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The accumulation of knowledge required to produce economic value is a process that often relates to nations economic growth. Such a relationship, however, is misleading when the proxy of such accumulation is the average years of education. In this paper, we show that the predictive power of this proxy started to dwindle in 1990 when nations schooling began to homogenized. We propose a metric of human capital that is less sensitive than average years of education and remains as a significant predictor of economic growth when tested with both cross-section data and panel data. We argue that future research on economic growth will discard educational variables based on quantity as predictor given the thresholds that these variables are reaching., 18 pages, 12 tables

Synergy arises from positive reciprocal complementary and synchronized feedback loops in a network of diverse actors that exchange information, energy and matter. Its effect is to increase in a non-linear way (greater than the sum of the parts) useful work (free energy) and order (decrease entropy) of the system After an extensive exploration of synergy and from the analysis of examples in many areas of science, including physics, biology and economy, I postulate that the common elements in all those examples are essential for the existence of synergy. These fundamental elements or roots of synergy are: 1. Open stable systems 2. Cohesion 3. Diversity and Assortation 4. Complementarity 5. Communication and Synchrony 6. Freedom and Self-Organization 7. Dynamics with decreasing entropy and growing free energy. This point may be considered essential in defining synergy, as it can be measured and thus, the proposal is falsifiable and might be refuted empirically. Here we explore ways to nurture synergy in different settings., Amazon Books 2021. Kindle B083HNQBKJ. ASIN: 1656164094 2021

Automotive traffic is a classical example of a complex system, being the simplest case the homogeneous traffic where all vehicles are of the same kind, and using different means of transportation increases complexity due to different driving rules and interactions between each vehicle type. In particular, when motorcyclists drive in between the lanes of stopped or slow-moving vehicles. This later driving mode is a Venezuelan pervasive practice of mobilization that clearly jeopardizes road safety. We developed a minimalist agent-based model to analyze the interaction of road users with and without motorcyclists on the way. The presence of motorcyclists dwindles significantly the frequency of lane changes of motorists while increasing their frequency of acceleration-deceleration maneuvers, without significantly affecting their average speed. That is, motorcyclist "corralled" motorists in their lanes limiting their ability to maneuver and increasing their acceleration noise. Comparison of the simulations with real traffic videos shows good agreement between model and observation. The implications of these results regarding road safety concerns about the interaction between motorists and motorcyclists are discussed., 10 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables

Termites, like many social insects, build nests of complex architecture. These constructions have been proposed to optimize different structural features. Here we describe the nest network of the termite Nasutitermes ephratae, which is among the largest nest-network reported for termites and show that it optimizes diverse parameters defining the network architecture. The network structure avoids multiple crossing of galleries and minimizes the overlap of foraging territories. Thus, these termites are able to minimize the number of galleries they build, while maximizing the foraging area available at the nest mounds. We present a simple computer algorithm that reproduces the basics characteristics of this termite nest network, showing that simple rules can produce complex architectural designs efficiently., This is an English version of the Spanish original as referenced below, Modelos y simulaciones biologicas: ecologia y evolucion. Harold P. de Vladar y Roberto Cipriani. (eds.) 2015

We measured entropy and symbolic diversity for English and Spanish texts including literature Nobel laureates and other famous authors. Entropy, symbol diversity and symbol frequency profiles were compared for these four groups. We also built a scale sensitive to the quality of writing and evaluated its relationship with the Flesch's readability index for English and the Szigriszt's perspicuity index for Spanish. Results suggest a correlation between entropy and word diversity with quality of writing. Text genre also influences the resulting entropy and diversity of the text. Results suggest the plausibility of automated quality assessment of texts., Submitted for publication. 29 pages. 8 figures, 4 tables, 4 appendixes

We compare the likelihood of different socially relevant features to allow the evolutionary emergence and maintenance of cooperation in a generalized variant of the iterated Prisoners Dilemma game. Results show that the average costs/benefit balance of cooperation is the primary constraint for its establishment and maintenance. Behavior increasing inclusive fitness such as assortation, homophily, kin-selection and tagging of individuals, is second in importance. Networks characteristics were the least important in favoring the establishment and maintenance of cooperation, despite being the most popular in recent research on the subject. Results suggest that inclusive fitness theory with its expansions to include assortative and economic considerations is more general, powerful and relevant in analyzing social phenomena than kin selection theory with its emphasis on genetic relatedness. Merging economics with evolutionary theory will be necessary to reveal more about the nature of social dynamics., Submitted for publication

The present politically correct consensus is that increased exchange of scientific insight, knowledge, practitioners and skills at the global level brings significant benefits to all. The quantifiable scientometric changes during the last decade, however, suggest that many areas of knowledge are evolving in the opposite direction. Despite an increase during the last decade of the numbers of journals and academic articles published, increases in the number of citations the published articles receive, and increases in the number of countries participating; important parts of the academic activity are becoming more nationalistic. In addition, international collaboration is decreasing in several subject areas, and in several geographic regions. For example, countries in Asia are becoming scientifically more isolated; and academics working in the humanities in all the regions of the world are very nationalistic and are becoming more so. The precise consequences of this dynamics are difficult to predict, but it certainly will have reverberations beyond academia. The tendency of the humanities to become more provincial will certainly not help in reducing international conflicts arising from poor understanding of cultural differences and of diverging sociopolitical world views. More and better data on these trends should give us a better understanding for eventually improving academic policies worldwide. Keywords: International Collaboration, National, Science, Humanities, Policy

Non-linear dynamics is probably much more common in the epigenetic dynamics of living beings than hitherto recognized. Here we report a case of global bifurcation triggered by gender that affects higher cognitive functions in humans. We report a cross-cultural study showing deviations in time perception, as assessed by estimating the duration of brief sounds, according to their durations and to the gender of the perciver. Results show that the duration of sounds lasting less than 10 s were on average overestimated, whereas those lasting longer were underestimated; estimates of sounds shorter than 1 s were extremely inaccurate. Females consistently gave longer estimates than males. Accuracy in time estimation was correlated to academic performance in disciplines requiring mathematical or scientific skills in male, but not in female students. This difference in correlation however had nothing to do with overall skills in mathematics. Both sexes scored similarly in scientific and technical disciplines, but females had higher grades than males in languages and lower ones in physical education. Our results confirm existing evidence for gender differences in cognitive processing, hinting to the existence of different "mathematical intelligences" with different non-linear relationships between natural or biological mathematical intuition and time perception., Politically incorrect paper practically impossible to publish in a psychology journal

All termites secrete trail pheromones from their sternal gland, whereas ants use a variety of glands for this purpose. This and the diversity of chemical compounds that serve as trail pheromones among ants, and the uniformity of chemicals among termite trails, suggest a different evolutionary historical dynamics for the development of chemical mass recruitment in both taxa. Termites in addition show pheromonal parsimony. This suggest a single evolutionary origin of pheromone trails in Isoptera, whereas chemical mass recruitment among Formicidae seems to have evolved many times and in different ways. Despite these very different evolutionary histories, both taxa evolved chemical recruitment systems involving attractants and orientation signals, and at least two divergent decision making system for recruitment. This evolutionary analogy suggests that chemical mass recruitment is constraint by fundamental physical dynamic laws. Artificial intelligence including “mass intelligence” and “ant intelligence”, emulates mass recruitment in interacting virtual agents in search of optimal solutions. This approach, however, has copied only the “Democratic” recruitment dynamics with a single compound pheromone. Ant and termite evolution shows more sophisticated recruitment dynamics which, if understood properly, will improve our understanding of nature and applications of artificial “swarm intelligence”.

The time series pattern for the prices and volumes of Brent crude oil sold in the London International Exchange was analyzed using non linear analysis techniques developed for complex systems. The analyses show that the variations in the price index and volume of oil exchanged are not random and differ among them. The variations of prices are asymmetric regarding time, showing higher odds for large decreases compared to increases in price. The price index values show more or less stable short periods in time, suggesting strong historic constrains for prices but not for volumes. El patrón de las series temporales de precios y volúmenes del petróleo crudo Brent vendido en la "International Petroleum Exchange" (Londres), fue analizado utilizando técnicas de análisis no lineal desarrolladas para sistemas complejos. Los análisis muestran que las variaciones en el índice de precios y volúmenes de petróleo negociados no son aleatorias y difieren entre ellos. Las variaciones en precios son asimétricas respecto al tiempo mostrando mayor probabilidad para descensos grandes en comparación a aumentos de precio. Los valores del índice de precios muestran períodos cortos de tiempo más o menos estables, sugiriendo fuertes restricciones para cambios de precios pero no para volúmenes. O padrão das séries temporais de preços e volumes do petróleo cru Brent vendido na "International Petroleum Exchange" (Londres), foi analisado utilizando técnicas de análise não linear desenvolvidas para sistemas complexos. As análises mostram que as variações no índice de preços e volumes de petróleo negociados não são aleatórias e diferem entre elas. As variações nos preços são assimétricas com respeito ao tempo mostrando maior probabilidade para descensos grandes em comparação a aumentos de preço. Os valores do índice de preços mostram períodos curtos de tempo mais ou menos estáveis, sugerindo fortes restrições para mudanças de preços mas não para volumes.