Marcus et al.’s experiment (1999) concerning infant ability to distinguish between differing syntactic structures has prompted connectionists to strive to show that certain types of neural networks can mimic the infants’ results. In this paper we take a closer look at two such attempts: Shultz and Bale [Shultz, T.R. and Bale, A.C. (2001), Infancy 2, pp. 501–536] Altmann and Dienes [Altmann, G.T.M. and Dienes, Z. (1999) Science 248, p. 875a]. We were not only interested in how well these two models (...) matched the infants’ results, but also whether they were genuinely learning the grammars involved in this process. After performing an extensive set of experiments, we found that, at first blush, Shultz and Bale’s model (2001) replicated the infant’s known data, but the model largely failed to learn the grammars. We also found serious problems with Altmann and Dienes’ model (1999), which fell short of matching any of the infant’s results and of learning the syntactic structure of the input patterns. (shrink)

Aldo Leopold was a pragmatist in the vernacular sense of the word. Bryan G. Norton claims that Leopold was also heavily influenced by American Pragmatism, a formal school of philosophy. As evidence, Norton offers Leopold's misquotation of a definition of right (as truth) by political economist, A.T. Hadley, who was an admirer of the philosophy of William James. A search of Leopold's digitised literary remains reveals no other evidence that Leopold was directly influenced by any actual American Pragmatist or (...) by Pragmatism (although he may have been indirectly influenced by Pragmatism early in his career). A 1923 reference, by Leopold, to Hadley and Hadley's putative definition of truth, cited by Norton, is dripping with irony. Leopold, as he matured philosophically, regarded a profound cultural shift from anthropocentric dominionism and consumerism to an evolutionary-ecological worldview and an associated non-anthropocentric 'land ethic' to be necessary for successful and sustainable conservation. Hadley espoused a brutal form of Social Darwinism and his philosophy, as expressed in the book of Hadley's that Norton cites, is politically reactionary, militaristic and unconcerned with conservation. Leopold's mature philosophy and Hadley's – far from consonant, as Norton claims – are diametrically opposed. (shrink)

The paper considers the intellectual computer mathematics system InparSolver, which is designed to automatically explore and solve basic classes of computational mathematics problems on multi-core computers with graphics accelerators. The problems of results reliability of solving problems with approximate input data are outlined. The features of the use of existing computer mathematics systems are analyzed, their weaknesses are found. The functionality of InparSolver, some innovative approaches to the implementation of effective solutions to problems in a hybrid architecture are described. Examples (...) of applied usage of InparSolver for processes mathematical modeling in various subject areas are given. Nowadays, new more complex objects and phenomena in many subject areas are constantly emerging, which are subject to mathematical research on a computer. This encourages the development of new numerical methods and technologies of mathematical modeling, as well as the creation of more powerful computers for their implementation. With the advent and constant development of supercomputers of various architectures, the problems of their effective use, expansion of tasks range should be solved, ensuring the reliability of computer results and increasing the level of intellectual information support for users ‒ specialists in various fields. Today, the issues of solving these problems are given special attention by many specialists in the fields of information technology and parallel programming. The world's leadingscientists in the field of computer technology see the solution to the problems of efficient usage of modern supercomputers in algorithmic software creation that easily adapts to different computer architectures with different types of memory and coprocessors, supports efficient parallelism on millions of cores etc. In addition, improving the efficiency of high-performance computing on modern supercomputers is provided by their intellectualization, transferring to the computer to perform a significant part of the functions. The industry of development and usage of intelligent computer technologies is one of the main directions of science and technology development in modern society. (shrink)

Logic; Islamic philosophy; Islam--doctrines.

Social psychological research on youth intergroup relations has primarily examined interactions between dichotomous groups through cross-sectional and self-report measures in single contexts. Such traditional approaches, however, are not adept to capturing the dynamic nature of intergroup relations for youth growing up in multicultural societies. In this chapter, we briefly review the existing literature on youth interethnic interactions. We next discuss some theoretical and methodological limitations of this research. We then review the handful of studies focused on youths’ behaviour in diverse (...) contexts, as well as emerging research examining youth and behavioural trajectories when moving beyond the dichotomies of Black and White. We end the chapter by proposing a new research agenda which brings youth into context and extends theoretical boundaries by drawing on a range of innovative methods. We argue this broader approach is needed if we are to truly understand the implications of growing ethnic diversity for youth. (shrink)

One of the basic categories of religious consciousness, which has an inexhaustible spiritual-moral potential that is relevant to our times, is undoubtedly the category of holiness. To understand how it was rooted and developed on our native soil it is important to note that the Old Kievan and the later Ukrainian culture did not invent a separate or special theory of holiness, but rather borrowed it from the Old Testament and the Byzantine-Christian traditions. Yet, the concrete image of holiness that (...) was formed on this theoretical foundation has very distinct unique features. To explain how the inherited general theoretical foundations of the image of holiness were absorbed into the cultural context of Kievan Rus' I shall try to determine which aspects of the traditional conception of holiness were predominant there. (shrink)

If the current trend is any guide, it looks like we are heading towards a future in which relationships are determined and regulated by rights. In addition to the ?universal human rights? declared soon after the Second World War, other ?universal rights? have been declared and added to the list of rights, such as the rights of the child, the rights of indigenous peoples and so on. A question arises as to whether a world in which our relationships are governed (...) entirely on the basis of rights is an appealing one. I want to suggest that if our common future is regulated entirely by rights then we are moving in the wrong direction. By contrast, Tu Wei-ming believes that if Confucianism flourishes, we will move towards a society based on trust rather than rights, or what he calls a ?fiduciary society?. I will argue that while Tu's Confucian fiduciary society is perhaps an impractical ideal, a move towards it will provide a necessary counter-balance to the relentless march towards a rights-based society. (shrink)