scholarly journals Cultural Identity Distance Computation through Artificial Intelligence as an Analysis Tool of the Amazon Indigenous People. A Case Study in the Waorani Community

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (22) ◽  
pp. 9513
Author(s):  
Aldrin Marcel Espín-León ◽  
Antonio Jimeno-Morenilla ◽  
María Luisa Pertegal-Felices ◽  
Jorge Azorín-López

Cultural identity is a complex concept that includes subjective factors such as ideology, family knowledge, customs, language, and acquired skills, among others. Measuring culture involves a significant level of difficulty, since its study and scope differ from the point of view, the time and the place where the studies are carried out. In the Amazon, indigenous communities are in an accelerated process of acculturation that results in a loss of cultural identity that is not easy to quantify. This paper presents a method to measure the cultural distance between individuals or between groups of people using Artificial Intelligence techniques. The distance between individuals is calculated as the distance of the minimum path in the self-organizing map using Dijkstra’s algorithm. The experiments have been carried out to measure the cultural identity of indigenous people in the Waorani Amazon community and compares them with people living in cities who have a modern identity. The results showed that the communities are still distant in terms of identity from the westernised cities around them, although there are already factors where the distances are minimal concerning these cities. In any case, the method makes it possible to quantify the state of acculturation. This quantification can help the authorities to monitor these communities and take political decisions that will enable them to preserve their cultural identity.

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wahab Ali

Indigenous knowledge is multidimensional encompassing the beliefs, practices, arts, spirituality and other forms of traditional and cultural experiences that belong to Indigenous communities globally. In order to protect, preserve and recognize the knowledge of the Indigenous people of Fiji, known as the iTaukei, the University of Fiji has established a Centre for iTaukei Studies. The Centre apart from its cultural dimension has adopted the western system of disseminating knowledge through publications, text books and teacher education programmes. While maintaining the importance of preserving the originality of the Indigenous cultural identity and practices, the paper highlights how the infusion of the cultures of the Indigenous people and that of the Indo-Fijians, who have co-existed together for over 100 years, has shaped the unique multicultural landscape in Fiji.


2004 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 45-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michaela Wolf

Abstract For Stephen Greenblatt, cultures are “inherently unstable, mediatory modes of fashioning experience,” and it is only through the imaginary order of exclusion that a culture can be simulated as a stable entity. Greenblatt calls such an exclusion “blockage,” a phenomenon that occurs constantly, thereby preventing the collapse of cultural identity. What does this mean for translation practice, where such “blockages,” i.e., textual manipulation or re-writing, can be regarded as constitutive elements of the translation process? This paper examines the question in the particular context of translation practice in the late Habsburg Monarchy. The paper will analyse the different agents which underlie the selection mechanisms–or “exclusion procedures”–in translation and will explore the phenomenon of censorship from both a metaphorical and systemic point of view. The agents involved in the selection of texts to be translated as well as in the selection of translation strategies are manifold and are all interwoven. The selection of texts automatically represents a filter for the analysis of a certain period and is, therefore, a key agent in the reception process. Other important agents are patrons, who are often themselves translators and vital representatives of cultural mediation, as well as translators from various backgrounds, involved to varying degrees in contemporary cultural discourse. Finally, the role of editors, publishers and reviewers as main filters of representations of the cultural Other in a particular culture will be considered. Greenblatt’s model of “cultural blockage” will be examined against this background. Its applicability and limits will be discussed in the context of translation where the issue of the representation of the Other is of paramount importance and where “blockage” definitely illustrates the recognition of cultural distance.


Author(s):  
Amit Kumar Bhanja ◽  
P.C Tripathy

Innovation is the key to opportunities and growth in today’s competitive and dynamic business environment. It not only nurtures but also provides companies with unique dimensions for constant reinvention of the existing way of performance which enables and facilitates them to reach out to their prospective customers more effectively. It has been estimated by Morgan Stanley that India would have 480 million shoppers buying products online by the year 2026, a drastic increase from 60 million online shoppers in the year 2016. E-commerce companies are aggressively implementing innovative methods of marketing their product offerings using tools like digital marketing, internet of things (IoT)and artificial intelligence to name a few. This paper focuses on outlining the innovative ways of marketing that the E-Commerce sector implements in orders to increase their customer base and aims at determining the future scope of this area. A conceptual comparative study of Amazon and Flipkart helps to determine which marketing strategies are more appealing and beneficial for both the customers and companies point of view.


Author(s):  
Daan P. van Uhm ◽  
Ana G. Grigore

AbstractThis article explores the relationship between the Emberá–Wounaan and Akha Indigenous people and organized crime groups vying for control over natural resources in the Darién Gap of East Panama and West Colombia and the Golden Triangle (the area where the borders of Laos, Myanmar (Burma), and Thailand meet), respectively. From a southern green criminological perspective, we consider how organized crime groups trading in natural resources value Indigenous knowledge. We also examine the continued victimization of Indigenous people in relation to environmental harm and the tension between Indigenous peoples’ ecocentric values and the economic incentives presented to them for exploiting nature. By looking at the history of the coloniality and the socioeconomic context of these Indigenous communities, this article generates a discussion about the social framing of the Indigenous people as both victims and offenders in the illegal trade in natural resources, particularly considering the types of relationships established with dominant criminal groups present in their ancestral lands.


2021 ◽  
pp. 2277436X2110059
Author(s):  
Madhulika Sahoo ◽  
Jalandhar Pradhan

The modern healthcare system often experiences difficulties in understanding and providing care to indigenous communities. This is mainly because of the cultural distance between mainstream healing methods and indigenous health belief systems. The Lancet series (2006) on indigenous health discussed the integration of Western and traditional health practices and identified the importance of this integration for betterment of the human world. To understand what health and health care signify to tribal communities in India, it is necessary to examine the whole social system and the beliefs and behaviours related to their culture that provides meaning to people. This study examines the traditional medicinal practices and socio-cultural healthcare beliefs and behaviours of diplaced tribal communities in Odisha and Chattisgarh. The current study has used the health belief model (HBM) to examine the perceived susceptibility and severity of diseases among tribal communities, pertaining to their reproductive healthcare beliefs and practices.


Human Ecology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Schnegg ◽  
Coral Iris O’Brian ◽  
Inga Janina Sievert

AbstractInternational surveys suggest people increasingly agree the climate is changing and humans are the cause. One reading of this is that people have adopted the scientific point of view. Based on a sample of 28 ethnographic cases we argue that this conclusion might be premature. Communities merge scientific explanations with local knowledge in hybrid ways. This is possible because both discourses blame humans as the cause of the changes they observe. However, the specific factors or agents blamed differ in each case. Whereas scientists identify carbon dioxide producers in particular world regions, indigenous communities often blame themselves, since, in many lay ontologies, the weather is typically perceived as a local phenomenon, which rewards and punishes people for their actions. Thus, while survey results show approval of the scientific view, this agreement is often understood differently and leads to diverging ways of allocating meaning about humans and the weather.


Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 331
Author(s):  
Daniele Giansanti ◽  
Ivano Rossi ◽  
Lisa Monoscalco

The development of artificial intelligence (AI) during the COVID-19 pandemic is there for all to see, and has undoubtedly mainly concerned the activities of digital radiology. Nevertheless, the strong perception in the research and clinical application environment is that AI in radiology is like a hammer in search of a nail. Notable developments and opportunities do not seem to be combined, now, in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a stable, effective, and concrete use in clinical routine; the use of AI often seems limited to use in research applications. This study considers the future perceived integration of AI with digital radiology after the COVID-19 pandemic and proposes a methodology that, by means of a wide interaction of the involved actors, allows a positioning exercise for acceptance evaluation using a general purpose electronic survey. The methodology was tested on a first category of professionals, the medical radiology technicians (MRT), and allowed to (i) collect their impressions on the issue in a structured way, and (ii) collect their suggestions and their comments in order to create a specific tool for this professional figure to be used in scientific societies. This study is useful for the stakeholders in the field, and yielded several noteworthy observations, among them (iii) the perception of great development in thoracic radiography and CT, but a loss of opportunity in integration with non-radiological technologies; (iv) the belief that it is appropriate to invest in training and infrastructure dedicated to AI; and (v) the widespread idea that AI can become a strong complementary tool to human activity. From a general point of view, the study is a clear invitation to face the last yard of AI in digital radiology, a last yard that depends a lot on the opinion and the ability to accept these technologies by the operators of digital radiology.


Information ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Thierry Bellet ◽  
Aurélie Banet ◽  
Marie Petiot ◽  
Bertrand Richard ◽  
Joshua Quick

This article is about the Human-Centered Design (HCD), development and evaluation of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithm aiming to support an adaptive management of Human-Machine Transition (HMT) between car drivers and vehicle automation. The general principle of this algorithm is to monitor (1) the drivers’ behaviors and (2) the situational criticality to manage in real time the Human-Machine Interactions (HMI). This Human-Centered AI (HCAI) approach was designed from real drivers’ needs, difficulties and errors observed at the wheel of an instrumented car. Then, the HCAI algorithm was integrated into demonstrators of Advanced Driving Aid Systems (ADAS) implemented on a driving simulator (dedicated to highway driving or to urban intersection crossing). Finally, user tests were carried out to support their evaluation from the end-users point of view. Thirty participants were invited to practically experience these ADAS supported by the HCAI algorithm. To increase the scope of this evaluation, driving simulator experiments were implemented among three groups of 10 participants, corresponding to three highly contrasted profiles of end-users, having respectively a positive, neutral or reluctant attitude towards vehicle automation. After having introduced the research context and presented the HCAI algorithm designed to contextually manage HMT with vehicle automation, the main results collected among these three profiles of future potential end users are presented. In brief, main findings confirm the efficiency and the effectiveness of the HCAI algorithm, its benefits regarding drivers’ satisfaction, and the high levels of acceptance, perceived utility, usability and attractiveness of this new type of “adaptive vehicle automation”.


Author(s):  
Kimiora Raerino ◽  
Alex Macmillan ◽  
Adrian Field ◽  
Rau Hoskins

In settler countries, attention is now extending to the wellbeing benefits of recognising and promoting the Indigenous cultural identity of neighbourhoods as a contributing factor to more equitable and healthier communities. Re-indigenisation efforts to (re)implement cultural factors into urban design can be challenging and ineffective without the leadership and collaboration of local-Indigenous peoples. Undertaken in Aotearoa New Zealand, Te Ara Mua — Future Street project, demonstrated that co-design has critical potential in the reclamation of Indigenous autonomy, increased local-Indigenous presence and revitalisation of cultural identity. Employing a Kaupapa Māori (Māori-centred) research approach, we focused on the workings and perspectives of mana whenua (local-Indigenous peoples) and community stakeholder engagement in Te Ara Mua. An Indigenous theoretical framework, Te Pae Mahutonga, was utilised in the data analysis to explore perspectives of Indigenous collective agency, empowerment, and wellbeing. Our research demonstrates that developing capacity amongst Indigenous communities is integral for effective engagement and that the realisation of autonomy in urban design projects has broader implications for Indigenous sovereignty, spatial justice and health equity. Significantly, we argue that future community enhancement strategies must include not only re-designing and re-imagining initiatives, but also re-indigenising.


Genealogy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 52
Author(s):  
Bronwyn Carlson ◽  
Tristan Kennedy

Social media is a highly valuable site for Indigenous people to express their identities and to engage with other Indigenous people, events, conversations, and debates. While the role of social media for Indigenous peoples is highly valued for public articulations of identity, it is not without peril. Drawing on the authors’ recent mixed-methods research in Australian Indigenous communities, this paper presents an insight into Indigenous peoples’ experiences of cultivating individual and collective identities on social media platforms. The findings suggest that Indigenous peoples are well aware of the intricacies of navigating a digital environment that exhibits persistent colonial attempts at the subjugation of Indigenous identities. We conclude that, while social media remains perilous, Indigenous people are harnessing online platforms for their own ends, for the reinforcement of selfhood, for identifying and being identified and, as a vehicle for humour and subversion.


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