Why Is Civil Conflict Path Dependent? A Cultural Explanation

Empirical investigation suggests that conflict is path-dependent, i.e., current conflict leads to more conflict in the future. However, there is very little formal theory for why conflict path dependence exists. We propose a mathematical model to explore one possible pathway to explain the persistence of conflict once it starts. In this model, there are three types of cultures in two boundedly rational populations. The two populations are State Actors and Insurgents. The three cultures are Peaceable, Warring, or Bargainers. The distribution of these types is different in each population. Evolutionary dynamics determine which of these three cultures might predominate. Our simulations suggest that it is rational for people to learn to be warlike even in environments where State Actors are willing to give large side payments to “buy” peace to avoid bargaining failure. War can also be learned when State Actors and Insurgents are extremely patient and, therefore, potentially committed to Pareto improving peace deals. The outcomes of these simulations suggest that cultural learning can be a hitherto ignored explanation for why conflict is path dependent. If culture is indeed a possible cause for conflict, the best intentions of technocratic peacemakers trying to build frameworks for resource sharing and/or institutional building may fail, simply because such structures are not suited to local conditions. On the flip side, our model also provides theoretical reasoning for the observation that conflict is not a deterministic outcome of bargaining and commitment failures.

Emergent multilevel selection in a simple spatial model of the evolution of altruism

Theories on the evolutionary origins of altruistic behavior have a long history and have become a canonical part of the theory of evolution. Nevertheless, the mechanisms that allow altruism to appear and persist are still incompletely understood. The spatial structure of populations is known to be an important determinant. In both theoretical and experimental studies, much attention has been devoted to populations that are subdivided into discrete groups. Such studies typically imposed the structure and dynamics of the groups by hand. Here, we instead present a simple individual-based model in which organisms spontaneously self-organize into spatially separated colonies that themselves reproduce by binary fission and hence behave as Darwinian entities in their own right. Using software to automatically track the rise and fall of colonies, we are able to apply formal theory on multilevel selection and thus quantify the within- and among-group dynamics. This reveals that individual colonies inevitably succumb to defectors, resulting in within-colony "tragedies of the commons". Even so, altruism persists in the population because more altruistic colonies reproduce more frequently. The emergence of the colonies themselves depends crucially on the length scales of motility, altruism, and competition. This reconfirms the general relevance of these scales for social evolution, but also stresses that their impact can only be understood fully in the light of the emergent eco-evolutionary spatial patterns. The results also demonstrate that emergent spatial population patterns can function as a starting point for transitions of individuality.

Informal Provability, First-Order BAT Logic and First Steps Towards a Formal Theory of Informal Provability

BAT is a logic built to capture the inferential behavior of informal provability. Ultimately, the logic is meant to be used in an arithmetical setting. To reach this stage it has to be extended to a first-order version. In this paper we provide such an extension. We do so by constructing non-deterministic three-valued models that interpret quantifiers as some sorts of infinite disjunctions and conjunctions. We also elaborate on the semantical properties of the first-order system and consider a couple of its strengthenings. It turns out that obtaining a sensible strengthening is not straightforward. We prove that most strategies commonly used for strengthening non-deterministic logics fail in our case. Nevertheless, we identify one method of extending the system which does not.

NUScon: a community-driven platform for quantitative evaluation of nonuniform sampling in NMR

Although the concepts of nonuniform sampling (NUS​​​​​​​) and non-Fourier spectral reconstruction in multidimensional NMR began to emerge 4 decades ago (Bodenhausen and Ernst, 1981; Barna and Laue, 1987), it is only relatively recently that NUS has become more commonplace. Advantages of NUS include the ability to tailor experiments to reduce data collection time and to improve spectral quality, whether through detection of closely spaced peaks (i.e., “resolution”) or peaks of weak intensity (i.e., “sensitivity”). Wider adoption of these methods is the result of improvements in computational performance, a growing abundance and flexibility of software, support from NMR spectrometer vendors, and the increased data sampling demands imposed by higher magnetic fields. However, the identification of best practices still remains a significant and unmet challenge. Unlike the discrete Fourier transform, non-Fourier methods used to reconstruct spectra from NUS data are nonlinear, depend on the complexity and nature of the signals, and lack quantitative or formal theory describing their performance. Seemingly subtle algorithmic differences may lead to significant variabilities in spectral qualities and artifacts. A community-based critical assessment of NUS challenge problems has been initiated, called the “Nonuniform Sampling Contest” (NUScon), with the objective of determining best practices for processing and analyzing NUS experiments. We address this objective by constructing challenges from NMR experiments that we inject with synthetic signals, and we process these challenges using workflows submitted by the community. In the initial rounds of NUScon our aim is to establish objective criteria for evaluating the quality of spectral reconstructions. We present here a software package for performing the quantitative analyses, and we present the results from the first two rounds of NUScon. We discuss the challenges that remain and present a roadmap for continued community-driven development with the ultimate aim of providing best practices in this rapidly evolving field. The NUScon software package and all data from evaluating the challenge problems are hosted on the NMRbox platform.

Classless Object Semantics

<p>Objects have been categorised into classes that declare and implement their behaviour ever since the paradigm of object-orientation in programming languages was first conceived. Classes have an integral role in the design and theory of object-oriented languages, and often appear alongside objects as a foundational concept of the paradigm in many theoretical models. A number of object-oriented languages have attempted to remove classes as a core component of the language design and rebuild their functionality purely in terms of objects, to varying success. Much of the formal theory of objects that eschews classes as a fundamental construct has difficulty encoding the variety of behaviours possible in programs from class-based languages. This dissertation investigates the foundational nature of the class in the object-oriented paradigm from the perspective of an ‘objects-first’, classless language. Using the design of theoretical models and practical implementations of these designs as extensions of the Grace programming language, we demonstrate how objects can be used to emulate the functionality of classes, and the necessary trade-offs of this approach. We present Graceless, our theory of objects without classes, and use this language to explore what class functionality is difficult to encode using only objects. We consider the role of classes in the types and static analysis of object-oriented languages, and present both a practical design of brand objects and a corresponding extension of our theory that simulates the discipline of nominal typing. We also modify our theory to investigate the semantics of many different kinds of implementation reuse in the form of inheritance between both objects and classes, and compare the consequences of these different approaches.</p>

Classless Object Semantics

<p>Objects have been categorised into classes that declare and implement their behaviour ever since the paradigm of object-orientation in programming languages was first conceived. Classes have an integral role in the design and theory of object-oriented languages, and often appear alongside objects as a foundational concept of the paradigm in many theoretical models. A number of object-oriented languages have attempted to remove classes as a core component of the language design and rebuild their functionality purely in terms of objects, to varying success. Much of the formal theory of objects that eschews classes as a fundamental construct has difficulty encoding the variety of behaviours possible in programs from class-based languages. This dissertation investigates the foundational nature of the class in the object-oriented paradigm from the perspective of an ‘objects-first’, classless language. Using the design of theoretical models and practical implementations of these designs as extensions of the Grace programming language, we demonstrate how objects can be used to emulate the functionality of classes, and the necessary trade-offs of this approach. We present Graceless, our theory of objects without classes, and use this language to explore what class functionality is difficult to encode using only objects. We consider the role of classes in the types and static analysis of object-oriented languages, and present both a practical design of brand objects and a corresponding extension of our theory that simulates the discipline of nominal typing. We also modify our theory to investigate the semantics of many different kinds of implementation reuse in the form of inheritance between both objects and classes, and compare the consequences of these different approaches.</p>

Digital well-being theory and research

Digital well-being concerns individuals’ subjective well-being in a social environment where digital media are omnipresent. A general framework is developed to integrate empirical research toward a cumulative science of the impacts of digital media use on well-being. It describes the nature of and connections between three pivotal constructs: digital practices, harms/benefits, and well-being. Individual’s digital practices arise within and shape socio-technical structural conditions, and lead to often concomitant harms and benefits. These pathways are theoretically plausible causal chains that lead from a specific manifestation of digital practice to an individual well-being-related outcome with some regularity. Future digital well-being studies should prioritize descriptive validity and formal theory development.

COMPLEX CLASSIFIERS OF FORMAL CLASSIFICATION THEORY OF TECHNICAL SYSTEMS: HIERARCHO-MATRIX, ZONE, CYCLIC

The article highlights the different aspects of complex technical systems that can be ordered and classified in accordance with the totality, structure and values of the attributes characterizing these systems by a unified approach to various types of classifications. The most complex classifiers studied in this work are hierarchical-matrix, cyclic and zonal classifiers. Zones are the areas identified in the space of classification attributes that characterized by a similar value of an additional target classification attribute. The dimension of the zonal classification is equal to the number of descriptive classification attributes, the zonal dimension is equal to the number of zones. Adding the zones is carried out according to the target classification criterion, multiplying the zones consists in introducing the new descriptive classification attributes. Cyclicity is repetition of the similar elements that occurs in the space of physical quantities or other parameters. The concept of cycle stages is defined for all cycles, which is a specific (target) classification attribute. The internal dimension of the cycle is equal to the number of stages, the external dimension is equal to the number of acts of the cycle, the descriptive dimension is equal to the number of descriptive classification attributes. Addition of cycles can be carried out both by stages and by descriptive features and consists in increasing the number of values of classification attribute. Multiplication of cycles consists in the introduction of new descriptive classification attributes. Zonal and cyclic classifiers are widely used in the practice of describing and planning technical energy systems. A wide range of classifiers ordered from the standpoint of a unified formal theory of classification will take into account the features of specific technical systems, the conditions for the objects functioning, the context of the interpretation area. As a re-sult, the degree of adequacy of classifiers to the diversity of the interpretation area objects and the representativeness of models based on classifiers will increase

The twentieth century science paradoxes

The isolation of hypothetical theories from the realities of living matter has caused mysticism to penetrate scientific theories. With mystical thinking, the idea of using an analytical method to solve cognitive problems does not occur. Dialectical logic, in contrast to mysticism, states the opposite: any problematic tasks of cognizing the vital processes and phenomena of the universe are solvable exclusively in an analytic way, with the only method. The author created a universal and formal theory of solving intellectual (i.e., having no previously known algorithms for solving) problems associated with the knowledge of the vital functions of natural and man-made processes in any phenomena of the universe - the Kondratenko method of axiomatic modeling, the effectiveness of which is achieved by correctly setting the problem and solving it purely formal method. The correctness of the statement of the problem means, first of all, the recognition of the failure of all hypothetical (not confirmed by the results of full-scale experimentation with the subject of knowledge) theories. This requirement, in particular, to the mathematical tools used to solve problems of cognition, it revealed paradoxes in the foundations of mathematics, which are discussed in the article. At present, in the natural and applied sciences in most publications, i.e. more than 90% associated with the construction of formal theories in these sciences, the proof of theorems is carried out: firstly, in a meaningful way, which contradicts the urgent requirement of philosophers of science to use exclusively formal evidence, which is a criterion for assessing the correctness and reliability of evidence; secondly, in substantive evidence in 95% of cases, an exclusively standard list of tautologies is used, which by definition is incorrect for the purpose of proving theorems on phenomena and processes of the universe based on exclusively true axioms obtained as a result of full-scale experimentation with these phenomena and processes. The article deals with the paradox in the classical approach to proving theorems, which consists in the inappropriateness of generally accepted stereotypical tautologies of classical mathematics for proving theorems.

Leveraging grounded theory in supply chain research: A researcher and reviewer guide

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to identify and explain most frequently misunderstood steps in the use of grounded theory (GT) as a methodology and provide guidance on proper execution of these elements.Design/methodology/approachThis research provides meaningful guidance to both reviewers and authors interested in applying GT. This research is expected to advance the pursuit of formal theory development.FindingsThere are four most frequently misunderstood steps in the use of GT as a methodology. These are related to the use of literature, theoretical sampling, core category and formal theory development. Proper execution of these elements is important for convincing reviewers and readers that the findings of the research are meaningful and trustworthy.Originality/valueThis paper should be of significant value to researchers who are interested in GT as a methodology. It adds to the few journal articles that address the proper ways to conduct GT.