Redish et al. present a compelling, interdisciplinary, unified framework of addiction. The effort to integrate pathological gambling is especially important, but only the vulnerability of misclassifying situations is described in detail as being linked directly to this disorder. This commentary focuses on further developing the comprehensiveness of this framework for pathological gambling using over-fast discounting as an illustrative example.

This century is widely recognized as the Age of Analysis. "A posteriori" evidence is accumulating to demonstrate that the next century will be the Age of Synthesis. Synthesis will supplement analysis as a major thrust in our technological society. Synthesis requires a vision to project into the future, and demands a more holistic approach. Synthesis can help reduce the -two cultures- syndrome. Both natural and unnatural or human-made systems, involving the arts, sciences, the professions, and the applied fields, are discussed, (...) as well as the philosophy of Plato, Aristotle, Kant, and many other recognized philosophers.". (shrink)

The purpose of the simultaneous measurement of noncommuting quantum observables can be viewed as the joint estimation of parameters of the density operator of the quantum system. Joint estimation involves the application of a multiply parameterized operator-valued measure. An example related to the simultaneous estimation of the position and velocity of a particle is given. Conceptual difficulties attending simultaneous measurement of noncommuting observables are avoided by this formation.

Carl Mika claims in the symposium’s lead essay that we need more myth today. In fact, an “unscientific” attitude can potentially reorient the alienation from the world. For Mika, a philosophical mātauranga Māori incorporates such a way of being in the world. Through it, an unmediated and co-existent relationship with the world can be built up. Some of Mika’s co-symposiasts invite Mika to substantiate aspects about this bold claim. Carwyn Jones nudges Mika to discuss the parallels between tikanga Māori—a (...) system that seeks to incorporate Māori law—and the common-law tradition that is adopted in New Zealand today. W. Julian Korab-Karpowicz agrees with Mika that to understand the world through an indifferent “scientific” investigation is to understand the world only partially, while the Māori scientist Ocean Ripeka Mercier illustrates how she seeks to develop a third space in her work that reconciles the fear of the unknown with the propensity to control the world through knowing. Helen Verran invites Mika to think about whether, and how, his understanding of a philosophical mātauranga Māori can help to facilitate the cultivation of a naturalism that is able to generate a cosmopolitics in New Zealand. (shrink)