Ellen Furlong and Laurie Santos helpfully summarize a number of fascinating studies of certain influences on both human and monkey behavior. As someone who works primarily in philosophy, I am not in a position to dispute the details of the studies themselves. But in this brief commentary I do want to raise some questions about the inferences Furlong and Santos make on the basis of those studies. In general, I worry that they may be overreaching beyond what their own data (...) suggests. (shrink)

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The humanist face of Hobbes's mathematics, part 1 -- Constraints that enable the imitation of God -- King of the children of pride : the imitation of God in context -- Architectonic ambitions : mathematics and the demotion of physics -- Eloquence and the audience thesis -- All other doctrines exploded : Hobbes, history, and the struggle over teaching -- The humanist face of Hobbes's mathematics, part 2 : Leviathan and the making of a masque-text -- Appendix. Who is a (...) geometer?. (shrink)

Let ϕ be a fixed numerical function. If the k-state Turing machine M with input string ϕ(k) (that is, started in its initial state scanning the leftmost 1 of a single string of ϕ(k) 1s on an otherwise blank tape) produces the output string m (that is, halts in its halting state scanning the leftmost 1 of a single string of m 1s on an otherwise blank tape), we shall say that the ϕ-fecundity of M is m. If M halts (...) in any other position or state, or fails to halt, its ϕ-fecundity is 0. (shrink)

The example can be generalized. Suppose that ϕ and ψ are suffi- ciently different functions of an independent variable t. We may show that whenever X’s predictions for ϕ and ψ lie (weakly) between Z’s predictions and T’s predictions (the true values), then there are other quantities, interdefinable with ϕ and ψ, that reverse the ordering.

Across mammals, when fathers matter, as they did for hunter-gatherers, sex-similar pair-bonding mechanisms evolve. Attachment fertility theory can explain Schmitt's and other findings as resulting from a system of mechanisms affording pair-bonding in which promiscuous seeking is part. Departures from hunter-gatherer environments (e.g., early menarche, delayed marriage) can alter dating trajectories, thereby impacting mating outside of pair-bonds.

Ofrezco una exposición, tanto apreciativa como crítica, de la interpretaciónpropensista de la probabilidad que Karl Popper introdujo en 1957 y desarrollóen numerosas publicaciones durante los 35 años siguientes.

Mies' disciplined retreat from romantic or individual influence created the illusion of an objective architectural order. Miesian architecture seemed fated, and the public was asked to accept it as a fait accompli. In contrast, Tigerman's "Little House" and the designs of Laurence Booth, Thomas Hall Beeby, Stuart Cohen, James Freed, James Nagle, and Ben Weese are not dependent on their ever being produced. They need not exist in actuality but only in process because their self-conscious styles serve a heuristic purpose. (...) The Chicago Seven exhibitors present an architecture that cannot be understood apart from the ideas which underlie it. The audience is directly involved in architectural creation and leaves such an exhibit better prepared to evaluate the man-made environment. The work is revealed to the audience at its earliest moment of creation and serves as a modest but important first step at demystifying architecture and the entire design process. Conceptual architecture—distinguished from work rendered for particular clients—reveals the fundamentally dialectical nature of contemporary architecture. The linking of method, the way an architectural idea evolves , to product accentuates the art's dynamic quality. Design in this way is seen not merely as a supraorganizational framework capable of defining large areas of urban or exurban space but as a problem-solving tool that can be sensitively applied to meet the specific needs of an individual or community. Ross Miller teaches English and American studies at the University of Connecticut. He has written a book on the roots of contemporary architecture in Chicago. (shrink)

Recent work in computability theory has focused on various notions of asymptotic computability, which capture the idea of a set being “almost computable.” One potentially upsetting result is that all four notions of asymptotic computability admit “almost computable” sets in every Turing degree via coding tricks, contradicting the notion that “almost computable” sets should be computationally close to the computable sets. In response, Astor introduced the notion of intrinsic density: a set has defined intrinsic density if its image under any (...) computable permutation has the same asymptotic density. Furthermore, introduced various notions of intrinsic computation in which the standard coding tricks cannot be used to embed intrinsically computable sets in every Turing degree. Our goal is to study the sets which are intrinsically small, i.e. those that have intrinsic density zero. We begin by studying which computable functions preserve intrinsic smallness. We also show that intrinsic smallness and hyperimmunity are computationally independent notions of smallness, i.e. any hyperimmune degree contains a Turing-equivalent hyperimmune set which is “as large as possible” and therefore not intrinsically small. Our discussion concludes by relativizing the notion of intrinsic smallness and discussing intrinsic computability as it relates to our study of intrinsic smallness. (shrink)

BackgroundPrenatal and early postnatal choline supplementation reduces cognitive and behavioral deficits in animal models of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. In a previously published 9-month clinical trial of choline supplementation in children with FASD, we reported that postnatal choline was associated with improved performance on a hippocampal-dependent recognition memory task. The current paper describes the neurophysiological correlates of that memory performance for trial completers.MethodsChildren with FASD who were enrolled in a clinical trial of choline supplementation were followed for 9 months. Delayed (...) recall on a 9-step elicited imitation task served as the behavioral measure of recognition memory. Neurophysiological correlates of memory were assessed via event-related potentials.ResultsDelayed recall on EI was correlated with two ERP components commonly associated with recognition memory in young children: middle latency negative component and positive slow wave. No significant ERP differences were observed between the choline and placebo groups at the conclusion of the trial.ConclusionAlthough the small sample size limits the ability to draw clear conclusions about the treatment effect of choline on ERP, the results suggest a relationship between memory performance and underlying neurophysiological status in FASD. This trial was registered.1. (shrink)

Vaught's " * -transform method" is applied to derive a global definability theorem of M. Makkai from a classical theorem of Lusin.