Learning from Fiction to Change our Personal Narratives

Can fictional literature help us lead better lives? This essay argues that some works of literature can help us both change our personal narratives and develop new narratives that will guide our actions, enabling us to better achieve our goals. Works of literature can lead us to consider the hypothesis that we might beneficially change our future-oriented, personal narratives. As a case study, this essay considers Ben Lerner’s novel, 10:04, which focuses on humans’ ability to develop new narratives, and which articulates a narrative that takes into account both everyday life and large-scale issues like the global, environmental crisis.

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Globalization, Greed and Glocal Ecology: A Psychological Perspective

Grassroots Journal of Natural Resources ◽

10.33002/nr2581.6853.040301 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 4 (3) ◽

pp. 1-12

Author(s):

Olena Khrushch

Keyword(s):

Natural Environment ◽

Human Life ◽

Environmental Problems ◽

Global Scale ◽

Environmental Crisis ◽

Psychological Perspective ◽

Carpathian Mountains ◽

Global Environmental ◽

Entire Planet

Evidently, a globalized society causes global environmental crises. Undoubtedly, survival of human life on the planet Earth is threatened. Is there any connection between globalization, environmental crises and psychological manifestations? What are the psychological perspectives linking the ecological damages from local to the global scale? This article explores such intricate relationships and discusses the implications. The underlying principal cause is human’s unending greed to acquire maximum materials and power to control the planet and entire humanity. The greed is believed to be a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction. The greedy people are supposed to have biological, psychological and sociological drives. Evidently, global destruction of the ecosystems and natural environment are directly or indirectly linked to unprecedented chronic human greed and self-indulgence. Undoubtedly, unencumbered chronic greed of a few elite institutions led by top capitalists has put the entire planet in havoc and infiltrated widespread sufferings at the global scale. Conclusively, psychological basis of environmental problems has a sociological and socio-historical scope within the frame of globalization. Psychological account of the environmental crisis is explained subsequently in this article followed by a case study of deforestation of Carpathian Mountains staged by a greedy Austrian man.

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Modern change in the tools of the system-structural approach to the style of scientific thinking in the Earth sciences

IOP Conference Series Earth and Environmental Science ◽

10.1088/1755-1315/937/4/042010 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 937 (4) ◽

pp. 042010

Author(s):

S V Dubrova ◽

P I Egorov ◽

P S Zelenkovskiy ◽

I I Podlipskiy ◽

E M Nesterov

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Environmental Risks ◽

Environmental Crisis ◽

Entire Volume ◽

The Earth ◽

Global Environmental ◽

Spatial Approach ◽

Characteristic Features ◽

State Of Affairs ◽

Real State

Abstract The characteristic features of our time are globalization and the intensification of human activities, which lead to large-scale changes in the environment. There are more crisis points, they are interconnected, and the problems that arise at the same time become more complicated. In this case, we should already talk about the possibility of a global environmental crisis, and therefore any more or less large project should take into account environmental risks. That is, each object of geo-ecological research is considered both as an independent self-organizing system and as part of a larger system. It is the initial approach to the study and construction of a conceptual model, the trajectory of data processing of the object of research that currently causes the greatest number of disputes and difficulties. Often, the entire volume of problems related to the interpretation of data, their lack, complexity of processing, inconsistency with the real state of affairs, is associated precisely with the initial spatial approach to research, that is, with the sphere of epistemological tools of the thinking style.

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A Simplified Method to Avoid Shadows at Parabolic-Trough Solar Collectors Facilities

Symmetry ◽

10.3390/sym12020278 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 278 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Nuria Novas ◽

Aránzazu Fernández-García ◽

Francisco Manzano-Agugliaro

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Small Scale ◽

Parabolic Trough ◽

Standard Case ◽

Global Environmental Problems ◽

Large Size ◽

Global Environmental ◽

Heating Water ◽

Tracking Movement

Renewable energy today is no longer just an affordable alternative, but a requirement for mitigating global environmental problems such as climate change. Among renewable energies, the use of solar energy is one of the most widespread. Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) systems, however, is not yet fully widespread despite having demonstrated great efficiency, mainly thanks to parabolic-trough collector (PTC) technology, both on a large scale and on a small scale for heating water in industry. One of the main drawbacks to this energy solution is the large size of the facilities. For this purpose, several models have been developed to avoid shadowing between the PTC lines as much as possible. In this study, the classic shadowing models between the PTC rows are reviewed. One of the major challenges is that they are studied geometrically as a fixed installation, while they are moving facilities, as they have a tracking movement of the sun. In this work, a new model is proposed to avoid shadowing by taking into account the movement of the facilities depending on their latitude. Secondly, the model is tested to an existing facility as a real case study located in southern Spain. The model is applied to the main existing installations in the northern hemisphere, thus showing the usefulness of the model for any PTC installation in the world. The shadow projected by a standard, the PTC (S) has been obtained by means of a polynomial approximation as a function of the latitude (Lat) given by S = 0.001 − Lat2 + 0.0121 − Lat + 10.9 with R2 of 99.8%. Finally, the model has been simplified to obtain in the standard case the shadows in the running time of a PTC facility.

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On Moral Aspect of Sustainable Development Theory and Practice

wisdom ◽

10.24234/wisdom.v2i7.135 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 2 (7) ◽

pp. 35

Author(s):

Sirine KOSYAN ◽

Tatevik POGHOSYAN ◽

Karine DANIELYAN

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Large Scale ◽

Theory And Practice ◽

Environmental Crisis ◽

Development Theory ◽

Global Environmental ◽

Relationship Of ◽

The Relationship ◽

Reorientation Process

The paper deals with the modern processes of large-scale destabilization of the geosphere and the role of the scientific prediction of global environmental crisis. We also present an analysis of the reorientation process of civilization to sustainable development and ethical foundations of the relationship of humanity and nature.

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Listening as the Land Talks Back: Ecology, Embodiment and Information in the Science Fictions of echo::system

Leonardo ◽

10.1162/leon_a_00557 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 46 (3) ◽

pp. 204-210 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Grisha Coleman

Keyword(s):

Public Engagement ◽

Large Scale ◽

Environmental Crisis ◽

Practical Realization ◽

Live Performance ◽

Environmental Sciences ◽

Interactive Installation ◽

Global Environmental ◽

Multimedia Environments ◽

High Level

A series of five large-scale multimedia environments constructed for both live performance and interactive installation, echo::system is a response to our current global environmental crisis. Each echo::system “actionstation” creates an alternative environment to promote both aesthetic and physical reflection on how and where we live. This article pairs a theoretical introduction to the foundations and high-level concepts of echo::system with a concrete description of actionstation.2—the desert. The goal is to examine intersections of art, environmental sciences and technology; information and place; performance; and public engagement through the practical realization of the work.

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A Family With Autosomal-Dominant Progressive Sensorineural Hearing Loss

American Journal of Audiology ◽

10.1044/1059-0889.0501.23 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 23-32 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Chris Halpin ◽

Barbara Herrmann ◽

Margaret Whearty

Keyword(s):

Speech Production ◽

Hearing Aids ◽

Role Models ◽

Speech Intelligibility ◽

Large Scale ◽

Speech Language Pathology ◽

The Family ◽

Patient Will ◽

Language Pathology

The family described in this article provides an unusual opportunity to relate findings from genetic, histological, electrophysiological, psychophysical, and rehabilitative investigation. Although the total number evaluated is large (49), the known, living affected population is smaller (14), and these are spread from age 20 to age 59. As a result, the findings described above are those of a large-scale case study. Clearly, more data will be available through longitudinal study of the individuals documented in the course of this investigation but, given the slow nature of the progression in this disease, such studies will be undertaken after an interval of several years. The general picture presented to the audiologist who must rehabilitate these cases is that of a progressive cochlear degeneration that affects only thresholds at first, and then rapidly diminishes speech intelligibility. The expected result is that, after normal language development, the patient may accept hearing aids well, encouraged by the support of the family. Performance and satisfaction with the hearing aids is good, until the onset of the speech intelligibility loss, at which time the patient will encounter serious difficulties and may reject hearing aids as unhelpful. As the histological and electrophysiological results indicate, however, the eighth nerve remains viable, especially in the younger affected members, and success with cochlear implantation may be expected. Audiologic counseling efforts are aided by the presence of role models and support from the other affected members of the family. Speech-language pathology services were not considered important by the members of this family since their speech production developed normally and has remained very good. Self-correction of speech was supported by hearing aids and cochlear implants (Case 5’s speech production was documented in Perkell, Lane, Svirsky, & Webster, 1992). These patients received genetic counseling and, due to the high penetrance of the disease, exhibited serious concerns regarding future generations and the hope of a cure.

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