Symmetry Arguments in Probability

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Zabell
Keyword(s):  
Probability Theory ◽  
Probability Function ◽  
Ancient Greece ◽  
17Th Century ◽  
Species Problem ◽  
History Of ◽  
De Finetti ◽  
Jeffrey Conditioning ◽  
Partial Exchangeability

The history of the use of symmetry arguments in probability theory is traced. After a brief consideration of why these did not occur in ancient Greece, the use of symmetry in probability, starting in the 17th century, is considered. Some of the contributions of Bernoulli, Bayes, Laplace, W. E. Johnson, and Bruno de Finetti are described. One important thread here is the progressive move from using symmetry to identify a single, unique probability function to using it instead to narrow the possibilities to a family of candidate functions via the qualitative concept of exchangeability. A number of modern developments are then discussed: partial exchangeability, the sampling of species problem, and Jeffrey conditioning. Finally, the use or misuse of seemingly innocent symmetry assumptions is illustrated, using a number of apparent paradoxes that have been widely discussed.

scholarly journals After Joseph Needham: The legacy reviewed, the agenda revised – some personal reflections

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-20
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Lloyd
Keyword(s):  
Modern Science ◽  
Ancient Greece ◽  
17Th Century ◽  
Historical Record ◽  
Ancient China ◽  
Chinese Science ◽  
Relevant Today ◽  
History Of ◽  
Personal Reflections ◽  
Political Economic

We all owe Joseph Needham an immense debt for discovering Chinese science and technology for Western scholars. But his famous question (Why did the Chinese, who had been so far in advance of Europe until the 17th century, fail to produce modern science independently?) is simplistic. Needham’s discussion relied on categories (‘physics’, ‘engineering’, even ‘mathematics’) that are largely anachronistic. He was preoccupied by questions of priorities (who did what first). We should recognise that the historical record brings to light many breakthroughs in the development of science, in Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, ancient Greece and ancient China, as well as in Europe in the 17th century and beyond; they all call for detailed analysis of the different social, political, economic, institutional and intellectual factors at work. One topic of particular importance and current interest concerns the factors that enable innovation to flourish, where the differing experience of ancient societies can provide lessons that may still be relevant today. The new agenda for the history of science should have a global remit.

On Purpose

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Ruse
Keyword(s):  
Intelligent Design ◽  
Ancient Greece ◽  
Western Thought ◽  
History Of ◽  
Historical Thought ◽  
The Way

Can we live without the idea of purpose? Should we even try to? Kant thought we were stuck with it, and even Darwin, who profoundly shook the idea, was unable to kill it. Indeed, purpose seems to be making a comeback today, as both religious advocates of intelligent design and some prominent secular philosophers argue that any explanation of life without the idea of purpose is missing something essential. This book explores the history of purpose in philosophical, religious, scientific, and historical thought, from ancient Greece to the present. The book traces how Platonic, Aristotelian, and Kantian ideas of purpose continue to shape Western thought. Along the way, it also takes up tough questions about the purpose of life—and whether it's possible to have meaning without purpose.

Public Libraries of the Vladimir and Kostroma Provinces' District Towns in the Second Half of the 19th — early 20th Century

2010 ◽  
pp. 98-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksey A. Soloviev
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Statistical Data ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
17Th Century ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
Native Population ◽  
History Of

On the history of the first public libraries in the province towns of Vladimirskaya and Kostromskaya provinces in the second half of the 17th century - early 20th century. The author considers main statistical data of libraries and analyses necessity and influence of these libraries and reading rooms on the native population.

AI Narratives

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Ancient Greece ◽  
Historical Overview ◽  
Intelligent Machines ◽  
Narrative History ◽  
History Of ◽  
Imaginative Thinking ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Insight Into

This book is the first to examine the history of imaginative thinking about intelligent machines. As real artificial intelligence (AI) begins to touch on all aspects of our lives, this long narrative history shapes how the technology is developed, deployed, and regulated. It is therefore a crucial social and ethical issue. Part I of this book provides a historical overview from ancient Greece to the start of modernity. These chapters explore the revealing prehistory of key concerns of contemporary AI discourse, from the nature of mind and creativity to issues of power and rights, from the tension between fascination and ambivalence to investigations into artificial voices and technophobia. Part II focuses on the twentieth and twenty-first centuries in which a greater density of narratives emerged alongside rapid developments in AI technology. These chapters reveal not only how AI narratives have consistently been entangled with the emergence of real robotics and AI, but also how they offer a rich source of insight into how we might live with these revolutionary machines. Through their close textual engagements, these chapters explore the relationship between imaginative narratives and contemporary debates about AI’s social, ethical, and philosophical consequences, including questions of dehumanization, automation, anthropomorphization, cybernetics, cyberpunk, immortality, slavery, and governance. The contributions, from leading humanities and social science scholars, show that narratives about AI offer a crucial epistemic site for exploring contemporary debates about these powerful new technologies.

On the Signatures of the Members of Boyar Duma in the Council Code of 1649 and their Purchase of the Printed Copy of the Book

2021 ◽  
pp. 190-221
Author(s):  
Я.Н. Рабинович
Keyword(s):  
17Th Century ◽  
History Of

В статье рассмотрены неизвестные страницы истории России середины XVII в., связанные с принятием Соборного уложения 1649 г. Уточнен персональный состав Боярской думы на момент составления Уложения. Особое внимание уделено отсутствию подписей некоторых членов Боярской думы на свитке Уложения, а также распространению печатного экземпляра Уложения среди членов Боярской думы. Подробно рассмотрен такой источник, как «Книга продаж» печатного экземпляра Уложения. Показано, что основную массу покупателей Уложения вначале составили члены Боярской думы и другие москвичи. При этом подавляющее число покупателей не участвовало в принятии Уложения и не расписалось на свитке этого документа. The article discussed unknown pages in the history of Russia in the middle of the 17th century, associated with the adoption of the Cathedral Code of 1649. The personal composition of the Boyar Duma at the time of drawing up the Code has been clarified. Particular attention is paid to the absence of signatures of some members of the Boyar Duma on the scroll of the Code, as well as the distribution of a printed copy of the Code among the members of the Boyar Duma. A source such as the "Sales Book" of a printed copy of the Code is considered in detail. It is shown that the bulk of the buyers of the Code at first were members of the Boyar Duma and other Muscovites. At the same time, the overwhelming number of buyers did not participate in the adoption of the Code and did not sign on the roll of this document.

The Burial of Alexander Nevsky in Vladimir: the Archaeology of the Veneration

2021 ◽  
pp. 76-107
Author(s):  
Л.А. Беляев ◽  
П.Л. Зыков ◽  
О.М. Иоаннисян ◽  
А.В. Сиренов
Keyword(s):  
Main Part ◽  
17Th Century ◽  
Saint Petersburg ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Church

В статье публикуются материалы по истории некрополя при главном храме монастыря Рождества Богородицы во Владимире, где в 1263 г. был погребен князь Александр Ярославич Невский. Основная часть сведений получена в 1997–2000 гг. при раскопках остатков собора (снесен в 1930 г.). Это белокаменные саркофаги и могилы, а также остатки самого собора, построенного в 1198 г. из белого камня, и его галереи, целиком перестроенной из кирпича в XVII в. В кладке галереи была обнаружена ниша с нижней частью саркофага, возможно, служившей одной из реликвий князя после переноса его мощей в Санкт-Петербург (1722–1724). Традиционные источники, рассказывающие о судьбе погребения князя Александра в XIV—XVIII вв., рассматриваются в свете археологических данных и новых архивных документов и фотографий (в том числе - о каменных гробах, найденных при сносе собора в 1930 г.). Materials on the history of the necropolis near the principal church of the monastery of Nativity of Blessed Virgin where Prince Alexander Nevsky was buried in 1263 are published in the article. The main part of information was obtained during the excavation of the church remnants (excavations were performed in 1997-2000). The church was demolished in 1930. Archeologists discovered sarcophagi and tombs made of white stone and remnants of the very church built in 1198 of white stone and of its gallery that was rebuilt completely of bricks in the 17th century. A niche was discovered in the brickwork and contained a lower part of a sarcophagus. That served (probably) as a relic of Alexander upon his remnants transfer to Saint-Petersburg. Traditional sources telling the fate of Prince Alexander's internment are considered in light of archeological data and new archive documents and photos including photos of stone sarcophagi found during the demolition of the church in 1930.

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