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Disturbing the Universe
... The quantum physicist Freeman Dyson expresses the latter fact candidly: "Our consciousness is not just a passive epiphenomenon carried along by the chemical events in our brains, but is an active agent forcing the molecular complexes to make choices between one quantum state and another. In other words, mind is already inherent in every electron, and the processes of human consciousness differ only in degree but not in kind from the processes of choice between quantum states which we call "chance" when they are made by electrons" [148]. Figure 5. Different levels of organization of physical processes inside neurons. ...
... The newly discovered quantum principles were revolutionary because they not only predicted correctly experimental observations, but also endowed the physical reality with capacity to choose among different quantum physical potentialities with actualization of some of them thereby irreversibly changing the future history of the universe. This incorporation of sentience and free will in the quantum fabric of physical reality removes all traces of mystery about the evolution of consciousness in animals and reassures us that we live inside a hospitable universe where our conscious choices do make a difference through causal action upon the physical world [148]. ...
The natural evolution of consciousness in different animal species mandates that conscious experiences are causally potent in order to confer any advantage in the struggle for survival. Any endeavor to construct a physical theory of consciousness based on emergence within the framework of classical physics, however, leads to causally impotent conscious experiences in direct contradiction to evolutionary theory since epiphenomenal consciousness cannot evolve through natural selection. Here, we review recent theoretical advances in describing sentience and free will as fundamental aspects of reality granted by quantum physical laws. Modern quantum information theory considers quantum states as a physical resource that endows quantum systems with the capacity to perform physical tasks that are classically impossible. Reductive identification of conscious experiences with the quantum information comprised in quantum brain states allows for causally potent consciousness that is capable of performing genuine choices for future courses of physical action. The consequent evolution of brain cortical networks contributes to increased computational power, memory capacity, and cognitive intelligence of the living organisms.
... It would be presumptuous of the present author, who is not a historian of physics, to try to answer this question. He can only suggest a few references that capture some of the excitement, and record some of the concerns of physicists of the time: (i) the definitive history of QED by Schweber [10], (ii) the book by Bethe and de Hoffman for the state of 'meson physics' in 1954 [11], and finally (iii) Dyson's account of how he put together his key paper 'The radiation theories of Tomonaga, Schwinger and Feynman' [12] in a Greyhound bus, given towards the end of chapter 6 of his memoirs [13]. Dyson's paper predated the publications of Schwinger and Feynman! ...
... As pointed out in Remark II, eq. (11), the defining equation of hypothesis I, can also be cast in two other forms: the Møller formula with a modified third term (in the square brackets), given by either (12) or (13). However, we have not been able to find any physical interpretation for these forms. ...
In 1954, Ashkin, Page and Woodward (hereafter APW) reported on the first counter experiments to measure the electron-electron and electron-positron scattering cross-sections at low relativistic energies (0.6-1.7 MeV). Their aim was to look for the spin and exchange or virtual annihilation effects predicted by the Moller and Bhabha formulae. Their experiments confirmed these effects, but the measured cross-sections at 0.61 MeV were significantly smaller than their predicted values. The authors remarked that these deviations were `presumably due to multiple scattering'. However, careful reading of the unpublished theses of Page (1950) and Ashkin (1952), Page's letter (1951) and the APW paper reveals no credible evidence of multiple scattering at 0.61 MeV; if anything, the evidence rules against multiple scattering. If multiple scattering is ruled out, the observations may indicate a departure from quantum electrodynamics. This departure may be due to a non-Coulomb central force, a weakening of the spin-statistics connection, or both. Only experiment can tell which of these possibilities holds true, and therefore we suggest the new electron-electron scattering experiments be carried out at different energies (at 0.4-1.0 MeV) and different scattering angles, as well as specific tests for multiple scattering. We consider a non-Coulomb central force to be very unlikely, and advance the hypothesis that a fraction of the electron pairs scatter as spin-zero fermions (which would lower the observed cross-section). Numerical calculations show that the hypothesis may be tested quantitatively in a Page-type experiment, even with little improvement in the accuracy he achieved in 1950.
... Einstein emphasized this point when he wrote in March 1955 to the family of his friend Michele Besson who had died: -People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.‖ [23]. Einstein was referring to what physicists call the -block universe,‖ where past, present, and future co-exist, where -now‖ merely describes an arbitrary location in time, and where the belief that time advances in one direc-tion is false. ...
The atom bomb that annihilated Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945, proved Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. Mass became energy and the classic Western dialectic of three-dimensional space and linear time was displaced by the integrated concept of spacetime. On that day, modern physics also collided with the traditional Japanese understanding that space and time are interdependent phenomena. This collision speaks to conceptual parallels relating Buddhist thought, modern Japanese philosophy, phenomenology, and the physics of spacetime. The thirteenth-century Zen Buddhist monk Dōgen said that all phenomena are made possible by the universal principle of emptiness and that our existence arises with each moment in what he termed Being-Time, where past, present, and future co-exist. The Japanese philosopher Nishida Kitarō, along with Tanabe Hajime and Watsuji Tetsurō, saw reality as a multi-dimensional field of space-in-time where the individual subject no longer stood apart from the objective world but instead arose dynamically as contingent activities rather than an autonomous thing. The German philosopher Martin Heidegger rejected the rational binary of subject and object in Western thought and grounded our “being” in phenomena that came from their temporal being-in-the-world rather than representing some preexisting objective reality. The physicist Albert Einstein radically rethought the dialectic of three-dimensional space and linear time, used to schematize the physical world in the West since antiquity, and theorized the relativity of spacetime, in which all phenomena occur in space in relation to their place in time. Interwoven, these intellectual threads stripped the bombing of Hiroshima of its historical inevitability. The story of human experience lost its customary sense of going somewhere predetermined and was revealed instead to be an endlessly discrete accumulation of moments that could go anywhere at every transient and directionless moment in time.
... According to Dyson, "some of his ideas were brilliant, some were practical, and a few were brilliant and practical. I used his ideas as starting points for a more systematic analysis of the problem" [33]. Teller and Dyson enhanced the safety of the nuclear reactors produced by a company with which they were involved. ...
... Renowned physicist Freeman Dyson [77] states, "... mind is already inherent in every electron, and the processes of human consciousness differ only in degree but not in kind from the processes of choice between quantum states which we call 'chance' when they are made by electrons." It is difficult to be sure if Dyson is speaking metaphorically or empirically. ...
This paper posits that universal atomic elements exist that underlie complex cognition. At its core, constructs are born of the dynamics of thinking operating on information. This elemental understanding of the structural underpinnings - and the dynamics between and among the elements - provides insight into the value of thinking and awareness of one’s thinking to everyday life and scientific inquiry. Knowledge of the structural and dynamical properties of human thought leads to generative, purposeful, and predictive cognitive acts that evolve one’s thinking. As a result, our mental models (comprised of information and thinking) of how systems work are better aligned with how they exist in the real world. This alignment yields better solutions, innovation and results. Continued inquiry into the universality of these structural elements has significant potential to advance understanding across a wide variety of academic disciplines. In other words, the study of cognition is deemed synonymous with the evolution of science and knowledge itself.
... pág http://www.saber.ula.ve/bitacora-e/ Recibido:07/12/1999, Aceptado:15/05/2020 más interesantes (Reynolds, 1892;Dyson, 1979;Cannell, 2001;y Hirshfeld, 2006). ...
Resumen: Vicente Marcano, el precursor de las ciencias experimentales en Venezuela, fue un científico (químico agrícola y geoquímico) de innegables méritos quien además realizó exploraciones espeleológicas y desarrolló actividades políticas y literarias. A ciento cincuenta años del regreso de Vicente Marcano a Venezuela en 1869, tenemos nuevas noticias obtenidas con la metodología Sondeo Histórico Digital (SHD). De los archivos de la antigua École Centrale de Paris hemos tenido acceso al registro académico de Vicente Marcano con lo cual ahora se hace posible evaluar cuál fue su desempeño académico. La conclusión más importante que se puede extraer de un lectura rápida del documento que aquí presentamos es que Vicente Marcano no se graduó de la École centrale des arts et manufactures (Escuela Central de Artes y Manufactura) ya que renunció a los estudios cuando cursaba el segundo año de la carrera de Ingeniería de Artes y Manufactura. En este artículo consignamos el documento que hemos encontrado y presentamos algunos comentarios y anotaciones. SHD es una metodología creada por el autor para utilizar internet y las redes sociales para hacer crónicas biográficas e institucionales. PROYECTO VES fue originalmente concebido para presentar a los venezolanos modelos referentes a partir de los perfiles de vida de la migración tecnocientífica en Venezuela.
... With all of this, a tendency appears in which the traditional industrial, financial, political, and military secrecy cultures hybridize and move towards a more open, free, transparent, and minded society to design their own future with a new civilization sense that unites new tools and complex objects. If the tendency here described is correct would the nanolithic be the previous step to access through a new intelligent pact to a grade 1 civilization (Dyson, 1979(Dyson, , 1998(Dyson, , 2000Kardashev, 1985, pp. 497-504) 16 Anthropology's interest in design is an emergent research area in different countries. ...
Techno-anthropology derives from transformative, functional, socio-cultural thought.
Its practitioners advocate for understanding and creation of an inclusive techno-cultural society. The field’s humanistic perspectives and approaches resonate in spaces dedicated to creativity and innovation — laboratories, universities, consultancies, etc. — spaces where new technologies and their challenges; the needs of digital society, and techno-culture with its corresponding requirements and values of a society of knowledge come together.
Techno-anthropology emerged at the beginning of the 1990’s, and approaches the study of technology as its own cultural system. It draws on analyses of social contexts and cultural knowledge, through which technology is developed and new feedback cycles of social adaptation and innovative frameworks of knowledge emerge.
Techno-anthropology finds its roots in the encounter between anthropology, the ethos of open innovation, and user-focused design; it draws on both research methods and human experience to develop new technologies and analyze their impact on contemporary and future societies.
This volume continues the analyses presented in Case Studies: Technoanthropology (2015); its essays invite the reader to reflect on the world, the nature of this emerging field, and its focus, development, and evolution from diverse disciplinary perspectives and fields of action.
... Nuclear physicist and winner of the Templeton Prize, Wolf Prize, and Max Planck Metal, Freeman Dyson, implied however that we should consider electrons to be 'observers' in their own right: "[…] mind is already inherent in every electron, and the processes of human consciousness differ only in degree and not in kind from the processes of choice between quantum states which we call "chance" when they are made by electrons" (Dyson 1979). He said this because electrons can transform from a state of unmanifest decoherence within an unobserved environment to coherence as manifest matter, i.e., from recognized only by quantum mechanics to measurable via classic physics. ...
This paper first concisely introduces the philosophical rebuttal of the Combination “Problem” as ignorant of nature, in a short assertion that physicality itself is premised upon the combination of multiple molecular systems, organisms, organs, and species, and yet we have no experience of or control over their operation, revealing that we therefore cannot dissect this truth from the phenomena of conscious experiences. Discussion of this mirrored nature of physical and mental processes will then give way to more direct and lengthy coverage on how awareness in varying degrees exists even for these entities, a fact displayed by observations in biology, mycology, and physics. Secondly the paper will reject the De-combination problem, the inverse but analogous rebuttal to Cosmopsychism, a sort of Idealist perspective that the cosmos is a sentient Monad, host to myriad others, perhaps even being a sentient quantum computer. In these rejections, we can readily accept these connected philosophies as valid theory and thereby pursue further exploration of their implications and gain a greater understanding of reality and increased gnostic compassion for the environment – something lacking from mainstream domineering philosophies and religions today – which the world direly needs at this critical point in ecological and human survival.
... This means that a pre-life universe can only exist retroactively after the fact of consciousness." [Lanza and Berman 2010: 90] However, another famous pioneer of quantum physics, Freeman Dyson, astutely observed that "mind is already inherent in every electron, and the processes of human consciousness differ only in degree and not in kind from the processes of choice between quantum states which we call "chance" when they are made by electrons" (Dyson 1979), i.e, they can observe themselves and each other. In this regard, atomic elements that are both masses of electrons (which are fundamental/structureless) in different combinations with other particles that do have substructures (of which we always find ever smaller components, using particle colliders) represent entities formed from the primordial active qualia of consciousness, i.e., moments of reaction, change, and therefore positionality. ...
Current trends in quantum physics, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence all point towards a startling likelihood of universal mechanics: that consciousness is co-fundamental with matter itself - that the universe is indeed imbued with consciousness. This corroborates the ~2500 year old, though now well-evolved philosophy of Panpsychism. In this position paper, I provide a metasynthesis of modern texts on this interdisciplinary topic, combined with further neuroscientific, cultural, and clinical research on entheogens (meaning 'generates god within', a humanistic term for the 'classical' psychedelics), and I suggest that the non-dual relationship between quantum entities (e.g. electrons and photons) mirrors that of the entheogenic experience of ego dissolution and psychointegration, and thereby that increased empathy and awareness conferred by entheogens, augmented with panpsychist philosophy, may be the key to unlocking a quantum leap in societal advancement.
... He had somehow become convinced during his stay in Europe that physics was in need of radically new ideas, that this quantum electrodynamics of Schwinger and Feynman was just another misguided attempt to patch up old ideas with fancy mathematics." [61] According to Dyson, Fermi also did not agree with this new way of conducting science: "When Dyson met Fermi, he quickly put aside the graphs he was being shown indicating agreement between theory and experiment. His verdict, as Dyson remembered, was "There are two ways of doing calculations in theoretical physics. ...
Quantum electrodynamics (QED) is considered the most accurate theory in the history of science. However, this precision is based on a single experimental value: the anomalous magnetic moment of the electron (g-factor). An examination of the history of QED reveals that this value was obtained in a very suspicious way. These suspicions include the case of Karplus & Kroll, who admitted to having lied in their presentation of the most relevant calculation in the history of QED. As we will demonstrate in this paper, the Karplus & Kroll affair was not an isolated case, but one in a long series of errors, suspicious coincidences, mathematical inconsistencies and renormalized infinities swept under the rug.
... Dyson Dyson's principal contribution to quantum field theory was, however, to unify the approaches to quantum electrodynamics (QED), the quantum theory of electrons, positrons, and photons, that had been proposed by Feynman, Julian Schwinger, and Shin'ichirō Tomonaga, a little earlier. This unification work was facilitated by a crosscountry road trip, from Ithaca, New York, to Albuquerque, New Mexico, that Dyson took with Feynman in June 1948, joyfully recounted by Dyson in Chapter 6 of [Dys79]. After parting company with Feynman in Albuquerque, Dyson rode a sequence of Greyhound buses to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he attended a series of lectures by Schwinger, and had many conversations with him over a five-week period. ...
... 7 . Dyson 19798 . Von Neumann 1966 . ...
... Freeman Dyson, theoretical and mathematical nuclear physicist and winner of the Templeton Prize, Wolf Prize, and Max Planck Metal, said that "[M]ind is already inherent in every electron, and the processes of human consciousness differ only in degree and not in kind from the processes of choice between quantum states which we call "chance" when they are made by electrons." [Dyson 1979] And, even if fermions such as electrons don't seem to have any sort of differentiated memory of their own (or bosons either for that matter), the newly discovered 2-dimensional anyons associated to each one certainly seem to (Bartolomei et al. 2020;Castelvecchi 2020), as they can adopt and share quantum states over certain periods of time rather than oblige the Pauli Exclusion Principle (no two fermions can occupy exactly the same quantum statethey flip wave function polarities when in proximity) or not even change at all when in proximity to like particles (as with bosons, i.e.), revealing a sort of adaptive capacity for choice in interaction or governor of interaction based on set rules. Given that these particles are 2D and so cannot be observed in isolation from fermions or bosons, thereby in isolation from any 3D form -it is only their residual effects or footprints that can be measured rather than any form -they either permeate a virtual space whereby the 'bit era' universe may not even be needed for them to exist, and/or they are virtual aspects of matter indicating that memory exists for quantum elements. ...
The current trends in quantum physics, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence all point towards a startling likelihood of universal mechanics: that as Max Planck himself said, consciousness is co-fundamental with matter itself - that the universe is indeed an entity imbued with consciousness. In this position paper, I provide a metasynthesis of modern texts on this interdisciplinary topic, and suggest that the results not only back the millennia-old philosophy of panpsychism, but also a more ancient one: that of the cosmological Vedanta philosophy of India.
... As Freeman Dyson has observed, "In the long run, qualitative changes always outweigh the quantitative ones." 14 We have chosen the year 1500 as t = 0 because it was near the end of the pre-industrial era, before fossil fuel burning became the norm and before much of the planet was deforested, and because robust estimates exist of the human and tree populations at that time. ...
A pedagogical model of the effects of human population on the global tree population and the atmospheric abundances of carbon dioxide and oxygen is provided, which, though too simple to be precise, offers meaningful insights with the virtue of being solvable by analytical means using only elementary calculus.
... He discussed such futuristic concepts even in his autobiographical book 'Disturbing the Universe' [35]. Dyson's prodigious output is unique and remarkable because not only he proved rigorous theorems in diverse fields of physics based on hard and cold mathematical calculations, he also made imaginative but quantitative speculations concerning remote future. ...
Freeman J. Dyson, a brilliant theoretical physicist and a gifted mathematician, passed away on 28 February 2020 at the age of 96. A vignette of his outstanding contributions to physical sciences, ranging from the subject of quantum electrodynamics to gravitational waves, is provided in this article. Dyson's futuristic ideas concerning the free will of `intelligent life' influencing the remote future of the cosmos with `Eternal Intelligence', Dyson tree, Dyson sphere and so on, have also been discussed briefly.
... He discussed such futuristic concepts Taking into account the presence of water in comets, he speculated on the possibility of growing genetically engineered plants on approaching comets-the so-called Dyson Tree. even in his autobiographical book 'Disturbing the Universe' [35]. Dyson's prodigious output is unique and remarkable because not only he proved rigorous theorems in diverse fields of physics based on hard and cold mathematical calculations, he also made imaginative but quantitative speculations concerning the remote future. ...
Freeman J. Dyson, a brilliant theoretical physicist and a gifted mathematician, passed away on 28 February 2020 at the age of 96. A vignette of his outstanding contributions to physical sciences, ranging from the subject of quantum electrodynamics to gravitational waves, is provided in this article. Dyson's futuristic ideas concerning the free will of `intelligent life' influencing the remote future of the cosmos with `Eternal Intelligence', Dyson tree, Dyson sphere and so on, have also been discussed briefly.
... However, considering the number of soil series, locations and vegetation types around the world, the volume of literature is small, and conducted primarily by a few interconnected American researchers and those the Americans interact with internationally. Throughout the history of ideas, arts, and sciences, many inventions and ideas were quietly studied, explored and reported for decades before broad acceptance and adoption [26,34]. It may be possible that this line of research has not reached an end, and has not reached its potential peak in utility and application. ...
Managers, scientists, planners and designers of landscapes are interested in systematic investigations, to predict the reconstruction of disturbed soil resources for optimum vegetation productivity. In this study, a predictive equation for estimating neo-soil plant growth in Coryell County, Texas was developed. The equation predicts the vegetation growth for wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), oats [Avena sativa L. (1753)], sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench], cotton lint (Gossypium hirsutum L.), Bermuda grass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.], and rangeland production in general. The results suggest that an all-vegetation predictive model was highly significant (p ≤ 0.0001), explaining over 80% of the variance. The equation employed hydraulic conductivity as a main-effect variable; bulk density and hydraulic conductivity as squared terms; and percent clay times bulk density, bulk density times soil reaction, hydraulic conductivity times available water holding capacity, and hydraulic conductivity times soil reactions as first order interaction terms, with each predicting variable containing a p-value equal to or less than 0.05. The results suggest that an annual crop equation and a plant-specific cotton lint equation also have merit.
... This is hardly ever done in our busy world, but Freeman Dyson gives a wonderful description of what was accomplished by a small group one summer in a "little red school-house" where they designed a safe and lowcost nuclear reactor. 8 Even a small group of graduate students and a few people with government experience could do some really interesting work to see how well some innovative ideas hold up under close examination. ...
Dato alle stampe nel gennaio del 2010, Mutare o perire può fregiarsi di essere il primo libro uscito in Italia sul transumanesimo. È una raccolta di tredici saggi sugli aspetti filosofici e sociologici del potenziamento umano e dell’evoluzione autodiretta, scritti dal fondatore dell’Associazione Italiana Transumanisti nel clima delle battaglie bioetiche per la fecondazione in vitro, la clonazione terapeutica e la modifica della linea germinale umana. Questa seconda edizione, notevolmente migliorata, nasce per rispondere a una vera e propria ondata di libri contro il transumanesimo che, troppo spesso, propongono un’immagine del tutto fantasiosa di questa dottrina e del movimento che la sostiene.
There have been several proposals in the past that mind might influence matter by exploiting the randomness of quantum events. Here, calculations are presented how mental selection of quantum mechanical scattering directions of ions in the axon hillock of neuronal cells could influence diffusion and initiate an action potential. Only a few thousand ions would need to be affected. No conservation laws are violated, but a momentary and very small local decrease of temperature should occur, consistent with a quantum mechanically possible but extremely improbable evolution. An estimate of the concurrent violation of the second law of thermodynamics is presented. Some thoughts are given to how this hypothesized mental intervention could be tested.
In complex societies, hegemonic struggles abound over constitutive including scientific mythologems, which shape stories about the past and future. I argue that the Big History story is ambiguous. Is the cosmos purposeless and evolutionary processes arbitrary? Or is there coherence, wholeness, and even purpose? By using some pragmatist and critical realist philosophical ideas, and by raising critical questions about theories of physics and cosmology, I analyse the ambiguities of Big History and argue in favour of a storyline that revolves around life and learning, inducing hopefulness. A central idea is that the rational tendential direction of world history is grounded in our collective human learning, making it possible to solve problems, absent ills, and overcome contradictions through collective actions and by building better common institutions.
Independently of how dominant the layer of world statehood becomes, that layer will require political support, authorisation, and validation in a complex and pluralistic world. By focusing on legitimacy, we can analyse the feasibility of paths towards global-scale integration and the potential for conflicts, divisions, and subsequent disintegration. The standard security-military and functionalist arguments for unification may work to a point, but they are insufficient and can become counterproductive. There must be a widespread belief in normative legitimacy, the basis of which I discuss in terms of civilising process and stages of ethical-political learning. Finally, I outline scenarios about processes that could lead towards a partial disintegration or collapse of a world community. Such scenarios are meant to be self-defeating prophecies.
World history is part of the cosmic story of increasing complexity and emerging powers. This chapter focusses on the industrial revolution and its consequences, arguing that modern Europe is merely a possible manifestation and moment in a process that is best understood as global history of humanity. The key to understanding this transformation lies in harnessing new sources of energy, enabling the huge expansion of humanity and the world economy. While criticising all forms of centrism, I develop the idea of stages: stages may co-exist, overlap, and form various constellations in context-bound ways. In the universal history of humanity, the industrial revolution was bound to happen and change also the meaning of war, which has subsequently become an existential question to humanity as a whole.
Cnidaria (i.e., sea anemones, jellyfish, corals) and Bilateria (i.e., vertebrates, sea stars, fruit flies), are sister groups that diverged around 600 million years ago. Despite the long evolutionary time, many cellular differentiation mechanisms, cell types, tissues and behaviors are conserved. Such as neurons, mechanosensory hair cells, feeding behaviors, peristaltic movements, and sleep. Recent advances in genomics, molecular biology and microscopy have fueled an increased interest in understanding cnidarian nervous and neuroendocrine systems. Understanding the developmental mechanisms and the mode of operation of Cnidarian nervous systems helps to reconstruct the ancestral nervous system of the last common ancestor of Cnidaria and Bilateria. Thus, also shedding light in fundamental aspects of Bilaterian nervous systems. Here, the 'starlet sea anemone' Nematostella vectensis, a powerful cnidarian model organism was used to address the gene expression pattern of Pit1, a conserved gene shared between Cnidaria and Bilateria. In Chapter 1, a method to extract DNA and genotype embryos of Nematostella without sacrificing the animal was established, with possible application to other non-sea anemone cnidarians. Early genotyping is fundamental for addressing phenotypes during development, thus opening the door to study the function of any gene of interest during larval pre-metamorphic stages. In Chapter 2, the expression pattern of Pit1 and detailed cellular morphology of Pit1-positive cells was characterized for the first time in Nematostella. Complex neuronal networks and diverse sensory cells were found. Furthermore, the foundation for future functional studies of Pit1 was laid by establishing stable CRISPR-Cas9 knockout and transgenic reporter lines.
The space age was enabled by the invention of the transistor, and the close association of computing with the final frontier continues today. In fact, progress in low-power embedded electronics over the last decade has spawned a new breed of small, low-cost spacecraft, and a burgeoning commercial industry around them. This article documents some of that recent progress, while also looking forward to the tremendous opportunities that lie ahead at the intersection of embedded computing and space exploration.
The importance of perspective-taking crosses disciplines and is foundational to diverse phenomena such as point-of-view, scale, mindset, theory of mind, opinion, belief, empathy, compassion, analysis, and problem solving, etc. This publication gives predictions for and a formal description of point-view Perspectives (P) or the “P-rule”. This makes the P-rule foundational to systems, systems thinking and the consilience of knowledge. It is one of four universals of the organization of information as a whole. This paper presents nine empirical studies in which subjects were asked to complete a task and/or answer a question. The samples vary for each study (ranging from N = 407 to N = 34,398) and are generalizable to a normal distribution of the US population. As was evident in Cabrera, “These studies support—with high statistical significance—the predictions made by DSRP Theory (Distinctions, Systems Relationships, Perspectives) point-view Perspectives including its: universality as an observable phenomenon in both mind (cognitive complexity) and nature (material complexity) (i.e., parallelism); internal structures and dynamics; mutual dependencies on other universals (i.e., Distinctions, Systems, and Relationships); role in structural predictions; and, efficacy as a metacognitive skill”. These data suggest that point-view Perspectives (P) observably and empirically exist, and that universality, efficacy, and parallelism (between cognitive and material complexity) exist as well. The impact of this paper is that it provides empirical evidence for the phenomena of point-view perspective taking (“P-rule”) as a universal pattern/structure of systems thinking, a field in which scholarly debate is often based on invalidated opinioned frameworks; this sets the stage for theory building in the field.
DSRP Theory is now over 25 years old with more empirical evidence supporting it than
any other systems thinking framework. Yet, it is often misunderstood and described in ways that are inaccurate. DSRP Theory describes four patterns and their underlying elements—identity (i) and other (o) for Distinctions (D), part (p) and whole (w) for Systems (S), action (a) and reaction (r) for Relationships (R), and point (ρ) and view (v) for Perspectives (P)—that are universal in both cognitive complexity (mind) and material complexity (nature). DSRP Theory provides a basis for systems thinking or cognitive complexity as well as material complexity (systems science). This paper, as a relatively short primer on the theory, provides clarity to those wanting to understand DSRP and its implications.
Planning a space mission is mostly constrained by factors of payload mass and vol- ume, as well as the efficiency of systems and launch capabilities of a provider. Nearly all contemporary satellites carry a limited number of spare fuel for maneuvering and station keeping, no spare parts, not even means to provide proper repairs. The future of space mission architecture is dependent on both, the interconnectedness of its elements as well as sustainability and optimized logistics. This calls for more operations requiring robots as servicers, factories, constructors resource extractors, and power providers. It is very easy to simply dismiss the concept of ISRU (In-situ Space Resource Utilization)1, OSAM (On-orbit Servicing, Assembly and Manufactur- ing)2 and Recycling/Upcycling in space by declaring the low tech readiness level of required technologies, or that they have been discussed in the years between 1960- 1990, causing controversy in both scholarly fields as well as within space policy itself. It should be noted, that visions of space progress driven by vast industrialization and extraction/processing/manufacturing capacities were the reason that the L5-Soci- ety3, The National Space Institute, AIAA and others have advocated for the rejection of the Moon Agreement of 19794. Similarly, we can see a gradual shift in discussing space resource utilization rights, which have recently gained more and more trac- tion due to national developments of The United States, Luxembourg, or the United Arab Emirates, to discuss the problems, and issues involving space products and objects partially of fully composed of space resources. The scope of this paper is to discuss the impact of the ability of space objects, whether one or a group of them, being able to construct other space resources using either natural resources ex- tracted from a celestial body, and outer space, or reusing elements of space debris or wreckage.
Planning a space mission is mostly constrained by factors of payload mass and volume , as well as the efficiency of systems and launch capabilities of a provider. Nearly all contemporary satellites carry a limited number of spare fuel for maneuvering and station keeping, no spare parts, not even means to provide proper repairs. The future of space mission architecture is dependent on both, the interconnectedness of its elements as well as sustainability and optimized logistics. This calls for more operations requiring robots as servicers, factories, constructors resource extractors, and power providers. It is very easy to simply dismiss the concept of ISRU (In-situ Space Resource Utilization) 1 , OSAM (On-orbit Servicing, Assembly and Manufacturing) 2 and Recycling/Upcycling in space by declaring the low tech readiness level of required technologies, or that they have been discussed in the years between 1960-1990, causing controversy in both scholarly fields as well as within space policy itself. It should be noted, that visions of space progress driven by vast industrialization and extraction/processing/manufacturing capacities were the reason that the L5-Society 3 , The National Space Institute, AIAA and others have advocated for the rejection of the Moon Agreement of 1979 4. Similarly, we can see a gradual shift in discussing space resource utilization rights, which have recently gained more and more traction due to national developments of The United States, Luxembourg, or the United Arab Emirates, to discuss the problems, and issues involving space products and objects partially of fully composed of space resources. The scope of this paper is to discuss the impact of the ability of space objects, whether one or a group of them, being able to construct other space resources using either natural resources extracted from a celestial body, and outer space, or reusing elements of space debris or wreckage. The title uses the terms like a "shoggoth" 5 or bush robot 6 , which in this paper are interchangeable concepts of modular, reconfigurable robotic space objects capable of extracting resources, materials processing, constructing components, elements or whole new space objects, including its copy, in the sense similar to Moore's Artificial living plants , or von Neumann's universal kinematic assembler 8.
This article is a presentation of key aspects of Jung’s psychology as well as a response to Daniel Anderson’s article on Wolfgang Giegerich’s theory of soul, “The Soul’s Logical Life and Jungian Schisms,” published separately in the present issue. I address the question of Jungian institutional schisms in light of the tension between the professionalization of analytical psychology and Jung’s concept of soul. In a second step, I consider the relatedness of alchemy to modern quantum mechanics, in the process analogizing Jung’s archetypes to the concept of radical uncertainty.
The objective of this study is to examine the development of socio-technical accountability mechanisms in order to: a) preserve and increase the autonomy of individuals subjected to surveillance and b) replenish the asymmetry of power between those who watch and those who are watched. To do so, we address two surveillance realms: intelligence services and personal data networks. The cases studied are Spain and Brazil, from the beginning of the political transitions in the 1970s (in the realm of intelligence), the expansion of Internet digital networks covering the 2020s (in the realm of personal data), to resistance principles in a long-term future. The examination of accountability, thus, comprises a holistic evolution of institutions, regulations, market strategies, as well as resistance tactics. The conclusion summarizes the accountability mechanisms and proposes universal principles to improve the legitimacy of authority in surveillance and politics in a broad sense.
PREFACE, INTRODUCTION;
PART 1. Zero.
Chapter 1. Theoretical Framework;
1.1. On the forms of power
1.1.a. Restraining power: About the importance of controlling the uncontrollable.
1.1.b. Executing power: The aporia between exceptionality and normalization
1.1.c. Justifying power: A brief epistemological history
1.1.d. Constructing power: In the name of security
1.2. On surveillance: Real metaphors and perspectives
1.3. On privacy: Basic remarks
1.4. On accountability: The art of squaring the circle
Chapter 2. Methodology and Operationalization
2.1. Hypothesis
2.2. Operationalization
PART 2. 1975.
Chapter 3. Accountability in the realm of intelligence
3.1. Intelligence
3.2. Authoritarian legacies
3.2.a. The Spanish authoritarian legacy
3.2.b. The Brazilian authoritarian legacy
3.3. Intelligence institutional paths
3.3.a. The Spanish path: SECED, CESID, CNI
3.3.b. The Brazilian path: SNI, SAE, ABIN-SISBIN
3.4. Internal control
3.5. Legislative control
3.6. Judicial control
3.7. Accountability of third dimension
3.8. The media role and civil society
Chapter 4. Surveillance and intelligence: connecting the points
4.1. Surveillance metaphors and intelligence
4.2. Intelligence and the management of subjects
4.3. Intelligence accountability and legitimate resistance
PART 3. 2020.
Chapter 5. Accountability in the realm of personal data
5.0. Personal data
5.1. State regulations
5.1.a. Personal data protection in Spain
5.1.b. Personal data protection in Brazil
5.2. Market strategies
5.2.a. Internet and data business
5.2.b. Accountability of big market players
5.2.c. Further approaches: algorithms, privacy by design, and oligopolies
5.3. Civic agency
5.3.a. Ironic stream
5.3.b. Deliberative stream
5.3.c. Agonistic stream
5.3.d. Despair stream
Chapter 6. Surveillance and personal data: connecting the points
6.1. Surveillance metaphors and personal data
6.2. Personal data and the management of subjects
6.3. Personal data accountability and further resistance
PART 4. 2084.
“Postscript” on the societies of surveillance;
Metanarratives for resistance
I. Icarus model
II. Sisyphus model
III. Orphic model
The desert is advancing: Accountability revisited
CONCLUSION
References
Appendices
Jon Kabat-Zinn (1994) has provided a widely accepted definition of mindfulness as a form of nonjudgmental, purposeful attention in the present moment. This definition, while helpful, can be somewhat limiting. In this article we discuss various aspects of mindfulness we feel require more nuanced consideration. Attention is not the same as awareness, and its cultivation can become distorted into a pursuit of vigilant alertness directed toward the objects of attention rather than a more fully engaged style of participant-observation. The emphasis on purposefulness in mindfulness can lead to self-centered cultivation of a skill set rather than the mutual co-arising of experience that is central to psychotherapy. Furthermore, “in the present moment” can constrain practitioners to a reified notion of time that does not fully acknowledge its subjective (and intersubjective) qualities. To think we understand what mindfulness “is” substitutes mastery for mystery and, in the process, limits its potential for radical transformation. Mindfulness heals by virtue of its being ultimately ungraspable—a joyful dance instead of a therapeutic technique. Mindfulness is not a skill; it is a gate.
We give a survey of epistemological and ontological approaches that have left traces in the 20th-century biology. A common motive of most of them is the effort to incorporate biology into the realm of physical sciences. However, such attempts failed, and must fail in the future, unless the criterion for what science is becomes biologically oriented. This means broadening the realm of classical natural sciences, incorporating at least part of the thesaurus of the “humanities”. We suggest three mutually complementary candidates for further development in this direction: modular biology, the hermeneutics of the living, and the semiotic disciplines.
In many fields, from psychology to political science, the ontological aspects of power are still debatable. At first glance, power is a relationship between two or more actors in order to achieve concrete results. An actor “A” can influence another actor “B” to obtain results through implicit or coercive means. Power is not only violence, indeed the no-decision or the lack of decision (ignoring the actor “B”) can be considered a manifestation of power. Yet, in this text, I will focus on the latter aspects of power, those related to coercive means, understanding authoritarianism as deviation or abuse of power. I also will focus on the reasons (personal and collective) behind authoritarianism and the forms to restrain it from a social perspective.
In the first part, I discuss some relevant dimensions of power and its connection to authority and legitimacy. The second part consists of an analysis of authoritarianism from psychological to social aspects. The third part discusses accountability as a relationship to restrain authority and improve legitimacy. The fourth part analyzes accountability efficiency and its relation to power asymmetries between two or more actors. The fifth part closes the texts bringing up some limits and problems of accountability. This part is important in order to avoid inefficient outcomes and delusions when it comes to restraining authority.
Filozofická antropologie, nahlížena z kosmické perspektivy a na evoluční úrovni, by aktuálně měla zaměřit vědecké a racionální úvahy na možnou budoucnost našeho druhu, připravujícího se na výpravy mimo náš nejbližší okruh materiálního vesmíru. Pokroky v nanotechnologiích a bioinženýrství umožní nejen další biotechnické vylepšení „lidského živočicha“, ale i jeho existenci na jiných světech. Pokud si lidstvo udrží dynamickou integritu a zájem vyvíjet se, bude náš druh směřovat svůj vývoj více a více ze současného stavu humánního Homo sapiens k trans-humánnímu Homo futurensis a nakonec k post-humánní úrovně existence v podobě kosmické nad-bytosti. Naši potomci dokonce mohou objevit formy života vzniklé v procesu exo-evoluce, včetně inteligentních bytostí, na vnějších planetách a měsících. Vzdálené kosmické nad-bytosti mohou dokonce dosáhnout nesmrtelnosti s tím, jak budou obývat různé oblasti mezihvězdného prostoru. Jejich hodnoty, zkušenosti a světonázor budou nepochybně mimo naši představivost. Podobně jako u většiny druhů, které kdysi obývaly Zemi (včetně některých prehistorických forem hominidů), přirozené vyhynutí našeho vlastního druhu či jeho potomků vždy zůstává znepokojivou možností.
Three sets of determinants of spatial complexity have been identified: (i) probabilistic (entropy, randomness), (ii) geometrical (symmetries, intersections, orthogonality, curvature), (iii) topological (boundaries, genus, dimension, knottedness, braiding, knotting, linking, braiding, writhing). Spatial complexity is an inter-disciplinary subject and a spatial complexity observatory might need to be established, to monitor developments and research results related to spatial complexity from across all disciplines. The future of humankind highly depends on the degree to which it is able to understand, exploit and manage spatial complexity at large (planetary) scales. Even in planning a utopia, would we prefer maximum spatial complexity? Or just maximum spatial diversity? Or a co-presence of different “com-possible” (as Leibniz named them) spatial configurations? Might quantum computation and/or spatial computing help us explore spatial alternatives? No doubt, crossing borders into the amazing realm of spatial complexity poses challenging problems at both theoretical and practical levels.
THE RAILWAY SPIRIT: FREEDOM, GIFT AND WORK IN E.P. THOMPSON’S “OMLADINSKA PRUGA”. If Yugoslav Youth Labour Actions functioned as an act of mass gifting, as suggested by Andrea Matošević (2015), here I look at E.P. Thompson and other British volunteers as contemporaries and as ethnographers of that exchange. Thompson’s early essay, "Omladinska pruga", has all the crucial elements of an ethnography: it is a description based on participant observation; with an author who is a foreigner, and yet welcomed to the relations he observes; with meanings of practices understood through the very experience of an ethnographer. But what distinguishes Thompson’s essay from classical accounts on the gift – such as those of Bronislaw Malinowski and Marcel Mauss – is a description of creation of new society, rather than traditional relations. Its focus is on gifting of labour, rather than already finished objects. The result is a text that not only deconstructs some of the most obstinate theses about totalitarianism of socialist states, but also continues, as well as transcends, Mauss’ oeuvre. I read E. P. Thompson’s text to see what would have happened if the idiom of the gift had not slipped to liberal nostalgia, and if alternative, socialist understandings of creating the commons prevailed. (Chapter published in a volume dedicated to reinterpretation of British brigadiers' experience at Yugoslav work actions and socialist construction more generally, titled 'Duh Pruge: zbornik radova o knjizi E. P. Thompsona', edited by Tanja Petrović & Andrea Matošević, published by Fabrika knjiga.)
The existence of quantum correlates of consciousness (QCC) is doubtful from a scientific perspective. But even if their existence were verified, philosophical problems would remain. On the other hand, there could be more to QCC than meets the sceptic's eye: • QCC might be useful or even necessary for a better understanding of conscious experience or quantum physics or both. The main reasons for this are: the measurement problem (the nature of observation, the mysterious collapse of the wave function, etc.), ostensibly shared features of quantum phenomena and conscious phenomena (e.g., complementarity, nonspatiality, acausality, spontaneity, and holism) and connections (ontology, causation, and knowledge), the qualia problem (subjectivity, explanatory gap etc.). But there are many problems, especially questions regarding realism and the nature and role of conscious observers; • QCC are conceptually challenging, because there are definitory problems and some crucial ontological and epistemological shortcomings. It is instructive to compare them with recent proposals for understanding neural correlates of consciousness (NCC). QCC are not sufficient for a quantum theory of mind, nor might they be necessary except perhaps in a very broad sense; • QCC are also empirically challenging. Nevertheless, QCC could be relevant and important for the mindbody problem: QCC might reveal features that are necessary at least for behavioral manifestations of human consciousness. But QCC are compatible with very different proposals for a solution of the mind-body problem. This seems to be both advantageous and detrimental. QCC restrict accounts of nomological identity. The discovery of QCC cannot establish a naturalistic theory of mind alone. But there are also problems with QCC in the framework of other ontologies.
There are no undebated definitions of “creativity,” and any definition will reflect how this rich topic is treated. Nearly 20 years ago I discussed how behavior analysis might contribute—or not—to an understanding of creativity. I revisit this topic, expanding on some issues and reconsidering others. As before, my focus is on scientific and mathematical accomplishments, which, though tied closely to Weisberg’s placement of creative achievements in the domains of problem posing and problem solving, places emphasis on the extraordinary and productive giftedness of certain individuals. From the massive empirical, theoretical, and historical literature at least three essential and dynamically interlocking dimensions of their creative achievements emerge: talent, expertise, and motivation. I emphasize “interlocking” because the productive expression of each of these elements depends on the others. The role of behavior analysis in these elements is modest at best. It has nothing to say about talent—and even in some cases might deny its role altogether. As for expertise, with some notable exceptions, behavior analysis has had little to say about the acquisition of truly complex performances; this has been left to other fields. As for motivation, one must go well beyond naïve “pleasure and pain” accounts to more elusive, yet more powerful behavior–consequence relations. Many challenges to understanding remain for all behavioral scientists.
50 years after serious scientific research began in the field of exobiology, and 40 years after serious historical research began on the subject of extraterrestrial life, this paper identifies and examines some of the most important issues in the history, philosophy, and sociology of what is today known as astrobiology. As in the philosophy of science in general, and in the philosophies of particular sciences, critical issues in the philosophy and sociology of astrobiology are both stimulated and illuminated by history. Among those issues are (1) epistemological issues such as the status of astrobiology as a science, the problematic nature of evidence and inference, and the limits of science; (2) metaphysical/scientific issues including the question of defining the fundamental concepts of life, mind, intelligence, and culture in a universal context; the role of contingency and necessity in the origin of these fundamental phenomena; and whether or not the universe is in some sense fine-tuned for life and perhaps biocentric; (3) societal issues such as the theological, ethical, and worldview impacts of the discovery of microbial or intelligent life; and the question of whether the search for extraterrestrial life should be pursued at all, and with what precautions; and (4) issues related to the sociology of scientific knowledge, including the diverse attitudes and assumptions of different scientific communities and different cultures to the problem of life beyond Earth, the public “will to believe,” and the formation of the discipline of astrobiology. All these overlapping issues are framed by the concept of cosmic evolution—the 13.7-billion-year Master Narrative of the Universe—which may result in a physical, biological, or postbiological universe and determine the long-term destiny of humanity.
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