Objections

This chapter addresses theoretical and empirical objections that critics have presented against the epistemic argument for democracy presented in the previous chapter (the argument from collective wisdom). The objections this chapter addresses include those based on the average voter’s alleged incompetence and systematic biases, as well as those that challenge the relevance of deductive arguments for democracy. The metrics by which political scientists and economists claim to measure voters’ incompetence are elitist and the argument “garbage in, garbage out” on which people like Brennan rely to criticize democracy fail to take into account the fact that collective intelligence is not a linear function of individual competence but an emergent property that crucially depends on group properties, including cognitive diversity, and thus not captured by Brennan’s purely individualistic framework. Inferring from individual input to collective outcomes is thus neither empirical nor demonstrative. Systematic biases would be, and often are, a problem for democracy but not more than for oligarchies of knowers. In a free and diverse public sphere the public and its democratic representatives have more opportunities to debias themselves, at least over time, than small groups of homogenously thinking elites.

Bagging Based Cross-Media Retrieval Algorithm

It is very challenging to propose a strong learning algorithm with high prediction accuracy of cross-media retrieval, while finding a weak learning algorithm which is slightly higher than that of random prediction is very easy. Inspired by this idea, we propose an imaginative Bagging based cross-media retrieval algorithm (called BCMR) in this paper. First, we utilize bootstrap sampling to carry out random sampling of the original training set. The amount of the sample abstracted by bootstrap is set to be same as the original dataset. Second, 50 bootstrap replicates are used for training 50 weak classifiers independently. We take advantage of homogenous individual classifiers and integrate eight different baseline methods in our experiments. Finally, we generate the final strong classifier from the 50 weak classifiers by the integration strategy of sample voting. We use collective wisdom to eliminate bad decisions so that the generalization ability of the integrated model could be greatly enhanced. Extensive experiments performed on three datasets show that BCMR can effectively improve the accuracy of cross-media retrieval.

The Aggregation–Learning Trade-off

Organizational decision making that leverages the collective wisdom and knowledge of multiple individuals is ubiquitous in management practice, occurring in settings such as top management teams, corporate boards, and the teams and groups that pervade modern organizations. Decision-making structures employed by organizations shape the effectiveness of knowledge aggregation. We argue that decision-making structures play a second crucial role in that they shape the learning of individuals that participate in organizational decision making. In organizational decision making, individuals do not engage in learning by doing but, rather, in what we call learning by participating, which is distinct in that individuals learn by receiving feedback not on their own choices but, rather, on the choice made by the organization. We examine how learning by participating influences the efficacy of aggregation and learning across alternative decision-making structures and group sizes. Our central insight is that learning by participating leads to an aggregation–learning trade-off in which structures that are effective in aggregating information can be ineffective in fostering individual learning. We discuss implications for research on organizations in the areas of learning, microfoundations, teams, and crowds.

The model of information dissemination on social networks under epidemic-related panic

Inspired by infectious disease dynamics and modern psychology, this paper aims at constructing a multi-dimensional function to get the model of information dissemination on social networks under epidemic-related panic base on the characteristics of individual differences and global characteristics, like emotional cumulative effect, herd effect, time-sensitive decline effect, cognitive level, intimacy, personal influence, etc. The results show that the psychological effect has a significant effect on the increase of the spread of panic news; When netizens are in an emotional atmosphere, their emotional self-regulation ability is limited; when the infection rate is relatively low, the characteristics of individual differences play a leading role in affecting the spreading process. When the infection rate is high enough, the herd effect and emotional cumulative effect play a major role in promoting information dissemination; In a society with a higher rate of emotional contact, it is easier to form a kind of collective wisdom, which can help the collective quickly identify rumors. Moreover, in this kind of society, the role of opinion leaders is limited, and timely refutation of rumors can significantly reduce the spread of panic news.

Spatial Prioritization Model of COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation in Neighborhoods of Mashhad Using AHP and Fuzzy Logic

Introduction: With the global outbreak of the COVID-19 and the high mortality rate of this disease, indicates the decision-making and finding a solution to control its spread. One of the most effective ways is to use the COVID-19 vaccine. Due to the limited supply of corona vaccines, the distribution of this vaccine is generally prioritized and is done allocation among individuals. Methods: In this descriptive correlational study, GIS, AHP tools, and fuzzy logic were used to achieve the goal of prioritizing and allocating corona vaccine in Mashhad neighborhoods. Neighborhoods prioritization in four scenarios was analyzed; Includes scenario AHP, scenario the WHO guideline, scenario guideline of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education of Iran, and scenario localized collective wisdom. Results: The output of neighborhood prioritization of the four mentioned scenarios has been determined and categorized into five classes. In the AHP scenario, the lowest percentage (8.89%) while the localized collective wisdom highest percentage (42.22%) allocate to priority 1 neighborhoods. There is generally no high correlation between the results and only the scenario of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education and the localized collective wisdom correlates 0.82. Conclusion: Considering the COVID-19 vaccine shortage, spatial allocation based on the presented guidelines is a reliable method that can meet the basic criteria for allocating limited treatment resources. In This research, the spatial allocation was conducted and 180 neighborhoods throughout the city of Mashhad were identified and prioritized in different scenarios that can assist decision-makers.

Alutiiq Fish Skin Traditions: Connecting Communities in the COVID-19 Era

The Alutiiq, Indigenous inhabitants of the coastal regions of Southwest Alaska, created garments made from fish skins, especially salmon, expertly sewn by women from Kodiak Island. Traditionally, Alutiiq education focused on acquiring survival skills: how to navigate the seas in all weathers, hunting, fishing and tanning animal skins. Today, many Alutiiq people continue to provide for their families through subsistence fishing, honouring the ocean and navigating difficult times by listening to their collective wisdom. This paper describes the series of fish skin tanning workshops taught by June Pardue, an Alutiiq and Inupiaq artist from Kodiak Island that connected participants in Alaska Native communities during the COVID-19 isolation months. Through an online platform, June passed on expert knowledge of the endangered Arctic fish skin craft, assisting participants in coping with the pandemic crisis by tapping into their knowledge of the natural world, cultural resourcefulness, storytelling abilities and creative skills. Brought into the digital age, the fish skin workshops strengthened connections among Alutiiq and Alaskan craftspeople while establishing new connections with an expanded network of fashion designers, museum curators, conservators and tanners. Finally, the paper highlights how fish skin Indigenous practices address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) regarding poverty, health and well-being, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, decent work and economic growth, social inequality, responsible consumption and production, climate change and maritime issues.

The stories African lawyers could tell when analysing legal issues: Lessons for social sciences teachers

Activists and academics have clamoured for the decolonisation of knowledge, including law. But, unfortunately hardly anyone has put forth strategies for how faculties should decolonise the law. A number of jurists have underscored the necessity to draw on customary laws and traditional values. Still, the #RhodesMustFall movement has, for the most part, been loud on the outcomes, but quiet on the methodologies. Joining the conversation on the decolonisation of epistemologies, this article contributes to the ongoing efforts to sanitise the law by proposing to revive African oral storytelling cultures as a way to analyse the questions of law facing society. To live up to this task, this article adopts decolonial theory and, through stylised examples, illustrates how lawyers and social scientists in Africa can utilise storytelling to contextualise, (de)construct, and comprehend those questions. This article assumes that lawyers can use African storytelling alongside the prevailing doctrinal method. That method, relaying the coloniality of law and captured by the acronym IRAC (issue(s), rules, application, and conclusion), trains students to approach conflict in society through a highly abstract and decontextualised problem-solving model. Lately, some (Western) social scientists have (re)discovered the practicality of storytelling in presenting analysis and research. However, in African oral traditions, stories worked differently from the manner in which those scientists employ them. African storytelling played a leading role, not only in conveying collective wisdom and social memory from one generation to the next, but also as a medium through which communities transmit the values that hold them together.Contribution: This article adds to the scholarship on storytelling and narratology by showing how educators can utilise stories to analyse legal questions. That rich scholarship in the humanities and the social sciences has so far not taken seriously the possibility of using stories to analyse research problems. Instead, scholars focus on storytelling mainly as a way of presenting science, not as an analytical tool. This article bridges that gap and demonstrates the analytical value of storytelling.

Wisdom of crowds detects COVID-19 severity ahead of officially available data

During the unfolding of a crisis, it is crucial to forecast its severity at an early stage , yet access to reliable data is often challenging early on. The wisdom of crowds has been effective at forecasting in similar scenarios. We investigated whether the initial regional social media reaction to the emerging COVID-19 pandemic in three critically affected countries has significant relations with their observed mortality a month later. We obtained COVID-19 related regionally geolocated tweets from Italian, Spanish, and United States regions. We quantified the predictive power of the wisdom of the crowds using correlations and regressions of geolocated Tweet Intensity (TI) during the initial social media attention peak versus the cumulative number of deaths a month ahead. We found that the intensity of initial COVID-19 related tweet attention at the beginning of the pandemic across Italian, Spanish, and United States regions is significantly related (p < 0.001) to the extent to which these regions had been affected by the pandemic a month later. This association is most striking in Italy as when at its peak of TI in late February 2020 only two of its regions had reported mortality. The collective wisdom of the crowds at early stages of the pandemic, when information on the number of infections was not broadly available, strikingly predicted the extent of mortality reflecting the regional severity of the pandemic almost a month later. Our findings could underpin the creation of real-time novelty detection systems aimed at early reporting of the severity of crises impacting a territory leading to early activation of control measures at a stage when available data is extremely limited.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF RUSSIAN AND CHINESE FAIRY TALES: CONTRAST IN CULTURES

Сказки как художественное творение человеческого чувства, духа детства являются кристаллизацией коллективной мудрости, имеют важные языковые и культурные ценности, отражают взгляды людей на человеческую природу. Сказки, как правило, имеют явную иронию и воспитательную природу, используя метафорические методы, чтобы описать предмет, в них глубокая правда проявляется в простой истории. Культурные различия между Китаем и Россией являются важным предметом изучения языка и культуры. Для того чтобы лучше понять китайскую и русскую культуры, углубить взаимопонимание между двумя народами и укрепить обмен между Китаем и Россией, необходимо изучать противоречивые характеристикирусского и китайского характера, что и предпринято в этой статье на материале сказок. На основе анализа русской и китайской сказок в статье сравнивается слабый характер персонажей и раскрываются уникальные национальные стили Китая и России. Путем описания слабого характера проявляются благородные духовные качества. Сказочный жанр русского и китайского фольклора в разной степени изучен, но в последнее время большой интерес проявляется к изучению китайских волшебных сказок. В этой работе мы преследуем следующую цель – провести сравнительно-сопоставительный анализ русской и китайской сказок для выявления общих ценностных ориентаций. Китайский и русский фольклор развивался по-разному, но сегодня сказка является одним из центральных предметов изучения фольклористов обеих стран. Fairy tales as an artistic creation of human feeling, the spirit of childhood are crystallization of collective wisdom, have important linguistic and cultural values, reflect people's views on human nature. Fairy tales tend to have a clear irony and educational nature, using metaphorical methods to describe the subject, in which deep truth manifests itself in a simple story. The cultural differences between China and Russia are an important subject of language and culture study. In order to better understand Chinese and Russian cultures, deepen mutual understanding between the two peoples and strengthen exchanges between China and Russia, it is necessary to study the conflicting characteristics of the Russian and Chinese character, which is what this article has undertaken on the basis of fairy tales. Based on the analysis of Russian and Chinese fairy tales, the article compares the weak character of the protagonists and reveals the unique national styles of China and Russia. By describing a weak character, noble spiritual qualities are manifested. The fairytale genre of Russian and Chinese folklore has been studied to varying degrees, but recently a great interest has been shown in the study of Chinese fairy tales. In this work, we pursue the following goal - to carry out a comparative analysis of Russian and Chinese fairy tales to identify common value orientations. Chinese and Russian folklore developed in different ways, but today the tale is one of the central subjects of study of folklorists of both countries.