The way academic and scientific knowledge becomes accessible online has been a hot subject for some time. I want to suggest that this process is structured according to the four cultures identified by Grid-group cultural theory. Here I am focussing on the idea that there may be a Fatalist paradigm of knowledge sharing at work, which provides access in a capricious manner – and I make a tentative suggestion as to how this particular deficiency in the availability of access may be overcome . (more…)
Archive for March, 2009
Fatalist access to scientific knowledge: a case study
March 31, 2009Official: Top Search Engine reveals Atheist Bias!
March 30, 2009
Try searching for “God is now here”.- Then try seaching for “God is nowhere”.
- Spot the difference.
- Discuss…
Chaos theory and fourcultures
March 27, 2009More on Chaos theory, evolution and fourcultures.
Meika recently posted a piece about brain research, bias and chaos theory.
And DK asked:
How does chaos complicate or enrich evolutionary theory in biology? How does the nonlinearity that chaos features interact with mutation/drift/natural selection? Is there a canonical text (or at least something authoritative & comprehensive) on this?
I think one of the key texts on this subject is going to be (more…)
Bias, learning to walk at the edge of Chaos
March 22, 2009This is a guest post by Meika, for which, many thanks.
Cambridge-based researchers recently published a study providing experimental data which supports the idea that the human brain lives “on the edge of chaos”.
Its press release ends:
According to [co-author] Kitzbichler, this new evidence is only a starting point. “A natural next question we plan to address in future research will be: How do measures of critical dynamics relate to cognitive performance or neuropsychiatric disorders and their treatments?”
Well, taking that ‘cognitive performance’ a bit more specifically to include learning, and learning to walk in particular, the following story leads in an interesting direction for us fourculture fans.
Five years ago… (more…)
Good Intentions: is rational choice the only choice?
March 19, 2009A new book called Good Intentions proposes that Christians should stop judging economic matters on the basis of pre-conceived moral positions and start judging them on the basis of what actually works. A prime example is the debate about the minimum wage… (more…)
Four Faces of Global Culture revisited
March 14, 2009Sociologist Peter Berger wrote an article in 1997 called Four Faces of Global Culture, claiming globalization has four dominant cultures. These are: (more…)
East meets West: are there just two cultures?
March 14, 2009New Scientist has an article by Ed Yong on the dichotomy between eastern and western thought.
But there are more than two alternatives (western/individualist/analytic vs eastern/collective/holistic)… (more…)
