共查询到20条相似文献,搜索用时 15 毫秒
1.
Catherine Driscoll 《Biology & philosophy》2008,23(1):101-113
This paper tries to explain how individuals manage adaptive individual choice (i.e., the decision to acquire a fitter than
average behavior or idea rapidly and tractably) in cultural evolution, despite the fact that acquiring fitness information
is very difficult. I argue that the means of solving this problem suggested in the cultural evolution literature largely are
various types of decision rules employing representations of fitness correlated properties or states of affairs. I argue that
the problem of adaptive individual choice is best solved where some of these learning rule representations are socially transmitted
and some are biologically transmitted.
相似文献
Catherine DriscollEmail: |
2.
Robert Sparrow 《Journal of bioethical inquiry》2009,6(1):13-23
This paper attempts some predictions about the social consequences of nanotechnology and the ethical issues they raise. I
set out four features of nanotechnology that are likely to be important in determining its impact and argue that nanotechnology
will have significant social impacts in—at least—the areas of health and medicine, the balance of power between citizens and
governments, and the balance of power between citizens and corporations. More importantly, responding to the challenge of
nanotechnology will require confronting “philosophical” questions about the sort of society we wish to create and the role
that technology might play in creating it. This in turn will require developing institutions and processes that allow the
public to wield real power in relation to technological trajectories. My ultimate contention is that the immediate task established
by the likely social impacts of nanotechnology is not so much to develop an ethics of nanotechnology as to facilitate an ethical
conversation about nanotechnology.
相似文献
Robert SparrowEmail: |
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Terry Harmer 《Cluster computing》2007,10(3):277-285
Gridcast is an R&D project investigating grid ideas and technologies in the broadcasting technical infrastructure. In this
paper I discuss the business and technical issues in building infrastructures to support broadcasters and outline the structure
of the Gridcast grid-based service oriented architecture for broadcasting playout support.
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Terry HarmerEmail: |
6.
Jacob M. Vigil 《Human nature (Hawthorne, N.Y.)》2007,18(2):143-161
Several hypotheses on the form and function of sex differences in social behaviors were tested. The results suggest that friendship
preferences in both sexes can be understood in terms of perceived reciprocity potential—capacity and willingness to engage in a mutually beneficial relationship. Divergent social styles may in turn reflect trade-offs
between behaviors selected to maintain large, functional coalitions in men and intimate, secure relationships in women. The
findings are interpreted from a broad socio-relational framework of the types of behaviors that facilitate selective advertisement
and investment of reciprocity potential across individuals and within groups of men and women.
相似文献
Jacob M. VigilEmail: |
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Kristin Andrews 《Biology & philosophy》2009,24(1):51-63
Following recent arguments that there is no logical problem with attributing mental or agential states to animals, I address
the epistemological problem of how to go about making accurate attributions. I suggest that there is a two-part general method
for determining whether a psychological property can be accurately attributed to a member of another species: folk expert
opinion and functionality. This method is based on well-known assessments used to attribute mental states to humans who are
unable to self-ascribe due to an early stage of development or impairment, and can be used to describe social and emotional
development as well as personality. I describe how instruments such as the Child Behavior Checklist, which relies on intersubjective
expert opinion, could be modified to assess other species subjects. The measures are validated via the accuracy of the predictions
that are derived, which is an example of the functionality of attribution. I respond to theoretical criticisms against use
of this method, and argue that if the method counts as good science for infant cognition research, then it should count as
good science for animal cognition research as well. Correspondingly, if the method doesn’t count as good science for animal
cognition research, then we must be very skeptical of its use with nonverbal humans.
相似文献
Kristin AndrewsEmail: |
9.
Roger Sansom 《Biology & philosophy》2008,23(4):475-491
I show that gene regulation networks are qualitatively consistent and therefore sufficiently similar to linearly seperable
connectionist networks to warrant that the connectionist framework be applied to gene regulation. On this view, natural selection
designs gene regulation networks to overcome the difficulty of development. I offer some general lessons about their evolvability
that can be learned by examining the generic features of connectionist networks.
相似文献
Roger SansomEmail: |
10.
Sub-Antarctic Marion Island has had a permanent research station for 50 years and the islands Wandering Albatrosses have been intensively studied for 20 years. The reactions of breeding birds to approaches by a human on foot were recorded. Three response variables were calculated: intensity of vocal reaction (IVR), intensity of non-vocal reaction (INR) and overall response index (ORI). At 5 m from the nest, twice as many birds stood and/or vocalised as at 15 m. Nearest neighbour distance, age and gender did not explain individual variability of responses. Study colony birds had higher IVR scores than non-study colony birds; birds at colonies closest to the station had the highest ORI scores. A better breeding record was associated with lower IVR and ORI scores, but a causative relationship remains to be demonstrated. A minimum viewing distance of 25 m is recommended for breeding Wandering Albatrosses.
相似文献
Marienne S. de VilliersEmail: Fax: +27-21-6503434 |
John CooperEmail: |
Peter G. RyanEmail: |
11.
Celebrities: From Teachers to Friends 总被引:1,自引:0,他引:1
Charlotte J. S. De Backer Mark Nelissen Patrick Vyncke Johan Braeckman Francis T. McAndrew 《Human nature (Hawthorne, N.Y.)》2007,18(4):334-354
In this paper we present two compatible hypotheses to explain interest in celebrity gossip. The Learning Hypothesis explains
interest in celebrity gossip as a by-product of an evolved mechanism useful for acquiring fitness-relevant survival information.
The Parasocial Hypothesis sees celebrity gossip as a diversion of this mechanism, which leads individuals to misperceive celebrities
as people who are part of their social network. Using two preliminary studies, we tested our predictions. In a survey with
838 respondents and in-depth interviews with 103 individuals, we investigated how interest in celebrity gossip was related
to several dimensions of the participants’ social lives. In support of the Learning Hypothesis, age proved to be a strong
predictor of interest in celebrities. In partial support of the Parasocial Hypothesis, media exposure, but not social isolation,
was a strong predictor of interest in celebrities. The preliminary results support both theories, indicate that across our
life span celebrities move from being teachers to being friends, and open up a list of future research opportunities.
相似文献
Charlotte J. S. De BackerEmail: Email: |
12.
Christine A. James 《Biosemiotics》2009,2(2):151-167
Williams Syndrome provides a striking test case for discourses on disability, because the characteristics associated with
Williams Syndrome involve a combination of “abilities” and “disabilities”. For example, Williams Syndrome is associated with
disabilities in mathematics and spatial cognition. However, Williams Syndrome individuals also tend to “have a unique strength
in their expressive language skills”, and are socially outgoing and unselfconscious when meeting new people. Children with
Williams are said to be “typically unafraid of strangers and show a greater interest in contact with adults than with their
peers.” This apparently keen social knowledge is a counterexample to the discussion of disability among academic philosophers,
especially philosophers in the early modern period. Locke infamously used the example of disability to claim that Descartes’
arguments in favor of innate ideas were incorrect. On the contrary, Williams Syndrome may stand as an example of innate social
knowledge; something that could benefit current discourse in philosophy, disability theory, and medical ethics.
相似文献
Christine A. JamesEmail: |
13.
Social Capital,Collective Action and Group Formation: Developmental Trajectories in Post-socialist Mongolia 总被引:2,自引:1,他引:1
Caroline Upton 《Human ecology: an interdisciplinary journal》2008,36(2):175-188
Group formation, social capital and collective action have been the focus of much recent attention amongst donors and policy
makers. Optimistic scenarios highlight their contributions to poverty reduction and effective natural resource management.
However, recent critiques have focused on the exclusionary potential or ‘dark side’ of groups and social capital. Not only
are their longer term livelihood impacts unclear, but lacunae persist in our understanding of how social capital, especially
trust, is built. This paper presents a longitudinal evaluation of trust, collective action and cooperation among herders in
post-Soviet Mongolia in the context of recent donor projects. Results highlight the important catalytic effect of external
interventions in overcoming a lack of trust and promoting formalised collective action, but only in the context of a particular
conjunction of circumstances. Indications for livelihood outcomes confirm the differentiated benefits, exclusionary potential
and fragility of social capital and new institutional forms.
相似文献
Caroline UptonEmail: |
14.
The recent contribution by Jarmila Kukalová-Peck on Hennigian phylogenetics and hexapod limb evolution is critically evaluated.
相似文献
Michael S. Engel (Corresponding author)Email: |
15.
Peter Godfrey-Smith 《Biology & philosophy》2007,22(3):429-437
Jablonka and Lamb's claim that evolutionary biology is undergoing a ‘revolution’ is queried. But the very concept of revolutionary
change has uncertain application to a field organized in the manner of contemporary biology. The explanatory primacy of sequence
properties is also discussed.
相似文献
Peter Godfrey-SmithEmail: |
16.
The Cauchy problem for one-dimensional spiking neuron models 总被引:1,自引:1,他引:0
Romain Brette 《Cognitive neurodynamics》2008,2(1):21-27
I consider spiking neuron models defined by a one-dimensional differential equation and a reset—i.e., neuron models of the
integrate-and-fire type. I address the question of the existence and uniqueness of a solution on for a given initial condition. It turns out that the reset introduces a countable and ordered set of backward solutions for
a given initial condition. I discuss the implications of these mathematical results in terms of neural coding and spike timing
precision.
相似文献
Romain BretteEmail: |
17.
A key point in the analysis of dynamical models of biological systems is to handle systems of relatively high dimensions.
In the present paper we propose a method to hierarchically organize a certain type of piecewise affine (PWA) differential
systems. This specific class of systems has been extensively studied for the past few years, as it provides a good framework
to model gene regulatory networks. The method, shown on several examples, allows a qualitative analysis of the asymptotic
behavior of a PWA system, decomposing it into several smaller subsystems. This technique, based on the well-known strongly
connected components decomposition, is not new. However, its adaptation to the non-smooth PWA differential equations turns
out to be quite relevant because of the strong discrete structure underlying these equations. Its biological relevance is
shown on a 7-dimensional PWA system modeling the gene network responsible for the carbon starvation response in Escherichia coli.
相似文献
Laurent Tournier (Corresponding author)Email: |
Jean-Luc GouzéEmail: |
18.
J. R. Martin 《Journal of bioethical inquiry》2008,5(1):41-55
In this paper I focus on the limits of narrative by asking what kinds of things narratives do, and what kinds of texts do
related things in other ways. In particular I focus on how narrative genres organise time in relation to value, drawing on
functional linguistic models of temporality and evaluation. From a linguistic perspective, the various narrative genres negotiate
different kinds of solidarity with listeners, and so the limits of narrative materialise various possibilities for communing
in a culture, alongside the potentialities for construing community through related and other genres of discourse—since in
general, the limits/possibilities of our language (and attendant modalities of communication) are the limits/possibilities
of our social world.
相似文献
J. R. MartinEmail: |
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