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Science and sanity. An introduction to non-aristotelian systems and general semantics
... In the second half of the 17th century, the changes introduced by the concept of motion were presented by Leibnitz with di®erential equations. 1 Nonlinear partial di®erential equations play an important role in modeling many physical phenomena that occur with the help of any internal or external source in real life. In addition, one of the most important factors that enable these physical processes to be transformed into models is that they provide conservation laws. 2 For example, it is equally important to present the wave phenomenon, which is de¯ned as the movement of water molecules in still water with the help of any internal or external force, with the help of mathematical terms as well as its physical properties. ...
... 22 It has been observed that the solutions obtained when ! 0 in the BBM equation have soliton solutions with peaks where the¯rst derivative is discontinuous. 1 In Eq. (1.1), it is observed that solitons peak at ¼ 0. Physically, this situation is derived to describe waves in a compressible hyperplastic rod. 23 Solitary waves formed at ¼ 0 are specially de¯ned and named with the peakon. ...
In this paper, we generate different types of solitary and peaked soliton traveling wave solutions for the Qiao equations, which are closely related to the propagation modeling of shallow water waves. An expansion method has been employed to achieve this. For certain special values of the nonlinearity term in the Qiao equation, solitary waves and peaked solitons are obtained. Subsequently, traveling wave solutions in hyperbolic form, distinct from the existing literature and dependent on the nonlinearity term, are produced for the most general case. Specifically, the responses of parameters representing the degree of nonlinearity and wave velocity for these traveling wave solutions are discussed. The main motivation of this work is to provide a better understanding of the phenomenon of nonlinear wave propagation and in this context to reveal the mathematical richness offered by nonlinear wave equations such as the Qiao equations. The aim is to elucidate the nonlinear wave propagation phenomenon through the generated traveling wave solutions, in accordance with the basic principles of shallow water theory. Additionally, the interactions between solutions are examined separately when the speed of the solitary wave exceeds that of the peaked soliton. It is hoped that this work will shed light on developments in the field of nonlinear dynamics.
... In other words, assumptions made by the practitioners are not distinguished from those that are interpreted by the authors or someone else. Our point is not to doubt the inferential validity of these works but instead call attention to the complexity of assumptions, which may influence how they are examined and handled [6,10,70]. individuals responded to our call, out of which we recruited 22 respondents for remote semi-structured interviews through purposive sampling [118]. While this may not yield a statistically representative sample, it still allowed us to explore rich and unique insights into the experiences of the participants we felt most capable of answering the research questions in our study [107,118]. ...
... A few practitioners in management roles described how assumptions can linger throughout business objectives and outcomes; what is deemed critical to operationalizing the company vision is often an assumption in and of itself. These assumptions are often second or third-order assumptions [10,70], meaning that the assumer is multiple degrees removed from the original observation that incited the assumption 4 . More so, the authority attached to the central teams that assert these claims makes it easier to internalize relative assumptions because the task of proving them right is often the primary function of the business. ...
The reference to assumptions in how practitioners use or interact with machine learning (ML) systems is ubiquitous in HCI and responsible ML discourse. However, what remains unclear from prior works is the conceptualization of assumptions and how practitioners identify and handle assumptions throughout their workflows. This leads to confusion about what assumptions are and what needs to be done with them. We use the concept of an argument from Informal Logic, a branch of Philosophy, to offer a new perspective to understand and explicate the confusions surrounding assumptions. Through semi-structured interviews with 22 ML practitioners, we find what contributes most to these confusions is how independently assumptions are constructed, how reactively and reflectively they are handled, and how nebulously they are recorded. Our study brings the peripheral discussion of assumptions in ML to the center and presents recommendations for practitioners to better think about and work with assumptions.
... Korzybski discussed the non-identity between words and the non-communicable objective level, writing, 'Whatever one might say something "is", it is not. Whatever we might say belongs to the verbal level and not to the un-speakable, objective levels' (Korzybski 1994(Korzybski [1933: 409). He developed that point in part through his famous example of geographical maps. ...
... Korzybski discussed the non-identity between words and the non-communicable objective level, writing, 'Whatever one might say something "is", it is not. Whatever we might say belongs to the verbal level and not to the un-speakable, objective levels' (Korzybski 1994(Korzybski [1933: 409). He developed that point in part through his famous example of geographical maps. ...
Conflicts used to be accepted in the public sector. In fact, the state as a legal form was founded on a recognition that latent conflicts exist between societal and individual interests. Since around 2000, however, the public sector has declared war on all structures-whether legal, organizational, or professional. In this article, I see play as a symptom of this broader tendency to negate negativity in contemporary public governance regimes. In making this argument, the paper draws on Niklas Luhmann's distinction between structures and social immune mechanisms. Immune mechanisms, which serve to dissolve expectational certainty, protect communication when its continuation is threatened by structures developed by the communication itself. Through examples I show how the public sector recruits play as a communicative form that functions as a new type of social immune mechanism. But play as an immune mechanism is tricky, as it says 'no' both to structures and to negativity. Consequently, play attacks not only bureaucratic structures but also the structural possibilities of having conflicts, including ones entailing citizen resistance to the state.
... In systemic jargon, mapping has come to signify a way of making sense which reminds us that the map we use to orient ourselves in a given territory, is not the territory itself (Bateson, [1972a; Korzybski, 1948Korzybski, [1933). However, the maps we produce and the act of producing such maps becomes critical to life in the territory mapped, for these would guide our steps on it. ...
... In systemic jargon, mapping has come to signify a way of making sense which reminds us that the map we use to orient ourselves in a given territory, is not the territory itself (Bateson, [1972a; Korzybski, 1948Korzybski, [1933). However, the maps we produce and the act of producing such maps becomes critical to life in the territory mapped, for these would guide our steps on it. ...
A systemic mapping of binary logic can make clear the question of how attempts to counteract binary thinking fail in their intent to produce transformative -second order, in systemic jargon- change. While an approach to transformational change through paradoxical thinking and the creativity of the absurd is not new, it doesn’t seem to have produced news of difference, since binary thinking seems to persist, with ethical implications for the praxis of systemic therapy and its education and training. Indeed, binary mapping, even when critiqued, tends to reinforce itself, creating a strange loop similar to a Moebius strip. Nonetheless, systemic ethics consists of attending to multiple possibilities beyond binary choices, advocating for relational location of responsibility, coherently with an epistemology that conceives the minimal unit of observation as including not only the constituent parts of a system, but also how these interrelate and their contexts of occurrence. I propose, playfully, a formalisation in the form of “1+(no)1=3, and more” emphasizing that relationships and contexts are integral to understanding systems, and the difference between relativism and relationality. I connect this differentiation with a critique of the notion of unity which can be drawn expanding interconnectedness in a totalising fashion often proposed in monotheistic traditions with which some systemic therapists bridge and, arguing that these can lead to all-encompassing theories that overlook individual differences. From such stance, I discus the ethical implications of othering along with limitations of inclusivity and belonging as proposed by equality and diversity in both corporate and governmental policies. Finally, I take on Byng-Hall's notions of life scripts, suggesting that attempts to replicate or correct these scripts often lead to frustration, while improvisation is a feature of therapeutic change, as a way to respond creatively to the kind of life’s challenges that are explored in therapy. I conclude moving to a wider contextual level, by emphasizing the importance of acknowledging both life and decay, arguing against the idea of limitless accumulation and for a more nuanced understanding of systemic relationships.
... This will require a more refined treatment of multi-modal logic, as concepts like fundamental truth become elusive when non-classicality is present. Such refinement, which explicitly utilizes knowledge operators and the trust relation defined between sets and agents, can be understood as the logical formalization of Alfred Korzybski's statement "A map is not the territory" (Korzybski, 1933) applied to the knowledge that agents can access. Consequently, our main finding is that, contrary to what is claimed in the literature , modal logic is suitable for quantum and other non-classical settings. ...
... Multi-agent paradoxes and the phenomenon of contextuality are examples of systems with local, marginal access to a given global whole that cannot be adequately explained in a classical manner. Alfred Korzybski's statement, "a map is not the territory" (Korzybski, 1933), serves as a reminder that even when dealing with the classical world, we need to keep in mind that we do not have the capacity to discern all the details of the "territory"; we are only capable of constructing "maps." An agent's knowledge only extracts parts of a "map" of the "territory" we call physical reality. ...
Multi-agent scenarios, like Wigner’s friend and Frauchiger–Renner scenarios, can show contradictory results when a non-classical formalism must deal with the knowledge between agents. Such paradoxes are described with multi-modal logic as violations of the structure in classical logic. Even if knowledge is treated in a relational way with the concept of trust, contradictory results can still be found in multi-agent scenarios. Contextuality deals with global inconsistencies in empirical models defined on measurement scenarios even when there is local consistency. In the present work, we take a step further to treat the scenarios in full relational language by using knowledge operators, thus showing that trust is equivalent to the Truth Axiom in these cases. A translation of measurement scenarios into multi-agent scenarios by using the topological semantics of multi-modal logic is constructed, demonstrating that logical contextuality can be understood as the violation of soundness by supposing mutual knowledge. To address the contradictions, assuming distributed knowledge is considered, which eliminates such violations but at the cost of lambda-dependence. We conclude by translating the main examples of multi-agent scenarios to their empirical model representation, contextuality is identified as the cause of their contradictory results.
... My title comes from the work of the mid-20th century scholar Alfred Korzybski, who saw in science and mathematics a way to improve common habits of thought and instill greater rationality into human thinking and decision making (Korzybski, 1958). He founded the discipline of General Semantics, which aimed to give an account of how we produce meaning that would have prescriptive value for civil society and human survival. ...
... Laurence J. Kirmayer https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6228-1739 Notes 1. Korzybski (1958) argued for the importance of "non-Aristotelian" logics in which the law of the excluded middle does not hold; that is, logics in which truth is multivalued, multidimensional, probabilistic or fuzzy. A variety of such systems have been developed, including fuzzy set theory with relevance to reasoning about natural categories (Sadegh-Zadeh, 2000). ...
Recent challenges to scientific authority in relation to the COVID pandemic, climate change, and the proliferation of conspiracy theories raise questions about the nature of knowledge and conviction. This paper considers problems of social epistemology that are central to current predicaments about popular or public knowledge and the status of science. From the perspective of social epistemology, knowing and believing are not simply individual cognitive processes but based on participation in social systems, networks, and niches. As such, knowledge and conviction can be understood in terms of the dynamics of epistemic communities, which create specific forms of authority, norms, and practices that include styles of reasoning, habits of thought and modes of legitimation. Efforts to understand the dynamics of delusion and pathological conviction have something useful to teach us about our vulnerability as knowers and believers. However, this individual psychological account needs to be supplemented with a broader social view of the politics of knowledge that can inform efforts to create a healthy information ecology and strengthen the civil institutions that allow us to ground our action in well-informed pictures of the world oriented toward mutual recognition, respect, diversity, and coexistence.
... This is achieved by identification of the mind and the brain within the scientific theory (i.e., both the mind and the brain refer to the same physical reality), thereby implying that the initial brain state is already sentient and no further production of conscious experiences is needed. The reductive approach works by highlighting the distinction between the map and the territory [50]. The conscious experiences, which exist in the physical reality, are like the territory of Mount Fuji ( Fig. 2A), whereas the brain is like the map of Mount Fuji (Fig. 2B), which refers to the same physical reality (Mount Fuji) by capturing some of its properties, such as geographic localization, in the form of communicable classical Shannon information. ...
Functional theories of consciousness, based on emergence of conscious experiences from the execution of a particular function by an insentient brain, face the hard problem of consciousness of explaining why the insentient brain should produce any conscious experiences at all. This problem is exacerbated by the determinism characterizing the laws of classical physics, due to the resulting lack of causal potency of the emergent consciousness, which is not present already as a physical quantity in the deterministic equations of motion of the brain. Here, we present a quantum information theoretic approach to the hard problem of consciousness that avoids all of the drawbacks of emergence. This is achieved through reductive identification of first-person subjective conscious states with unobservable quantum state vectors in the brain, whereas the anatomically observable brain is viewed as a third-person objective construct created by classical bits of information obtained during the measurement of a subset of commuting quantum brain observables by the environment. Quantum resource theory further implies that the quantum features of consciousness granted by quantum no-go theorems cannot be replicated by any classical physical device.
... El mapa no es el territorio, y el nombre no es la cosa nombrada, decía el lingüista Korzybski (1995). ...
En este trabajo se discuten las políticas turísticas en Haití desde la segunda guerra mundial, analizando su territorialización y su relación con el modelo neoliberal. Busca enriquecer el debate sobre el turismo en Haití desde una perspectiva crítica, cuestionando las premisas ético-políticas del mercado.
... Using a model-whether an interview or any other data probe-involves an indirect mapping of a phenomenon, not a direct apperception. Hence, Korzybski's (1933) famous insight, "a map is not the territory it represents, " then continues, "but, if correct, it has a similar structure to the territory, which accounts for its usefulness" (p. 58). ...
This paper introduces non-formal interviews as a method of qualitative data collection in instructional design research (IDR), particularly in workplace-based lifelong learning interventions. Drawing on case study and autoethnographic reflection on prior research with Costa Rican airport customs officers learning vocational English, the paper theorizes and describes how non-formal interviews capture the real-time complexities of workplace language use and communication in ways that formal interviews can miss due to their reliance on retrospective participant reflection. By combining the techniques of observational conversations, shadowing, and researcher-participant collaboration explicitly lensed through a study's research questions, non-formal interviews capture detailed, real-time insights into emergent workplace behaviors, communication challenges, and learning opportunities. These insights complement formal interviews and provide richer data to inform more effective IDR interventions that support workplace communication, language acquisition, and behavior change. This study identifies four key advantages of non-formal interviews as model interfaces for vocational language learning in IDR. First, they offer direct, real-time access to workplace behaviors and interactions. Second, by minimizing the reflective buffer of formal interviews, they capture more immediate and authentic onsite language use. Third, their flexibility allows researchers to document language adaptation as it happens in response to workplace demands. Finally, they accommodate data collection to the shifting linguistic and behavioral needs of dynamic work environments. These findings underscore the potential of non-formal interviews to enhance workplace learning interventions by grounding instructional design in actual workplace practices. The paper concludes with recommendations for integrating non-formal interviews into IDR methodologies, emphasizing their ability to support behavior-driven, context-sensitive, and adaptive learning strategies. By formalizing a structured yet flexible approach to workplace-based qualitative inquiry, non-formal interviews bridge structured qualitative interviews and participant observation, ensuring that instructional design research captures workplace learning as it unfolds in real time. A fourfold framework for implementing non-formal interviews in IDR is also discussed.
... This is achieved by identification of the mind and the brain within the scientific theory (i.e., both the mind and the brain refer to the same physical reality), thereby implying that the initial brain state is already sentient and no further production of conscious experiences is needed. The reductive approach works by highlighting the distinction between the map and the territory [50]. The conscious experiences, which exist in the physical reality, are like the territory of Mount Fuji ( Fig. 2A), whereas the brain is like the map of Mount Fuji (Fig. 2B), which refers to the same physical reality (Mount Fuji) by capturing some of its properties, such as geographic localization, in the form of communicable classical Shannon information. ...
... general semantics, which is largely credited to the early works of alfred Korzybski, is a school of thought on how the structure of language influences the functioning of nervous systems (Korzybski, 1958). one of the most fundamental principles of general semantics is the idea that The Map is Not the Territory; in this context the map is language and the territory is the reality in which we live (rapoport, 1952). ...
English, as the lingua franca and given that Anglo-Saxon countries predominantly uphold democratic principles, this underscores how English could become a tool that promotes a worldview favorable to democracy. The objective of this paper is to examine the impact that English language proficiency has on political socialization and to assess whether proficiency in English can be linked to the promotion of democratic values in nation-states. Utilizing Microsoft Excel the paper conducts a quantitative linear regression analyses to test the relationship between English proficiency measured by the English Proficiency Index (EPI) from Education First to measure the English language skills of 90 nation states and democratic governance measured by the Liberal Democracy Index from V-Dem. The paper finds a positive correlation between English proficiency and democratic values in nation-states. However, the study does not establish English-language media consumption as a statistically significant mediating factor between the two variables. Instead, the paper identifies economic indicators (GDP-PPP), historical factors (colonial history, Commonwealth membership) and heads of states publicly speaking English as positive indicators for English proficiency. The paper underscores the need for further historical analysis and aggregated media studies to fully comprehend how language and media play a role in political socialization.
... "l'esprit doit se plier aux conditions du savoir" 5 e que "la raison [...] doit obéir à la science" 6 , pois "la doctrine traditionnelle d'une raison absolue et immuable n'est qu'une philosophie" (Bachelard, 1940, p. 144-145) Nesse sentido, Bachelard adota integralmente a perspectiva de Alfred Korzybski (2000), que defende a tese segundo a qual uma educação baseada em uma lógica não aristotélica -ou seja, uma lógica que dialetiza seus princípios, estabelecendo as condições em que tais e tais princípios lógicos/metafísicos são válidos e as condições em que não são -é vantajosa por proporcionar "une bifurcation des fonctions des centres nerveux élevés" (Bachelard, 1970b, p. 128) Bachelard (1970b, p. 134) defende, nesse sentido, que "on devrait donc toujours se méfier d'un concept qu'on n'a pas encore pu dialectiser" 11 , pois um conceito adotado de modo natural é um conceito com uma "sobrecarga" de conteúdo, um conceito com "demasiado significado". ...
Gaston Bachelard passou a Primeira Guerra Mundial nas trincheiras e a Segunda Guerra Mundial na Sorbonne. No entanto, ao contrário de muitos outros filósofos franceses do seu tempo, nada escreveu sobre a situação política de suas circunstâncias. O objetivo deste artigo é explicar o surpreendente silêncio político de Bachelard. Em primeiro lugar, mostro que o seu pensamento engaja-se em dois campos: a epistemologia e a imaginação poética. Em seguida, demonstro, com Jean Libis e Michel Fabre, que é possível explicar a razão do seu silêncio epistemológico: a dimensão política da sua filosofia da ciência estaria inscrita nas suas reflexões sobre a cidade científica e o papel da escola na sociedade. Por fim, proponho uma hipótese original sobre a dimensão política da sua obra dedicada à imaginação poética: o seu silêncio político é, ele próprio, um ato político – e o caminho da liberdade não se encontra no mundo da ação entre os homens, mas no caminho da poesia.
... Non potendo essere perfettamente accurata, la mappa è una metafora, ma non solo per il territorio che rappresenta, ma anche per la cultura che ha creato -stabilendo una relazione tra spazio fisico e simbolico che è profondamente contestuale (Turnbull e Watson, 1989). La domanda diventa quindi: qual è la relazione tra la mappa e il territorio se non è il territorio stesso, eppure ne fa parte (Korzybski, 1948)? La risposta risiede nel fatto che la realtà, nei concetti come "paesaggio" o "spazio", non è qualcosa di esterno e dato per la nostra comprensione; piuttosto, è formata attraverso il nostro coinvolgimento con lo spazio (Corner, 2011). ...
A partire dalla restituzione degli esiti della Summer School WalKras del Laboratorio del Cammino, il libro indaga sfide e narrazioni del cambiamento climatico nei territori del Carso e della costa istriana, utilizzando la pratica del camminare come occasione per “apprendere il reale e immaginare il possibile” della transizione climatica.
... Over the centuries, and still in 2025, models-of-the-world have had many forms, such as two-dimensional (2D) representations on paper and three-dimensional (3D) representations made from physical materials [1]. As summarised by phrases such as the math is not the territory [2] and the map is not the territory [3], models-of-the-world are partial approximations of things in the real world. Although models can be useful [4,5], formulating accurate approximations of some things in the real world can be very difficult [6], and models that are too complex may be practically useless [7]. ...
Balancing the accuracy and the complexity of models is a well established and ongoing challenge. Models can be misleading if they are not accurate, but models may be incomprehensible if their accuracy depends upon their being complex. In this paper, semilattices are examined as an option for balancing the accuracy and the complexity of machine learning models. This is done with a type of machine learning that is based on semilattices: algebraic machine learning. Unlike trees, semilattices can include connections between elements that are in different hierarchies. Trees are a subclass of semilattices. Hence, semilattices have higher expressive potential than trees. The explanation provided here encompasses diagrammatic semilattices, algebraic semilattices, and interrelationships between them. Machine learning based on semilattices is explained with the practical example of urban food access landscapes, comprising food deserts, food oases, and food swamps. This explanation describes how to formulate an algebraic machine learning model. Overall, it is argued that semilattices are better for balancing the accuracy and complexity of models than trees, and it is explained how algebraic semilattices can be the basis for machine learning models.
... While maps are useful tools for navigation, it is important to remember that, to quote the philosopher Korzybski: "[a] map is not the territory it represents" (emphasis original) [2]. A map offers a certain perspective on the territory based on its expected use. ...
... That is, experimenters often overestimate how accurately their quantitative measure reflects the underlying qualitative success they have in mind. This mistake is known as confusing the map with the territory (e.g. the metric is the map, whereas what the experimenter intends is the actual territory [65]). ...
Biological evolution provides a creative fount of complex and subtle adaptations, often surprising the scientists who discover them. However, because evolution is an algorithmic process that transcends the substrate in which it occurs, evolution's creativity is not limited to nature. Indeed, many researchers in the field of digital evolution have observed their evolving algorithms and organisms subverting their intentions, exposing unrecognized bugs in their code, producing unexpected adaptations, or exhibiting outcomes uncannily convergent with ones in nature. Such stories routinely reveal creativity by evolution in these digital worlds, but they rarely fit into the standard scientific narrative. Instead they are often treated as mere obstacles to be overcome, rather than results that warrant study in their own right. The stories themselves are traded among researchers through oral tradition, but that mode of information transmission is inefficient and prone to error and outright loss. Moreover, the fact that these stories tend to be shared only among practitioners means that many natural scientists do not realize how interesting and lifelike digital organisms are and how natural their evolution can be. To our knowledge, no collection of such anecdotes has been published before. This paper is the crowd-sourced product of researchers in the fields of artificial life and evolutionary computation who have provided first-hand accounts of such cases. It thus serves as a written, fact-checked collection of scientifically important and even entertaining stories. In doing so we also present here substantial evidence that the existence and importance of evolutionary surprises extends beyond the natural world, and may indeed be a universal property of all complex evolving systems.
... Difatti, tutti i modelli sono creati per orientarsi nella complessità delle situazioni reali, organizzandone le informazioni e predicendo quelle condizioni non ancora verificate. Il modello svolge quindi tre principali funzioni:Tuttavia, il famoso principio «la mappa non è il territorio» dell'ingegnere polacco A. Korzybki tende a sottolineare come il modello (la mappa) non è la realtà (il territorio) ma una sua rappresentazione, dalla quale è stata esclusa una parte più o meno importante, in relazione al contesto38 . Ovvero, tutti i modelli spiegano una realtà semplificata di dimensioni ridotte (definito piccolo mondo) rispetto all'effettiva e complessa realtà (definito grande mondo). ...
Nella sua accezione più stretta, l'Allenamento Sportivo è un processo costituito principalmente da tre componenti: 1) il protocollo di allenamento; 2) lo stato di preparazione atletica; 3) il livello di prestazione. Lo svolgimento del pro-tocollo di allenamento modifica lo stato di preparazione atletica fintanto che venga raggiunto il livello di prestazio-ne agonistica prestabilita 1. In termini pratici, l'Allenamento Sportivo si concretizza eseguendo programmi pianificati di esercizio fisico per cambiare lo stato funzionale dell'organismo al fine di esi-bire specifiche abilità, sia motorie che mentali, e avere successo nelle competizioni sportive. Nel rispetto delle sue finalità, l'Allenamento Sportivo è definibile come un processo complesso, adattativo, cro-notropico, probabilistico. Ovvero, le sue tre componenti interagiscono reciprocamente e in misura variabile (com-plesso) cosicché, a pari interazione ripetuta nel tempo, i loro contributi cambiano (adattativo) a seconda degli ef-fetti accumulati dalle circostanze pregresse (cronotopico) e la condizione ottenuta non è più prevedibile (probabili-stico). Come processo a componenti multipli, l'Allenamento Sportivo necessita di una specifica struttura, orientata al raggiungimento di un realistico livello di prestazione e commisurata alle effettive abilità di movimento posse-dute dall'atleta. In assenza di una sua efficace struttura, il processo di Allenamento Sportivo genererebbe una così spropositata dispersione di risorse fisiche e mentali da va-nificare gli impegni richiesti.
... The often cited dictum "the map is never the territory" by Korzybski (1933) has provoked many geographers to break with the notion that maps are faithful and neutral representations of space. Instead, they started to approach maps as social constructions, that seek to advance representations of space and place according to the worldview and interests of the maker. ...
Counter-maps have become an increasingly important practice for social movements to claim their rights and to articulate emancipatory actions against extractive intervention plans and dominant territorial reconfiguration projects, especially in the contested field of water governance. Yet the emancipatory nature of these counter-maps should not be taken for granted: much depends on the way in which power relations and different knowledges are negotiated in the critical process of map-making. In this article we therefore investigate how counter cartography, and in particular counter-mapping processes by water justice movements, may benefit from insights from the field and praxis of critical pedagogy. We argue that there is great potential to be unlocked in exploring critical cartography from that perspective. Rather than dissecting the outcomes produced by a critical cartographic practice, we turn our attention to unveiling the transformative and actionable potential that can be found in the mapping process itself. We explore this topic within the context of the grassroots movements that have water as one of their central issues given its relevance and potential for the promotion of more just and sustainable river practices. To this end, we analyse two social arenas in Ecuador where local collectives are engaged in river struggles: the Amazonian Napo province and the Andean district of Licto, Chimborazo province.
... Now we have a physical analog of how multiple distinct patterns become one as this interference pattern embodies information about the spatial and temporal relationship between these precipitating events, the original drops. In their extreme states, Korzybski was right to claim that the fixed map is not the actual territory (Korzybski, 1933), but, transcending this framing, this project explores how potential maps and territories mold and are simultaneously molded by actual maps and territories. The interference pattern will help us understand these transductive operations between actual and potential, similar to what Simondon calls structure, or the individuated being, and the metastable pre-individual, or even what Peirce might refer to as secondness and firstness, respectively. ...
This chapter examines semiogenesis – the mediation and
generation of novel signs – via an empirically testable model (Bacigalupi,
2013). This model’s dynamical structures are in continuous tension with
relatively open interference patterns, or “noise”, via a proposed common
medium. It will be shown that this superposed tension between persistent
constraints and relatively ephemeral openness is a central attribute of paradoxical,
yet highly productive, semiogenesis.
... La historia nos ha permitido reconocer, recuperar e incorporar valiosas aportaciones que proceden de otros territorios del conocimiento, las cuales, en principio podrían parecer distantes o ajenas a nuestros temas de estudio. La semántica general (Anton y Strate, 2012;Korzybski, 1993;Rovira, Merzero, y Laucirica, 2022), por ejemplo, nos permitió extender la amplitud del concepto «ambiente», que Postman (1974) consideró fundamental en la ME (Strate, 2006). Si en principio los medioecologistas nos interesábamos por analizar el impacto de los medios y las tecnologías en los ambientes mediáticos y culturales, la semántica general nos permitió reconocer ambientes menos evidentes y de mayor complejidad, como los biofísicos, verbales, semánticos, neurolingüísticos, neurosemánticos y, más importante aún, afirmar al organismo como un ambiente en sí. ...
From a historical perspective and a prospective analysis, the article aims to understand the role of technologies and their impact on society through the postulates of media ecology. Through this meta-discipline, we delve into the rigorous review of different authors who see technologies as playing a prominent role in shaping the future because they not only influence the culture of societies, but also impact the course, advancement and meaning of history. The text focuses on the advantages and on the explanation of the risks of generative artificial intelligence, identifying eight critical scenarios: weaponization, disinformation, proxy games, weakening, blocking or withholding of value, unwanted emerging goals, deception and power-seeking behavior. Subsequently, CASI regroups them into four threats: malicious use, the AI race, organizational risks and uncontrolled AI. We end the by drawing on McLuhan’s reflections and stressing the need to scale back technologies when they have reached elevated levels of development to minimize their negative impact. Although artificial intelligence has not reached that state, there is a warning about the accelerated evolution and the need for AI literacy as a measure to face risks and threats, in a limited time before it is too late.
Desde una perspectiva histórica y un análisis prospectivo, el artículo tiene como objetivo comprender el papel de las tecnologías y su impacto en la sociedad, a través de los postulados de la ecología de los medios. A través de esta metadisciplina, nos adentramos a la rigurosa revisión de diferentes autores que ven en las tecnologías un rol destacado en la configuración del futuro porque no solo influyen en la cultura de las sociedades, sino que también impactan en el curso, avance y significado de la historia. El texto se centra en las ventajas y, sobre todo, en la explicación de los riesgos de la inteligencia artificial generativa, identificando ocho escenarios críticos: armamento, desinformación, juegos de proxy, debilitamiento, bloqueo o retención de valor, metas emergentes no deseadas, engaño y comportamiento de búsqueda de poder. Posteriormente, el CASI las reagrupa en cuatro amenazas: uso malicioso, la carrera de la IA, riesgos organizativos e IA descontrolada. Terminamos recuperando las reflexiones de McLuhan y su tétrada sobre la necesidad de enfriar las tecnologías cuando han alcanzado altos niveles de desarrollo para minimizar su impacto negativo. Si bien la inteligencia artificial no ha alcanzado ese estado, se advierte sobre la acelerada evolución y la necesidad de una alfabetización en IA como una medida para afrontar los riesgos y amenazas, eso sí, en un tiempo limitado antes de que sea tarde.
... Put in another way, it allows for teasing out the associative structures by which a given word (or a given compound of words) is nested within a corpus. As is well known, "the map is not the territory" [11], but (functional) maps do, nevertheless, retain certain relevant properties of the territory it seeks to represent. This is also the case with neural word embeddings. ...
In a classic study of Nuer religion, British Social Anthropologist E.E. Evans-Pritchard explored the problem of religious symbols embedded in the Nuer metaphor ‘twins are birds’. In this paper we present a study concluding that not twins but mermaids are birds. At least this is how they semantically behave in the lexical habitat of the influential Danish romanticist and nineteenth-century poet, pastor, and politician N.F.S. Grundtvig (178 3-1872). As in the Nuer case the cause for this behavior is to be found in the symbolic structures of a religious logic. The study consists of word embeddings plotting the bestiary arising from Grundtvig’s 1068 publications in their tokenized, lemmatized, ‘algorithmifyed’ avatar. Our interest here lies with exploring how non-human animals are displayed in a material that have left a dual cultural and religious imprint in Denmark. Anticipating the conclusion: pigs are food; mermaids are birds.
“Mapping is the shared terrain in which the architectural-filmic bond resides” (Bruno 2002, 71)
Both mapping and non-fiction filmmaking offer subjective translations of reality and strategies to relate to and represent space, sharing analogous methods of production that allow for a useful application of the spatial language of mapmaking to filmmaking. The research posits that immersing the filmmaking process within the language of mapmaking can act as a bridge into the spatial practices of the gallery environment, into curatorial practice and exhibition design. This process is defined here as ‘Filmmapping’ and is intended to offer an approach (i) for curators working with artist filmmakers whose work is anchored in concepts of landscape or sense of place; (ii) for filmmakers to consider how spatial themes explored within their work might be translated into the exhibition space (a reciprocal process that also considers how the space and locational context of a gallery may help shape the production of a work), and (iii) for exhibition architects working in collaboration with either one or both of the former.
This paper explores intelligence as a phenomenon that exceeds computational models, integrating insights from bio-information theory, Karl Friston's Free Energy Principle (FEP), and philosophical traditions like Heideggerian ontology and Samkhya philosophy. Life, understood as a nested, error-correcting genomic code, aligns with the FEP, which suggests that living systems minimize free energy-discrepancies between predicted and actual sensory inputs-to maintain stability. Intelligence, in this view, is the capacity to reduce uncertainty through prediction and adaptation. Beyond this, the paper argues that intelligence is a creative, multi-scale force, evident in biological processes like evolution and embryogenesis, and inherently tied to an "onto-ethical" resonance-an adaptive ethics responsive to existence itself. Drawing on Michael Levin's bioelectricity research and Elizabeth Grosz's embryogenesis, this study posits that intelligence transcends algorithms, uniting cognition, creativity, and ethical responsibility in the unfolding of life and consciousness.
Bu makale, bilimsel gerçekçiliğin kelâm ilminin mühim bir yaklaşımıyla uyuştuğu ve bu yaklaşımı desteklediği iddiasını doğrulamayı amaçlamaktadır. Bu gerekçelendirme ise bilimde ve kelâmda teorileştirmenin ortak prensiplerinin tanımlanmasına dayanmaktadır. Bu açıdan çalışma, görünmeyen varlıklarla ilgili kelâmî soruların bilim felsefesindeki sorularla örtüştüğünü ve kelâmda benimsenen pozisyonun, bilimsel gerçekçilik konusundaki duruşu büyük ölçüde belirleyeceğini savunmaktadır. Bu iddiayı temellendirmek için kelâm ilminin en önemli isimlerinden biri olan Ebû Mansûr el-Mâtürîdî’nin yaklaşımı ele alınmaktadır. Öncelikle, Mâtürîdî’nin benimsemiş olduğu tecrübi yaklaşım, ilk olarak mahiyetler ve cevherler gibi görünmeyen varlıkların varlığına yönelik şüpheciliğiyle ve ikinci olarak, Tanrı ispatları ve insanın hür iradesini tasdik eden argümanlarıyla gösterilmektedir. Son olarak, hem bilimde hem de kelâmda kullanılan en iyi açıklama çıkarımı prensibi, İslâm kelâmında bilimsel gerçekçilikle bir paralellik bulunduğu iddiasını temellendirmektedir. Neticede, kelâmda örneklendiği gibi, Allah’ın varlığını ispat etmek için kullanılan yaklaşım kabul edilirse, gözlemlenemez tabii varlıklara yönelik gerçekçi bir yaklaşımın da kabul edilmesi gerekir.
This article questions the influence of visual enunciation of gameworlds on players’ spatial practices. It begins with a reminder that images are not naïve, followed by a brief review of the literature about the modernist ideological charge of two types of images widely used in games: maps and perspective projections. Considerations about the mediating role of game images leads to the hypothesis that games highlight the inseparability of the spatial practices known as mapping and touring (de Certeau 1984; Lammes 2008, 2009, 2015, 2018). The ideas are exemplified by the combined uses of maps and perspective images in 5 games. Results indicate that maps and central perspective reify Modern values and beliefs. They are more likely to challenge the stratification of spatial practices when encountered in combination or in intermediate forms such as oblique projections. Their potential is intensified by synchronicity and by releasing control of the point of view.
Review of: Context Blindness: Digital Technology and the Next Stage of Human Evolution , Eva Berger (2022)
New York: Peter Lang Publishing Inc., 146 pp.,
ISBN 978-1-43318-613-4, h/bk, USD 124.15
ISBN 978-1-43319-728-4, p/bk, USD 44.25
This chapter presents a historical brief of artificial intelligence and machine learning as well as an overview of conceptual basics of how ML works, alongside examples. Different approaches to ML are reviewed and the challenges of applying ML in research are addressed.
The advent of AI calls for an existential self-redefinition of humanity. It necessitates the establishment of a pluralistic global humanist culture that enables us to coexist in the new world of active media and autopoietic technology. In this paper, related philosophical questions give rise to the proposal of a novel metaculture that elevates human heritages and cultural memories to the plane of a digital AI- based infrastructure. I argue for a balanced and holistic approach to human-to-human and human–AI interactions and metaculture that can be developed in the form of combinatorial “metagames” that reflect the potential of human consciousness, transcend the boundaries between technology, human embodiment and biology, the arts, sciences and humanities, and philosophy, and, finally, include the element of meaningful coincidence and spontaneity “in the second potency.” Hermann Hesse’s final novel, The Glass Bead Game, offers a key to understanding this basic idea. His vision is extremely relevant today. Based on this, the concept of cultivating global cultural memories through innovative aesthetic-epistemic “Glass Bead Games 2.0” is discussed further from a systematic angle. To complement this, reference is also made to Hesse’s own source of inspiration: Novalis’s “encyclopedist” approach interlinks aesthetic and epistemic productivity in a way that could become a major starting point to create a new holistic metaculture in the Age of AI.
The advent of AI calls for an existential self-redefinition of humanity. It necessitates the establishment of a pluralistic global humanist culture that enables us to coexist in the new world of active media and autopoietic technology. In this paper, related philosophical questions give rise to the proposal of a novel metaculture that elevates human heritages and cultural memories to the plane of a digital AI-based infrastructure. I argue for a balanced and holistic approach to human-to-human and human–AI interactions and metaculture that can be developed in the form of combinatorial “metagames” that reflect the potential of human consciousness, transcend the boundaries between technology, human embodiment and biology, the arts, sciences and humanities, and philosophy, and, finally, include the element of meaningful coincidence and spontaneity “in the second potency.” Hermann Hesse’s final novel, The Glass Bead Game, offers a key to understanding this basic idea. His vision is extremely relevant today. Based on this, the concept of cultivating global cultural memories through innovative aesthetic-epistemic “Glass Bead Games 2.0” is discussed further from a systematic angle. To complement this, reference is also made to Hesse’s own source of inspiration: Novalis’s “encyclopedist” approach interlinks aesthetic and epistemic productivity in a way that could become a major starting point to create a new holistic metaculture in the Age of AI.
Renaming and rebranding as a human right?
Reclaiming and repossessing territory through renaming
Reclaiming the world through renaming?
Renaming as a prelude to power play and fluidity of control
Strategic skills for engaging with seemingly non-violent asymmetric transactions?
Derogatory ripostes to renaming by "Fearland" and the "Enfeared"?
Cultivation of "psychosocial judo" and its recognition
Renaming through "mining" and redrawing boundaries in "my world"
Honouring asymmetry strategically?
Mythological reframing of current dynamics in navigating hubris?
Enabling learning from interwoven myths and folk tales through visualization?
Cultivating transactional reality through spectacle and distraction
Metaphoric and anagrammatic reframing as "trumping"
Acronymic rebranding potentially evoked by "Trump" and "Musk"
Historical legacy of change agents and their rebranding?
Inclusive Communication and the TOPOI-model. Beyond intercultural communication and competence: 'Cultures don't meet, people do.' Dr. Edwin Hoffman is an Inclusive communication lecturer, trainer, author, and external lecturer at Abstract In this article, I raise the question of what is meant by intercultural communication and intercultural competence and what kind of application-oriented approach could effectively support people in communicating, interacting, and collaborating with people from different national, ethnic, or religious backgrounds? The starting point of the answer is that widely used theories by e.g. Geert Hofstede, Fons Trompenaars, Richard Lewis, and Erin Meyer form a risky approach to intercultural communication because of their culturalist nature. Their culturalist approach encourages learners to 'zoom out' away from the concrete individuals in an interaction and objectify them into schematic cultures and stereotypes in order to explain differences and misunderstandings. Inclusive communication goes beyond the culturalist character of intercultural communication: it encourages the opposite by zooming in on the encounter between unique individuals who are connected with others at an intersection of identities and embedded in diverse social-cultural contexts.
Habitué à être immergé dans un écosystème virtuel, l’enfant du numérique oublie que tous ses comportements sont filtrés et analysés par les interfaces de l’Internet des objets. Les plateformes numériques utilisent stratégiquement une captologie pour distraire leurs membres, les rendre dépendants et orienter insidieusement leurs choix. La planification cybernétique des smart cities est directement liée à la mise en œuvre de cette économie de l’attention, alors que la gamification et l’instagrammation de la ville renouvellent les pratiques sociales dans l’environnement urbain, en remettant en cause la planification traditionnelle des villes. Sans diaboliser les nouveaux médias, ne faudrait-il pas réapprendre à former et à orienter l’attention que nous prêtons aux choses ?
The paper argues that the hitherto developed linguistic pragmatics can observe cultural conditions of communication acts and empirically accessible interpersonal relationships between communication participants. However, linguistic pragmatics cannot thoroughly probe into the fundamental nature of communicative intentions nor into the mental endowments of human individuals. Pragmatics in the domain of linguistic studies shows that what constitute the investigative objects in the domain of pragmatic studies are the principles, rules, and maxims of interpersonal rhetoric, which are used in dyadic and small groups and, to a lesser degree, in public and mass communication. Therefore, the paper justifies the postulates to elaborate a conceptual and methodological framework that might apply to studying the relational aspects and inherent constituents of intercultural communication in multinational societies, such as intimacy, partnership, cooperation, competition, combat, and the like. It claims that as a comprehensive research tool, this framework might help check how the general requirements of cross-cultural coexistence are observed by communicating agents adhering to different civilizational traditions, customs, and philosophical and religious beliefs. On such an assumption, the investigative domain of interpersonal rhetoric would comprise, as is asserted, not only the norms of interaction operating in a given society but also knowledge about the universal qualities of human beings.
Me dispongo a iniciar una reflexión en torno a las definiciones de signo y símbolo que proponen la hermenéutica simbólica de Gilbert Durand y la semiótica de Charles Sanders Peirce. Fundamentalmente me interesa contrastar el pensamiento de los dos autores, para mostrar que categorías son más claras, coherentes y permiten una mejor comprensión de los discursos, los textos y las imágenes. Confrontaré también, las perspectivas de otros autores que han abordado esta problemática.
John Henry Newman defined the university as “a place of teaching universal knowledge”, which suggests that it is also an environment for the teaching and creation of knowledge, and therefore a medium for the teaching and creation of knowledge. Based on the field of media ecology, defined by Neil Postman as “the study of media as environments”, and following Marshall McLuhan’s famous maxim that, “the medium is the message”, we can understand knowledge to be the product of a particular type of medium or environment. Taking inspiration from the poetic questions posed by T.S. Eliot, “Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?”, this essay takes issue with the view expressed among internet boosters that information is the basis of knowledge, and knowledge is the basis of wisdom. Instead, an alternative understanding presented in which information as a contemporary phenomenon is a product of the electronic media environment, knowledge is a product of the literacy associated with the chirographic and typographic media environments, and wisdom is a product of the oral media environment.
Traditionally, systems thinking support has relied on an ever-increasing plethora of systems tools, methods, and approaches. Arguably though, such support requires something different from, and more accessible than, detailed instruction on somewhat abstract laws and detailed principles and/or constitutive rules associated with conventional systems approaches or systems ‘tools of the trade’. For busy managers and decision makers working in often-stressful conditions, what is perhaps more valued are simple principles for enabling systems thinking in practice. Such principles should acknowledge and build on existing (multi)disciplinary skill sets and expertise, allowing for more meaningful interdisciplinary support amongst professions, as part of a nested transdisciplinary support for addressing wider social challenges. This monograph offers three principles of systems thinking in practice (STiP): relational STiP, perspective STiP, and adaptive STiP. They each have two sets of operational principles applicable to first-order and second-order practice, respectively. The three general principles are nested in an overriding principle of STiP as praxis (theory-informed action or thinking in practice) manifest in the need for being both systemic and systematic. The three principles represent a distilled expression of a systematic literacy of systems thinking, a literacy that speaks to the systemic sensibilities of Inter-relationships, Perspectives, and Boundaries (sometimes referred collectively as IPB), associated with any area of intervention. Drawing on metaphors of bricolage, conversation, and performance, and building on philosophical foundations of boundary critique, the three principles provide for a requisite systems literacy (as an emergent property of systemic sensibilities and systems thinking literacy) for enabling appropriate STiP capabilities to flourish when making a meaningful change.
Sonification as a realistic practice, both for communicative and artistic purposes, raises issues that need to be considered. In order to find a path to good sonifications, we need to address the pitfalls and look for ways to overcome them. Therefore, in this chapter, after presenting the advantages of using sonification, I will outline and discuss each problem by proposing solutions through a brief survey of selected related authors and artworks.
El uso de instrumentos musicales preparados o lo que conceptualmente llamo objetos musicales imposibles, para componer música, no es un fenómeno nuevo. En este artículo, se discuten las consideraciones teóricas y prácticas para diseñar y construir instrumentos modificados. Igualmente, se examinan mis experiencias pasadas, así como las prácticas y los métodos de investigación creativa existentes. Mi objetivo es expandir el concepto de objetos musicales imposibles mediante la transición a un enfoque escultórico de la composición musical. Este enfoque implica recontextualizar estos objetos como esculturas sonoras dentro de estructuras complejas, específicamente instalaciones sonoras. Para producir instrumentos musicales modificados y hacer la transición a un enfoque más amplio en el que estos objetos se vuelvan a imaginar como partes constituyentes dentro de las instalaciones sonoras, es esencial comprender su mecánica y establecer el hecho de que el espacio de actuación también se ha transformado. Por ello, la colaboración con músicos, lauderos y constructores de instrumentos en forma de experimentación y sesiones de prueba se convierte en una parte fundamental del proceso creativo. Durante estas sesiones se evaluó la efectividad, practicidad, portabilidad e invasividad de objetos. Los resultados de estas evaluaciones han sido catalogados. En este artículo, se incluirán algunos ejemplos y se profundizará sobre sus implicaciones para proyectos creativos actuales y futuros.
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