Human Simulation: A Transdisciplinary Approach to Studying Societal Problems

The relevant research literatures, together with the issues articulated by chapter authors in this book, are used to characterize some of the conceptual and technical hurdles of collaborative GIS. The intention is to examine how collaborative GIS can consolidate and expand its reaches in research and applications. This is necessary, given the increasing complexity of environmental and societal problems. Three areas for future research explorations are synthesized. These areas encompass scale effects, system modeling, and distributive planning. While there may be other equally valid research areas, the focus is to encourage a transdisciplinary infusion to enrich collaborative GIS. With a transdisciplinary approach, integrated solutions can be developed that use the best available knowledge to narrow conceptual gaps between technical experts and the general public, towards more effective planning, problem solving, and decision-making. Game theory, ontological engineering, and agent technology are proposed as transdisciplinary means to enrich current collaborative GIS research and applications.

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Human Simulation and Sustainability: Ontological, Epistemological, and Ethical Reflections

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su122310039 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (23) ◽

pp. 10039

Author(s):

F. LeRon Shults ◽

Wesley J. Wildman

Keyword(s):

Human Factors ◽

Ethical Issues ◽

Cognitive Architectures ◽

Transdisciplinary Approach ◽

Modeling Process ◽

Artificial Societies ◽

Sustainability Research ◽

Ethical Reflections ◽

Further Development ◽

Human Simulation

This article begins with a brief outline of recent advances in the application of computer modeling to sustainability research, identifying important gaps in coverage and associated limits in methodological capability, particularly in regard to taking account of the tangled human factors that are often impediments to a sustainable future. It then describes some of the ways in which a new transdisciplinary approach within “human simulation” can contribute to the further development of sustainability modeling, more effectively addressing such human factors through its emphasis on stakeholder, policy professional, and subject matter expert participation, and its focus on constructing more realistic cognitive architectures and artificial societies. Finally, the article offers philosophical reflections on some of the ontological, epistemological, and ethical issues raised at the intersection of sustainability research and social simulation, considered in light of the importance of human factors, including values and worldviews, in the modeling process. Based on this philosophical analysis, we encourage more explicit conversations about the value of naturalism and secularism in finding and facilitating effective and ethical strategies for sustainable development.

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Developing an interface between engineering and the social sciences: An interdisciplinary team approach to solving societal problems.

American Psychologist ◽

10.1037/0003-066x.30.11.1067 ◽

1975 ◽

Vol 30 (11) ◽

pp. 1067-1071 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

W. Bruce Walsh ◽

George L. Smith ◽

Manuel London

Keyword(s):

Social Sciences ◽

Interdisciplinary Team ◽

Team Approach ◽

The Social ◽

Societal Problems

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Ergonomic Design of a Main Control Room of Radioactive Waste Facility Using Digital Human Simulation

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e572172013-397 ◽

2012 ◽

Author(s):

Baekhee Lee ◽

Yoon Chang ◽

Kihyo Jung ◽

Ilho Jung ◽

Heecheon You

Keyword(s):

Radioactive Waste ◽

Control Room ◽

Ergonomic Design ◽

Waste Facility ◽

Digital Human ◽

Human Simulation

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Santos: A physics-based digital human simulation environment

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e577742012-009 ◽

2006 ◽

Author(s):

Karim Abdel-Malek ◽

Jasbir Arora ◽

Jingzhou Yang ◽

Timothy Marler ◽

Steve Beck ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Simulation Environment ◽

Digital Human ◽

Human Simulation

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Complexity and the Art of Public Policy

10.23943/princeton/9780691169132.001.0001 ◽

2016 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

David Colander ◽

Roland Kupers

Keyword(s):

Social Systems ◽

Policy Framework ◽

Government Control ◽

Institutional Structures ◽

Policy Models ◽

Benefit Corporations ◽

Evolving System ◽

Societal Problems ◽

Modern Analytical ◽

Policy Solutions

Complexity science—made possible by modern analytical and computational advances—is changing the way we think about social systems and social theory. Unfortunately, economists’ policy models have not kept up and are stuck in either a market fundamentalist or government control narrative. While these standard narratives are useful in some cases, they are damaging in others, directing thinking away from creative, innovative policy solutions. This book outlines a new, more flexible policy narrative, which envisions society as a complex evolving system that is uncontrollable but can be influenced. The book describes how economists and society became locked into the current policy framework, and lay out fresh alternatives for framing policy questions. Offering original solutions to stubborn problems, the complexity narrative builds on broader philosophical traditions, such as those in the work of John Stuart Mill, to suggest initiatives that the authors call “activist laissez-faire” policies. The book develops innovative bottom-up solutions that, through new institutional structures such as for-benefit corporations, channel individuals’ social instincts into solving societal problems, making profits a tool for change rather than a goal. It argues that a central role for government in this complexity framework is to foster an ecostructure within which diverse forms of social entrepreneurship can emerge and blossom.

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An Exercise in a Transdisciplinary Approach for New Knowledge Paradigms

Human and Social Studies ◽

10.2478/hssr-2013-0042 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 3 (3) ◽

pp. 114-143

Author(s):

Gabriel Crumpei ◽

Maricel Agop ◽

Alina Gavriluţ ◽

Irina Crumpei

Keyword(s):

Quantum Mechanics ◽

20Th Century ◽

Chaos Theory ◽

Fractal Geometry ◽

Science And Religion ◽

Transdisciplinary Approach ◽

Linear Dynamics ◽

New Knowledge ◽

Religious Perspectives ◽

Energy Information

Abstract In this paper, we aim at an exercise that is transdisciplinary, involving science and religion, and interdisciplinary, involving disciplines and theories which appeared in the second half of the 20th century (e.g., topology, chaos theory, fractal geometry, non-linear dynamics, all of which can be found in the theory of complex systems). The latter required the reformulation of quantum mechanics theories starting with the beginning of the century, based on the substance-energy-information triangle. We focus on information and we also attempt a transdisciplinary approach to the imaginary from a psychological - physical - mathematical perspective, but the religious perspectives find their place along with the philosophical or even philological vision

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Is There a Measurement Crisis in Disgust Research?

10.31234/osf.io/a8u5m ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Thomas Armstrong ◽

Danica Wilbanks ◽

Daniel Leong ◽

Kean J. Hsu

Keyword(s):

Mental Disorders ◽

Clinical Psychology ◽

Reliability And Validity ◽

Self Report ◽

Behavioral Therapies ◽

Cognitive Behavioral Therapies ◽

Societal Problems ◽

Test Retest Reliability ◽

Pathogen Avoidance ◽

Corrective Information

Once a forgotten emotion, disgust is now studied in fields from evolutionary to clinical psychology. Although highly adaptive as a pathogen avoidance mechanism, disgust is prone to false positives. Indeed, several anxiety-related disorders involve excessive and irrational disgust. Furthermore, disgust resists corrective information, making it difficult to treat through cognitive-behavioral therapies. A deeper understanding of disgust could improve the treatment of mental disorders and other societal problems involving this peculiar emotion. However, researchers may need to improve the measurement of disgust to gain such insights. In this paper, we review psychology’s “measurement crisis” in the context of disgust. We suggest that self-report measures, though optimal in reliability, have compromised validity because the vernacular usage of disgust captures neighboring states of discomfort and disapproval. In addition to potential validity issues, we find that most non-self-report measures of disgust have questionable reliability. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were rarely reported for psychophysiological and neural measures, but the information available suggests that these measures of disgust have poor reliability and may not support individual difference research crucial to clinical psychology. In light of this assessment, we provide several recommendations for improving the reliability and validity of disgust measurement, including renewed attention to theory.

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