The Evolution of Knowledge and Knowledge of Evolution

2014 ◽  
Vol 234 (2-3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian J. Loasby
Keyword(s):  
Social Systems ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Scarce Resource ◽  
Trial And Error ◽  
Human Knowledge ◽  
Methodological Choices ◽  
Evolution Of Life ◽  
Growth Of Knowledge ◽  
Individual Cognition ◽  
Knowledge Of Evolution

SummaryHuman knowledge is a human creation: we seek to make sense by creating patterns, which are tested in various ways and with differing degrees and kinds of rigour. For each individual cognition is a scarce resource, but different people can apply it in diverse ways and to diverse subjects: each application has its own range of convenience and its own dangers. Thus the growth of knowledge is an evolutionary process of trial and error, the rate and content of which depends on its organization, both conscious and unconscious. In seeking to develop knowledge methodological choices are unavoidable, but often unconscious. As Simon pointed out, all evolution, of life, economic and social systems, and ideas, depends on quasi-decomposability, the limits of which can never be fully anticipated. Thus uncertainty is inescapable - but it is a condition of innovation.

The growth of knowledge through the resource-based view

2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroko Nagano
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Phase 3 ◽  
Resource Based View ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Metaphysical Theory ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Error Elimination ◽  
Growth Of Knowledge ◽  
New Framework

Purpose The resource-based view (RBV) has not previously been conceptualized as a theoretical framework encompassing metaphysical and empirical perspectives. The purpose of this paper is to logically analyze the evolutionary process of the RBV, triggered by “rigidity.” It attempts to clarify the significance and limitations of the RBV. Design/methodology/approach Based on Popper’s methodological model of the growth of knowledge, the study analyzed and evaluated the evolution of the RBV. Findings The RBV has evolved in three phases. The sub-problems have changed through empirical testing on the basis of one metaphysical problem and one metaphysical theory. Thus, the evolution may indicate progress within one framework. However, during phase 3, the ambiguity of concept may inhibit the growth of knowledge. For further progress, it is necessary to overcome the vulnerability of the RBV’s metaphysical statements. Research limitations/implications This paper shows the possibility of the growth of knowledge within the RBV framework and for a new framework to emerge due to its limitations. It should contribute both theoretically and practically to the field of strategic management. Originality/value Popper’s model was used to examine a previously neglected topic, namely, the growth of knowledge in the evolution of the RBV. Moreover, considering “rigidity” as corresponding to a process of error elimination is a novel approach, clearly revealing the dynamism of the RBV’s evolution.

Tymieniecka’s phenomenology of life

2001 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-134
Author(s):  
Gary Backhaus
Keyword(s):  
Phenomenological Study ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
Moral Sense ◽  
Constitutive Function ◽  
Passive Synthesis ◽  
Evolution Of Life ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Transformative Function

Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka expands the phenomenological study of meanings (sense-bestowal) into an onto-genetic inquiry by grounding it in a phenomenology of life, including the emotional dimension. This phenomenology of life is informed by the empirical sciences and its doctrines parallel the new scientific paradigm of open dynamic systems. Embedded in the dynamics of the real individuation of life forms, human consciousness emerges at a unique station in the evolutionary process. Tymieniecka treats the constitution of sense as a function of life, and thus the transcendental constitutive function of the cognitive, objectifying intentionality of consciousness, the purview of classical phenomenology, is viewed as a project that is limited in its scope. According to the phenomenology of life, meaning-genesis is exhibited throughout the various stages of structurization in the evolution of life. This paper highlights the transformative function of the “Imaginatio Creatrix,” which is the dynamic process at the human station of evolution that accounts for humanity’s inventive capacities necessary for the construction of a human world. The Imaginatio Creatrix transforms the more primitive stirrings of the human “soul” into subliminal passions of human existential significance. The enactive theory of the mind corroborates Tymieniecka’s rejection of Husserl’s doctrine of passive synthesis. However, Tymieniecka’s study of the creative function offers a key for further advancement in enactive theory. Three sense-bestowing functions of the Imaginatio Creatrix account for the human expansion of life: the Aesthetic/Poetic sense, the Objectifying Sense, and the Moral Sense. The Moral Sense, for Tymieniecka, is not the product of reasoning powers, but rather the fruit of subliminal passions that acquire their moral aspect through trans-actions guided by the “benevolent sentiment.”

The Globalisation of Firms as a Social Evolutionary Process

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 18-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Borghoff
Keyword(s):  
Systems Theory ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Social Process ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Methodological Issues ◽  
Social Systems Theory ◽  
Evolutionary Theories

From a social systems theory perspective, globalisation can be conceptualised as an evolutionary social process. By fusing systems theories, evolutionary theories, and organisation theories, globalisation becomes apparent as a historical social process, which encompasses the emergence and reproduction of social systems such as firms or other organisations within the wider process of the globalisation of society. The conceptualisation of firms as social systems also opens new perspectives on methodological issues such as how to study their globalisation process.

scholarly journals Memetic Strategy of Particle Swarm Optimization for One-Dimensional Magnetotelluric Inversions

Mathematics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 519
Author(s):  
Ruiheng Li ◽  
Lei Gao ◽  
Nian Yu ◽  
Jianhua Li ◽  
Yang Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Particle Swarm Optimization ◽  
Social Cognition ◽  
Particle Swarm ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Population Diversity ◽  
Optimization Process ◽  
Swarm Optimization ◽  
One Dimensional ◽  
Individual Cognition ◽  
Dynamic Inertia

The heuristic algorithm represented by particle swarm optimization (PSO) is an effective tool for addressing serious nonlinearity in one-dimensional magnetotelluric (MT) inversions. PSO has the shortcomings of insufficient population diversity and a lack of coordination between individual cognition and social cognition in the process of optimization. Based on PSO, we propose a new memetic strategy, which firstly selectively enhances the diversity of the population in evolutionary iterations through reverse learning and gene mutation mechanisms. Then, dynamic inertia weights and cognitive attraction coefficients are designed through sine-cosine mapping to balance individual cognition and social cognition in the optimization process and to integrate previous experience into the evolutionary process. This improves convergence and the ability to escape from local extremes in the optimization process. The memetic strategy passes the noise resistance test and an actual MT data test. The results show that the memetic strategy increases the convergence speed in the PSO optimization process, and the inversion accuracy is also greatly improved.

The Evolution of Technological Knowledge: Reflections on Technological Innovation as an Evolutionary Process

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian J. Loasby
Keyword(s):  
Technological Innovation ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Biological Evolution ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Psychological Theory ◽  
Selection Processes ◽  
Growth Of Knowledge ◽  
New Ideas

This chapter analyses Technological Innovation as an Evolutionary Process, a book that explores the analogy between technical innovation and biological evolution, and whether such an analogy could be developed from a ‘metaphor’ into a ‘model’. After discussing the explanatory power of ‘evolutionary reasoning’, the chapter describes an alternative approach to the analysis of technological innovation. It then presents an evolutionary argument for the growth of knowledge and explains how it differs from neo-Darwinism, and examines rational choice theory in relation to natural selection. It also looks at six elements of Adam Smith's psychological theory of the emergence and development of science: the motivation for generating new ideas; the generation of novelty and the ex-ante selection processes which guide its adoption or rejection; the role of aesthetic criteria both in guiding conjectures and in encouraging their acceptance; Smith's argument that connecting principles which seem to work well are widely diffused; the renewal of the evolutionary process; and the evolution of the evolutionary process itself. Finally, the chapter considers the implications of uncertainty for cognition and the growth of knowledge.

The Globalisation of Firms as a Social Evolutionary Process

2013 ◽  
pp. 194-210
Author(s):  
Thomas Borghoff
Keyword(s):  
Systems Theory ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Social Process ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Methodological Issues ◽  
Social Systems Theory ◽  
Evolutionary Theories

From a social systems theory perspective, globalisation can be conceptualised as an evolutionary social process. By fusing systems theories, evolutionary theories, and organisation theories, globalisation becomes apparent as a historical social process, which encompasses the emergence and reproduction of social systems such as firms or other organisations within the wider process of the globalisation of society. The conceptualisation of firms as social systems also opens new perspectives on methodological issues such as how to study their globalisation process.

Recent Developments in High-Speed Oil Engines

1939 ◽  
Vol 141 (1) ◽  
pp. 535-547 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. J. Davies
Keyword(s):  
Combustion Chamber ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Fuel Injection ◽  
The Other ◽  
Trial And Error ◽  
Chamber Design ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Growth Of Knowledge ◽  
Break Up

The developments since the author's paper to the Institution in 1932 are reviewed under the subdivisions: combustion chamber design; injection systems; fuels. While few novel features can be reported under combustion chamber design, the growth of knowledge concerning injection systems and the properties of fuels has been considerable. The processes in fuel-injection systems are now well understood, while the conditions governing the break-up of fuel sprays are now also reasonably clear. The fundamentals of combustion and what determines ignition lag still remain obscure; the interaction of break-up of spray and course of combustion are also indefinite, and trial-and-error methods must still be employed. On the other hand, the cetane scale for assessing the suitability of fuels has been introduced. Reference is made to electrical indicators and the determination of impact loading on running gear during combustion. Two-stroke working and supercharging are discussed.

Application of Organizational Agility to Enhance the Predictability of Costs and Increase the Probability of Creating Value

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 164-175
Author(s):  
Tom Heisterkamp
Keyword(s):  
Product Development ◽  
Value Creation ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Double Cone ◽  
Multidisciplinary Teams ◽  
Trial And Error ◽  
Organizational Agility ◽  
Changing Environments ◽  
Reducing Costs ◽  
Original Concept

In order to create any value, an organization needs to incur costs. This article builds on the original concept of the ‘Cone of Uncertainty’ for costs. However, the focus of an organization should mainly be on value. To visualize value, the concept of a ‘Double Cone of Uncertainty’ is introduced. Organizations often focus on reducing costs instead of enhancing the creation of value because costs are easier to measure and in control of the organization. Value is harder to measure, and here the customer is in charge. In addition, value creation lies further in the future. The article shows, with IT development as an example, how organizational agility and emergent product development can enhance the predictability of costs by time-boxing with stable, multidisciplinary teams. Although organizational agility cannot enhance the predictability of value, it can enhance the probability of value with emergent product development and quick and frequent feedback from customers. This evolutionary process of trial and error is essential in complicated and complex fast-changing environments.

scholarly journals Social network analysis for social neuroscientists

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisa C Baek ◽  
Mason A Porter ◽  
Carolyn Parkinson
Keyword(s):  
Network Analysis ◽  
Human Brain ◽  
Social Environment ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Social Neuroscience ◽  
New Work ◽  
Social Environments ◽  
Individual Cognition ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Advance Knowledge

Abstract Although social neuroscience is concerned with understanding how the brain interacts with its social environment, prevailing research in the field has primarily considered the human brain in isolation, deprived of its rich social context. Emerging work in social neuroscience that leverages tools from network analysis has begun to advance knowledge of how the human brain influences and is influenced by the structures of its social environment. In this paper, we provide an overview of key theory and methods in network analysis (especially for social systems) as an introduction for social neuroscientists who are interested in relating individual cognition to the structures of an individual’s social environments. We also highlight some exciting new work as examples of how to productively use these tools to investigate questions of relevance to social neuroscientists. We include tutorials to help with practical implementations of the concepts that we discuss. We conclude by highlighting a broad range of exciting research opportunities for social neuroscientists who are interested in using network analysis to study social systems.

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