Toma-se como objetivo tecer considerações acerca do conceito de autorreflexão e emancipação, entrelaçando-o à pesquisa-ação, por meio do diálogo entre Jürgen Habermas, Theodor W. Adorno, Wilfred Carr e Stephen Kemmis. Os conceitos de autorreflexão e emancipação surgem na Escola de Frankfurt através de Adorno e são incorporados por Habermas, que dá outro sentido a eles. Carr e Kemmis, ao refletirem sobre a pesquisa-ação emancipatória na educação, tomam Habermas como alicerce e constituem o conceito de autorreflexão crítica. A partir das considerações (...) dos autores, o artigo reflete acerca da autorreflexão incorporada na metodologia da pesquisa-ação, principalmente no tocante à formação continuada de profissionais da educação. À luz dos pressupostos habermasianos, defendem-se os conceitos de autorreflexão e emancipação pela via da ação comunicativa, na qual o paradigma da consciência é transposto para o paradigma da linguagem. Compreende-se que para Adorno a autorreflexão está atrelada diretamente à liberdade, ao pensamento crítico e à autonomia, que guiam o indivíduo para a emancipação. Enquanto para Habermas, a autorreflexão vincula-se à linguagem e à comunicação, entre dois ou mais sujeitos, que os guiam para a emancipação. Carr e Kemmis inspirados na espiral cíclica proposta por Lewin e na autorreflexão de Habermas, vão defender a espiral autorreflexiva na pesquisa-ação. Diante disso, entende-se que os problemas da educação têm na racionalidade comunicativa perspectivas de mudanças sólidas, especialmente pela via de processos formativos. (shrink)

Recent work in the philosophy of biology has attempted to clarify and defend the use of the biodiversity concept in conservation science. I argue against these views, and give reasons to think that the biodiversity concept is a poor fit for the role we want it to play in conservation biology on both empirical and conceptual grounds. Against pluralists, who hold that biodiversity consists of distinct but correlated properties of natural systems, I argue that the supposed correlations between these properties (...) are not tight enough to warrant treating and measuring them as a bundle. I additionally argue that deflationary theories of biodiversity don’t go far enough, since a large proportion of what we value in the environment falls outside bounds of what could reasonably be called “diversity”. I suggest that in current scientific practice biodiversity is generally an unnecessary placeholder for biological value of all sorts, and that we are better off eliminating it from conservation biology, or at least drastically reducing its role. (shrink)

The idea that we are living in the Anthropocene, a new geological epoch defined by human activity, has gained substantial currency across the academy and with the broader public. Within the earth sciences, however, the question of the Anthropocene is hotly debated, recognized as a question that gets at both the foundations of geological science and issues of broad philosophical importance. For example, official recognition of the Anthropocene requires us to find a way to use the methods of historical science (...) to make predictions. It also involves determining the role that political motivations should play in establishing scientific kinds. I bring the perspective of philosophy of science to bear on these questions, ultimately arguing that formal recognition of the Anthropocene should be indefinitely deferred. 1A New Epoch 1.1Criteria for designating a new epoch2The Future Geologist’s Perspective 2.1Climate change2.2The fossil record, excluding humans2.3The human fossil record2.4Direct anthropogenic deposits2.5Chemical markers2.6Hydrology2.7Summing up3The Synchronic Perspective4The Anthropocene Is Not yet Set in Stone. (shrink)

In game-theoretic signaling models, evolution tends to favor perfectly precise signaling systems, but in the natural world communication is almost always imprecise. I argue that standard explanations for this discrepancy are only partially sufficient, and I show that communication is often ambiguous because signal senders take advantage of context sensitivity. As evidence, I make two additions to the signaling model: a cost for more complex signaling strategies and the ability to combine information in signals with independent information. Analysis and simulation (...) of the altered model shows that it leads to the predicted outcome of evolution favoring ambiguous signaling. (shrink)

Linguists (and philosophers of language) have long disagreed about the ontology of language, and thus about the proper subject matter of their disciplines. A close examination of the leading arguments in the debates shows that while positive arguments that language is x tend to be sound, negative arguments that language is not x generally fail. This implies that we should be pluralists about the metaphysical status of language and the subject matter of linguistics and the philosophy of language. A pluralist (...) ontology of language, however, involves pitfalls for research on language, and to avoid this pitfalls researchers should temper the pluralist attitude with two strictures. First, pluralism about the ontology of language precludes agnosticism about the ontology of language. Second, pluralism should not lead to isolated research programs. (shrink)

Mineral species are, at first glance, an excellent candidate for an ideal set of natural kinds somewhere beyond the periodic table. Mineralogists have a detailed set of rules and formal procedure for ratifying new species, and minerals are a less messy subject matter than biological species, psychological disorders, or even chemicals more broadly—all areas of taxonomy where the status of species as natural kinds has been disputed. After explaining how philosophers have tended to get mineralogy wrong in discussions of natural (...) kinds, I show how minerals species don’t behave like natural kinds. They are defined on the basis of human intentionality, not merely natural distinctions. They aren’t ideal grounds for inductive inference. And they don’t form a system that divides nature along a set of equivalent joints. While this is a regrettable outcome to those of us who like the idea of science relying on natural kinds, I contend that mineralogy is doing just fine without a natural kind-based taxonomy, and may in fact be better off without one. (shrink)

Many experts have warned that environmental degradation is increasing the likelihood of future pandemics like COVID-19, as habitat loss and poaching increase close contact between wildlife and people. This fact has been framed as a reason to increase wildlife conservation efforts. We have many good reasons to step up conservation efforts, but arguments for doing so on the basis of pandemic prevention are rhetorically, ethically, and empricially flawed.

Supposedly, stubbornness on the part of scientists—an unwillingness to change one’s position on a scientific issue even in the face of countervailing evidence—helps efficiently divide scientific labor. Maintaining disagreement is important because it keeps scientists pursuing a diversity of leads rather than all working on the most promising, and stubbornness helps preserve this disagreement. Planck’s observation that “Science progresses one funeral at a time” might therefore be an insight into epistemically beneficial stubbornness on the part of researchers. In conversation with (...) extant formal models, recent empirical research, and a novel agent-based model of my own I explore whether the epistemic goods which stubbornness can secure—disagreement and diversity—are attainable through less-costly methods. I make the case that they are, at least in part, and also use my modeling results to show that if stubbornness is scientifically valuable, it still involves a willingness to change one’s mind. (shrink)

Journal of Social Philosophy, Volume 53, Issue 3, Page 387-403, Fall 2022.

The very idea of novel ecosystems has been controversial in ecology. Critics have complained about its imprecision, and that it illicitly smuggles problematic ethical and political values into the science. By labelling a human-modified system a ‘novel ecosystem,‘ they worry, we give policymakers a “license to trash nature.“ The critics are right to be suspicious. I show that proponents of the novel ecosystem concept have been unable to make it both value-free and precise enough to allow for applied use.Also, the (...) critics are right to be suspicious, because a goal for many proponents of novel ecosystems is to bring new values into applied ecology. But the critics are wrong that this is illicit. I defend a value-laden conception of novel ecosystems, showing that applied ecologists are comfortable with other value-laden concepts, and that the value shift motivating discussion of novel ecosystems is necessary if we want to understand and protect nature in a changing world. (shrink)

A recent article by Burch-Brown and Archer provides compelling arguments that biodiversity is either a natural kind or a pragmatically-valid scientific entity. I call into question three of these arguments. The first argument contends that biodiversity is a Homeostatic Property Cluster. I respond that there is no plausible homeostatic mechanism that would make biodiversity an HPC natural kind. The second argument proposes that biodiversity is a multiply-realizable functional kind. I respond that there is no shared function to ground this account. (...) The final, and strongest, argument, is that biodiversity is an ineliminable explanans and explanandum in various subdisciplines of biology. I argue that once we look at the details of the relevant research, not only does biodiversity in a broad sense not function in explanatory roles, but we must eliminate biodiversity in favor of more specific concepts in order to make sense of the leading explanations in contemporary ecology and conservation science. (shrink)

Data which constitute satisfactory evidence in other contexts are sometimes not treated as valid evidence in the context of scientic conrmation. I give a justicatory explanation of this fact, appealing to the incentives, biases, and social situatedness of scientists.

Os Sertões, by the engineer Euclides da Cunha, is one of the most important books in Brazilian literature, with more than 50 local editions and translations in at least nine languages. Published in 1902 after four years of writing, it is a book about nationality in Brazil that sparked a debate regarding the subject of national consciousness and the connection between a nation's physical landscape, its people, and its culture. The book draws from a wide spectrum of knowledge that synthesizes (...) science and art as the pinnacle of human thought. Cunha was a man of great culture and learning and in this work his professional activities and scientific writings merge to celebrate Brazilian culture in different realms of knowledge. The author worked as an engineer and had connections with the scientific community and the world of natural science. His explicit references to naturalists, travelers, geologists, and botanists reflect the historical moment of scientific knowledge in Brazil in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, and no less than that, Cunha's personal connections with the local scientific community. (shrink)

US law continues its historical trend of growing more permissive towards actors who engage in violent action in purported self-defense. We draw on some informal game theory to show why this is strategically irrational and suggest rolling back self-defense doctrines like stand your ground to earlier historical precedents like duty to retreat.

Seventeenth-century philosopher Margaret Cavendish wrote not only several philosophical treatises, but also many fictional works. I argue for taking the latter as serious objects of study for historians of philosophy, and sketch a method for doing so. Cavendish's fiction is full of conflicting viewpoints, and many authors have argued that this demonstrates that she did not intend her literary works to serve serious philosophical purpose. But if we consider philosophers more central to the canon, such as Plato or Kierkegaard, who (...) sometimes used literary forms to do serious philosophy, we see that these arguments are unfounded. Like those philosophers, Cavendish had several philosophical motivations for pursuing value-theoretic issues through the flexible formats of literary genres. This suggests that Cavendish's literary corpus may be fruitful and largely unexplored ground for the history of philosophy. (shrink)

The reproduction of cultural systems in cases where cultural group selection may occur is typically incomplete, with only certain cultural traits being adopted by less successful cultural groups. Why a particular trait and not another is transmitted might not be explained by cultural group selection. We explore this issue through the case of religious syncretism.

O presente artigo problematiza o lugar das relações étnicas na Educação, a partir da articulação de juventudes, identidades e temas afro-brasileiros. Ancorada no método etnográfico e na Hermêutica de Profundidade, a pesquisa partiu das vivências de estudantes e egressos do Colégio Estadual José Araújo Pereira. A produção do conhecimento afro-brasileiro se apresenta alicerçada nos saberes de legados africanos e na difusão de temas, em constraste com os antagonismos enfrentados pelos sujeitos mobilizadores desses saberes. Ao problematizar etnicidade, relações étnicas e identidade (...) étnica, a pesquisa discute os desafios dos estudos étnicos na Educação e aponta a necessidade de ações planejadas para a geração de registros, publicidades e continuidades de trabalhos que fortalecem o protagonismo juvenil na produção do conhecimento afro-brasileiro. Palavras-chave: Etnicidade. Protagonismo juvenil. Conhecimento afro-brasileiro. (shrink)

Mucopolysaccharidosis type I (MPS I) is a rare lysosomal storage disorder treated with bone marrow transplantation or enzyme replacement therapy with laronidase, a high-cost orphan drug. Laronidase was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency in 2003 and by the Brazilian National Health Surveillance Agency in 2005. Many Brazilian MPS I patients have been receiving laronidase despite the absence of a governmental policy regulating access to the drug. Epidemiological and treatment data concerning MPS I (...) are scarce. This study aims to present a demographic profile of Brazilian patients with MPS I, describe the routes of access to laronidase in Brazil, and discuss associated ethical issues relating to public funding of orphan drugs. (shrink)

Background: The new human coronavirus that leads to COVID-19 has spread rapidly around the world and has a high degree of lethality. In more severe cases, patients remain hospitalized for several days under treatment of the health team. Thus, it is important to develop and use technologies with the aim to strengthen conventional therapy by encouraging movement, physical activity, and improving cardiorespiratory fitness for patients. In this sense, therapies for exposure to virtual reality are promising and have been shown to (...) be an adequate and equivalent alternative to conventional exercise programs.Aim: This is a study protocol with the aim of comparing the conventional physical therapy intervention with the use of a non-immersive VR software during COVID-19 hospitalization.Methods: Fifty patients hospitalized with confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 will be divided in two groups under physiotherapy treatment using conventional or VR intervention: Group A: participants with COVID-19 will start the first day of the protocol with VR tasks in the morning and then in the second period, in the afternoon, will perform the conventional exercises and Group B: participants with COVID-19 will start the first day with conventional exercises in the morning and in the second period, in the afternoon, will perform activity with VR. All participants will be evaluated with different motor and physiologic scales before and after the treatment to measure improvements.Conclusion: Considering the importance of benefits from physical activity during hospitalization, VR software shows promise as a potential mechanism for improving physical activity. The results of this study may provide new insights into hospital rehabilitation.Trial Registration:ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: NCT04537858. Registered on 01 September 2020. (shrink)

Este texto reflete sobre o memoricídio, consequente à presunção racial branca, como vestígio de operações para o genocídio dos corpos e das mentes negras a partir da Peleja de Inácio da Catingueira contra Romano. Sob o jogo discursivo da humilhação, já se encontrava a vontade brutal de destruição de qualquer traço, perspectiva, visão remanescente de saberes e culturas africanas ou descendentes, fossem de cunho material, simbólico, reflexivo, imagético, expressivo, na língua, no corpo. No embate, Inácio, negro, escravizado, já rebaixado sob (...) a égide do sistema escravocrata, embate-se contra a tentativa presunçosa de aniquilamento perpetrada por seu oponente. (shrink)

Apesar da exegese bíblica empreendida no Leviatã ser a ferramenta que ampara a defesa de Hobbes de que alma é mortal, o artigo pretende destacar que a doutrina da mortalidade é consequente à defesa hobbesiana de que tudo o que existe é corpo, de modo que a doutrina contrária, a da imortalidade natural, não se opõe apenas à jurisdição da soberania, mas à própria natureza das coisas, que inevitavelmente adestra a leitura do filósofo da palavra revelada de Deus.

Todas as dimensões do ensino de geografia contribuem para a construção de referenciais de leitura do mundo, conferem poder a indivíduos e grupos em suas interações e relações, do mesmo modo que os posiciona, tanto do ponto de vista geográfico quanto social. A Geografia tem, portanto, na perspectiva de Santos (2009), relação direta com a constituição da ideia de raça e com a instauração de formas de relações raciais. Neste artigo tem-se como objetivo identificar como as dimensões das colonialidades, ou (...) seja, a colonialidade o poder, do saber e do ser se reproduzem do ensino de Geografia na interface com as relações étnico-raciais e, ao mesmo tempo, analisar como as epistemes decoloniais e a perspectiva de educação antirracista, em conformidade com a lei 10.639/2003, interpelam os processos de racialização e produção do conhecimento acerca das relações étnico-raciais no ensino de Geografia. (shrink)

This article starts from the analytical disconnection between feminisms and republicanism and investigates the potential of an academic and political conversation between them. The text takes up some of the intersections between feminism and republicanism over the past few decades and draws attention to the greater interest that has been verified recently. Furthermore, the article proposes spaces where potential conversation between feminism and republicanism can take place: examining the relationship between material dispossession, dependence, and freedom; across the public, private, and (...) domestic spheres; and the implications of extending autonomy to consider bodily autonomy. It ends with a brief reference to political participation as a feminist and republican virtue. Finally, the article stresses the need to produce a republican feminist revival. (shrink)

Minding Time: A Philosophical and Theoretical Approach to the Psychology of Time offers an innovative philosophical account of the most fundamental kinds of time representation.

Trata-se de uma análise das afinidades da filosofia de Schopenhauer (1788-1860) no pensamento de Emil Cioran (1911-1995). Autor influente na Romênia desde o século XIX, Schopenhauer é considerado uma das principais referências de Cioran. As fichas de leituras, cartas, expressões e os temas abordados por Cioran constituem uma gama de argumentos para aproximação do filósofo romeno ao filósofo do pessimismo.

El objetivo de este artículo es revelar algunas claves de la política exterior chileno -boliviana de la década de 1950 vista desde la región de Tarapacá. Para ello, indagamos en una serie de variables que determinan las orientaciones de las respectivas políticas exteriores de ambos países, desde las teorías de las percepciones y el realismo neoclásico: intereses, capacidades, imágenes e ideologías. Desde estos argumentos, y rastreando notas de prensa de esa década, analizamos el comportamiento de la diplomacia y paradiplomacia chilena (...) y boliviana en el marco del diálogo teórico mencionado. (shrink)

This monograph addresses the question of the increasing irrelevance of philosophy, which has seen scientists as well as philosophers concluding that philosophy is dead and has dissolved into the sciences. It seeks to answer the question of whether or not philosophy can still be fruitful and what kind of philosophy can be such. The author argues that from its very beginning philosophy has focused on knowledge and methods for acquiring knowledge. This view, however, has generally been abandoned in the last (...) century with the belief that, unlike the sciences, philosophy makes no observations or experiments and requires only thought. Thus, in order for philosophy to once again be relevant, it needs to return to its roots and focus on knowledge as well as methods for acquiring knowledge. Accordingly, this book deals with several questions about knowledge that are essential to this view of philosophy, including mathematical knowledge. Coverage examines such issues as the nature of knowledge; plausibility and common sense; knowledge as problem solving; modeling scientific knowledge; mathematical objects, definitions, diagrams; mathematics and reality; and more. This monograph presents a new approach to philosophy, epistemology, and the philosophy of mathematics. It will appeal to graduate students and researchers with interests in the role of knowledge, the analytic method, models of science, and mathematics and reality. (shrink)

Many of the computing systems programmed using Machine Learning are opaque: it is difficult to know why they do what they do or how they work. Explainable Artificial Intelligence aims to develop analytic techniques that render opaque computing systems transparent, but lacks a normative framework with which to evaluate these techniques’ explanatory successes. The aim of the present discussion is to develop such a framework, paying particular attention to different stakeholders’ distinct explanatory requirements. Building on an analysis of “opacity” from (...) philosophy of science, this framework is modeled after accounts of explanation in cognitive science. The framework distinguishes between the explanation-seeking questions that are likely to be asked by different stakeholders, and specifies the general ways in which these questions should be answered so as to allow these stakeholders to perform their roles in the Machine Learning ecosystem. By applying the normative framework to recently developed techniques such as input heatmapping, feature-detector visualization, and diagnostic classification, it is possible to determine whether and to what extent techniques from Explainable Artificial Intelligence can be used to render opaque computing systems transparent and, thus, whether they can be used to solve the Black Box Problem. (shrink)

In his new book, Carlos Alberto Torres, an internationally renowned critical theorist of education, explores the early writings of Paulo Freire whose ideas have had a tremendous and long-lasting impact on the world of pedagogy and politics. Torres analyzes Freire's works, from the 1960s and 1970s, before Freire gained worldwide recognition for his Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Offering an in-depth look into the formative thinking of Freire, Torres identifies how his ideas produced frameworks for educating global citizens, building community (...) and mutual respect, creating social responsibility, instilling an appreciation for diversity, promoting multiple literacies, and social justice education. This volume is the result of more than 3 decades of research with access to Freire's personal library and the archives of the Paulo Freire Institute, as well as the author's extensive conversations with Paulo Freire over two decades--Dr. Torres was Freire's adviser during his tenure as Secretary of Education in the Municipality of São Paulo, Brazil, 1989-1991. (shrink)

No presente trabalho analisamos a importância da formação continuada promovida na universidade, através do curso de especialização “Política de Igualdade Racial no Ambiente Escolar”, para a configuração da prática pedagógica dos cursistas. Aplicamos questionários eletrônicos com 38 professores concluintes do curso de especialização ofertado pela RENAFORM/UFRPE. Observamos, que o referido curso vem contribuindo para a reflexão acerca da prática dos professores. Na visão dos cursistas, existe uma estreita relação entre a formação que o professor vivencia na universidade e o planejamento (...) que ele constrói para a sua prática de sala de aula. Contudo, alguns destacam que a questão racial na formação inicial ainda é pouco contemplada, por isso, ressaltam a importância da abordagem da educação das relações étnico-racial na formação continuada de professores, e da efetivação de práticas educacionais antirracistas, tanto na escola, como na sociedade. Assim, apesar dos desafios, encontramos possibilidades de vivenciar através desta política, um espaço de formação e reflexão que favoreça a configuração da profissionalidade do professor da educação básica. Palavras-chave: educação das relações étnico-raciais; formação continuada de professores. (shrink)

v. 1. Ensino secundário e médio -- v. 2. Estudos sobre o ensino primário -- Planejamento educacional e contribuições à educação do futuro.

Este trabalho visa refletir sobre a minoridade e contextualiza-la dentro do seguimento de Cristo. A minoridade é um valor evangélico muito caro a Francisco de Assis, e apresentada como indispensável para aqueles que desejam ingressar nos grupos franciscanos. Algumas das consequências da minoridade são a pobreza e a dependência, que não são vistas como virtudes ou metas para grande parte das pessoas. Diante disso, é necessário questionar se o discurso sobre minoridade não se tornou anacrônico ou inadequado para a atualidade. (...) O método utilizado para verificar essa possibilidade foi retomar os fundamentos da minoridade e identificar quais são as conexões que esse comportamento implica dentro da forma de vida franciscana. De forma transversal é possível estabelecer comportamentos alternativos à minoridade e criar hipóteses sobre suas consequências. As relações fraternas, são baseadas no Evangelho, mas organizam-se de forma prática com estruturas hierárquicas de poder. A conciliação entre a minoridade e a função da autoridade é muito delicada. Além disso, a função do superior interage com comportamento de vanglória, inveja e julgamentos, como entender isso como elementos no caminho de seguimento a Cristo é um questionamento profundo. A ideia de minoridade permeia diversos aspectos da vida espiritual, social e pessoal. Dessa constatação nasce também a necessidade de identificar quando a minoridade se torna uma forma de abrir mão da responsabilidade de fazer escolhas, e uma oportunidade de delegar a responsabilidade a outros. Talvez o ponto central da discussão seja entender se o discurso sobre a minoridade é prático ou se permanece apenas como uma elaboração teórica, mas sem aplicabilidade. (shrink)

The received view of dynamical explanation is that dynamical cognitive science seeks to provide covering law explanations of cognitive phenomena. By analyzing three prominent examples of dynamicist research, I show that the received view is misleading: some dynamical explanations are mechanistic explanations, and in this way resemble computational and connectionist explanations. Interestingly, these dynamical explanations invoke the mathematical framework of dynamical systems theory to describe mechanisms far more complex and distributed than the ones typically considered by philosophers. Therefore, contemporary dynamicist (...) research reveals the need for a more sophisticated account of mechanistic explanation. (shrink)

Os costumes – coustumes – têm um papel central em Os Ensaios de Michel de Montaigne. Não só porque deles o ensaísta extrai os mais variados exemplos – leçons – utilizados em seus textos, mas sobretudo porque Montaigne entende que as regras morais, as leis, a ordem civil e toda convenção social estão ancoradas na sedimentação dos hábitos ao longo dos anos. O que, a princípio, parece trivial, é, na verdade, uma guinada em relação à tradição filosófico-política, na medida em (...) que Montaigne desloca a fundamentação do político, da moral e das leis da própria natureza – como concebiam os filósofos da antiguidade – e de Deus – como concebiam os filósofos cristãos –, para o terreno dos costumes, terreno este eminentemente humano. Este artigo detém-se num capítulo – De la Coustume et de ne Changer Aisément une Loy Receue – dos Ensaios para demonstrar como Montaigne opera esse deslocamento das leis e do político do fundamento natural para os costumes – mos maiorum. (shrink)

This paper presents the epistemological proposal of Helen Longino, a philosopher of science who understands scientific knowledge as an unfinished result and who takes into account the context for its realization, the subjects who do science, the importance of criticism as a tool for the improvement of knowledge and science. The normative values that this author postulates are presented, and they are compared with the proposal of Thomas Kuhn, in order to make explicit a novel and alternative proposal to traditional (...) science, which takes into account other perspectives to improve the conduct of scientific activity, and the democratization of it. (shrink)

Models developed using machine learning are increasingly prevalent in scientific research. At the same time, these models are notoriously opaque. Explainable AI aims to mitigate the impact of opacity by rendering opaque models transparent. More than being just the solution to a problem, however, Explainable AI can also play an invaluable role in scientific exploration. This paper describes how post-hoc analytic techniques from Explainable AI can be used to refine target phenomena in medical science, to identify starting points for future (...) investigations of causal relationships, and to generate possible explanations of target phenomena in cognitive science. In this way, this paper describes how Explainable AI—over and above machine learning itself—contributes to the efficiency and scope of data-driven scientific research. (shrink)