scholarly journals Being Human: Androids, Humans, and Identity in “Red Dwarf”

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 321-343
Author(s):  
David Layton
Keyword(s):  
Science Fiction ◽  
Common Belief ◽  
Western Thought ◽  
Television Series ◽  
Human Species ◽  
Human Personality ◽  
Definite Improvement ◽  
The Common ◽  
Ethical Thinking ◽  
Better Than

One of the more popular transhumanist ideas is the belief that technology will allow for the transfer of human personality into a machine or cyborg body. Additionally, some transhumanists believe that this transfer could happen with few to no problems, and that such a transfer would result in a definite improvement of the human species. The episode “DNA” from the humorous British science-fiction television series Red Dwarf presents a story that challenges this idea of the easy transfer of personality. The story of the android who gets his wish to become human allows the writers to invert the common belief in Western thought that being human is inherently better than being an imitation of a human, and that technologically upgrading human bodies will produce “better” humans. By inversion, the program presents the idea that clearer and more ethical thinking is needed regarding technological enhancement, and not the utopian visions of many transhumanists.

The Costs of Transitivity: Thoughts on Larry Temkin’s Rethinking the Good

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 462-478 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelly Kagan
Keyword(s):  
Common Belief ◽  
Value Judgments ◽  
The Common ◽  
Better Than

In Rethinking the Good, Larry Temkin argues that the common belief in the transitivity of better than (all things considered) is incompatible with various other value judgments to which many of us are deeply committed; accordingly, we should take seriously the possibility that the better than relation is not, in fact, a transitive one. However, although Temkin is right, I think, about the mutual incompatibility of the beliefs in question, for the most part his examples don’t leave me inclined to deny transitivity. Nonetheless, there is one example, involving infinity, that does seem to me particularly troubling.

scholarly journals Human sickness detection is not dependent on cultural experience

2021 ◽  
Vol 288 (1954) ◽  
pp. 20210922
Author(s):  
Artin Arshamian ◽  
Tina Sundelin ◽  
Ewelina Wnuk ◽  
Carolyn O'Meara ◽  
Niclas Burenhult ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Immune Response ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Common Belief ◽  
Cultural Experience ◽  
Experimental Induction ◽  
The Common ◽  
Group Member ◽  
Better Than ◽  
General Immune Response

Animals across phyla can detect early cues of infection in conspecifics, thereby reducing the risk of contamination. It is unknown, however, if humans can detect cues of sickness in people belonging to communities with whom they have limited or no experience. To test this, we presented Western faces photographed 2 h after the experimental induction of an acute immune response to one Western and five non-Western communities, including small-scale hunter–gatherer and large urban-dwelling communities. All communities could detect sick individuals. There were group differences in performance but Western participants, who observed faces from their own community, were not systematically better than all non-Western participants. At odds with the common belief that sickness detection of an out-group member should be biased to err on the side of caution, the majority of non-Western communities were unbiased. Our results show that subtle cues of a general immune response are recognized across cultures and may aid in detecting infectious threats.

Scanning Secondary Electron Microscopy of Myofibrils Using Transmission Techniques

1975 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 556-557
Author(s):  
M. K. Lamvik
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Electron Microscope ◽  
Carbon Films ◽  
Photographic Recording ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Thin Carbon ◽  
The Common ◽  
Scanning Electron ◽  
Better Than ◽  
Cellular Organelles

When observing small objects such as cellular organelles by scanning electron microscopy, it is often valuable to use the techniques of transmission electron microscopy. The common practice of mounting and coating for SEM may not always be necessary. These possibilities are illustrated using vertebrate skeletal muscle myofibrils.Micrographs for this study were made using a Hitachi HFS-2 scanning electron microscope, with photographic recording usually done at 60 seconds per frame. The instrument was operated at 25 kV, with a specimen chamber vacuum usually better than 10-7 torr. Myofibrils were obtained from rabbit back muscle using the method of Zak et al. To show the component filaments of this contractile organelle, the myofibrils were partially disrupted by agitation in a relaxing medium. A brief centrifugation was done to clear the solution of most of the undisrupted myofibrils before a drop was placed on the grid. Standard 3 mm transmission electron microscope grids covered with thin carbon films were used in this study.

Aristotle on the Sources of the Ethical Life

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvia Berryman
Keyword(s):  
Virtue Ethics ◽  
Human Nature ◽  
Common Belief ◽  
Ethical Life ◽  
Metaphysical Grounding ◽  
Middle Way ◽  
The Common

This work challenges the common belief that Aristotle’s virtue ethics is founded on an appeal to human nature, an appeal that is thought to be intended to provide both substantive ethical advice and justification for the demands of ethics. It is argued that it is not Aristotle’s intent, but the view is resisted that Aristotle was blind to questions of the source or justification of his ethical views. Aristotle’s views are interpreted as a ‘middle way’ between the metaphysical grounding offered by Platonists and the scepticism or subjectivist alternatives articulated by others. The commitments implicit in the nature of action figure prominently in this account: Aristotle reinterprets Socrates’ famous paradox that no one does evil willingly, taking it to mean that a commitment to pursuing the good is implicit in the very nature of action. This approach is compared to constructivism in contemporary ethics.

scholarly journals Understanding Urban Commercial Vehicle Driver Behaviors and Decision Making

2021 ◽  
pp. 036119812110035
Author(s):  
Giacomo Dalla Chiara ◽  
Klaas Fiete Krutein ◽  
Andisheh Ranjbari ◽  
Anne Goodchild
Keyword(s):  
Commercial Vehicle ◽  
Operating Time ◽  
Common Belief ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Urban Freight ◽  
The Road ◽  
Commercial Drivers ◽  
The Common ◽  
Printed Materials

As e-commerce and urban deliveries spike, cities grapple with managing urban freight more actively. To manage urban deliveries effectively, city planners and policy makers need to better understand driver behaviors and the challenges they experience in making deliveries. In this study, we collected data on commercial vehicle (CV) driver behaviors by performing ridealongs with various logistics carriers. Ridealongs were performed in Seattle, Washington, covering a range of vehicles (cars, vans, and trucks), goods (parcels, mail, beverages, and printed materials), and customer types (residential, office, large and small retail). Observers collected qualitative observations and quantitative data on trip and dwell times, while also tracking vehicles with global positioning system devices. The results showed that, on average, urban CVs spent 80% of their daily operating time parked. The study also found that, unlike the common belief, drivers (especially those operating heavier vehicles) parked in authorized parking locations, with only less than 5% of stops occurring in the travel lane. Dwell times associated with authorized parking locations were significantly longer than those of other parking locations, and mail and heavy goods deliveries generally had longer dwell times. We also identified three main criteria CV drivers used for choosing a parking location: avoiding unsafe maneuvers, minimizing conflicts with other users of the road, and competition with other commercial drivers. The results provide estimates for trip times, dwell times, and parking choice types, as well as insights into why those decisions are made and the factors affecting driver choices.

Evaluation of Gas-Liquid Chromatography in Assays for Blood Volatiles

1965 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1023-1035 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Mather ◽  
Angel Assimos
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Chromatography ◽  
Alcohol Concentration ◽  
Quantitative Assay ◽  
Gas Liquid Chromatography ◽  
Internal Reference ◽  
Detection And Identification ◽  
Large Populations ◽  
The Common ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Better Than

Abstract A simple screening by gas-liquid chromatography (GLC) can provide definitive answers in the detection and identification of a number of volatile substances, including acetone and the common alcohols. After identification, quantitative assay by an internal-reference technic yields highly specific values for ethyl alcohol concentration with a precision at least equal to (and for low levels, better than) that of conventional assays. The unique advantage of GLC is in its simultaneous quantitative assay of mixtures, some of which cannot be satisfactorily assayed or even recognized in any other way. The combination of speed and negligible sample volumes render the technic valuable for sequential studies on capillary blood samples and, potentially, for mass screening of large populations.

Dead and Gone? Reply to Jenkins

Utilitas ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 218-220
Author(s):  
KARL EKENDAHL ◽  
JENS JOHANSSON
Keyword(s):  
Recent Article ◽  
Common Belief ◽  
The Common ◽  
Epistemic Role

In a recent article, Joyce L. Jenkins challenges the common belief that desire satisfactionists are committed to the view that a person's welfare can be affected by posthumous events. Jenkins argues that desire satisfactionists can and should say that posthumous events only play an epistemic role: though such events cannot harm me, they can reveal that I have already been harmed by something else. In this response, however, we show that Jenkins's approach collapses into the view she aims to avoid.

scholarly journals Generation-making narratives and responses to diversity in Poland

2021 ◽  
pp. 026858092199852
Author(s):  
Aneta Piekut ◽  
Gill Valentine
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
Common Belief ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
The Common ◽  
Analytical Category ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
Race And Religion ◽  
Depth Interviews

In this article, the authors move away from approaching generations as static categories and explore how ordinary people, as opposed to scholars, distinguish generations and justify their different responses to cultural diversity in terms of ethnicity, race and religion/belief. The analysis draws on 90 in-depth interviews with 30 residents in the Polish capital, Warsaw (2012–2013). Through approaching generation as an analytical category, the authors identify various differentiating narratives which the study participants employed to draw boundaries between generations, reinforcing the common belief that the youngest Poles are most accepting of diversity. Although generations are seen as the axis of difference, conditioning generation-specific responses to diversity, the accounts emerging from the interviews reveal their relational nature, as well as similarities and points of connection between their experiences.

MALABSORPTION OF FOOD IN RURAL COMMUNITIES

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1978 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-53
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Intestinal Absorption ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Healthy Men ◽  
Adult Men ◽  
Definite Improvement ◽  
Experimental Introduction ◽  
Cash Cost ◽  
Better Than

The survey on malabsorption of food in rural communities of Guatemala indicated that the experimental introduction of drinking water in a community resulted in a definite decline in the incidence of diarrhoea in children from 3 to 7 years of age. Longitudinal evaluation of the capacity of healthy men to absorb d-xylose revealed malabsorption in 30% of individuals living under poor sanitation conditions, as compared with 9% among those living under sanitation conditions which were better than those in rural areas. A definite improvement in d-xylose absorption was observed in the community where drinking water was introduced. Findings of longitudinal studies on intestinal absorption indicated that between 50 and 60 per cent of all the adult men were losing about 350 calories per day, a loss which, expressed in economic terms, is equivalent to 5-7 per cent of the cash cost of the diet.

An Exploration of Accountants, Accounting Work, and Creativity

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie M. Bryant ◽  
Dan Stone ◽  
Benson Wier
Keyword(s):  
The Self ◽  
Common Belief ◽  
Systematic Relationship ◽  
Governmental Accounting ◽  
Department Of Labor ◽  
Accounting Practice ◽  
Accounting Professionals ◽  
The Common

ABSTRACT: In two studies, we explore whether creativity is essential—or antithetical—to professional accounting work. In Study 1, archival analysis of U.S. Department of Labor data indicates that: (1) professional accounting work requires no less creativity than do three competing professions and a diverse sample of U.S. occupations, and (2) greater creativity may be required in financial than in auditing and taxation accounting work. In Study 2, a survey contrasts the self-assessed and number-of-uses creativity of governmental accounting professionals and Master’s of Accountancy (M.Acc.) students with that of M.B.A. students. Results indicate lower creativity among accountants and M.Acc. students compared with M.B.A. students, and no systematic relationship between ethics and creativity. We conclude that while creativity matters to accounting work—more to some areas of accounting practice than others—accountancy education and work may attract or reward entrants with less than desirable levels of creativity, perhaps due to the common belief that creativity is unneeded in, or even deleterious to, professional accountancy work.

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