The Cybersyn project has lately received increased attention. In this article, we study the local technical antecedents of Stafford Beer's Cybersyn project in Chile, particularly regarding Cybernetics and Systems ideas and local computing and networking developments. We show that the Cybersyn project in Chile was hosted by a rich intellectual environment that understood Cybernetics and Systems ideas; that it found a mature computer community and infrastructure whose high point was the State Computing Enterprise EMCO/ECOM, and an advanced networking experience whose (...) flagship was the automation of the State Bank that involved a pioneering network of teleprocess. In summary, this paper attempts to unveil the deep historical background over which the globally unique cybernetic experiment called Cybersyn flourished. (shrink)

The literature on mathematical explanation contains numerous examples of explanatory, and not so explanatory proofs. In this paper we report results of an empirical study aimed at investigating mathematicians’ notion of explanatoriness, and its relationship to accounts of mathematical explanation. Using a Comparative Judgement approach, we asked 38 mathematicians to assess the explanatory value of several proofs of the same proposition. We found an extremely high level of agreement among mathematicians, and some inconsistencies between their assessments and claims in the (...) literature regarding the explanatoriness of certain types of proofs. (shrink)

This article traces the link between Deleuze’s philosophy of individuation, developed in such works as Difference and Repetition and Logic of Sense, and the notion of structure, that articulated a good part of the epistemological and ontological discussions in French philosophy and science in the 1960s. Besides pointing out the originality of Deleuze’s take on the term ‘structure’—as it ceases to correspond to a formal constant that is opposed or indifferent to the genesis of singular individuals, and becomes a virtual (...) field of pre-individual determinations—, the author presents the possible limits of its use in a philosophy of difference in itself. The reconstruction of this philosophical bet that wanted to turn “structuralism” into a new transcendental philosophy allows to assess how much of this idea of structure remains alive in Deleuze and Guattari’s later works, and to what extent their philosophy transforms or displaces the project that had been formulated in those early books. (shrink)

A partir de una distinción entre la crítico al mito tradicional, que puede llevar a hacer usos pedagógicos del mismo una vez reformado y el uso del mito dentro de una investigación filosófica como herramienta del pensamiento, se procede en este trabajo a considerar tres mitos filosóficos y a establecer la forma en que puedan ser leídos adecuadamente, especialmente tratando de establecer las repercusiones del tipo ético que tienen dentro de la obra de Platón. Se realizan, en primer lugar algunas (...) consideraciones generales sobre el lugar del mito en la filosofía de Platón; a continuación se hace un comentario de los tres mitos; por último se formulan dos tipos de conclusiones: las metodológicas y las éticas. (shrink)

In this chapter we use methods of corpus linguistics to investigate the ways in which mathematicians describe their work as explanatory in their research papers. We analyse use of the words explain/explanation (and various related words and expressions) in a large corpus of texts containing research papers in mathematics and in physical sciences, comparing this with their use in corpora of general, day-to-day English. We find that although mathematicians do use this family of words, such use is considerably less prevalent (...) in mathematics papers than in physics papers or in general English. Furthermore, we find that the proportion with which mathematicians use expressions related to ‘explaining why’ and ‘explaining how’ is significantly different to the equivalent proportion in physics and in general English. We discuss possible accounts for these differences. (shrink)

Understanding how people behave when facing hazardous situations, how intrinsic and extrinsic factors influence the risk taking (RT) decision making process and to what extent it is possible to modify their reactions externally, are questions that have long interested academics and society in general. In the spheres of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH), the military, finance and sociology, this topic has multidisciplinary implications because we all constantly face risk taking situations. Researchers have hitherto assessed risk taking profiles by conducting questionnaires (...) prior to and after the presentation of stimuli; however, this can lead to the production of biased, non-realistic, risk taking profiles. This is due to the reflexive nature of choosing an answer in a questionnaire, which is remote from the reactive, emotional and impulsive decision making processes inherent to real, risky situations. One way to address this question is to exploit VR capabilities to generate immersive environments that recreate realistic seeming but simulated hazardous situations. We propose VR as the next-generation tool to study risk taking processes, taking advantage of the big four families of metrics which can provide objective assessment methods with high ecological validity: the real-world risks approach (high presence VR environments triggering real-world reactions), embodied interactions (more natural interactions eliciting natural behaviours), stealth assessment (unnoticed real-time assessments offering efficient behavioural metrics) and physiological real-time measurement (physiological signals avoiding subjective bias). Additionally, VR can provide an invaluable tool, after the assessment phase, to train in skills related to risk taking due to its transferability to real-world situations. (shrink)

Mathematical explanations are poorly understood. Although mathematicians seem to regularly suggest that some proofs are explanatory whereas others are not, none of the philosophical accounts of what such claims mean has become widely accepted. In this paper we explore Wilkenfeld’s suggestion that explanations are those sorts of things that generate understanding. By considering a basic model of human cognitive architecture, we suggest that existing accounts of mathematical explanation are all derivable consequences of Wilkenfeld’s ‘functional explanation’ proposal. We therefore argue that (...) the explanatory criteria offered by earlier accounts can all be thought of as features that make it more likely that a mathematical proof will generate understanding. On the functional account, features such as characterising properties, unification, and salience correlate with explanatoriness, but they do not define explanatoriness. (shrink)

In this article, we report a study in which 109 research-active mathematicians were asked to judge the validity of a purported proof in undergraduate calculus. Significant results from our study were as follows: (a) there was substantial disagreement among mathematicians regarding whether the argument was a valid proof, (b) applied mathematicians were more likely than pure mathematicians to judge the argument valid, (c) participants who judged the argument invalid were more confident in their judgments than those who judged it valid, (...) and (d) participants who judged the argument valid usually did not change their judgment when presented with a reason raised by other mathematicians for why the proof should be judged invalid. These findings suggest that, contrary to some claims in the literature, there is not a single standard of validity among contemporary mathematicians. (shrink)

The issue of what constitutes a valid logical inference is a difficult question. At a minimum, we believe a permissible step in a proof must provide the reader with rational grounds to believe that the new step is a logically necessary consequence of previous assertions. However, this begs the question of what constitutes these rational grounds. Formalist accounts typically describe valid rules of inferences as those that can be found by applying one of the explicit rules of inference in the (...) formal system in which the proof is couched. However, philosophers of mathematics find such a description unhelpful because many inferences in the proofs that mathematicians actually produce cannot be expressed in a formal language, at least not without seriously distorting the semantic content of the inference (e.g., Larvor, 2012). In this chapter, we investigate mathematicians’ perceptions of a particular kind of inference in a particular setting. Specifically, we shed light on what types of graphical inferences mathematicians find permissible in a real analysis proof. Following Larvor (in press), we examine mathematicians’ reactions to metrical graphical inferences (i.e., inferences whose validity depends on the accuracy of the graph that was drawn and whose validity can be changed by minor deformations) and nonmetrical graphical inferences (i.e., inferences whose validity does not depend on a the accuracy of the graph and whose validity is not vulnerable to local deformations). The goal of this chapter is threefold. First, we demonstrate that most mathematicians reject metrical graphical inferences as impermissible in a real analysis proof. Second, we show that many mathematicians regard nonmetrical graphical inferences as permissible in a real analysis proofs. Third, we illustrate how mathematicians collectively disagree on the permissibility of nonmetrical inferences. (shrink)

Two experiments are reported which investigate the factors that influence how persuaded mathematicians are by visual arguments. We demonstrate that if a visual argument is accompanied by a passage of text which describes the image, both research-active mathematicians and successful undergraduate mathematics students perceive it to be significantly more persuasive than if no text is given. We suggest that mathematicians’ epistemological concerns about supporting a claim using visual images are less prominent when the image is described in words. Finally we (...) suggest that empirical studies can make a useful contribution to our understanding of mathematical practice. (shrink)

Resumen: Este artículo tiene como foco de estudio la fonología segmental del mapudungun, en general, y el estatus de los fonos interdentales /en el chedungun hablado en Alto Biobío, en particular. Se elicitó una lista léxica adaptada de Croese, 30 colaboradores adultos, bilingües de chedungun y español, pertenecientes a 10 localidades pehuenches de esta comuna. Mediante evidencia cuantitativa, visual, palatográfica y de contraste en ambiente análogo, se concluye que dichos fonos tienen estatus fonémico en la zona señalada.: This article focuses (...) on the Mapudungún segmental phonology in general, and the status of the interdental phones / from the Chedungun spoken in Alto Biobío in particular. An adapted lexicon list by Croese was elicited from 30 adult bilingual assistants, belonging to 10 towns of this community. Through the quantitative, visual, palatographic and analog environment contrast we concluded that those phones have phonemic status in the mentioned area. (shrink)

The focus is on the meaning of ὑπόϑεσις in Irenaeus of Lyons’ Adversus haereses. Our case is to argue that two different elements converge in ὑπόϑεσις or its translations in the Latin version of AH. The first stems from the Greek literary field, in which ὑπόϑεσις means the “subject” or “plot” of a dramatic or poetic composition. The second is related to the philosophical meaning of ὑπόϑεσις as “that which is placed under” or “foundation”. On the one hand, Irenaeus uses (...) ὑπόϑεσις theologically to express the plot of the historia salutis, so that the term can be understood as teaching or doctrine. On the other hand, this ὑπόϑεσις is at the same time a regula, the normative foundation of all the elements that take part in God’s economy of salvation. (shrink)

RESUMEN Este artículo examina la estética suprematista en relación con teorías políticas contemporáneas sobre la revolución y la transformación social. El punto de partida del suprematismo es la destrucción de la realidad objetiva como acto liberador. Aunque diversos autores contemporáneos del campo de la teoría política conciben el arte tcomo producción de sentimientos que actúan como puntos de partida de la acción y el compromiso. Ambas perspectivas se entrelazan en el concepto de 'revolución': la liberación de la representación totalitaria y (...) la creación de una nueva sociedad. ABSTRACT This article discusses suprematist aesthetics in relation to contemporary political theories of revolution and radical social transformation. The starting point of suprematism is the destruction of objective representation of reality, and this is understood as liberation. However, many contemporary authors in the field of political theory understand art as production of feelings which are, in turn, the starting point of action and engagement. Both perspectives are interwoven in the concept of 'revolution': the liberation from totalitarian representation and the creation of a new society. (shrink)

Ethical banking, microfinance institutions or certain credit cooperatives, among others, grant socially responsible loans. This paper presents a credit score system for them. The model evaluates social and financial aspects of the borrower. The financial aspects are evaluated under the conventional banking framework, by analysing accounting statements and financial projections. The social aspects try to quantify the loan impact on the achievement of Millennium Development Goals such as employment, education, environment, health or community impact. The social credit score model should (...) incorporate the lender’s know-how and should also be coherent with its mission. This is done using Multi-Criteria Decision Making. The paper illustrates a real case: a loan application by a social entrepreneur presented to a socially responsible lender. The decision support system not only produces a score, but also reveals strengths and weaknesses of the application. (shrink)

Discovering the influences between paintings and artists is very important for automatic art analysis. Lately, this problem has gained more importance since research studies are looking into explanations about the origin and evolution of artistic styles, which is a related problem. This paper proposes to build a multiplex artwork representation based on artistic formal concepts to gain more understanding about the aforementioned problem. We complement and built our approach on the previous notion of Creativity Implication Network. We used the recently (...) proposed MultiRank algorithm to suggest possible explanations of the dynamic of some artistic styles. Our results corroborate some well-known facts about the artists analyzed and give qualitative and quantitative information that show the possibilities and strengths of the proposed framework. We plan to expand our analysis to include more abstract artworks. Ideally, we are going to be able to validate more our results and test how our methodology could be used to generate visual artifacts too. (shrink)

Networks or partnerships are used by humans since the beginning of humanity and its analysis raises concerns from many different sectors of society. In the era of the network of networks, Internet, networks are generated by virtual connections of the agents. Social Network Analysis studies the relationship relation to each other, the social structure. It is an area that is emerging as essential in decision-making processes for its ability to analyze and intervene in the behaviour of structures. We analyze three (...) NSA tools that monitor conversations on the Organization "IFLA" keyword in order to measure the feeling of them, managing social efforts to relate the flows between the entities, groups, etc. (shrink)

In line with recent efforts to empirically study the folk concept of weakness of will, we examine two issues in this paper: (1) How is weakness of will attribution [WWA] influenced by an agent’s violations of best judgment and/or resolution, and by the moral valence of the agent’s action? (2) Do any of these influences depend on the cognitive dispositions of the judging individual? We implemented a factorial 2x2x2 between–subjects design with judgment violation, resolution violation, and action valence as independent (...) variables, and measured participants’ cognitive dispositions using Frederick’s Cognitive Reflection Test [CRT]. We conclude that intuitive and reflective individuals have two different concepts of weakness of will. The study supports this claim by showing that: a) the WWA of intuitive subjects is influenced by the action’s (and probably also the commitment’s) moral valence, while the WWA of reflective subjects is not; b) judgment violation plays a small role in the WWA of intuitive subjects, while reflective subjects treat resolution violation as the only relevant trait. Data were collected among students at two different universities. All subjects (N=710) answered the CRT. A three-way ANOVA was first conducted on the whole sample and then on the intuitive and reflective groups separately. This study suggests that differences in cognitive dispositions can significantly impact the folk understanding of philosophical concepts, and thus suggests that analysis of folk concepts should take cognitive dispositions into account. (shrink)

El objetivo de nuestra investigación es determinar el impacto de hábitos alimenticios en el desempeño académico. Fue evaluada los hábitos alimenticios según instrumentos validados y establecido su normalidad con Shapiro-Wilk W=0.97 y significancia p-valor=0.34. Tenemos que el consumo alimenticio también tiene distribución normal e impacta en el desempeño académico con una correlación de Pearson de 0.24 y significancia p-valor=0.04. La regresión logística establece el punto de corte de consumo igual a 38 para tener la probabilidad de un 50% de buen (...) desempeño académico. Asimismo, la estimación puntual de desempeño académico correspondiente a este corte de consumo 38 es el puntaje de 14. (shrink)

RESUMEN Se exploran las relaciones entre hegemonía y filosofía de la praxis en A. Gramsci. Se examina la influencia de la filosofía hegeliana sobre estas nociones en los Cuadernos de la cárcel. Asimismo, se estudia la crítica a estas nociones a la luz del feminismo de la diferencia y del debate sobre hegemonía, universalidad y contingencia iniciado por E. Laclau, J. Butler y S. Žižek. Se concluye que concebir la hegemonía desde la perspectiva de la filosofía de la praxis significa (...) que la acción político-intelectual, según Gramsci, no solo implica la formación de una hegemonía alternativa, sino una crítica políticamente operante a la pretensión de universalidad del discurso hegemónico a partir de la exposición de su contingencia histórica. ABSTRACT The paper explores the relations between hegemony and the philosophy of praxis in A. Gramsci, and examines the influence of Hegelian philosophy on these notions as set forth in the Prison Notebooks. Likewise, it studies the critique of these notions from the perspective of difference feminism and of the debate over hegemony, universality, and contingency initiated by E. Laclau, J. Butler, and S. Žižek. The conclusion is that conceiving hegemony from the perspective of the philosophy of praxis means that, according to Gramsci, political-intellectual action implies not only the formation of an alternative hegemony, but also a politically operative critique of the claim to universality of hegemonic discourse, on the basis of the unveiling of its historical contingency. (shrink)

This article studies natural food packaging as enabling artifacts of the traditional material culture of Antioquia in Colombia. For this purpose, we consider artifacts as objective nodes that combine design and use intentions, functions, materials, histories, artifactual lineages, and cooperative relationships that stabilize ritualized practices of a human group. We take the example of natural packaging as artifacts that enablers and stabilizers of traditional cooking and food preparation practices. Natural packaging materials are here assumed to be leaves having some favorable (...) property to contain a food product. After providing a theoretical reflection, we analyze the data collected from fieldwork we conducted in two towns in Antioquia, Colombia (Santa Fe de Antioquia and Amagá), as well as from an interview with an expert in the field. Finally, we show that it is possible to postulate an analysis under a relational ontological description of a traditional practice with conceptual categories of the philosophy of technology. (shrink)

En el presente artículo se pretende comprender el horizonte en el que la sociedad contemporánea construye su sentido de la cotidianidad, a partir de la positividad y negatividad del aburrimiento. El método empleado será la propuesta interpretativa de Heidegger, orientado por el concepto de cotidianidad en dialogo con Han, en lo referente a la manifestación del aburrimiento en la vida cotidiana de los sujetos. En una primera instancia se abordan las determinaciones de la racionalidad instrumental y el neoliberalismo en la (...) construcción de sentido en la de la sociedad contemporánea. Posteriormente, en un segundo lugar, se comprende la imposibilidad dialéctica de la positividad del aburrimiento, para luego entender cómo la negatividad del aburrimiento posibilita desde la dialéctica una negación del discurso neoliberal. Esta comprensión resulta relevante al momento de plantear la negatividad del aburrimiento como una posibilidad de mundo. Se concluye, que el aburrimiento es una apertura a los modos en los que la sociedad contemporánea construye su cotidianidad. (shrink)

Metallothioneins (MTs) are ubiquitous proteins with the capacity to bind heavy metal ions (mainly Cd, Zn or Cu), and they have been found in animals, plants, eukaryotic and prokaryotic micro‐organisms. We have carried out a comparative analysis of ciliate MTs (Tetrahymena species) to well‐known MTs from other organisms, discussing their exclusive features, such as the presence of aromatic amino acid residues and almost exclusive cysteine clusters (CCC) present in cadmium‐binding metallothioneins (CdMTs), higher heavy metal‐MT stoichiometry values, and a strictly conserved (...) modular–submodular structure. Based on this last feature and an extensive gene duplication, we propose a possible model for the evolutionary history of T. thermophila MTs. We also suggest possible functions for these MTs from consideration of their differential gene expressions and discuss the potential use of these proteins and/or their gene promoters for designing molecular or whole‐cell biosensors for a fast detection of heavy metals in diverse polluted ecosystems. (shrink)

Resumen Este artículo se ocupa del estatus fonético-fonológico de las consonantes interdentales, en el Mapudungun hablado en el sector costa de isla Huapi, IX Región de La Araucanía. Después del análisis de pares mínimos, cuantificación de los segmentos interdentales versus alveolares, y la consciencia fonológica de los hablantes encuestados, se pudo concluir la vigencia de estos segmentos en tanto fonos y en tanto fonemas. Es decir, en esta zona son fonemas.This article deals with the phonetic-phonological status of the interdental consonants (...) ],, in the Mapudungun spoken in the Coastal area of the Huapi Island, IX Region of Araucania. After analyzing minimal pairs, quantification of interdental segments versus alveolar, and the phonological awareness of the assessed speakers, the validity of these segments could be concluded both as phones and as phonemes. That is to say,, are phonemes in this area. (shrink)

Cacao cultivation is one of the most important livelihoods for rural households in Colombia, where it is promoted as a substitute for the illegal cultivation of coca. To strengthen Colombian cacao farming, it is important to understand the livelihood strategies associated with cacao cultivation and the impact of these different strategies on the well-being of Colombian rural households. We analyzed the impact of cacao cultivation on the livelihood strategies and well-being of rural households in western Colombia. Research with 92 rural (...) cacao-growing households produced a typology of household livelihood strategies derived from their approach to cacao production. Indicators of each household capital and level of well-being were identified for each type of households. Correlations between the capitals and the capitals of greater importance in shaping the well-being of rural households were analyzed. Three types of rural households were identified: Cacao Farmers, Diversified Farmers with Cacao, and New Cacao Farmers. Cacao farmers have the highest capitals endowments and level of well-being, followed by Diversified Farmers with Cacao, and New Cacao Farmers. The conditions of cacao cultivation in rural households result in differentiated access to resources from capitals; households with better development of the crop have consolidated greater well-being where human capital has been its major driving factor. Success of the cacao crop and its relationship with well-being of rural households depends on the convergence of different capital resources. Thus, institutional efforts to strengthen the cacao sector in Colombia must go beyond investment to establish new hectares and consider aspects such as: Strengthening the skills and knowledge of producers to improve crop management practices, Promoting the participation of household members in associations, Stimulating sensitivity to the rooting and sustainable management of the crop, and Promoting processes of technification and adaptation of the infrastructure of fermenters and dryers, which will make it possible to guarantee an adequate quality of the cacao bean. (shrink)

Self-determination theory considers motivation as a multidimensional phenomenon, with different levels of intensity, purposes, intentions, wills and autonomies. It distinguishes between intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation and amotivation. In this paper, we are going to focus on extrinsic motivation, which is related to those tasks that the subject performs without having a purpose in themselves, and which is composed of identified regulation, introjected regulation and external regulation. The aim of this research is to analyse the relationship between them and emotional intelligence (...) in 165 students with university degrees related to Physical Activity and Sport Sciences. The main findings of this work lie mainly in the demonstration of the fact that emotional intelligence is a predictor of identified regulation, introjected regulation and external regulation. (shrink)

"El repertorio bibliográfico no presenta resumen".

Este repertorio registra los artículos sobre Nietzsche que se encuentran en la Hemeroteca de la Biblioteca Central de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. El listado abarca las publicaciones existentes hasta el primer semestre del 2003.