Alfred Newton’s second-hand histories of extinction: hearsay, gossip, misapprehension (William T. Stearn Student Essay Prize 2020)

2021 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 244-262
Author(s):  
A. Urry
Keyword(s):  
Human Activities ◽  
Epistemic Status ◽  
Great Bustard ◽  
Witness Testimony ◽  
Extinct Species ◽  
Scientific Certainty

The study of extinction was rooted in Victorian naturalists’ practices of observation and collection, but presented a challenge to the discipline’s increasing emphasis on empiricism and precision. This paper traces the role of witness testimony and hearsay accounts in early studies of extinction, as preserved in the notebooks of Cambridge zoology professor, Alfred Newton. Beginning in 1850s, Newton and his collaborators sought to trace the histories of suspected extinct species such as the British great bustard and the great auk of Iceland. With its subject absent by definition, the study of extinction relied on hearsay and rumour as well as evidence gleaned from past published accounts. Through methodical attempts to collate diverse and contradictory sources, from eyewitnesses to newspapers to local folklore and gossip, Newton demonstrated the inextricability of human activities from the practice of studying extinction. These attempts to resolve social evidence into scientific certainty were time and again frustrated by the uncertain epistemic status of his sources.

scholarly journals Fluvial Geomorphology and River Management

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 1608
Author(s):  
Salvatore Ivo Giano
Keyword(s):  
Human Activities ◽  
River Restoration ◽  
Fluvial Geomorphology ◽  
Landscape Evolution ◽  
River Management ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Fluvial Systems ◽  
The Impact

This Special Issue deals with the role of fluvial geomorphology in landscape evolution and the impact of human activities on fluvial systems, which require river restoration and management [...]

scholarly journals Selectively Interfering With Intrusive but Not Voluntary Memories of a Trauma Film: Accounting for the Role of Associative Memory

2021 ◽  
pp. 216770262199831
Author(s):  
Alex Lau-Zhu ◽  
Richard N. Henson ◽  
Emily A. Holmes
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Disorders ◽  
Traumatic Event ◽  
Emotional Memory ◽  
Control Procedure ◽  
Witness Testimony ◽  
Intrusive Memories ◽  
Therapeutic Benefits ◽  
Selective Interference ◽  
Intrusive Memory

Intrusive memories of a traumatic event can be reduced by a subsequent interference procedure, seemingly sparing voluntary memory for that event. This selective-interference effect has potential therapeutic benefits (e.g., for emotional disorders) and legal importance (e.g., for witness testimony). However, the measurements of intrusive memory and voluntary memory typically differ in the role of associations between a cue and the emotional memory “hotspots.” To test this, we asked participants to watch a traumatic film followed by either an interference procedure (reminder plus Tetris) or control procedure (reminder only). Measurement of intrusions (using a laboratory task) and voluntary memory (recognition for film stills) were crossed with the presence or absence of associative cues. The reminder-plus-Tetris group exhibited fewer intrusions despite comparable recognition memory, replicating the results of prior studies. Note that this selective interference did not appear to depend on associative cues. This involuntary versus voluntary memory dissociation for emotional material further supports separate-trace memory theories and has applied advantages.

Assessing the relative role of climate change and human activities in sandy desertification of Ordos region, China

2009 ◽  
Vol 52 (6) ◽  
pp. 855-868 ◽  
Author(s):  
DuanYang Xu ◽  
XiangWu Kang ◽  
ZhiLi Liu ◽  
DaFang Zhuang ◽  
JianJun Pan
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Relative Role ◽  
Sandy Desertification

scholarly journals The role of cultural practices in the emergence of modern human intelligence

2008 ◽  
Vol 363 (1499) ◽  
pp. 2011-2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edwin Hutchins
Keyword(s):  
Embodied Cognition ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Modern Human ◽  
Human Intelligence ◽  
Symbolic Representations ◽  
High Level ◽  
Human Brains

Innate cognitive capacities are orchestrated by cultural practices to produce high-level cognitive processes. In human activities, examples of this phenomenon range from everyday inferences about space and time to the most sophisticated reasoning in scientific laboratories. A case is examined in which chimpanzees enter into cultural practices with humans (in experiments) in ways that appear to enable them to engage in symbol-mediated thought. Combining the cultural practices perspective with the theories of embodied cognition and enactment suggests that the chimpanzees' behaviour is actually mediated by non-symbolic representations. The possibility that non-human primates can engage in cultural practices that give them the appearance of symbol-mediated thought opens new avenues for thinking about the coevolution of human culture and human brains.

scholarly journals PENGARUH HIJAB PEREMPUAN PADA TATA RUANG RUMAH TINGGAL MUSLIM

EGALITA ◽  
2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sukmayati Rahmah
Keyword(s):  
Human Activities ◽  
Spatial Planning ◽  
Islamic Law ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Architectural Form ◽  
Private Space ◽  
Architectural Space ◽  
Women In Islam ◽  
Muslim Family

Women are the beings who guarded her nakedness than most men. Sowomen have a more privacy rooms than others. By keeping the hijab asmuch as possible, the activities of the household can work well withoutfear of nakedness is maintained. It is very clear that in islamic law, theorders keep the hijab has been described in the Holy of Quran and Sunnah.So the role of architectural space is very important in presenting a spacethat could keep the nakedness of women in the home. As we know thatspace as a place of human activities, one of which is accommodating theactivity of female residents in homes with a due regard to any restriction orhijab women in islam. This paper uses the theory as a method of approachand observe the formation of the muslim family residential. So the studycan show the attention to architectural form hijab women in spatialarrangement. Spatial planning with respect to public and private space, the circulation of the house and used a room divider has major role in maintaining and cover the nakedness of the inhabitants, especially womenin home. Separation of public and private space as one of the applicationsthat are close the genitals. So the concept of study of this theory can bereference in designing the lay out in residences are islamic.

The Irresponsible Expert Witness: A Failure of Biomedical Graduate Education and Professional Accountability

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1982 ◽  
Vol 70 (5) ◽  
pp. 754-762 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert L. Brent
Keyword(s):  
Expert Witness ◽  
Expert Witnesses ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Witness Testimony ◽  
Expert Witness Testimony ◽  
Professional Accountability ◽  
Proper Role ◽  
And Function

Many forces have created the epidemic of negligence and malpractice litigation. One of the contributing factors to the rising rate of nonmeritorious litigation is the increasing number of unqualified and irresponsible expert witnesses. The high remuneration has attracted physican-scientists who are unaware of the proper role of an expert witness. They are frequently manipulated by the attorneys and function as partisans rather than scholars. The role of the expert witness should be taught in medical and graduate school. Testimony should be treated as a scholarly endeavor and experts should be encouraged to seek peer review of their opinions and not to testify secretly and in isolation. It is suggested that greater visibility of experts and their testimony (light of day phenomenon) should raise the quality of expert witness testimony and encourage more qualified experts to participate as expert witnesses, thus removing the stigmata usually associated with unqualified expert witnesses.

Pascal on Happiness

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 8-19
Author(s):  
Michael Moriarty
Keyword(s):  
Human Activity ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Motive Force ◽  
Underlying Condition ◽  
Authentic Happiness

Pascal sees happiness (bonheur) as the ultimate goal of all human activity, but argues that experience shows it to be unattainable; our underlying condition is unhappiness. In the immediate, he argues, human activities are forms of diversion or distraction, by which we seek to screen from ourselves our unhappiness and mortality and to gratify our vanity. This analysis omits the role of pleasure, which he elsewhere identifies as the motive force of all volition. In order to reconcile this anomaly, we need to distinguish between the motive of our actions, the ultimate end they have in view, and the Supreme Good. The motive of our actions is pleasure, their ultimate end happiness, and the Supreme Good God, in union with whom authentic happiness consists.

Comparison of plaintiff and defendant expert witness qualification in malpractice litigation in neurological surgery

2014 ◽  
Vol 120 (1) ◽  
pp. 185-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Anderson Eloy ◽  
Peter F. Svider ◽  
Adam J. Folbe ◽  
William T. Couldwell ◽  
James K. Liu
Keyword(s):  
Expert Witness ◽  
Medical Community ◽  
Expert Witnesses ◽  
Witness Testimony ◽  
Expert Witness Testimony ◽  
Malpractice Litigation ◽  
Scholarly Impact ◽  
Medical Licensing ◽  
Neurological Surgery

Object Expert witnesses provide a valuable societal service, interpreting complex pieces of evidence that may be misunderstood by nonmedical laypersons. The role of medical expert witness testimony and the potential professional repercussions, however, have been controversial in the medical community. The objective of the present analysis was to characterize the expertise of neurological surgeons testifying as expert witnesses in malpractice litigation. Methods Malpractice litigation involving expert testimony from neurological surgeons was obtained using the WestlawNext legal database. Data pertaining to duration of a surgeon's practice, scholarly impact (as measured by the h index), practice setting, and the frequency with which a surgeon testifies were obtained for these expert witnesses from various online resources including the Scopus database, online medical facility and practice sites, and state medical licensing boards. Results Neurological surgeons testifying in 326 cases since 2008 averaged over 30 years of experience per person (34.5 years for plaintiff witnesses vs 33.2 for defense witnesses, p = 0.35). Defense witnesses had statistically higher scholarly impact than plaintiff witnesses (h index = 8.76 vs 5.46, p < 0.001). A greater proportion of defense witnesses were involved in academic practice (46.1% vs 24.4%, p < 0.001). Those testifying on behalf of plaintiffs were more likely to testify multiple times than those testifying on behalf of defendants (20.4% vs 12.6%). Conclusions Practitioners testifying for either side tend to be very experienced, while those testifying on behalf of defendants have significantly higher scholarly impact and are more likely to practice in an academic setting, potentially indicating a greater level of expertise. Experts for plaintiffs were more likely to testify multiple times. Surgical societies may need to clarify the necessary qualifications and ethical responsibilities of those who choose to testify.

Grounding, semantic functions, and absolute quantifiers

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald W. Langacker
Keyword(s):  
Common Type ◽  
Dual Role ◽  
Cognitive Grammar ◽  
Epistemic Status ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Language Structure ◽  
Dynamic View

Absolute quantifiers (e.g. many, few, three) have adjectival uses, but when initial they function as grounding elements: like demonstratives, articles, and relative quantifiers (e.g. all, most, every), they indicate the epistemic status of the nominal referent. This ambivalence is due to their being intermediate, having semantic affinities with both categories but being marginal with respect to each. The dual role of absolute quantifiers is readily described in Cognitive Grammar, given its dynamic view of meaning as consisting in semantic functions (interactive tasks to be fulfilled). These functions belong to the symbolic assemblies constituting language structure; they are fundamental, the role of lexicon and grammar being to effect their implementation. More schematic functions –such as grounding –are independent of any particular implementation. In the absence of a dedicated grounding element, absolute quantifiers assume that function through a conventional pattern of implicit functional augmentation (a common type of construction).

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