Automobility

Geography ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Golub
Keyword(s):  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Self Identity ◽  
Space And Time ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
Mode Of Being ◽  
Class Divisions

Automobility is a conceptual framework developed to understand the personal, social, political, cultural, geographical, and technical systems shaping, and shaped by, the automobile. At its core, the automobility system is the hub of numerous interdependencies and relationships between the larger society and the automobile. The automobility literature synthesizes scholarship from a wide range of fields necessary to understand these diverse but interlocking systems, including history, geography, public policy, planning, behavior, psychology, anthropology, culture and communication, and economics and finance, among many others. Automobility contextualizes the role of the automobile as a powerful and central driver of complex and diverse processes, creating new materialities across space and time. Automobility describes a social arrangement where the automobile system dominates and transforms almost everything in its path—one’s personal sense of self, identity, and mobility; relationships between human beings; the boundaries of public and private; and the broader social, cultural, and political forces at larger scales. Systems affected by the automobililty system become malformed by it, each moment then favoring it even more in a vicious cycle, while rejecting or destroying those systems incompatible with it. Automobility explores a society dispersed across space and time, forcing its subjects into a particular mode of being, seemingly free, but now saddled by the various demands of the automobile. For those not able to participate, automobility excludes, as opportunities become even more inaccessible by anything other than an automobile. These forces of inclusion and exclusion exacerbate existing social processes of discrimination, such as gender, racial and class divisions, and segregation. Furthermore, automobility implicates a vast process of urbanization; land conversion for automobile-related uses; and related environmental impacts like resource consumption, pollution, and climate change across a range of scales from the local to the global, from immediate to long-term.

Moral Disability, Moral Injury, and the Flight from Vulnerability

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virginia L. Warren
Keyword(s):  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Moral Injury ◽  
Controversial Issues ◽  
Moral Reflection ◽  
Moral Value ◽  
Self Identity ◽  
Moral Conviction ◽  
Moral Importance

This chapter explores the concept of moral disability, identifying two types. The first type involves disabling conditions that distort one’s process of moral reflection. Examples include the incapacity to consider the long-term future, to feel empathy for others, and to be honest with oneself. A noteworthy example of self-deception is systematically denying one’s own—and humanity’s—vulnerability to the power of others, to accidents, and to having one’s well-being linked to that of others and the eco-system. Acknowledging vulnerability often requires a new sense of self. The second type includes incapacities directly resulting from ‘moral injury’—debilitating, self-inflicted harms when one violates a deeply held moral conviction, even if trying to remain true to another moral value. Examining moral disabilities highlights the moral importance of self-identity. More progress may be made on controversial issues if we discuss who we are, how we connect, and how we can heal.

The rise and fall of Homo sapiens sapiens

1989 ◽  
Vol 325 (1228) ◽  
pp. 479-488 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Human Food ◽  
The World ◽  
Present Rate

Human beings have broken the ecological ‘law’ that says that big, predatory animals are rare. Two crucial innovations in particular have enabled us to alter the planet to suit ourselves and thus permit unparalleled expansion: speech (which implies instant transmission of an open-ended range of conscious thoughts) and agriculture (which causes the world to produce more human food than unaided nature would do). However, natural selection has not equipped us with a long-term sense of self-preservation. Our population cannot continue to expand at its present rate for much longer, and the examples of many other species suggests that expansion can end in catastrophic collapse. Survival beyond the next century in a tolerable state seems most unlikely unless all religions and economies begin to take account of the facts of biology. This, if it occurred, would be a step in cultural evolution that would compare in import with the birth of agriculture.

Exploring the Complexities of Human Action

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Raeff
Keyword(s):  
Human Action ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Psychological Processes ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Self Identity ◽  
Empathic Understanding ◽  
Environmental Processes ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The World ◽  
Common Goals

Exploring the Complexities of Human Action offers a bold theoretical framework for thinking systematically and integratively about what people do as they go about their complex lives in all corners of the world. The book offers a vision of humanity that promotes empathic understanding of complex human beings that can bring people together to pursue common goals. Raeff sets the stage for conceptualizing human action by characterizing what people do in terms of the complexities of holism, dynamics, variability, and multicausality. She also constructively questions some conventional practices and assumptions in psychology (e.g., fragmenting, objectifying, aggregating, deterministic causality). The author then articulates a systems conceptualization of action that emphasizes multiple and interrelated processes. This integrative conceptualization holds that action is constituted by simultaneously occurring and interrelated individual, social, cultural, bodily, and environmental processes. Action is further conceptualized in terms of simultaneously occurring and interrelated psychological processes (e.g., sensing, perceiving, thinking, feeling, interacting, self/identity), as well as developmental processes. This theoretical framework is informed by research in varied cultures, and accessible examples are used to illustrate major concepts and claims. The book also discusses some implications and applications of the theoretical framework for investigating the complexities of human action. The book shows how the theoretical framework can be used to think about a wide range of action, from eating to art. Raeff uses the theoretical framework to consider varied vexing human issues, including mind–body connections, diversity, extremism, and freedom, as well as how action is simultaneously universal, culturally particular, and individualized.

scholarly journals The Level-of-Growing-Stock (LOGS) study on thinning ponderosa pine forests in the US West: A long-term collaborative experiment in density management

2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (No. 10) ◽  
pp. 393-406
Author(s):  
Jianwei Zhang ◽  
William Oliver ◽  
Russ Graham ◽  
W. Keith Moser
Keyword(s):  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Stand Density ◽  
Biomass Accumulation ◽  
Private Lands ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Growing Stock ◽  
Ponderosa Pine Forests ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Us

The Levels-of-Growing-Stock study for ponderosa pine was a collective effort among western Research Stations within the US Forest Service. The experiment was established to test sustainable productivity across a wide range of densities by periodically thinning the plots. Beyond the original purposes for wood production, contemporary applications of these long-term studies have been to determine stand density effects on (i) both overstory and understory responses to stand development of even-aged ponderosa pine, (ii) biomass accumulation and carbon sequestration, (iii) plant diversity and wildlife habitats, and (iv) forest resiliency to insects and pathogens, droughts, and wildfires. Furthermore, these installations have served as a showpiece for the public and natural laboratories for professional foresters and students. For the past half century, the study has helped guide land managers and stakeholders on public and private lands about the value of thinning in overstocked young stands of ponderosa pine across its range. We hope that it will continue to serve as a springboard for addressing future issues facing forest management.  

scholarly journals Technical note: GUARD – an automated fluid sampler preventing sample alteration by contamination, evaporation and gas exchange, suitable for remote areas and harsh conditions

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 4281-4293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arno Hartmann ◽  
Marc Luetscher ◽  
Ralf Wachter ◽  
Philipp Holz ◽  
Elisabeth Eiche ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gas Exchange ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Hydrological Cycle ◽  
Technical Note ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Environmental Research ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Remote Areas ◽  
Wide Range

Abstract. Automated water sampling devices adapted to field operation have proven highly useful for environmental research as well as in the public and private sectors, where natural or artificial waters need to be tested regularly for compliance with environmental and health regulations. Such autosamplers are already available on the market in slightly differing versions, but none of these devices are capable of sealing the collected samples to prevent sample alteration by contamination, evaporation or gas exchange. In many sampling cases, however, this feature is essential, for instance for studying the hydrological cycle based on isotopes in rainwater, or for monitoring waters contaminated with toxic gases or other volatile compounds detrimental to biota and human health. Therefore, we have developed a new mobile autosampler, which injects water samples directly into airtight vials, thus preventing any sample alteration. Further advantages include low production costs, compact dimensions and low weight allowing for easy transport, a wide range of selectable sampling intervals as well as a low power consumption, which make it suitable for long-term applications even in remote areas and harsh (outdoor) conditions due to its heavy-duty water-proof casing. In this paper, we demonstrate (1) the sampler's mechanical functioning, (2) the long-term stability of the collected samples with regard to evaporation and gas exchange and (3) the potential of our device in a wide variety of applications drawing on laboratory and field experiments in different karst caves, which represent one of the most challenging sampling environments.

Societal Impacts of Flood Hazards

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Bubeck ◽  
Antje Otto ◽  
Juergen Weichselgartner
Keyword(s):  
Flood Risk ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Hydrological Cycle ◽  
Physical Contact ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Economic Implications ◽  
Space And Time ◽  
Societal Impacts ◽  
Economic Assets

Floods remain the most devastating natural hazard globally, despite substantial investments in flood prevention and management in recent decades. Fluvial floods, such as the ones in Pakistan in 2010 and Thailand in 2011, can affect entire countries and cause severe economic and human losses. Also, coastal floods can inflict substantial harm owing to their destructive forces in terms of wave and tidal energy. A flood type that received growing attention in recent years is flooding from pluvial events (heavy rainfall). Even though these are locally confined, their sudden onset and unpredictability pose a danger to areas that are generally not at risk from flooding. In the future, it is projected that flood risk will increase in many regions both because of the effects of global warming on the hydrological cycle and the continuing concentration of people and economic assets in risk-prone areas. Floods have a large variety of societal impacts that span across space and time. While some of these impacts are obvious and have been well researched, others are more subtle and less is known about their complex processes and long-term effects. The most immediate and apparent impact of floods is direct damage caused by physical contact between floodwaters and economic assets, cultural heritage, or human beings, with the result for humans being injuries and deaths. Direct flood damage can amount to billions of US dollars for single events, such as the floods in the Danube and Elbe catchment in Central Europe in 2002 and 2013. More indirect economic implications are the losses that occur outside of the flood event in space and time, such as losses due to business disruption. The flood in Thailand in 2011, for instance, resulted in a lack of auto parts supplies and consequently the shutdown of car manufacturing within and outside the flood zone. Floods also have long-term indirect impacts on flood-affected people and communities. Experiencing property damage and losing important personal belongings can have a negative psychological effect on flood victims. Much less is known about this type of flood impact: how long do these impacts last? What makes some people or communities recover faster than others from financial losses and emotional stress? Moreover, flood impacts are not equally distributed across different groups of society. Often, poor, elderly, and marginalized societal groups are particularly vulnerable to the effects of flooding inasmuch as these groups generally have little social, human, and financial coping capacities. In many countries, women regularly bear a disproportionately high burden because of their societal status. Finally, severe floods often provide so-called windows of opportunities, enabling rapid policy change, resulting in new flood risk management policies. Such newly adopted policy arrangements can lead to societal conflicts over issues of interests, equity, and fairness. For instance, flood events often trigger large-scale investment in flood defense infrastructure, which are associated with high construction costs. Although these costs are usually borne by the taxpayer, often only a small proportion of society shares in their benefits. In addition, societal conflict can arise concerning where to build structural measures; what impacts these measures have on the ground regarding economic development potentials, different kinds of uses, and nature protection; and which effects are expected downstream. In such controversies, issues of participation and decision making are central and often highly contested. While floods are usually associated with negative societal impacts in industrialized countries, they also have beneficial impacts on nature and society. In many parts of the world, the livelihood of millions of people depends on the recurring occurrence of flooding. For instance, farming communities in or near floodplains rely upon regular floodwaters that carry nutrients and sediments, enriching the soil and making it fertile for cultivation.

Social inequality in the evolution of human societies

2019 ◽  
pp. 98-120
Author(s):  
Georgi Derluguian
Keyword(s):  
Social Inequality ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Mass Violence ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Tangible Assets ◽  
Transition To Agriculture ◽  
New Institutions ◽  
High Level ◽  
Political Economic

The author develops ideas about the origin of social inequality during the evolution of human societies and reflects on the possibilities of its overcoming. What makes human beings different from other primates is a high level of egalitarianism and altruism, which contributed to more successful adaptability of human collectives at early stages of the development of society. The transition to agriculture, coupled with substantially increasing population density, was marked by the emergence and institutionalisation of social inequality based on the inequality of tangible assets and symbolic wealth. Then, new institutions of warfare came into existence, and they were aimed at conquering and enslaving the neighbours engaged in productive labour. While exercising control over nature, people also established and strengthened their power over other people. Chiefdom as a new type of polity came into being. Elementary forms of power (political, economic and ideological) served as a basis for the formation of early states. The societies in those states were characterised by social inequality and cruelties, including slavery, mass violence and numerous victims. Nowadays, the old elementary forms of power that are inherent in personalistic chiefdom are still functioning along with modern institutions of public and private bureaucracy. This constitutes the key contradiction of our time, which is the juxtaposition of individual despotic power and public infrastructural one. However, society is evolving towards an ever more efficient combination of social initiatives with the sustainability and viability of large-scale organisations.

Impacto de la comunicación de la responsabilidad social universitaria en la selección de universidad y efecto mediador de la reputación

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucy Erazo-Coronado ◽  
Sergio Llano-Arristizábal ◽  
Miguel Garcés-Prettel ◽  
Ana-María Erazo-Coronado
Keyword(s):  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Professional Training ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Community Support ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
University Selection ◽  
Cross Sectional Design ◽  
Institutional Websites

The emerging concept of university social responsibility (USR) consists in the fulfillment of the mission of the university in terms of ethical standards, community support, respect for human beings, and respect for the environment. Thus, universities must not only provide professional training but also instill ethical principles in students to allow them to behave as good citizens and help solve community problems. On the other hand, competition for students requires efficient management of university reputation and communication with their stakeholders, to demonstrate the accomplishment of the university’s mission and attract potential students. The objective of this paper is thus to explain the causal relationship between communication about university social responsibility (USR) activities through institutional websites and university selection, as well as the role of reputation. Research work was carried out based on an explanatory cross-sectional design, with a sample of 356 subjects from a population of 11th-grade students from public and private schools in the City of Barranquilla (Colombia). The results revealed that USR communication through institutional websites has a significant influence on university selection, not only directly but also indirectly, through reputation as a mediating variable. These findings contribute at a theoretical level by providing empirical evidence to understand and explain the analyzed topic. Furthermore, the results provide useful information to evaluate USR disclosure and implement strategies to make progress on USR issues. Resumen El naciente concepto de responsabilidad social universitaria (RSU) consiste en el cumplimiento de la misión de la universidad dentro de unos estándares éticos, de apoyo a la comunidad, respeto al ser humano y al medio ambiente. Así, pues, la universidad no sólo debe impartir formación profesional, sino inculcar a sus estudiantes principios éticos que les permitan comportarse como buenos ciudadanos y contribuir a la solución de los problemas de la comunidad. Por otra parte, la competencia entre universidades exige una gestión eficiente de su reputación y de la comunicación con sus distintos stakeholders, para demostrar a la sociedad el cumplimiento de su misión social, y para atraer estudiantes potenciales hacia la institución. Por lo tanto, este artículo tiene como objetivo explicar la relación de causalidad entre la comunicación de las prácticas de RSU en los sitios web institucionales y la selección de universidad, y el papel mediador de la reputación en esta relación. Para lograrlo, se llevó a cabo una investigación cuantitativa de nivel explicativo experimental y diseño transversal, con una muestra conformada por 356 sujetos, de una población de estudiantes de grado 11º de colegios públicos y privados de la ciudad de Barranquilla (Colombia). Los resultados revelan que la comunicación de las prácticas de RSU en los sitios web institucionales ejerce una influencia significativa directa en la intención de selección de universidad, e indirecta, a través de la reputación como variable mediadora. La evidencia empírica aportada representa un avance teórico en la comprensión y explicación del fenómeno estudiado, e igualmente servirá para que las universidades evalúen si están comunicando adecuadamente su responsabilidad social y adopten estrategias para avanzar en este aspecto.

Modern prevention and active longevity programs on the basis of disruptive domestic technologies: positive experience and prospects for application

2020 ◽  
pp. 66-73
Author(s):  
A. Simonova ◽  
S. Chudakov ◽  
R. Gorenkov ◽  
V. Egorov ◽  
A. Gostry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Personalized Medicine ◽  
Early Detection ◽  
Laboratory Diagnostics ◽  
Positive Experience ◽  
Practical Application ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Integrated Program ◽  
Long Term Experience ◽  
Early Detection And Prevention

The article summarizes the long-term experience of practical application of domestic breakthrough technologies of preventive personalized medicine for laboratory diagnostics of a wide range of socially significant non-infectious diseases. Conceptual approaches to the formation of an integrated program for early detection and prevention of civilization diseases based on these technologies are given. A vision of the prospects for the development of this area in domestic and foreign medicine has been formed.

To the 70th anniversary of World Meteorological Organization. Scientific and technical cooperation of Hydrometeorological Center of the USSR/Russia in the Programs of World Meteorological Organization

2020 ◽  
pp. 117-138
Author(s):  
S.V. Borshch ◽  
◽  
R.M. Vil’fand ◽  
D.B. Kiktev ◽  
V.M. Khan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Monitoring ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
World Meteorological Organization ◽  
70Th Anniversary ◽  
Technical Level ◽  
Technical Cooperation ◽  
Wide Range

The paper presents the summary and results of long-term and multi-faceted experience of international scientific and technical cooperation of Hydrometeorological Center of Russia in the field of hydrometeorology and environmental monitoring within the framework of WMO programs, which indicates its high efficiency in performing a wide range of works at a high scientific and technical level. Keywords: World Meteorological Organization, major WMO programs, representatives of Hydrometeorological Center of Russia in WMO

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