DOCSLIB.ORG

Global Brain Singularity

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Global Brain Singularity VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT BRUSSEL DOCTORAL THESIS GLOBAL BRAIN SINGULARITY Author: Supervisor: Cadell Last Prof. Dr. Francis Heylighen A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Studies in the ECCO -- Centre Leo Apostel Doctoral School of Human Sciences 1 2 3 Vrije Universiteit Brussel Abstract Faculty of Arts and Philosophy Doctoral School of Human Sciences Global Brain Singularity: Universal history, future evolution and humanity's dialectical horizon By Cadell N. Last ABSTRACT: This work attempts to approach an understanding of global brain singularity through a logical meditation on temporal dynamics of universal process. Global brain singularity is conceived of as a future metasystem of human civilization representing a higher qualitative coherence of order. To better understand the potentiality space of this phenomenon we start with an overview of universal history with the tools of big history and cosmic evolution. These forms of knowledge situate the presence of modern humans in relation to a material complexification from big bang to global civilization. In studying the patterns of complexification throughout universal history, including the evolutionary structure of the physical order, the evolutionary structure of the biological order, and the evolutionary structure of the cultural order, we focus attention on how these patterns may inform reasoned discussion on the contemporary evolution of human society. Human society in the 21st century is struggling to understand the meaning of technological complexification and global convergence but if situated within universal history both processes may be discussed from a fresh perspective. From developing an understanding of universal history for the present moment we shift focus to the structure of historical human metasystems. Thus, from situating humans in the context of the cosmos as a whole we shift to situating humans in the context of our species being as a whole. Throughout the history of the human species our system has evolved from local hunter-gatherer bands to a global interconnected network of nation-states and international organizations. In order to explain the emergence of these higher order structures we propose a theory of human metasystems informed from concepts useful in application to universal historical dynamics which revolve around information, energy and control. The central hypothesis forwarded suggests the idea that circular systemic processes emerge and stabilize from new information mediums allowing for the controlled regulation of new energy flows. In light of this analysis we attempt to theoretically mediate global civilization with new concepts relevant to the future of politics, economics and psychosocial life in general. This paradigm can be broadly understood under the framework of a ‘commons’. 4 In this context analysis shifts from the structure of human metasystems to the nature of human evolution from the perspective of the evolutionary agents of the process: human beings. Human beings in this analysis are conceptualized as biocultural agents subject to the interacting and entangled processes of biological evolution and cultural evolution. Here we attempt to understand the way in which growth and reproduction operate in the human organism. We furthermore attempt to understand how these processes may continue to operate in a future metasystem organization which allows for the emergence of a background radically different from either our natural or societal background. In these speculations we focus attention on the idea of a potential emergence of a new ‘technocultural’ evolutionary process that allows for a new level of freedom for consciousness radically liberated from its historical constraints. From this perspective we attempt to engage a rich literature of speculations about the future of intelligence and consciousness in the universe as a whole. This speculation is structured by the idea that there may be two potential general pathways for intelligence and consciousness, a pathway of transcendent expansion into the macro universe, or a pathway of transcendent compression into the micro universe. Finally, we leave universal history and future evolution as expressed in the conceptual structure of this work and reflectively bring our attention back to the internal depths of the present moment for historical consciousness. The most fundamental nature of this present moment for consciousness is proposed to be the dualistic structure of subject-object division or difference (the inside and outside of conscious experience). In order to approach the nature and paradoxes of the subjective and the objective we reflectively inscribe the existence of major forms of knowledge as particular strategies for dealing with or working with the nature of this fundamental division or difference on an experiential-emotional level. We then attempt to understand the possible functions for the internalization of knowledge in history and develop an ontology that can handle the radical inclusion of epistemology. This brings us to an attempt to understand the territory of the map in-itself. The geometrical territory of these maps is then analyzed from the perspective of this author with the aid of phenomenologically grounded logical dialectics and left to the reader for reflective contemplation. We then end or conclude with a dialectically informed speculation on how we could interpret the global brain singularity when we are capable of also thinking the eternal present of phenomenology which stresses the inclusion of all observers. Keywords: big history; cosmic evolution; futures; technological singularity; metasystem transitions; global brain; commonism; technocultural; subject-object; dialectics; consciousness 5 6 7 Contents Abstract (p. 4) Contents (p. 8) List of Figures (p. 12) List of Tables (p. 13) Preface (p. 18) Acknowledgements (p. 26) Introduction (p. 28) Part 1: Contextualizing Our Present (p. 34) Chapter 1: Historical Foundations for Future Speculations (p. 36) 1.1 Introduction (p. 36) 1.2 Big history (p. 41) 1.2.1 History of big history (p. 42) 1.2.2 Three eras (p. 45) 1.2.3 Three evolutionary processes (p. 51) 1.2.4 End of order? (p. 55) Chapter 2: History of the future (p. 76) 2.1 Human future (p. 76) 2.2 Transmodernist-transhumanist horizon (p. 83) 2.2.1 Singularity visions (p. 87) Part 2: Challenges of a Global Metasystem (p. 110) Chapter 3: Human Metasystem Transitions (p. 112) 3.1 Metasystem transitions (p. 112) 3.2 Human metasystem transitions (p. 114) 3.2.1 Emergence of bands/tribes (p. 116) 3.2.2 Emergence of chiefdoms/kingdoms (p. 117) 3.2.3 Emergence of nation-states (p. 119) 3.3 Future human metasystem transition (p. 120) 3.4 Summary of human metasystem transition theory (p. 123) Chapter 4: Control Dynamics of Human Metasystems (p. 134) 4.1 Complexity and control (p. 134) 4.2 Theoretical foundations of a global control transition (p. 137) 4.2.1 Metasystem and control (p. 137) 4.2.2 Control information theory (p. 139) 4.3 A tool for human control transitions (p. 142) 8 4.4 Theoretical speculations regarding future contours of control (p. 144) Chapter 5: Global Brain and the Future of Human Society (p. 150) 5.1 Global brain (p. 150) 5.2 Challenge propagation (p. 151) 5.2.1 Speculations on future governance and religion (p. 155) Chapter 6: Global Commons in the Global Brain (p. 162) 6.1 Technological revolution/disruption is near (but what about our response?) (p. 162) 6.2 Technological revolution/disruption as global brain singularity (p. 168) 6.3 Towards a commonist discourse (p. 175) 6.4 Global brain as mechanism for global commons (p. 190) 6.5 A revolutionary political-economy (p. 201) Part 3: Signs of a New Evolution (p. 208) Chapter 7: Biocultural Theory of Human Reproduction (p. 210) 7.1 The question of life extension (p. 210) 7.2 Human growth and reproduction (p. 211) 7.3 Life history theory and human evolution (p. 213) 7.4 Modern world (p. 215) 7.5 Into the future (p. 217) 7.6 Reproduction, given radical life extension (p. 221) Chapter 8: Atechnogenesis and Technocultural Evolution (p. 228) 8.1 Problematizing the singularity metaphor (p. 228) 8.2 Singularity as emergence of new evolutionary pathway (p. 229) 8.3 Towards a theory of atechnogenesis (p. 236) 8.4 Speculations on the technocultural era (p. 242) Chapter 9: Deep Future, Evolutionary Developmental Pathways (p. 258) 9.1 Possible knowledge of the deep future (p. 258) 9.2 Final frontier: expansion hypothesis (p. 259) 9.3 Final frontier: compression hypothesis (p. 268) Part 4: Field of 21st Century Knowledge (p. 288) Chapter 10: Non-Monist Framework for the Emergence and Reconciliation of Subject- Object Division (p. 290) 10.1 Introduction: Subject-object division and knowledge (p. 290) 10.2 Contextualizing contemporary theory (p. 292) 9 10.3 Building towards new theoretical architecture (p. 295) 10.4 Working higher order theoretical architecture (p. 300) 10.5 Note on the sexual real (p. 305) 10.5 Consequences, final thoughts (p. 308) Chapter 11: Symbolic Orders and Structure of Universal Internalization (p. 316) 11.1 Narrativization of universal evolution (p. 316) 11.2 Evolution of narrativistic internalization (p. 320) 11.3 Research for narrativistic internalization (p. 324) 11.4 Higher order understanding of internalization (p. 328) 11.5 Radical speculation on the nature of freedom (p. 333) Chapter 12: A Reflective Note for Dialectical Thinkers (p. 342) 12.1 Between deconstruction and metalanguage (p. 342) 12.2 Metaontology: maps as territory (p. 347) 12.2.1 Let us get personal (p. 349) 12.2.1.1 Plato (p. 349) 12.2.1.2 Hegel (p. 350) 12.2.1.3 Lacan (p. 353) 12.2.1.4 Žižek (p. 356) 12.2.2 Archaeology of the real’s knowledge (p. 361) 12.3 Dialectical foundations (p. 364) 12.4 Dialectical structure of our century (p. 372) 12.4.1 The Absolute (p. 377) Chapter 13: Dialectical Approach to Singularity (p.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Big Historical Foundations for Deep Future Speculations: Cosmic Evolution, Atechnogenesis, and Technocultural Civilization
    Found Sci DOI 10.1007/s10699-015-9434-y Big Historical Foundations for Deep Future Speculations: Cosmic Evolution, Atechnogenesis, and Technocultural Civilization Cadell Last1 Ó Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015 Abstract Big historians are attempting to construct a general holistic narrative of human origins enabling an approach to studying the emergence of complexity, the relation between evolutionary processes, and the modern context of human experience and actions. In this paper I attempt to explore the past and future of cosmic evolution within a big historical foundation characterized by physical, biological, and cultural eras of change. From this analysis I offer a model of the human future that includes an addition and/or reinterpretation of technological singularity theory with a new theory of biocultural evo- lution focused on the potential birth of technological life: the theory of atechnogenesis. Furthermore, I explore the potential deep futures of technological life and extrapolate towards two hypothetical versions of an ‘Omega Civilization’: expansion and compression. Keywords Big history Á Anthropology Á Futures Á Evolution Á Singularity Á Philosophy 1 Introduction My focus is to explore the ‘deep future’ of ‘big history’ in-as-far as it can be explored given a lack of empirical data, inability to test future predictions, and an incomplete knowledge of local and global physical, biological, and cultural processes currently in operation. We can gain a new understanding of possible future trends and processes by analyzing the emerging science of cosmic evolution within the narrative architecture of big history. Although modern phenomena like technological complexification and sociopo- litical convergence receive considerable attention, few researchers approach these issues from the vantage point of 13.8 billion years of interconnected evolution.
    [Show full text]
  • Nanosystems, Edge Computing, and the Next Generation Computing Systems
    sensors Review Nanosystems, Edge Computing, and the Next Generation Computing Systems Ali Passian * and Neena Imam Computing & Computational Sciences Directorate, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37830, USA; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 30 July 2019; Accepted: 16 September 2019; Published: 19 September 2019 Abstract: It is widely recognized that nanoscience and nanotechnology and their subfields, such as nanophotonics, nanoelectronics, and nanomechanics, have had a tremendous impact on recent advances in sensing, imaging, and communication, with notable developments, including novel transistors and processor architectures. For example, in addition to being supremely fast, optical and photonic components and devices are capable of operating across multiple orders of magnitude length, power, and spectral scales, encompassing the range from macroscopic device sizes and kW energies to atomic domains and single-photon energies. The extreme versatility of the associated electromagnetic phenomena and applications, both classical and quantum, are therefore highly appealing to the rapidly evolving computing and communication realms, where innovations in both hardware and software are necessary to meet the growing speed and memory requirements. Development of all-optical components, photonic chips, interconnects, and processors will bring the speed of light, photon coherence properties, field confinement and enhancement, information-carrying capacity, and the broad spectrum of light into the high-performance computing, the internet of things, and industries related to cloud, fog, and recently edge computing. Conversely, owing to their extraordinary properties, 0D, 1D, and 2D materials are being explored as a physical basis for the next generation of logic components and processors. Carbon nanotubes, for example, have been recently used to create a new processor beyond proof of principle.
    [Show full text]
  • The Nanobank Database Is Available at for Free Use for Research Purposes
    Forthcoming: Annals of Economics and Statistics (Annales d’Economie et Statistique), Issue 115/116, in press 2014 NBER WORKING PAPER SERIES COMMUNITYWIDE DATABASE DESIGNS FOR TRACKING INNOVATION IMPACT: COMETS, STARS AND NANOBANK Lynne G. Zucker Michael R. Darby Jason Fong Working Paper No. 17404 http://www.nber.org/papers/w17404 NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH 1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138 September 2011 Revised March 2014 The construction of Nanobank was supported under major grants from the National Science Foundation (SES- 0304727 and SES-0531146) and the University of California’s Industry-University Cooperative Research Program (PP9902, P00-04, P01-02, and P03-01). Additional support was received from the California NanoSystems Institute, Sun Microsystems, Inc., UCLA’s International Institute, and from the UCLA Anderson School’s Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) and the Harold Price Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. The COMETS database (also known as the Science and Technology Agents of Revolution or STARS database) is being constructed for public research use under major grants from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation (2008- 0028 and 2008-0031) and the Science of Science and Innovation Policy (SciSIP) Program at the National Science Foundation (grants SES-0830983 and SES-1158907) with support from other agencies. Our colleague Jonathan Furner of the UCLA Department of Information Studies played a leading role in developing the methodology for selecting records for Nanobank. We are indebted to our scientific and policy advisors Roy Doumani, James R. Heath, Evelyn Hu, Carlo Montemagno, Roger Noll, and Fraser Stoddart, and to our research team, especially Amarita Natt, Hsing-Hau Chen, Robert Liu, Hongyan Ma, Emre Uyar, and Stephanie Hwang Der.
    [Show full text]
  • Ultrafastlight-2020 Book of Abstracts
    Book of Abstracts IV International Conference on Ultrafast Optical Science UltrafastLight-2020 September 28 – October 2, 2020 Lebedev Physical Institute, Moscow IV International Conference on Ultrafast Optical Science (UltrafastLight-2020), is the broad-scope, annual international symposium dedicated to the most im- portant aspects of ultrafast phenomena in different fields of natural sciences and engineering. The Conference topics: 1. Extreme light 2. Ultrafast phenomena in condensed matter and ionized gases 3. Ultrafast laser nanofabrication and nanophotonics 4. Femtosecond non-linear optics. Filamentation. High field THz generation. 5. Femtosecond radiation in spectroscopy and optical frequency metrology. 6. Physics and technology of ultrafast lasers and ultrashort laser pulses. Website: www.ultrafastlight.ru E-mail: [email protected] [email protected] Chair - Nikolay Kolachevsky (Lebedev Physical Institute), Vice-chair - Andrey Ionin (Lebedev Physical Institute), Vice-chair - Sergey Kudryashov (ITMO University / LPI) 1 2 Contents 3 4 Section 1: Extreme light Section Chair: Andrei Savel’ev , e-mail: [email protected] (Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia) Program committee: Valery Bychenkov (LPI RAS, Moscow, Russia) Igor Kostuykov (IAP RAS, Nizhny Novgorod, Russi) Scope Laser plasma sources of ionizing radiation Nuclear photonics Extreme fields physics Ultra high intensity facilities 5 Oral Investigation of pre-pulse influence on high-Z plasma formation in experiments with high intense up to 1022 W/cm2 femtosecond laser pulses by means of X-ray spectroscopy M. A. Alkhimova1, A. Ya. Faenov1,2, T. A. Pikuz1,2, I. Yu. Skobelev1,3, 4 4 4 S. A. Pikuz1,3, A. S. Pirozhkov , M. Nishiuchi , N. P. Dover , H. Sakaki4, A. Sagisaka4, Ko.
    [Show full text]
  • Enhanced Oil Recovery for Emergent Energy Demand: Challenges and Prospects for a Nanotechnology Paradigm Shift
    International Nano Letters https://doi.org/10.1007/s40089-018-0248-0 REVIEW Enhanced oil recovery for emergent energy demand: challenges and prospects for a nanotechnology paradigm shift Richard O. Afolabi1 Received: 3 May 2018 / Accepted: 6 September 2018 © The Author(s) 2018 Abstract Renewable and non-renewable energy sources remain the two fronts for meeting global emergent energy demand. Renew- able energy sources such as crude oil, in meeting energy needs, is a function of new hydrocarbon discoveries and improv- ing the recovery of existing oil felds. However, new crude oil discoveries are made at a decreasing rate; likewise, existing felds are at a declining phase with conventional recovery techniques not being able to produce as much as two-thirds of the oil in place. In complementing existing oil recovery techniques, research into the use of nanotechnology has emerged as a potential alternative for tertiary oil recovery scheme. Despite the promising results, there has not been any reported large- scale feld application of nanotechnology in the oil and gas industry except for some small-scale feld trials. In this paper, a detailed review of developments on nano-enhanced oil recovery (Nano-EOR) and its attendant challenges are presented. Furthermore, key recommendations were given for future research on Nano-EOR. While the adoption of new technologies has its associated risks, the future prospects of Nano-EOR remains very high. Keywords Nanotechnology · Enhanced oil recovery · Energy demand · Paradigm shift Introduction production, reserves growth, and feld reactivation or aban- donment [1, 2, 15, 16]. Recent research trend has shifted in Demand for energy has increased over the years with global various disciplines from the “Macro-domain” to the “Micro- industrialization and population growth [47].
    [Show full text]
  • Stability and Possible Production of the Super-Strong AB-Matter
    1 Stability and Possible Production of the Super-Strong AB-matter Alexander Bolonkin City University of New York, 1310 Avenue R, #6-F, Brooklyn,11229, USA [email protected] Abstract - In works [1-3] author offered and considered possible super strong nuclear matter. In given work he continues to study the problem of a stability and production this matter. He shows the special artificial forms of nuclear AB-matter which make its stability and give the fantastic properties. For example, by the offered AB-needle you can pierce any body without any damage, support motionless satellite, reach the other planet, and research Earth‘s interior. These forms of nuclear matter are not in nature now, and nanotubes are also not in nature. The AB-matter is also not natural now, but researching and investigating their possibility, properties, stability and production are necessary for creating them. Keywords- Femtotechnology; FemtoTech; AB-matter; AB-needle; Stability AB-matter; Production of AB-matter; 1. INTRODUCTION A. Brief History Physicist Richard Feynman offered his idea to design artificial matter from atoms and molecules at an American Physical Society meeting at Caltech on December 29, 1959. If he was not well-known physicist, the audience laughed at him and drove away from the podium. All scientists accepted his proposal as joke. Typical question are: How can you see the molecule? How can you catch the molecule? How can you connect one molecule to other? How many hundreds of years you will create one milligram of matter? And hundreds of same questions having no answers may be asked.
    [Show full text]
  • Nanotechnology (1+0)
    College of Agricultural Technology Theni Dr.M.Manimaran Ph.D Soil Science NST 301 Fundamentals & Applications of Nanotechnology (1+0) Syllabus Unit 1: Basics of Nano science (4 lectures) - Introduction to nano science and technology, history, definition, classification of nanomaterials based on origin, dimension - Unique properties of nanomaterials - mechanical, magnetic, thermal, optical and electrical properties Unit 2: Synthesis of Nanomaterials (3 Lectures): Physical, Chemical and Biological synthesis of nano-materials Unit 3: Properties and Characterization of Nanomaterials (4 Lectures): Size (particle size analyzer), morphological (scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope), optical (UV-VIS and FT-IR) and structural (XRD) properties of nano-materials Unit 4: Application of Nanotechnology (3 Lectures) Biosensor (principle, component, types, applications) agriculture (nano-fertilizers, herbicides, nano-seed science, nano- pesticides) and food Systems (encapsulation of functional foods, nano-packaging) Unit V - Application of Nanotechnology (2 Lectures) Energy, Environment, Health and Nanotoxicology Reference Books Subramanian, K.S. et al. (2018) Fundamentals and Applications of Nanotechnology, Daya Publishers, New Delhi K.S. Subramanian, K. Gunasekaran, N. Natarajan, C.R. Chinnamuthu, A. Lakshmanan and S.K. Rajkishore. 2014. Nanotechnology in Agriculture. ISBN: 978-93-83305-20-9. New India Publishing Agency, New Delhi. Pp 1-440. T. Pradeep, 2007. NANO: The Essentials: Understanding Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. ISBN: 9780071548298. Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited, New Delhi. Pp 1-371. M.A. Shah, T. Ahmad, 2010. Principles of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. ISBN: 978-81-8487-072-5. Narosa Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi Pp. 1-220. Mentor of Nanotechnology When I see children run around and cycle with the artificial limbs with lightweight prosthetics, it is sheer bliss Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Interface of Extramural Research in Nano Level Complies with Advanced Pharmaceutical Science and Basic Science in the Umbrella of Nanoscience
    wjpmr, 2021,7(4), 393-409. SJIF Impact Factor: 5.922 Sen et al. WORLD JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL World Journal of Pharmaceutical and Medical ResearchReview Article AND MEDICAL RESEARCH ISSN 2455-3301 www.wjpmr .com Wjpmr INTERFACE OF EXTRAMURAL RESEARCH IN NANO LEVEL COMPLIES WITH ADVANCED PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCE AND BASIC SCIENCE IN THE UMBRELLA OF NANOSCIENCE *1Dr. Dhrubo Jyoti Sen, 2Dr. Dhananjoy Saha, 1Arpita Biswas, 1Supradip Mandal, 1Kushal Nandi, 1Arunava Chandra Chandra, 1Amrita Chakraborty and 3Dr. Sampa Dhabal 1Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Techno India University, Salt Lake City, Sector‒V, EM‒4, Kolkata‒700091, West Bengal, India. 2Deputy Director, Directorate of Technical Education, Bikash Bhavan, Salt Lake City, Kolkata‒700091, West Bengal, India. 3Assistant Director, Forensic Science Laboratory, Govt. of West Bengal, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. *Corresponding Author: Dr. Dhrubo Jyoti Sen Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Techno India University, Salt Lake City, Sector‒V, EM‒4, Kolkata‒700091, West Bengal, India. Article Received on 02/03/2021 Article Revised on 22/03/2021 Article Accepted on 12/04/2021 ABSTRACT Nanotechnology, also shortened to nanotech, is the use of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale for industrial purposes. The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal of precisely manipulating atoms and molecules for fabrication of macroscale products, also now referred to as molecular nanotechnology.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Download
    Downloaded from the Humanities Digital Library http://www.humanities-digital-library.org Open Access books made available by the School of Advanced Study, University of London ***** Publication details: Revisiting the Falklands-Malvinas Question: Transnational and Interdisciplinary Perspectives Edited by Guillermo Mira Delli-Zotti and Fernando Pedrosa https://humanities-digital-library.org/index.php/hdl/catalog/book/ falklands-malvinas DOI: 10.14296/1220.9781908857804 ***** This edition published in 2021 by UNIVERSITY OF LONDON SCHOOL OF ADVANCED STUDY INSTITUTE OF LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU, United Kingdom ISBN 978-1-908857-80-4 (PDF edition) This work is published under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. More information regarding CC licenses is available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses Revisiting the Falklands-Malvinas Question Transnational and Interdisciplinary Perspectives edited by Guillermo Mira and Fernando Pedrosa INSTITUTE OF LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES Revisiting the Falklands– Malvinas Question Transnational and Interdisciplinary Perspectives edited by Guillermo Mira and Fernando Pedrosa University of London Press Institute of Latin American Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London, 2021 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library This book is published under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license. More information regarding CC licenses is available at https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/. This book is also available online at http://humanities-digital-library.org. ISBN: 978-1-908857-56-9 (paperback edition) 978-1-908857-85-9 (.epub edition) 978-1-908857-86-6 (.mobi edition) 978-1-908857-80-4 (PDF edition) DOI: 10.14296/1220.9781908857804 (PDF edition) Institute of Latin American Studies School of Advanced Study University of London Senate House London WC1E 7HU Cover illustration by Marcelo Spotti.
    [Show full text]
  • Joining Our International Movement
    WELCOME PACK Joining our international movement If you are reading this it means that you are interested in joining Humanists International The board of Humanists International in August 2018 There are different reasons why your organization should join our international family We have listed these reasons on three levels, from the more abstract motivations to the practical benefits: Common vision Community Benefits COMMON VISION Humanists International is the global representative body of the humanist movement The logo of Humanists International since 2019 Among the international NGOs campaigning for universal human rights, Humanists International is unique as the only global, democratic humanist body We campaign for the right to freedom of thought and expression, for non-discrimination whatever people’s gender, sexuality, or beliefs, and speak out against harmful traditional practices No other organization does what Humanists International does A photo of Amsterdam, the Netherlands We promote the humanist philosophy worldwide, as defined by the official statement of world humanism: the Amsterdam Declaration Humanism is a democratic and ethical lifestance, which affirms that human beings have the right and responsibility to give meaning and shape to their own lives Gulalai Ismail, Board Member of Humanists International We defend humanists at risk of persecution and violence, especially in those countries where apostasy is a crime punishable with either prison or death We work directly with humanists facing verified threats to provide
    [Show full text]
  • Luciana Fazio Supervisors: Maria Elena Cavallaro Giovanni Orsina
    1 The Socialist International and the Design of a Community Policy in Latin America During the Late 1970s and 1980s: The Case of Spain and Italy Luciana Fazio Supervisors: Maria Elena Cavallaro Giovanni Orsina LUISS-Guido Carli PhD Program in Politics: History, Theory, Science Cycle XXXII Rome, November 2019 Tesi di dottorato di Luciana Fazio, discussa presso l’Università LUISS, in data 2020. Liberamente riproducibile, in tutto o in parte, con citazione della fonte. Sono comunque fatti salvi i diritti dell’Università LUISS di riproduzione per scopi di ricerca e didattici, con citazione della fonte. 2 Tesi di dottorato di Luciana Fazio, discussa presso l’Università LUISS, in data 2020. Liberamente riproducibile, in tutto o in parte, con citazione della fonte. Sono comunque fatti salvi i diritti dell’Università LUISS di riproduzione per scopi di ricerca e didattici, con citazione della fonte. 3 Acknowledgements I am truly grateful to my supervisors Maria Elena Cavallaro and Giovanni Orsina for their insights and comments to write this thesis. I especially thank all my PhD professors and academics for their support during this process, especially for their advice in terms of literature review and time availability for helping me facing some questions that raised during this process. Special thanks to Professor Joaquin Roy for his support, kindness and hospitality during my visiting exchange program at the University of Miami. Many thanks to the interviewed people (Elena Flores, Luis Yáñez-Barnuevo, Manuel Medina, Beatrice Rangel, Silvio Prado, Juan Antonio Yáñez-Barnuevo, Margherita Boniver, Walter Marossi, Pentti Väänänen, Carlos Parra) for their much needed help to fill the gaps in terms of sources.
    [Show full text]
  • Interstellar Communication. IV. Benchmarking Information Carriers
    Benchmarking information carriers Michael Hippke Sonneberg Observatory, Sternwartestr. 32, 96515 Sonneberg, Germany Abstract The search for extraterrestrial communication has mainly focused on mi- crowave photons since the 1950s. We compare other high speed information carriers to photons, such as electrons, protons, and neutrinos, gravitational waves, inscribed matter, and artificial megastructures such as occulters. The performance card includes the speed of exchange, information per energy and machine sizes, lensing performance, cost, and complexity. In fast point-to- point communications, photons are superior to other carriers by orders of magnitude. Sending probes with inscribed matter requires less energy, but has higher latency. For isotropic beacons with low data rates, our current technological level is insufficient to determine the best choice. We discuss cases where our initial assumptions do not apply, and describe the required properties of hypothetical particles to win over photons. 1. Introduction Information carriers for interstellar communication can be electromag- netic waves (photons), other particles such as neutrinos or protons, gravita- tional waves and inscribed matter (probes). The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), which is in reality mainly a search for communications, focuses heavily on photons, particularly at microwave and optical frequen- arXiv:1711.07962v2 [astro-ph.IM] 18 May 2018 cies (Tarter, 1985, 2001; Tarter et al., 2010). For photons, the search space is 9-dimensional: three of space, two of each polarization, intensity, modula- tion, frequency, and time. For other carriers, the search space has not been described in much detail yet. For example, Neutrinos come without polar- ization, but as particle/antiparticle and have three flavors (electron, muon, Email address: [email protected] (Michael Hippke) Preprint submitted to Elsevier May 22, 2018 tau).
    [Show full text]