scholarly journals Anthropomorphism and the success of human tool-use

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Haslam
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Tool Use ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Intrinsic Rewards ◽  
Technological Complexity ◽  
The World ◽  
Cognitive Overload ◽  
Human Animal

Humans anthropomorphise: as a result of our evolved ultrasociality we see the world through person-coloured glasses. In this review, I suggest that an interesting proportion of the extraordinary tool-using abilities shown by humans results from our mistakenly anthropomorphising and forming social relationships with objects and devices. I introduce the term machination to describe this error, sketch an outline of the evidence for it, tie it to intrinsic rewards for social interaction, and use it to help explain overimitation—itself posited as underpinning human technological complexity—by human children and adults. I also suggest pathways for testing the concept’s presence and limits. With its explicit focus on individual variation and cognitive overload, machination holds promise for understanding how we create and use combinatorial technology, for clarifying differences with non-human animal tool use, and for examining the human fascination with objects.

Islands of Loneliness: Exploring Social Interaction Through the Autobiographies of Individuals With Autism

2009 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 84-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Causton-Theoharis ◽  
Christine Ashby ◽  
Meghan Cosier
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Narrative Inquiry ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Research Data ◽  
The World ◽  
Autobiographical Accounts

Abstract Assumptions of difficulties with social interaction, or lack of interest in social interaction, are central to many definitions and conventional understandings of autism. However, many individuals with autism describe a strong craving social interaction. This article uses autobiographical accounts written by individuals who identified as autistic as a source of qualitative research data and specifically explores the ways these texts address issues of social relationships. Using narrative inquiry, the authors explored how individuals with autism described their own notions of and experiences with social interaction. This article discusses the broad themes of (a) the desire to have connections and (b) navigation through the world of people. Last, implications for the education of individuals with autism are considered.

Uncountable Matter

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-41
Author(s):  
Jacques Lezra
Keyword(s):  
New Materialism ◽  
Human Hand ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The World ◽  
Human Animal

Humanism returns for the New Materialism in ‘nonhuman’ form as matter. New ‘matter’ and new materialism thus fashion the world to human advantage in the gesture of abjecting us. They commit us to the humanism of masochists. They offer an animistic and paradisiacal realm of immediate transactions, human to human, human to and with nonhuman, face to face, world without end. The impulse is tactically and strategically useful. But ‘matter’ will not help us if we fashion it so that it bears in its concept the signature of a human hand in its making. Can we do otherwise? Only by conceiving matter as what absolutizes what is not-one: matter from which no discipline will normally, normatively, produce an object or take its concept; on which heroical abjection will founder; matter non-human in ways the human animal can neither designate, nor ever count.

The Dialogical concept of consciousness in L.S. Vygotsky and G.H. Mead and its relevance for contemporary discussions on consciousness

2011 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 65-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leszek Koczanowicz
Keyword(s):  
Activity Theory ◽  
Interpersonal Relationships ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Human Consciousness ◽  
Cultural Activity ◽  
Contemporary Philosophy ◽  
Biological Phenomena ◽  
Complex Process ◽  
The World

The Dialogical concept of consciousness in L.S. Vygotsky and G.H. Mead and its relevance for contemporary discussions on consciousness In my paper I show the relevance of cultural-activity theory for solving the puzzles of the concept of consciousness which encounter contemporary philosophy. I reconstruct the main categories of cultural-activity theory as developed by M.M. Bakhtin, L.S. Vygotsky, G.H. Mead, and J. Dewey. For the concept of consciousness the most important thing is that the phenomenon of human consciousness is consider to be an effect of intersection of language, social relations, and activity. Therefore consciousness cannot be reduced to merely sensual experience but it has to be treated as a complex process in which experience is converted into language expressions which in turn are used for establishing interpersonal relationships. Consciousness thus can be accounted for by its reference to objectivity of social relationships rather than to the world of physical or biological phenomena.

Examining the Kinships System of the Bodo

Think India ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 186-192
Author(s):  
Dr. Oinam Ranjit Singh ◽  
Dr. Nushar Bargayary
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Social Relationship ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Eastern Region ◽  
The North ◽  
Kinship System ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
The World ◽  
The Relationship

The Bodo of the North Eastern region of India have their own kinship system to maintain social relationship since ancient periods. Kinship is the expression of social relationship. Kinship may be defined as connection or relationships between persons based on marriage or blood. In each and every society of the world, social relationship is considered to be the more important than the biological bond. The relationship is not socially recognized, it fall outside the realm of kinship. Since kinship is considered as universal, it plays a vital role in the socialization of individuals and the maintenance of social cohesion of the group. Thus, kinship is considered to be the study of the sum total of these relations. The kinship of the Bodo is bilateral. The kin related through the father is known as Bahagi in Bodo whereas the kin to the mother is called Kurma. The nature of social relationships, the kinship terms, kinship behaviours and prescriptive and proscriptive rules are the important themes of the present study.

The Use of fNIRS for Unique Contributions to Social and Affective Neuroscience

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shannon Burns ◽  
Matthew D. Lieberman
Keyword(s):  
Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Affective Neuroscience ◽  
Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Psychological Experience ◽  
The World ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Meaningful Interaction

Social and affective neuroscience studies the neurophysiological underpinnings of psychological experience and behavior as it relates to the world around us. Yet, most neuroimaging methods require the removal of participants from their rich environment and the restriction of meaningful interaction with stimuli. In this Tools of the Trade article, we explain functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) as a neuroimaging method that can address these concerns. First, we provide an overview of how fNIRS works and how it compares to other neuroimaging methods common in social and affective neuroscience. Next, we describe fNIRS research that highlights its usefulness to the field – when rich stimuli engagement or environment embedding is needed, studies of social interaction, and examples of how it can help the field become more diverse and generalizable across participant populations. Lastly, this article describes how to use fNIRS for neuroimaging research with points of advice that are particularly relevant to social and affective neuroscience studies.

scholarly journals Living in dual liminal states: Navigating the loss of my father and my clinical career during a pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 138-141
Author(s):  
Jennifer Currin-McCulloch
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Social Worker ◽  
Rites Of Passage ◽  
Developmental Transitions ◽  
The World ◽  
Professional Conflicts ◽  
The Voice ◽  
Insight Into

Drawing from Van Gennep and Caffee’s conceptualization of liminality, this autoethnographic narrative portrays the author’s rites of passage into academia and through the death of her father. These fundamental developmental transitions and losses emerged concomitantly within the backdrop of a pandemic, further cloaking the world in grief and disequilibrium. Incorporating the voice of the personal as professional, the author portrays her existential struggles in relinquishing her cherished role as a palliative care social worker and living through her dad’s final months during a time of restricted social interaction. Interwoven throughout the narrative appear stories of strife, hope, grief, and professional epiphanies of purpose and insider privilege. The paper embraces both personal and professional conflicts and provides insight into the ways in which the unique setting of a pandemic can provide clarity for navigating the liminal states of separation, transition, and incorporation.

scholarly journals Between Distancing and Interdependence: The Conflict of Solidarities in the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 073112142110054
Author(s):  
Mauro Basaure ◽  
Alfredo Joignant ◽  
Aldo Mascareño
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Equal Treatment ◽  
Natural Conditions ◽  
The World ◽  
Mechanical Solidarity

In a bid to contain the spread of COVID-19, different national states around the world have introduced strict measures to regulate social interaction that have affected the interdependence of modern societies. In this article, we argue that this handling of the pandemic produces a conflict of solidarities that can be interpreted by expanding Durkheim’s classic formulations (organic and mechanical solidarity) to include the distinction between fragmentary solidarity (based on distancing) and ordinary solidarity (based on empathy and equal treatment). The conflict is triggered precisely by the introduction of fragmentary solidarity. Through this conceptualization, we identify different paradoxes and problems that the pandemic poses for present-day society and analyze how it attempts to overcome them through a generalization of ordinary solidarity. The paper concludes that the conflict of solidarities that characterizes the pandemic is not a passing phenomenon. Its anchorage in the complexity and interdependence of contemporary technological, social, and natural conditions points to its persistence.

scholarly journals Dog guides as witnesses with specific reference to Miles and Houellebecq

2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Du Toit
Keyword(s):  
Physical World ◽  
The Self ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Guide Dogs ◽  
Contemporary Novels ◽  
Michel Houellebecq ◽  
The World ◽  
Constant Feature ◽  
Human Animal ◽  
Wild Dog

Since Wild Dog first crawled from the Wet Wild Woods and laid his head on Woman’s lap, he has helped man, not only to hunt and protect, but also as guide. A guide with enhanced senses in the physical world who could find a way across unmarked landscapes, a clever empathic being who could lead man to certain places or to specific individuals. No wonder then that the best-known ancient dog deities accompany humans as guides, often on their way to the afterlife. Dog guides—not to be confused with guide dogs—have remained a constant feature of the representation of dogs in literature, reflecting as much of the nature of these dogs as of the nature and needs of the humans they attend. In this way, the human-animal relationship also reveals how the solipsistic tendencies of human self-definition limits our capacity for being in the world. In the two contemporary novels that form the basis of my enquiry, La Possibilité d’une île (2005) by Michel Houellebecq and Op ’n dag, ’n hond (2016) by John Miles, the agency of dog guides introduces an intriguing element of distancing, reminding us that the self has meaning only in relation to another and that human concerns are not absolute.

scholarly journals EpiCore: Crowdsourcing Health Professionals to Verify Disease Outbreaks

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Olsen
Keyword(s):  
Health Professionals ◽  
Situational Awareness ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Local Information ◽  
Outbreak Detection ◽  
False Information ◽  
The World ◽  
Geographic Regions ◽  
Human Animal

IntroductionEpiCore draws on the knowledge of a global community of human,animal, and environmental health professionals to verify informationon disease outbreaks in their geographic regions. By using innovativesurveillance techniques and crowdsourcing these experts, EpiCoreenables faster global outbreak detection, verification, and reporting.MethodsThrough a secure online platform, members are able to easily andquickly provide local information to expedite outbreak verification.EpiCore volunteer applications are vetted to ensure that they possessthe public health and epidemiologic expertise necessary to contributeto the platform.ResultsEpiCore currently has over 1600 members that span 135 countries.During the first 8 months of EpiCore’s launch, 172 requests forinformation to volunteers have been posted with an average responserate of over 80%.ConclusionsWith its geographical distribution of members and high responserate, EpiCore is poised to enable the world to verify potential outbreaksignals faster. By improving situational awareness, de-escalatingrumors or false information, and corroborating using other existingsources, EpiCore is able to reduce the signal to noise ratio in diseasesurveillance. Hence, by detecting and verifying outbreaks faster,health officials can generate early responses that can curb epidemicsand save lives.

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