The Rashomon effect – a phenomenon studied in the arts and social sciences – occurs when the same event is given contradictory interpretations by different individuals involved. The effect was named after Akira Kurosawa's 1950 film Rashomon, in which a murder is described in four contradictory ways by four witnesses. In the film, a samurai has been killed under mysterious circumstances. Four people give contradictory reports about the crime. In particular, the samurai's wife claims that she was sexually abused by (...) a bandit, fainted, and then awoke to find her husband dead; the bandit claims that he seduced the wife and challenged the samurai in a battle to victory or at least to an honorable death; the woodcutter (who may have been an onlooker) claims that he witnessed the rape and murder but was not involved; and the dead samurai's spirit claims that he committed suicide. The Rashomon effect is not only about constructing different versions of the world based on differences in perspective; it occurs when such differences appear together with the absence of evidence to assess any version of the truth, plus “the social pressure for closure on the question.” In this commentary, we describe the relevance of the Rashomon effect beyond the arts and social sciences, namely in the field of biology. We use examples from redox biology, which is full of contradictions, thus making it fertile ground on which to apply reasoning derived from the Rashomon effect. (shrink)

Wenn im Folgenden das Wort ›Ort‹ gebraucht wird, so benutzt Aristoteles das Wort topos. Zu beachten ist, dass er dieses Wort, v. a. im Kontext der Topik, auch in einem anderen Sinn benutzt, der mit Örtern wenig genug zu tun hat, um davon ganz getrennt behandelt zu werden. Auch darf die Übersetzungsgleichung ›Ort‹ – topos nicht darüber hinwegtäuschen, dass die Grenzen innerhalb des Wortfelds räumlicher Begriffe im Griechischen anders verlaufen als im Deutschen und vom Deutschen her oft nicht leicht nachvollziehbar (...) sind. (shrink)

The spiritual world of medieval Russia can be represented by the works of the most characteristic, brightest and most revered authors. Among them, undoubtedly, such as John Chrysostom, John Climacus, Isaac the Syrian, Basil the Great. The first place in popularity in Russia at all times is John Chrysostom. His Words, i.e. Some small works on this or that topic were compiled into special collections or textbooks by Zlatostruj, Zlatoust, Margarit, and sometimes the name of Zlatoust was signed by works (...) that did not belong to him. It is also popular in collections of mixed, composed of works by various authors, mainly the fathers of the church "Izmaragd", "Golden chain". The name Zlatoust became synonymous with all "book sweetness". What is so fond of Chrysostom in Russia? (shrink)

This article focuses on two issues involved in the formation and political trajectory of populist representations within political antagonism. First, it explores the role of crisis in the articulation of populist discourse. This problematic is far from new within theories of populism but has recently taken a new turn. We thus purport to reconsider the way populism and crisis are related, mapping the different modalities this relation can take and advancing further their theorization from the point of view of a (...) discursive theory of the political, drawing primarily on the Essex School perspective initially developed by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe. Second, this will involve focusing on the antagonistic language games developed around populist representations, something that has not attracted equal attention. Highlighting the need to study anti-populism together with populism, focusing on their mutual constitution, we will test the ensuing theoretical framework in an analysis of SYRIZA, a recent and, as a result, under-researched example of egalitarian, inclusionary populism emerging within the European crisis landscape. (shrink)

Correspondence should be addressed to David A. Leopold [email protected] the viewing of certain patterns, widely known as ambiguous or puzzle figures, perception lapses into a sequence of spontaneous alternations, switching every few seconds between two or more visual interpretations of the stimulus. Although their nature and origin remain topics of debate, these stochastic switches are generally thought to be the automatic and inevitable consequence of viewing a pattern without a unique solution. We report here that in humans such perceptual alternations (...) can be slowed, and even brought to a standstill, if the visual stimulus is periodically removed from view. We also show, with a visual illusion, that this stabilizing effect hinges on perceptual disappearance rather than on actual removal of the stimulus. These findings indicate that uninterrupted subjective perception of an ambiguous pattern is required for the initiation of the brain-state changes underlying multistable vision.Visual perception involves coordination between sensory sampling of the world and active interpretation of the sensory data. Human perception of objects and scenes is normally stable and robust, but it falters when one is presented with patterns that are inherently ambiguous or contradictory. Under such conditions, vision lapses into a chain of continually alternating percepts, whereby a viable visual interpretation dominates for a few seconds and is then replaced by a rival interpretation. This multistable vision, or 'multistability', is thought to result from destabilization of fundamental visual mechanisms, and has offered valuable insights into how sensory patterns are actively organized and interpreted in the brain1, 2. Despite a great deal of recent research and interest in multistable perception, however, its neurophysiological underpinnings remain poorly understood. Physiological studies have suggested that disambiguation of ambiguous patterns. (shrink)

In an article which appeared a few years ago, entitled ‘God's Death’ , A.D. Smith launched one of the most interesting of recent attacks on the traditional doctrine of the Incarnation. Focusing on the death of Christ, he claimed to demonstrate the logical impossibility of Jesus having been both human and divine. Each of the premises of his argument was said to be a commitment of orthodox theology. He thus presented his reasoning as displaying an internal incoherence in that way (...) of thinking about divinity, humanity, and the person of Christ. The argument was basically quite simple: According to Christian theology and in concurrence with general thought on the matter, we must hold that human death involves the possibility of annihilation. As a man, Jesus of Nazareth faced and underwent a human death. He thus faced the possibility of annihilation. But orthodox theologians hold God to be of such an ontological status that no divine being could even possibly be annihilated. So no divine person could die a human death. From this follows the impossibility of the traditional claim that the Second Person of the divine Trinity became a man, lived a human life, and died a human death for us and our salvation. The qualitative difference between God and man is such as to render incarnational christology an incoherent theological stance. (shrink)

Background: Continuous viewing of ambiguous patterns is characterized by wavering perception that alternates between two or more equally valid visual solutions. However, when such patterns are viewed intermittently, either by repetitive presentation or by periodic closing of the eyes, perception can become locked or "frozen" in one configuration for several minutes at a time. One aspect of this stabilization is the possible existence of a perceptual memory that persists during periods in which the ambiguous stimulus is absent. Here, we use (...) a novel paradgim of temporally interleaved ambiguous stimuli to explore the nature of this memory, with particular regard to its potential impact on perceptual organization. Results: We found that the persistence of a perceptual configuration was robust to interposed visual patterns and, further, that at least three ambiguous patterns, when interleaved in time, could undergo parallel, stable time courses. Then, using an interleaved presentation paradigm, we established that the occasional reversal in one pattern could be coupled with that of its interleaved counterpart, and that this coupling was a function of the structural similarity between the patterns. Conclusions: We postulate that the stabilization observed with repetitive presentation of ambiguous patterns can be at least partially accounted for by processes that retain a recent perceptual interpretation, and we speculate that such memory may be important in natural vision. We further propose tha the interleaved paradigm introduced here may be of great value to gauge aspects of stimulus similarity that appeal to particular mechanisms of perceptual organization. (shrink)

To what degree can the philosophy of Cornelius Castoriadis help analyze and evaluate our current social reality in relation to the project of autonomy? How meaningful is his political proposition for direct democracy in the 21st century? What significance do the concepts of social time and social space have in the determination of political freedom? -/- Castoriadis and Autonomy in the 21st Century presents basic concepts of Castoriadian philosophy, including the social-historical plane, ontological creativity, and social and individual time that (...) provide the theoretical tools to evaluate the historical phenomena of our era. Drawing from Greece's own turbulent past and the current global crisis to reveal new significances of social freedom, global solidarity and movements of direct democracy, this book explores social autonomy and human freedom today through critical dialogue with Castoriadis' ideas. (shrink)

The present volume contains a selection of papers presented at the Fifth Conference on Collective Intentionality held at the University of Helsinki August 31 to September 2, 2006 and two additional contributions. The common aim of the papers is to explore the structure of shared intentional attitudes, and to explain how they underlie the social, cultural and institutional world. The contributions to this volume explore the phenomenology of sharedness, the concept of sharedness, and also various aspects of the structure of (...) collective intentionality in general, and of the intricate relations between sharedness and normativity in particular. Concepts of Sharedness shows how rich and lively the philosophical research focused on the analysis of collective intentionality has become, and will provide further inspiration for future work in this rapidly evolving field. (shrink)

Human-Computer Interaction and games set a new domain in understanding people’s motivations in gaming, behavioral implications of game play, game adaptation to player preferences and needs for increased engaging experiences in the context of HCI serious games. When the latter relate with people’s health status, they can become a part of their daily life as assistive health status monitoring/enhancement systems. Co-designing HCI-SGs can be seen as a combination of art and science that involves a meticulous collaborative process. The design elements (...) in assistive HCI-SGs for Parkinson’s Disease patients, in particular, are explored in the present work. Within this context, the Game-Based Learning design framework is adopted here and its main game-design parameters are explored for the Exergames, Dietarygames, Emotional games, Handwriting games, and Voice games design, drawn from the PD-related i-PROGNOSIS Personalized Game Suite holistic approach. Two main data sources were involved in the study. In particular, the first one includes qualitative data from semi-structured interviews, involving 10 PD patients and four clinicians in the co-creation process of the game design, whereas the second one relates with data from an online questionnaire addressed by 104 participants spanning the whole related spectrum, i.e., PD patients, physicians, software/game developers. Linear regression analysis was employed to identify an adapted GBL framework with the most significant game-design parameters, which efficiently predict the transferability of the PGS beneficial effect to real-life, addressing functional PD symptoms. The findings of this work can assist HCI-SG designers for designing PD-related HCI-SGs, as the most significant game-design factors were identified, in terms of adding value to the role of HCI-SGs in increasing PD patients’ quality of life, optimizing the interaction with personalized HCI-SGs and, hence, fostering a collaborative human-computer symbiosis. (shrink)

Moutoussis, K., A. Maier, S. Zeki and N. K. Logothetis: Seeing invisible motion: responses of area V5 neurons in the awake-behaving macaque. Soc. for Neurosci. Abstr. 390.11, 1.

The relevance of the research is that the information and computer communications of scientific and educational activity as a factor of the development of the information society are analyzed. Statement of the task - the modern stage of the socio-political development of Ukraine is characterized by the unprecedented pace of development of a new information and communication arrangement of scientific and educational activities in society and, as a result, its development as informational and civic. Object of research - information and (...) computer communications of scientific and educational activity as a complex social, cultural and economic phenomenon. The subject of research is the influence of the information society on the development of information and computer communication of scientific and educational activities. Analysis of recent publications and research. The author focuses on the analysis of the problems of the informational society, which was investigated in the works of I. Wallerstain, Z.Bzhezynsky, D. Bell, J.Gelbreyt, P.Drucker, A.Lazarevich, A.Porter, O.Toffler, and R.Hatcheson, as well as in the works of domestic scientists - V. Andrushchenko, V.Voronkova, O.Kivlyuk, M.Kyrychenko, A.Punchenko, D.Sviridenko. Selection of unexplored parts of the general problem. Unsolved earlier part of the general problem. Setting objectives. Representatives of the modern scientific and educational environment did not notice in due time that with the advent of the computer in the world fundamental concepts of education, man, science, the Universe, temporal measurements of time, tendencies of the development of the modern world have changed significantly. Education determines the pace of world development, and the ownership of its markets began an unprecedented rigorous competition. Information and knowledge have become a tremendous wealth, an intangible asset to the development of nations and states. Methodology of the research - the use of synergistic and axiological methods that contribute to deep penetration into the essence of the object and subject of research. Scientific novelty of the research. This scientific study involves addressing the socio-philosophical meaning of the concept of information and computer communications of scientific and educational activity as a factor in the development of the information society. Presenting the main material : the problems concerning the global informatization of the society that stimulated all processes of international cooperation of people have been revealed; due to the development of the information and communication sphere, the needs of management systems of the states, societies and their citizens in various informational services have been determined, radical changes in all security systems of socio-political relations; the historical tendency of development of industrial, then - postindustrial and informational society on the basis of the concept of J.Masuda is analyzed; it was disclosed that the progress of the information and education problem requires us to improve considerably the educational information and communication systems and technologies of education; the directions of improvement of information and computer communications of scientific and educational activity as the factor of development of the information society are substantiated. Conclusions - the concept of information and computer communications of scientific and educational activity as a factor of development of the information society is formed. The result of the research is the development of the directions of reforming the education system in Ukraine and the use of concepts for the introduction of computer information and communication technologies for these purposes. (shrink)

This research explores the spread of unreliable information on Facebook during the 2017 French presidential campaign. By analyzing information-sharing behavior on 252 Facebook pages, our study highlights the wide variety of information sources shared by several political communities, notably news published by partisan websites or activist blogs. Our results demonstrate that political parties – particularly, those on the extreme ends of the political spectrum – tend to re-share a large amount of information reflecting the same ideological positions as their own. (...) This trend is amplified by a phenomenon of endo-citation, that is, a “circular circulation” of information between Facebook pages within the same political community. Our results focus on the information practices of the far-right, tracing a clear over-representation of sources that are unreliable or likely to relay disinformation. We argue that this circular transmission of information creates an “unreliable information bubble” that characterizes far-right information-sharing behavior. (shrink)

This paper aims to make an anti-canonical reading of the avivakṣitavācya-variety of dhvani conceptualized by the ninth century Sanskrit literary critic Ānandavardhana in his seminal work Dhvanyāloka. In this paper, I argue that avivakṣitavācya-dhvani opens up a signifier to new significations that are not conventionally associated with it through a process of deterritorialization. In any language, convention functions as a structuring mechanism upon a signifier by clearly demarcating a rigid semantic ambit for it. By the term ‘conventional semantic ambit’, I (...) mean the boundary of signification set by convention for each signifier. The primary problem associated with the imposition of a definite territory upon a signifier is that it prevents an individual signifier from representing any new significations that are not conventionally attached to it. For example, in the conventional semantic ambit, the word ‘cat’ cannot represent the idea of a ‘dog’. In the act of mapping a fixed territory for each signifier, convention also structures the individual-user of the language by forcing him or her to confine to a specific plan of dealing with signifiers. Thus, the individual user of language within a conventional semantic ambit is rendered absolutely passive, as s/he has nothing new to contribute or create, other than reproducing an always-already existing plan of functioning. It is precisely this structuring tendency of convention that gets challenged in Ānanda’s avivakṣitavācya-dhvani. Such a mechanism is definitely a liberating experience for both the signifier and the individual-users of the language who are forced to accept the signifiers in a specific fashion. Along with the exposition of avivakṣitavācya-dhvani’s resistance to a signifier’s conventional semantic ambit, this paper also aims to conceptualize the figure of the reader that avivakṣitavācya-dhvani anticipates for itself. (shrink)