Language

Brain-Mind ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 201-222
Author(s):  
Paul Thagard

Semantic pointers handle syntactic structure in a way that integrates with other key aspects of language, including semantics, pragmatics, and phonology. Semantic pointers plausibly provide the underlying neural mechanisms for Jackendoff’s parallel architecture and for other theories of language that go beyond Chomsky’s syntax-first approach. In particular, they show how the mental representation of a word can efficiently combine information about sound, meaning, and grammar to enable the organization of words into sentences. Semantic pointers cast the meanings of words and sentences as multidimensional, relying not just on the relations of words to other words but also on the relation of words to the world through sensory-motor operations, with further contributions from genetic and social processes. The Semantic Pointer Architecture also provides neural mechanisms for explaining complex linguistic phenomena such as conceptual blending and metaphor.

Mind-Society ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 22-47
Author(s):  
Paul Thagard

Psychological explanations based on representations and procedures can be deepened by showing how they emerge from neural mechanisms. Neurons represent aspects of the world by collective patterns of firing. These patterns can be bound into more complicated patterns that can transcend the limitations of sensory inputs. Semantic pointers are a special kind of representation that operates by binding neural patterns encompassing sensory, motor, verbal, and emotional information. The semantic pointer theory applies not only to the ordinary operations of mental representations like concepts and rules but also to the most high-level kinds of human thinking, including language, creativity, and consciousness. Semantic pointers also encompass emotions, construed as bindings that combine cognitive appraisal with physiological perception.


2019 ◽  
pp. 207-227
Author(s):  
Paul Thagard

Philosophical problems about the meaning of language and the meaning of life turn out to have interesting commonalities. Neither has plausible solutions that draw on supernatural entities such as abstract meanings, possible worlds, and divine plans. Rather, both can be approached by looking at mechanisms at four different levels: molecular, neural, mental, and social. Meaning is not a thing but a process that depends on interactions of parts occurring at multiple levels, resulting in multilevel emergence. The Semantic Pointer Architecture illuminates the neural mechanisms that operate in languages and valuable lives. Words are meaningful because their mental representations as concepts are brain processes that combine sensory-motor interactions with the world and interactions with other concepts. The meaning of life is also three-dimensional, requiring people to interact with language, the world, and other people.


Author(s):  
Оlena Fedorіvna Caracasidi

The article deals with the fundamental, inherent in most of the countries of the world transformation of state power, its formation, functioning and division between the main branches as a result of the decentralization of such power, its subsidiarity. Attention is drawn to the specifics of state power, its func- tional features in the conditions of sovereignty of the states, their interconnec- tion. It is emphasized that the nature of the state power is connected with the nature of the political system of the state, with the form of government and many other aspects of a fundamental nature.It is analyzed that in the middle of national states the questions of legitima- cy, sovereignty of transparency of state power, its formation are acutely raised. Concerning the practical functioning of state power, a deeper study now needs a problem of separation of powers and the distribution of power. The use of this principle, which ensures the real subsidiarity of the authorities, the formation of more effective, responsible democratic relations between state power and civil society, is the first priority of the transformation of state power in the conditions of modern transformations of countries and societies. It is substantiated that the research of these problems will open up much wider opportunities for the provi- sion of state power not as a center authority, but also as a leading political structure but as a power of the people and the community. In the context of global democratization processes, such processes are crucial for a more humanistic and civilized arrangement of human life. It is noted that local self-government, as a specific form of public power, is also characterized by an expressive feature of a special subject of power (territorial community) as a set of large numbers of people; joint communal property; tax system, etc.


1986 ◽  
Vol 18 (11) ◽  
pp. 131-140
Author(s):  
Edmundo Garcia Agudo ◽  
Jose Leomax dos Santos

The final disposal of sewage using submarine outfalls has become an actual solution for coastal cities all over the world. In order to get the best results it is necessary to carry out specific studies for the proper design of the outfall. Dilution and decrease in bacterial concentrations are two key aspects for the design. Radioisotope tracers have been used extensively in studies performed in some Brazilian waterbodies where outfall systems exist or are to be installed. As far as dilution measurement is concerned, both point and continuous radiotracer injections can provide useful results. The T90 measurements can be better accomplished using a combined tracer technique for sampling the sewage field, using the radiotracer for dilution measurement and rhodamine B as a visual aid. Typical results of dilution measurement using both techniques mentioned, as well as a summary of T 90 results obtained for the Santos, Fortaleza and Maceió outfalls are presented.


Around the world, people nearing and entering retirement are holding ever-greater levels of debt than in the past. This is not a benign situation, as many pre-retirees and retirees are stressed about their indebtedness. Moreover, this growth in debt among the older population may render retirees vulnerable to financial shocks, medical care bills, and changes in interest rates. Contributors to this volume explore key aspects of the rise in debt across older cohorts, drill down into the types of debt and reasons for debt incurred by the older population, and review policies to remedy some of the financial problems facing older persons, in the United States and elsewhere. The authors explore which groups are most affected by debt, and they also identify the factors causing this important increase in leverage at older ages. It is clear that the economic and market environments are influential when it comes to saving and debt. Access to easy borrowing, low interest rates, and the rising cost of education have had important impacts on how much people borrow, and how much debt they carry at older ages. In this environment, the capacity to manage debt is ever more important as older workers lack the opportunity to recover for mistakes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Clark Barrett

Psychological research in small-scale societies is crucial for what it stands to tell us about human psychological diversity. However, people in these communities, typically Indigenous communities in the global South, have been underrepresented and sometimes misrepresented in psychological research. Here I discuss the promises and pitfalls of psychological research in these communities, reviewing why they have been of interest to social scientists and how cross-cultural comparisons have been used to test psychological hypotheses. I consider factors that may be undertheorized in our research, such as political and economic marginalization, and how these might influence our data and conclusions. I argue that more just and accurate representation of people from small-scale communities around the world will provide us with a fuller picture of human psychological similarity and diversity, and it will help us to better understand how this diversity is shaped by historical and social processes. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Psychology, Volume 73 is January 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.


Author(s):  
Alejandro Rodríguez-Refojo

Se analizan los símbolos de la barca, la casa y la piedra, así como la metáfora del Libro del Mundo, en la obra poética de Andrés Sánchez Robayna. El análisis se apoya en las aportaciones de la simbología y la historia de las religiones con el objetivo de esclarecer algunos aspectos clave de la cosmovisión del autor y de su poética. La presencia de imágenes pertenecientes al simbolismo del centro, la concepción de la poesía como enigma y la indagación en la memoria como una parte fundamental del proceso creador constituyen los elementos que conducen al surgimiento de una conciencia religiosa del mundo.                                                                                                                                                                                                              This paper aims to analyse three symbols presented in Andrés Sánchez Robayna’s work of poetry: the boat, the house, the stone, and the metaphor of the Book of the World. This analysis is supported by contributions in the fields of symbolism and history of religions and it seeks to shed light on some key aspects of the author’s poetics and world view. The imagery related to the symbolism of the centre, the conception of poetry as an enigma and the search through memory as an essential phase in the creative process represent the main elements which lead to the emergence of a religious view of the world.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 80
Author(s):  
Yaroslav Platmir

At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries Ukraine did not have a national state, was divided into two large regions, which were part of the Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires. Therefore, Ukrainian intellectuals had to live and work in difficult political conditions, often going to very substantial compromises with imperial forces, represented by both Russian officials and comparatively more numerous Russian intellectual circles. This had a significant impact on the nature and tasks of the Ukrainian movement, substantially corrected both tactical steps and a general strategic course towards its own autonomy and statehood. It is important to note that the evolution of Ukrainian national ideology took place under the influence of European ideas. They, however, captured the thoughts of very narrow circles of humanitarians, most of whom engaged in the study of ethnographic and folklore spheres of peasant life, and therefore, were concerned about a relatively limited range of issues. At the same time, the comprehension of the past and present problems took place against the background of the involvement of a new generation of public figures in the movement. In the territory of Naddniprianshchyna, it was formed in conditions of rapid modernization, while maintaining the imperial (autocratic) system of power. After analyzing all the key aspects of the proposed problem, the author came to the conclusion that in relation to social processes (realities) at the beginning of the 20th century in the Naddniprianshchyna, the Ukrainian intelligentsia focused on socio-cultural, national, regional, and, to a lesser extent, economic and social life. The choice between "culture and politics" was too limited. In a situation, where many forces needed to solve internal (party, interpersonal, etc.) problems, such a local orientation significantly weakened the influence of intellectual circles on society, particularly the peasantry. At that time, when the Ukrainian intelligentsia claimed to be the main driving force of national affirmation, the establishment of ties between the Western (sub-Austrian) and the Eastern (sub-Russian) communities, it did little to its influence among the general population, the common people, that was a gross mistake in the new historical conditions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 132-139
Author(s):  
А. L. Kozlova ◽  
М. Е. Leonteva ◽  
V. I. Burlakov ◽  
Z. А. Nesterenko ◽  
О. М. Laba ◽  
...  

The article is devoted to an extremely rare variant of type I interferonopathies associated with a homozygous gain of function (GOF) mutation in the STAT2 gene in a 5-year-old child. This genetic defect was first described in 2019, and so far only 3 cases are known in the world with a similar pathology. Here we present the fourth clinical case and our experience in managing a patient with STAT2 GOF. The article presents the key aspects of the pathogenesis, clinical picture based on the analysis of all known cases of the disease. The absence of established criteria and methods of treatment for this disease is due to the rarity and relative novelty of the described nosology. We present the experience of treatment using a JAK kinase inhibitor, followed by an assessment of the effectiveness of the therapy and side effects. The patient's parents agreed to use the information, including the child's photo, in scientific research and publications.


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