debated within organic evolutionary theory, it also arises in the evolution of political economy, as between such examples of self-organizing emergence as the Mengerian analysis of the appearance of commodity money in primitive societies and the natural selection that operates in the competition between firms in markets.
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In a computer-based experimental study, we explored intensity of pleasant and unpleasant emotional experiences (affect), following immediate outcomes of risky choices over time…
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In a computer-based experimental study, we explored intensity of pleasant and unpleasant emotional experiences (affect), following immediate outcomes of risky choices over time under three levels of uncertainty (80%, 50%, 20%). We found that the intensity of pleasant affect initially increased linearly before suddenly reducing after the seventh task, and then resumed the linear upward trend. In contrast, the intensity of unpleasant affect cyclically changed after every five decision tasks, displaying a wave-like pattern. Interestingly, the 50% probability (maximum information entropy) group demonstrated patterns quite different to the other two groups (20%, 80%). For pleasant affect, this group reduced in positive affect significantly more than the other two groups after the seventh decision task. For unpleasant affect, the 50% group displayed an increasing negative affect trend, while the other two groups displayed a reducing negative affect trend. In sum, our findings reveal different temporal patterns of pleasant emotions from correct decisions and unpleasant emotions resulting from wrong decisions. We conclude that, consistent with the self-organization theory, these differences reflect nonlinear changes in the emotional system to cope with the challenge of uncertainty (or entropy).