Make‐or‐Break: Chasing Risky Goals or Settling for Safe Rewards?

Humans regularly pursue activities characterized by dramatic success or failure outcomes where, critically, the chances of success depend on the time invested working toward it. How should people allocate time between such make‐or‐break challenges and safe alternatives, where rewards are more predictable (e.g., linear) functions of performance? We present a formal framework for studying time allocation between these two types of activities, and we explore optimal behavior in both one‐shot and dynamic versions of the problem. In the one‐shot version, we illustrate striking discontinuities in the optimal time allocation policy as we gradually change the parameters of the decision‐making problem. In the dynamic version, we formulate the optimal strategy—defined by a giving‐up threshold—which adaptively dictates when people should stop pursuing the make‐or‐break goal. We then show that this strategy is computationally inaccessible for humans, and we explore boundedly rational alternatives. We compare the performance of the optimal model against (a) a myopic giving‐up threshold that is easier to compute, and even simpler heuristic strategies that either (b) only decide whether or not to start pursuing the goal and never give up or (c) consider giving up at a fixed number of control points. Comparing strategies across environments, we investigate the cost and behavioral implications of sidestepping the computational burden of full rationality.     

论卢卡奇社会历史辩证法的总体性理论之困境

回顾西方马克思主义发展历程,可以看到,卢卡奇的总体性理论是以社会历史辩证法的反思方式,质疑和批判了庸俗“经济唯物主义”,从而引领了一大批蔑视第二国际教条主义传统的西方左派知识分子,走向反思的马克思主义。而卢卡奇的总体性理论通过社会历史分析方法出具了革命方案,其反思方式是社会历史辩证法的,其解决方式是社会历史分析方法的;前者是人本主义倾向的,后者是科学化的。因此,卢卡奇的总体性理论存在着根本的理论困境,即对问题的反思方式和解决方式之间的矛盾。这一困境也大体奠定了卢卡奇本人理论发展以及继后的整个西方马克思主义…     

试析明清之际天主教书籍传教兴起的原因

明清之际入华的天主教传教士处于一种对他们极为不利的文化、政治环境中,加之教会自身条件的不足,他们被迫通过著书立说来消除中国人加之于他们的蛮夷丑号、规避政府禁令、弥补人手之缺以及跨越语言障碍。与此同时,教会人士认识到书籍在中国社会中具有特殊的重要性,因时就势,把书籍作为了归化中国人的手段。此外,传教士的"西儒"身份也让他们走上了笔耕之路。     

Philosophy of Science: Interfaces between Logic and Knowledge Representation

Abstract

In this inaugural lecture I offer, against the background of a discussion of knowledge representation and its tools, an overview of my research in the philosophy of science. I defend a relational model-theoretic realism as being the appropriate meta-stance most congruent with the model-theoretic view of science as a form of human engagement with the world. Making use of logics with preferential semantics within a model-theoretic paradigm, I give an account of science as process and product. I demonstrate the power of the full-blown employment of this paradigm in the philosophy of science by discussing the main applications of model-theoretic realism to traditional problems in the philosophy of science.

I discuss my views of the nature of logic and of its role in the philosophy of science today. I also specifically offer a brief discussion on the future of cognitive philosophy in South Africa. My conclusion is a general look at the nature of philosophical inquiry and its significance for philosophers today.     

王夫之“文明史观”探论

十七世纪的中国哲学家王夫之已经有了初步的现代文明史观。他的史学著作中出现的“文明”概念,已经具备了现代文明学的基本要素,即具有文化发展的进步意义、制度文明等内容,而且特别阐发了人类生存的自然环境与人类文明类型之间的密切关系。在王夫之的文明史观中,制度文明的观念十分清晰。他高度肯定中国传统社会郡县制自身所具有的文明意义,以及郡县制对于维护人类文明生活方式的积极意义。而郡县制的文明特质在于三大要素,即父子之亲、君臣之义、华夷之别。由于王夫之身处明清易代的特殊历史时期,他特别重视文野之分意义上的“华夷之别”,体现了王夫之文明史观鲜明的时代性特征。     

血管壁切应力的优与非优

在生理水平的血管壁切应力属于优性因子,能促进血管重建,抑制内皮细胞凋亡,调节内皮细胞分泌功能,使内皮细胞形态产生适应性变化;而显著升高或降低的血管壁切应力则属于非优因子,导致高血压恶性循环发生、促进动脉粥样硬化及动脉血栓形成。实现切应力非优向优转化的重要途径是降低高血压和选择性阻断切应力对基因表达的调节     

Mothers', fathers' and children's perceptions of parents' expectations about children's family obligations in nine countries

Children's family obligations involve assistance and respect that children are expected to provide to immediate and extended family members and reflect beliefs related to family life that may differ across cultural groups. Mothers, fathers and children (N = 1432 families) in 13 cultural groups in 9 countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand and United States) reported on their expectations regarding children's family obligations and parenting attitudes and behaviours. Within families, mothers and fathers had more concordant expectations regarding children's family obligations than did parents and children. Parenting behaviours that were warmer, less neglectful and more controlling as well as parenting attitudes that were more authoritarian were related to higher expectations regarding children's family obligations between families within cultures as well as between cultures. These international findings advance understanding of children's family obligations by contextualising them both within families and across a number of diverse cultural groups in 9 countries.     

Analgesic effect of Facebook: Priming with online social networking may boost felt relatedness that buffers against physical pain

Social networking sites (SNSs) are extremely popular for providing users with a convenient platform for acquiring social connections and thereby feeling relatedness. Plenty of literature has shown that mental representations of social support can reduce the perception of physical pain. The current study tested whether thinking about SNS would interfere with users’ perceptions of experimentally induced pain. Ninety‐six undergraduate Facebook users were recruited to participate in a priming‐based experiment. They were randomly assigned to one of the three study conditions (SNS prime, neutral prime, or no prime) via rating the aesthetics of logos. The results showed that participants exposed to SNS primes reported less pain of immersion in hot water than did both control groups (neutral‐ and no‐prime). Felt relatedness mediated the link between SNS primes and diminished pain perceptions. This research provides the first demonstration that thinking about SNS can lower experienced physical pain among Facebook users. Online social networking may serve as an analgesic buffer against pain experience than previously thought. The SNS‐enabled analgesia has far reaching implications for pain relief applications and the enhancement of well‐being in human‐interaction techniques.     

States of Grace: A Relational Context for a Patient’s Coming Into Being

In this paper I explore what I am calling a “state of grace.” I describe how the convergence of a personal life event that left me more vulnerable—and more available—intersected with my patient Ruth’s fortuitous wish to resume a long-terminated treatment. This convergence allowed both my patient and me to repair the impact of early trauma and create a transcendent experience of new growth. The paper narrates how the process that unfolded became the medium through which Ruth, who felt a persistent experience of aloneness, allowed herself to feel, over time, the necessary primal experience of dependency and the subsequent overwhelming experience of basic need.