Context: Many recent research areas such as human cognition and quantum physics call the observer-independence of traditional science into question. Also, there is a growing need for self-reflexivity in science, i.e., a science that reflects on its own outcomes and products. Problem: We introduce the concept of second-order science that is based on the operation of re-entry. Our goal is to provide an overview of this largely unexplored science domain and of potential approaches in second-order fields. Method: We provide the (...) necessary conceptual groundwork for explorations in second-order science, in which we discuss the differences between first- and second-order science and where we present a roadmap for second-order science. The article operates mainly with conceptual differentiations such as the separation between three seemingly identical concepts such as Science II, Science 2.0 and second-order science. Results: Compared with first-order science, the potential of second-order science lies in 1. higher levels of novelty and innovations, 2. higher levels of robustness and 3. wider integration as well as higher generality. As first-order science advances, second-order science, with re-entry as its basic operation, provides three vital functions for first-order science, namely a rich source of novelty and innovation, the necessary quality control and greater integration and generality. Implications: Second-order science should be viewed as a major expansion of traditional scientific fields and as a scientific breakthrough towards a new wave of innovative research. Constructivist content: Second-order science has strong ties with radical constructivism, which can be qualified as the most important root/origin of second-order science. Moreover, it will be argued that a new form of cybernetics is needed to cope with the new problems and challenges of second-order science. (shrink)

Recent research in the cognitive science of religion suggests that humans intuitively believe that others survive death. In response to this finding, three cognitive theories have been offered to explain this: the simulation constraint theory (Bering, Citation2002); the imaginative obstacle theory (Nichols, Citation2007); and terror management theory (Pyszczynski, Rothschild, & Abdollahi, 2008). First, I provide a critical analysis of each of these theories. Second, I argue that these theories, while perhaps explaining why one would believe in his own personal immortality, (...) leave an explanatory gap in that they do not explain why one would intuitively attribute survival of death to others. To fill in the gap, I offer a cognitive theory based on offline social reasoning and social embodiment which provides for the belief in an eternal social realm in which the deceased survive—the afterlife. (shrink)

Why do we persist in the relentless pursuit of artificial nourishment and other treatments to maintain a permanently unconscious existence? In facing the future, if not the present world-wide reality of a huge number of persistent vegetative state (PVS) patients, will they be treated because of our ethical commitment to their humanity, or because of an ethical paralysis in the face of biotechnical progress? The PVS patient is cut off from the normal patterns of human connection and communication, with a (...) life unlike other forms of human existence. Why the struggle to justify ending a life which, it is said, has suffered an irreversible loss of the content of consciousness? Elsewhere, the authors have addressed the ethical controversies and confusion engendered by ambiguous terminology, misuse of medical facts and the differing interpretations of what constitutes 'effective' treatment: in particular, the issue of whether in fact artificial nutrition and hydration is a medical treatment, or simply part of the obligatory care owed to all patients, permanently unconscious or not. In this paper, we intend to argue that recent analyses of medical futility, its meaning and ethical implications, despite an absence of public consensus, permit some tentative re-evaluation of our ethical obligations to the PVS patient. (shrink)

The ability of the mind to conceptualize what is not present is essential. It allows us to reason counterfactually about what might have happened had events unfolded differently or had another course of action been taken. It allows us to think about what might happen – to perform 'Gedankenexperimente' (thought experiments) – before we act. However, the cognitive and neural mechanisms mediating this ability are poorly understood. We suggest that the frontopolar cortex (FPC) keeps track of and evaluates alternative choices (...) (what we might have done), whereas the anterior lateral prefrontal cortex (alPFC) compares simulations of possible future scenarios (what we might do) and evaluates their reward values. Together, these brain regions support the construction of suppositional scenarios. (shrink)

The article examines the algorithms for JPEG and JPEG-2000 compression of various graphic images. The main steps of the operation of both algorithms are given, their advantages and disadvantages are noted. The main differences between JPEG and JPEG-2000 are analyzed. It is noted that the JPEG-2000 algorithm allows re-moving visually unpleasant effects. This makes it possible to highlight important areas of the image and improve the quality of their compression. The features of each step of the algorithms are considered and (...) the difficulties of their implementation are compared. The effectiveness of each algorithm is demonstrated by the example of a full-color image of the BSU emblem. The obtained compression ratios were obtained and shown in the corresponding tables using both algorithms. Compression ratios are obtained for a wide range of quality values from 1 to ten. We studied various types of images: black and white, business graphics, indexed and full color. A modified LZW-Lempel-Ziv-Welch algorithm is presented, which is applicable to compress a variety of information from text to images. The modification is based on limiting the graphic file to 256 colors. This made it possible to index the color with one byte instead of three. The efficiency of this modification grows with increasing image sizes. The modified LZW-algorithm can be adapted to any image from single-color to full-color. The prepared tests were indexed to the required number of colors in the images using the FastStone Image Viewer program. For each image, seven copies were obtained, containing 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128 and 256 colors, respectively. Testing results showed that the modified version of the LZW algorithm allows for an average of twice the compression ratio. However, in a class of full-color images, both algorithms showed the same results. The developed modification of the LZW algorithm can be successfully applied in the field of site design, especially in the case of so-called flat design. The comparative characteristics of the basic and modified methods are presented. (shrink)

Purpose: Josef Mitterer's essays are considered to be important philosophical advancements of radical constructivism. The main purposes of this paper are, on the one hand, to structure the RC landscape and, on the other hand, to investigate the relations of Mitterer's work to radical constructivism in particular and to philosophy in general. Findings: In this short essay focusing on Mitterer's Das Jenseits der Philosophie, I would like to stress two major points. First, Mitterer's book should be considered as one of (...) several contemporary variants of a radical critique of the semantic turn in the philosophy of science that has taken place since the mid-thirties with the works of Rudolf Carnap, Carl G. Hempel, Hilary Putnam, Alfred Tarski and others. Second, it is by no means clear how to determine the relevance of the new semantic critique for the present and future cognitive status of radical constructivism. The degree of relevance depends crucially on the use of the term "radical constructivism." If radical constructivism, as I will argue, is seen as an umbrella term for a group of empirical research programs, then, by sheer necessity, the relevance can be marginal only. If, however, radical constructivism is viewed as a special form of philosophy of language and/or as a new epistemology, then the importance of Josef Mitterer's approach must be judged within the context of available functional alternatives. Implications: An immediate consequence of this article lies in a renewed emphasis on advancing an empirical research agenda for radical constructivism and in an effective downsizing of radical constructivism as a philosophical perspective. (shrink)

Because the evolution of speech production is beyond our expertise (and perhaps beyond everyone's expertise) we restrict our comments to areas in which data actually exist. We provide articulatory evidence consistent with the claims made about syllable structure in adult speech and infant babbling, but we also voice some disagreement about speech errors and the typing data.

Open peer commentary on the article “Designing Constructionist E-Books: New Mediations for Creative Mathematical Thinking?” by Chronis Kynigos. Upshot: Chronis Kynigos’s article invites us to explore how to make familiar objects for learning — namely, books — more constructionist. In my response, I ask questions about the affordances and potential limitations of books as central objects, particularly about the role of the learner in relation to the objects.

Russell's objections to object-theory have been refuted by the proofs of the consistency of Meinong's system given by various writers. These proofs exploit technical distinctions that Meinong apparently uses very little if at all. Instead, Meinong introduces a theoretical postulate called the modal moment. I describe this postulate and its place in Meinong's system, and I argue that it has been much under-rated by Meinong's logician expositors.

Artiklen analyser de tre centrale borgerlige meningsdannere Søren Krarups, Bertel Haarders og Henning Fonsmarks forestillingsverden gennem deres ideer om folket og eliten, som kom til udtryk gennem kritik af demokratiet. Mere specifikt angreb den borgerlige demokratikritik forståelsen af demokrati som en livsform med vægt på samtale og dannelse til demokrati og anskuede den senere danmarkshistorie som en konflikt mellem folket og eliten, hvad end den var politisk, offentligt ansat eller kulturlivet. Artiklen fokuserer på et udvalg af deres tekster fra slutningen (...) af 1960’erne til begyndelsen af 1990’erne. Med udgangspunkt i Quentin Skinners be- greb om de “innovative ideologer”, anskuer artiklen Krarup, Haarder og Fonsmark som aktører, der på hver sin vis ønskede at redefinere betydningen af demokratibe- grebet og sætte klarere grænser for politikernes handlerum. Således kombinerede de liberale ønsker om at markedsliggøre den offentlige sektor med et konservativt modoplysningsprojekt for at bekæmpe venstrefløjens udvidede demokratisyn. Fæl- les for deres forestillingsunivers var kritikken af den såkaldte “demokratisme” og fremhævelsen af folket som et offer for en politisk og kulturel elites visioner for at omforme samfundet. (shrink)