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Under the title "Comprehension Versus Simulation: Philosophical Implications of Artificial Intelligence and Transhumanism," this article will reflect on the interactions between artificial intelligence (AI) and transhumanism, exploring how these issues affect our understanding of the human condition and its philosophical repercussions. It begins with the deconstruction of the idea of strong artificial intelligence, discussing the acronyms and boundaries that surround the topic. The distinction between strong and weak AI reveals both potentialities and constraints, while also updating John Searle's Chinese Room thought experiment, which questions whether a machine can truly understand like a human. The text then progresses to transhumanism and technological singularity, focusing on the transformation of the human condition through technological integration, which seeks to overcome biological and cognitive limitations. This transformation raises relevant ontological questions about the definition of the human, particularly as it intertwines with artificial intelligence, as discussed by Ray Kurzweil. Finally, the text addresses imaginaries regarding the coexistence of humans and machines, suggesting that this new reality cannot be strictly categorized as intelligent or artificial. The concept of incongruent abilities emphasizes the complexity of the emergent interactions within this scenario. Engaging in a dialogue with theorists such as Alan Turing, Miguel Nicolelis, Luc Ferry, Luciano Floridi, and Max Tegmark, this article invites critical reflection on the tension surrounding the possibility of machines exhibiting comprehension or merely providing a simulation of human understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What leads people to believe in conspiracy theories? While scholars have learned much about both the psychological, social, and political factors associated with individuals' receptivity to conspiracy theories, and the rhetoric with which these ideas are communicated, these two lines of research have often proceeded in isolation, leaving scholars not fully understanding if rhetoric persuades audiences of conspiracy theories. Employing two U.S. national survey experiments, we test the effect of six rhetorical devices on respondents' endorsements of eleven different conspiracy theories. Across both studies, we fail to find evidence showing that these rhetorical devices increased the endorsement of any of the eleven conspiracy theories. These findings suggest that conspiracy theory beliefs are more the product of worldviews and group identities than of leaders' communication styles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last years, the use of the words "AI art", i.e. art produced by artificial intelligence, has exponentially increased. Sometimes, they have been used without philosophical awareness, from public discourse to strictly scientific and technological literature. Sometimes, they have started entering the philosophical debate, from the philosophy of technology to the philosophy of art. In what follows, I shall reflect upon AI art by combining my expertise in both the philosophy of technology and the philosophy of art as what has characterised my work as a philosopher over the years. More precisely, I shall reflect upon AI art as an opportunity to further question what we mean when we use the word "art". After a brief literature review (first section), I shall specify what kind of AI art I consider (second section). In the third section, I shall analyse the most important reason why AI artefacts are defined as art. In the fourth and fifth sections, I shall use thought experiments to argue that AI artefacts cannot be defined as art. And, in the sixth section, I shall conclude by questioning what the use of the words "AI art" can show us about both art and our technological era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In the development of physical theories, thought experiments play a crucial role. Research on this topic began in 1976 and has continued to the present. This study aims to provide a more complete picture of the progress of thought experiments over the past two decades. To achieve this, this study employs bibliometric mapping methods. A total of 679 published papers were analyzed, including articles (504), conference papers (92), and book chapters (83). This data was retrieved from the Scopus database. The study's findings reveal that research and publications on thought experiments are highly valued and have received significant attention over the past eight years. According to the findings, 90% of the top 20 source titles contributing to thought experiments are from journals in the first and second quartiles (Q1 and Q2). This quartile ranking shows the quality and significant influence of a journal. The geographical distribution indicates that the United States contributes the most to thought experiments research, with 213 documents, 2592 citations, and 47 links. We also identified several prospective keywords that could be the focus of future research, including artificial intelligence, physics education, fiction, God, theology, productive imagination, technology, speculative design, and critical design. Therefore, this study provides a thorough picture of thought experiment research trends and future directions of potential topics that can be the focus of future researchers.

We propose a multi-particle 'which-path' gedanken experiment with a quantum detector. Contrary to conventional 'which-path' experiments, the detector maintains its quantum state during interactions with the particles. We show how such interactions can create an interference pattern that vanishes on average, as in conventional 'which-path' schemes, but contains hidden many-body quantum correlations. Measuring the state of the quantum detector projects the joint-particle wavefunction into highly entangled states, such as GHZ's. Conversely, measuring the particles projects the detector wavefunction into desired states, such as Schrodinger-cat or GKP states for a harmonic-oscillator detector, e.g., a photonic cavity. Our work thus opens a new path to the creation and exploration of many-body quantum correlations in systems not often associated with these phenomena, such as atoms in waveguide QED and free electrons in transmission electron microscopy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the development of physical theories, thought experiments play a crucial role. Research on this topic began in 1976 and has continued to the present. This study aims to provide a more complete picture of the progress of thought experiments over the past two decades. To achieve this, this study employs bibliometric mapping methods. A total of 679 published papers were analyzed, including articles (504), conference papers (92), and book chapters (83). This data was retrieved from the Scopus database. The study's findings reveal that research and publications on thought experiments are highly valued and have received significant attention over the past eight years. According to the findings, 90% of the top 20 source titles contributing to thought experiments are from journals in the first and second quartiles (Q1 and Q2). This quartile ranking shows the quality and significant influence of a journal. The geographical distribution indicates that the United States contributes the most to thought experiments research, with 213 documents, 2592 citations, and 47 links. We also identified several prospective keywords that could be the focus of future research, including artificial intelligence, physics education, fiction, God, theology, productive imagination, technology, speculative design, and critical design. Therefore, this study provides a thorough picture of thought experiment research trends and future directions of potential topics that can be the focus of future researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present thought experiments to measure the Arnowitt–Deser–Misner E ADM and Bondi–Sachs energy E BS of isolated systems in general relativity. The expression of E BS used in the protocol is likely to have other applications. In particular, it is well-suited to be promoted to an operator in non-perturbative loop quantum gravity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I discuss the conditions for the possibility of the existence of time according to Aristotle’s Physics IV, 10-14. For this purpose, I present three thought experiments that help to clarify the nature of time. According to my reading, motion is not a sufficient condition for the existence of time; such condition is, instead, that motion could be measured—even if it is not actually measured. There is time when a movement can be put in a relation of proportion with another movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wigner's friend scenarios—in which external agents describe a closed laboratory containing a friend making a measurement—highlight the difficulties of quantum theory when accounting for measurements. The problem is to accommodate for unitary evolution from the point of view of the external agent with the measurements or other operations carried out by the friend. Here, we show in the context of a relativistic thought experiment that an operation that may be accounted for unitarily in a given reference frame cannot be described unitarily in a different reference frame. This result, based on the frame dependence of the state update in relativistic contexts, could point to some fundamental inadequacy when attempting to model actions taken by a complex agent as unitary operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

10.1119/5.0175922 The rod and slit paradox, as first proposed by Shaw, is revisited. In this paradox, a rod of rest length l0 moves parallel to the horizontal x-axis. Simultaneously, a thin sheet parallel to the horizontal xz-plane with a rod-shaped slit of rest length d < l 0 moves along the vertical y-axis. The rod passes through the slit due to relativistic effects. Earlier papers do not link the thought experiment to the Silberstein/Thomas/Wigner-rotation (STW-rotation), which is essential to its outcome. In this paper, the role of the STW-rotation is discussed, and additional clarifying figures are provided. Some misleading aspects of earlier treatments are pointed out and corrected. Editor's Note: Readers who are familiar with the "barn door" paradox will enjoy this 2D version of it. Imagine a rod, thrown like a javelin, moving at a constant horizontal speed and also falling at a constant vertical speed. As it reaches ground level, it falls precisely through a javelin-length slit in the floor. However, in the reference frame of the javelin, the slit will be length-contracted and the javelin will have its (longer) proper length. So as the ground rises up to meet it, how does it pass through? The authors revisit this classic paradox and present new ideas on its resolution, including the concept of relativistic boost-induced rotations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Game of Life (GoL) is a paradigmatic computer simulation that exhibits the emergence of complex properties of the whole from relatively simple sets of heuristic rules operating at lower organizational levels. Therefore, it is widely understood as a valuable tool for investigating global properties of evolutionary processes. Cognizant of refined concepts that emerged in recent debates on the central role of historical contingency (historicity) in evolution, we modify the original GoL rules by introducing an updating feedback loop and a probability factor that reflect the degree of historicity in pattern evolution as both stochastic path dependence and sensitivity to initial conditions. We examine this trait in simulations of the emergence and breaking of bilateral and radial symmetries commonly observed in the evolution of life, most prominently as evolving body plans. We show that the implementation of historicity parameters leads to a more realistic sequential and gradual alternating emergence and the breaking of new symmetries than the original set of rules. Apart from its more realistic representations of evolutionary processes, the new approach allows for easier exploration of the parameter space, demonstrates the sequential and gradual emergence and breaking of symmetries, and provides a publicly available and modular simulation tool. We discuss the exploratory potential of the modified GoL platform we designed as an extended thought experiment to study the parameter space defining the historicity of biological processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Apotheke is the property of Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The attribution of causality, a central concept in human cognition theory, is the principal instrument for investigating functional links between events and phenomena. Although the links between causality and moral responsibility are commonly recognized, the scope of studies analysing the practical implications of causality attribution is minimal. This study examines the effect of causality perception on the desired distribution of the generic means of life by utilising thought experiment data collection methodology and non-parametric statistical analysis. The results indicate that: (i) causality perception affects the desired distribution, and (ii) individuals show no tendency to modify their perception of causality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This reply is a refutation of Santiago Vrech's article "The End of the Case? A Metaphilosophical Critique of Thought Experiments" (2022) which argues that thought experiments used in argumentation cannot hold in All Possible Worlds (APW) modality, and thus should end. Cases are used to justify or refute a philosophical theory, but should not have the power to refute an entire theory, especially ad infinitum. Significant variations in intuitions, he argues, invalidate cases and are not proven. I argue some variation is acceptable and expected, and his bar of criteria is too high--APW validity is unnecessary. Vrech's three arguments are faulty and/ or too weak, and his thought experiment is of questionable value. Experimental and armchair philosophy (or philosophers) are misnomers, misleading and false dichotomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper aims to trace the feminine and feminist presence in science fiction literature since its commonly accepted beginning, following several examples of women authors who through their work managed to capture the essence of change, to challenge the norm and to even give viable alternatives to what centrality meant in their respective times. If science fiction is a genre of alternatives, different futures or new beginnings, then the parallels with feminism as a current, literary, cultural, and even philosophical, are inescapable. In various stages, the works and concepts analyzed below present blueprints of social contexts and cultural milieus which mediate conversations around the notions of gender, equality, and representation, just as valid and relevant today as at the time of their writing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previously, it has been shown that transmissible and harmful misinformation can be viewed as pathogenic, potentially contributing to collective social epidemics. In this study, a biological analogy is developed to allow investigative methods that are applied to biological epidemics to be considered for adaptation to digital and social ones including those associated with misinformation. The model's components include infopathogens, tropes, cognition, memes, and phenotypes. The model can be used for diagnostic, pathologic, and synoptic/taxonomic study of the spread of misinformation. A thought experiment based on a hypothetical riot is used to understand how disinformation spreads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different why-questions emerge under different contexts and require different information in order to be addressed. Hence a relevance relation can hardly be invariant across contexts. However, what is indeed common under any possible context is that all explananda require scientific information in order to be explained. So no scientific information is in principle explanatorily irrelevant, it only becomes so under certain contexts. In view of this, scientific thought experiments can offer explanations, should we analyze their representational strategies. Their representations involve empirical as well as hypothetical statements. I call this the "representational mingling" which bears scientific information that can explain events. Buchanan's thought experiment from constitutional economics is examined to show how mingled representations explain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is a "thought experiment" that takes recourse to Lucien Freud's youthful portrait of himself as Acteon-the hunter whom the goddess Diana turned into a stag, as famously narrated by Ovid. In his drawing, Freud's crisis of presence is mobilized by a play on gender differentiation. More broadly, the piece is an exploration of what it involves being present as a person and of how personal transcendence opens up a propositional ontology that differs from the intentionality of life. The possibility of loss of personal transcendence is an ever-present preoccupation of humans wherever they are. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article "Transmettered cosmoecology" in Antennae: The Journal of Nature in Visual Culture explores the photographic performances of Uýra Sodoma, a Brazilian indigenous transgender artist, to delve into queer ecological thought. The authors analyze how Uýra's performances challenge traditional readings of nature and indigenous art, emphasizing a radical queering of nature. Through Uýra's visual shamanism, the article highlights the interconnectedness of transgender lives, indigenous lives, and forest life, offering a unique perspective on the complex relationships between humans and the environment. [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of Social Anthropology / Anthropologie Sociale is the property of Berghahn Books and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

We study the dynamics of a class of mechanical systems subjected to non-holonomic constraints by employing a method termed "modified vakonomic method" (MVM), and developed by Llibre, Ramírez and Sadovskaia in 2014. In particular, we test the MVM for the "rolling coin" problem and a variant of the "non-holonomic skate" problem. For our purposes, we divide our work in two parts. For the first one, our point of departure is a paper published in this journal by Lemos in 2022, in which, for the "rolling coin" problem, Kozlov's vakonomic method is shown to lead to inconsistencies with the so-called Lagrange–D'Alembert traditional non-holonomic method (TNHM). In this case, we prove that, if the MVM is used, the equivalence with the TNHM can be restored, and the two methods can be reconciled. In the second part, we formulate a thought experiment consisting of an electrically charged "non-holonomic skate" interacting with a magnetic field, and we examine its dynamics by means of the MVM. In this case, we point out the differences with the predictions of the TNHM, and we propose a reformulation of the MVM capable of retrieving the results obtained with the TNHM. Moreover, we give some insight into the main computational aspects related to the MVM for non-holonomic constraints linear in the generalized velocities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A two-dimensional "checkerboard" array employing systematic titration (e.g., serial two-fold dilutions) is a well-established in vitro method for exploring the antibacterial effects of novel drug combinations. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) on the checkerboard are isoeffective points at which the antibiotic potency is the same. Representations of checkerboard MIC curves for a β-lactam and β-lactamase inhibitor combination are used in hypothetical "thought experiments" and reveal the ways in which current practices can be improved. Because different types of response (i.e., independence vs. additivity vs. one effective agent; interaction vs. noninteraction) produce different MIC curves, data from different strains/isolates should not be pooled indiscriminately, as the composition of a pooled dataset will influence any derived pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) index. Because the β-lactamase inhibitor threshold concentration (CT) parameter is a function of the β-lactam partner dosing regimen, it is not possible to derive a universal PK/PD index target based on CT. Alternative susceptibility testing methods represent different planes through the checkerboard; a fixed ratio method is less prone to bias for all β-lactam and β-lactamase inhibitor combinations. Susceptibility test MICs will often not reflect the sensitivity of the strain/isolate to the β-lactamase inhibitor, so the use of these MICs to normalize PK/PD indices is inappropriate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 crisis has renewed interest in alternative forms of organizing business and investment but our understanding of how these organizations can transform social systems is limited. The purpose of this article is to contribute to this understanding. In the context of one of the greatest transfers of wealth in global retail history that could see unprecedented numbers of businesses close or sold to distant, private interests, the article performs a thought experiment using the analogy of a commercial trust to encourage new ideas and critical reflection on community wealth building. The article introduces systems hijacking—a process of leveraging incumbent forms and systems in which they are embedded for new purposes—as an analytically useful concept for understanding how alternative organizations can transform social systems. The article finds organizational governance is necessary to transcend structural deficiencies in inherited or borrowed forms to make way for transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I argue that we need to distinguish between three concepts of actual causation: total, path-changing, and contributing actual causation. I provide two lines of argument in support of this account. First, I address three thought experiments that have been troublesome for unified accounts of actual causation, and I show that my account provides a better explanation of corresponding causal intuitions. Second, I provide a functional argument: if we assume that a key purpose of causal concepts is to guide agency, we are better off making a distinction between three concepts of actual causation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the notion of memory in the philosophy of religion. The area of this problematic is defined by Descartes, who, in a thought experiment, postulates an all-powerful, evil demon capable of falsifying human perception. The problem of solipsism raised here also implies doubt about claims based on memory. Descartes' assumptions are taken up constructively by Alvin Plantinga in his attempt to solve problems in the epistemology of religion by raising the following new question: is belief in God rational, and, if so, is it justified? Peter van Inwagen, for his part, uses memory analysis to construct arguments in support of theodicy. In considering these issues, other key topics within the philosophy of religion, such as the afterlife and the existence of the soul, which are closely related to the analysis of personal identity, inevitably arise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What is the role of thought experiments in scientific exploration? Can they provide us with new knowledge about the world? In a recent article, Lorenzo Sartori argues that thought experiments function like ordinary (material) experiments: Both material experiments and thought experiments are made in a specific context, which must then be extrapolated and generalized to say something true about the world. This article discusses and criticizes Sartori’s proposal. It suggests a new theoretical framework for understanding thought experiments, their argumentative role, and how they provide new knowledge about the world. The framework presented is a coherentist framework, where coherence has three aspects: consistency, cohesiveness, and comprehensiveness. The proposal is that the argumentative role of thought experiments is to demonstrate the presence or absence of consistency, cohesiveness, and comprehensiveness, thereby strengthening a theory, weakening a theory, or showing one theory to be better than another. This is the way thought experiments provides new knowledge about the world, since the way we learn something new about the world is by discovering which theories about the world are most coherent.

The author criticizes the thought experiment about survival in a teletransporter. The weakness of the experiment lies in the implicit dualism and the uncritical premise of multiple implementations in the conditions. The assumption about the qualitative identity of bodies after teleportation through the category of mereorganic continuity is criticized.

In this paper, we discuss quantum formalisms that do not use the axiom of choice. We also consider the fundamental problem that addresses the (in)correctness of having the complex numbers as the base field for Hilbert spaces in the København interpretation of quantum theory, and propose a new approach to this problem (based on the Lefschetz principle). Rather than a theorem–proof paper, this paper describes two new research programs on the foundational level, and focuses on basic open questions that arise in these programs.

The semantic analysis of conditional sentences does not entirely align with their morphosyntactic structure. I substantiate this hypothesis with instances from both Czech and English that extend beyond conventional textbook examples. I also highlight that logicians and philosophers often make terminological errors when they disregard the insights from linguistic disciplines. Despite the early analytic philosophy’s emphasis on terminological precision, the practical application falls significantly short of this ideal. I firmly believe that a proper understanding of the morphosyntax and semantics of conditional sentences is a prerequisite for their classification and analysis. In our pursuit of a comprehensive exploration of conditional clauses, we must also grapple with methodological challenges that delve into the very core of the philosophy of language. The primary issue revolves around the fact that two out of the three a priori methods in philosophy rely heavily on the analysis of conditional sentences: thought experiments and modal metaphysics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we propose an analysis of the controversy between Geoffrey Jefferson and Alan Turing in terms of a Kuhnian account of thought experiments. In this account, the main task is not to evaluate intuitions or (only) to rearrange concepts. Instead, we propose that the main task is to construct scenarios by proposing relevant experiences in which shared assumptions and conflicting lines of inquiry can be made explicit. From this perspective, we can understand the arguments and assumptions in the Jefferson-Turing thinking machine controversy [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to recognize and correct errors in one's explanatory understanding is critically important for learning. However, little is known about the mechanisms that determine when and under what circumstances errors are detected and how they are corrected. The present study investigated thought experiments as a potential tool that can reveal errors and trigger belief revision in the service of error correction. Across two experiments, 1149 participants engaged in reasoning about force and motion (a domain with well‐documented misconceptions) in a pre‐training—training—post‐training design. The two experiments manipulated the type of mental model manipulated in the thought experiments (i.e., whether participants reasoned about forces acting on their own bodies vs. on external objects), as well as the level of relational and argumentative reasoning about the outcomes of the thought experiments. The results showed that: (i) thought experiments can serve as a tool to elicit inconsistencies in one's representations; (ii) the level of relational and argumentative reasoning determines the level of belief revision in the service of error correction; and (iii) the type of mental model manipulated in a thought experiment determines its outcome and its potential to initiate belief revision. Thought experiments can serve as a valuable teaching and learning tool, and they can help us better understand the nature of error detection and correction systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Personal identity include both first-person and third-person identities. The objective of the essay is to demonstrate the primitiveness of first-person identity, or self-identity, by re-examining a few wellknown thought experiments that are referred to as 'borderline cases of personal identity'. The primary goal of the essay is to demonstrate that no borderline case poses a significant challenge to first-person identity. The discussion is divided into three sections. The first section motivates the debate. Additionally, the importance of the first-person identity statement 'I am I', which is immune from error through misidentification, is established. In the second section, five well-known thought experiments are evaluated to demonstrate that none of them poses a genuine threat to first-person identity. In the third and final part, some real pathological case studies are analysed to strengthen the main argument. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the parallel between Judith Jarvis Thomson's argument for abortion rights based on bodily autonomy and the contentious issue of vaccine refusal. Drawing on Thomson's famous thought experiment involving a violinist, I present analogous scenarios involving medical decisions. I argue that if Thomson's reasoning holds, individuals also possess the right to refuse vaccines, even if it entails serious risk to others. The paper underscores the importance of recognizing that medical decisions, including vaccine refusal, should be evaluated within the framework of bodily autonomy and individual rights, challenging the prevailing opinion on this complex issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Problems / Problemos is the property of Vilnius University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Anumerical experiment based on a particle number-conserving quantum field theory is performed for two initially independent Bose-Einstein condensates that are coherently coupled at two temperatures. The present model illustrates ab initio that the initial phase of each of the two condensates does not remain random at the Boltzmann equilibrium, but is distributed around integer multiple values of 2p from the interference and thermalization of forward and backward propagating matter waves. The thermalization inside the atomic vapors can be understood as an intrinsic measurement process that defines a temperature for the two condensates and projects the quantum states to an average wave field with zero (relative) phases. Following this approach, focus is put on the original thought experiment of Anderson on whether a Josephson current between two initially separated Bose-Einstein condensates occurs in a deterministic way or not, depending on the initial phase distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we discuss quantum formalisms that do not use the axiom of choice. We also consider the fundamental problem that addresses the (in)correctness of having the complex numbers as the base field for Hilbert spaces in the København interpretation of quantum theory, and propose a new approach to this problem (based on the Lefschetz principle). Rather than a theorem–proof paper, this paper describes two new research programs on the foundational level, and focuses on basic open questions that arise in these programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to analyse the thought processes of science teachers who are master students in scientific education using a thought experiment on gravity based on falling objects. The phenomenological study approach, one of the qualitative research methodologies, was used to achieve this aim. Purposive sampling was used to investigate eight science teachers continuing their master's degrees. Data was collected through interviews and a thought experiment on gravity based on falling objects. The teachers participated in Face-to-face problem-solving sessions, thinking aloud and backward questioning sessions. Results reveal that the teachers mostly showed secondary effects as establishing a new amount of relationship, carrying out thought experiments to predict, and preferring scientific concepts and hypothetical simulations as sources of thinking. Likewise, spatial reasoning-symmetry-compound simulation and experience were equally and less frequently preferred. Results also show that science teachers had strong self-efficacy judgments, a mastery of the curriculum, an unpleasant attitude when dealing with difficulties, and hypothetical thinking skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temperature-economic growth relationships are computed to quantify the impact of climate change on the economy. However, model performance and differences of predictions among research complicate the use of climate econometric estimation. Machine learning methods provide an alternative that might improve the predictive effects. However, time series and extrapolation issues constrain methods such as random forests. We apply a simple thought experiment with national marginal GDP growth by aggregating subnational climate impact to alleviate the shortcomings in random forests. This paper uses random forests, multivariate cubic regression, and linear spline regression to examine the direct impacts of temperature on economic development and conducts a performance comparison of the methods. The model results indicate an optimal temperature of 15°C, 15°C or 21°C for each model. Furthermore, a thought experiment indicates that the marginal predictions of national GDP changes by approximately 1%, −3%, or −6% for models with 1°C warming. The performance comparison suggests that random forests have stable model performance and better prediction performance in bootstrapping. However, the extrapolation problem in random forests causes underestimation of climate impact in 5% of cells under 6°C warming. Overall, our results suggest that temperature should be considered in economic projections under climate change scenarios. We also suggest the use of more machine learning methods in climate impact assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The famous Wigner's friend experiment considers an observer—the friend—and a superobserver—Wigner—who treats the friend as a quantum system and her interaction with other quantum systems as unitary dynamics. This is at odds with the friend describing this interaction via collapse dynamics, if she interacts with the quantum system in a way that she would consider a measurement. These different descriptions constitute the Wigner's friend paradox. Extended Wigner's friend experiments combine the original thought experiment with non-locality setups. This allows for deriving local friendliness inequalities, similar to Bell's theorem, which can be violated for certain extended Wigner's friend scenarios. A Wigner's friend paradox and the violation of local friendliness inequalities require that no classical record exists, which reveals the result the friend observed during her measurement. Otherwise, Wigner agrees with his friend's description and no local friendliness inequality can be violated. In this article, I introduce classical communication between Wigner and his friend and discuss its effects on the simple as well as extended Wigner's friend experiments. By controlling the properties of a (quasi) classical communication channel between Wigner and the friend, one can regulate how much outcome information about the friend's measurement is revealed. This gives a smooth transition between the paradoxical description and the possibility of violating local friendliness inequalities, on the one hand, and the effectively collapsed case, on the other hand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obesity in humans represents a cumulative retention of a tiny fraction of total energy intake as fat, which is accompanied by growth of the metabolically active, energy-demanding, lean body mass. Since the energy balance regulation operates irrespective of the excess fat storage, availability of the required energy supplies is a permissive condition for obesity development. It occurs predominantly among people genetically predisposed and/or living with social or mental challenges. I propose a theory in which the body responds to social disruptions as threats of a future lack of food by an adiposity force building a reserve of energy independent of the regulation of the energy balance. It is based on the assumption that our evolutionary development required collaboration in gathering and sharing of food, combined with precautionary measures against anticipated failing food supplies. Social challenges are perceived as such threats, which activate the adiposity force through the brain to instigate the growth of fat and lean mass by neuro-hormonal signalling. If both perceived social threats and food abundance continue, the adiposity force pushes the fat accretion process to continue without inhibition by feedback signals from the fat mass, eventually leading to more obesity, and more so among the genetically predisposed. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Causes of obesity: theories, conjectures and evidence (Part I)'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to complicate the opposition between "thick description" and "thin" thought experiments by constructing a thought experiment of its own. It compares the use of examples—thick and thin—in the work of Malinowski and Wittgenstein, who came to extremely similar conclusions about the importance of context to meaning, the former around a decade before the latter. By imagining the—by no means implausible—possibility that Wittgenstein read Malinowski, the article asks how it might change anthropological views about thickness and thinness if it turned out that one of the major philosophical sources of our disciplinary preference for "thick description" as a generalized prescription for ethnography took some inspiration for such ideas from Malinowksi's more modest and restricted empiricism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropologists and philosophers have typically been skeptical about the use of dramatic vignettes in the study of ethics, in particular targeting three characteristic features of such devices—stylization, simplification, and selectivity—and arguing that they undermine ethical inquiry. I argue that this skepticism misconstrues the aims of arguments that incorporate such devices. Rather than seeing them as botched attempts at historical or scientific reporting, we should evaluate dramatic vignettes as a genre of ethically illuminating speculative fiction, useful for understanding the concepts and counterfactual commitments that are embedded in our ethical practices. So construed, they sit in a wider methodological context that vindicates them as a useful part of ethical inquiry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It matters what people do. It also matters what people would do in counterfactual circumstances. Perhaps less obviously, it matters what people think or say about what they would do in counterfactual circumstances. In this article, I consider some of the ethical challenges raised by the ethics of thinking about what to do in counterfactual circumstances. In doing so, I connect some of the most influential recent work on thought experiments in moral philosophy with some of the most influential recent work in the anthropology of ethics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This introduction situates the trolley problem and other such dilemmas in anthropological debates about contextualization and abstraction both within and beyond the realm of the moral. We highlight some of the criticisms anthropologists have made of the "thinness" of ethical thought experiments while also suggesting some ways in which philosophers might wish to defend them. We also point to a growing interest on the part of a range of anthropologists in formalized, stylized, and abbreviated modes of ethical reasoning, and emphasize the importance of attending to such forms of reasoning, even though they may conflict with our disciplinary preference for the "thick" and the contextualized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research suggests that the human brain may possess quantum computing capabilities, but the implications for consciousness remain unclear. This study investigates the role of quantum computing in accounting for the nature of consciousness using teletransportation thought experiments to transfer a person from one location to another. Two versions of the experiment are proposed using the brain as an apparatus, and the results are analyzed using classical and quantum computing principles. The findings suggest that classical computing principles alone cannot account for consciousness, and that quantum computing capabilities in the brain are necessary. Furthermore, the no-cloning theorem guarantees a unique copy of quantum states in the brain, resolving a teletransportation paradox proposed by Derek Parfit. These results suggest that quantum computing in the brain is crucial to understanding the nature of consciousness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The needs of interpretation through art in relation to the theories belonging to Quantum Physics begin to be a daily activity. An interesting number of artists have analized from multiple possibilities the paradox devised by Erwin Schrödinger in 1935, being known as thought experiment of Schrödinger's cat. This proposal deals with the probability that two different realities are simultaneously superimposed, which leads us to suppose that the cat is both alive and dead at the same time. From here, theories such as the uncertainty principle, decoherence and mesoscopic states are installed. The main format for analyzing the Schrödinger's paradox has been formalized under the multimedia installations of JoAnn Kuchera-Morin and Gabriela Prochazka. In the plastic sections, there are the works of Johan Thom and David Shrigley, while in the video creation there is the project of Roser Teresa Gerona Ribas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Generative Artificial Intelligence has rapidly expanded its footprint of use in educational institutions. It has been embraced by students, faculty, and staff alike. The technology is capable of carrying out a sustained sequence of interactive dialogs and creating reasonably meaningful text. Not surprisingly it seems to be routinely used by faculty to generate questions and assignments, by students to submit assignments and aid in self-learning, and administration to create manuals, memoranda, and policy documents. With its potential to lead to significant social innovation, tethering on the verge of becoming a disruptive technology, it seems most unlikely that it will fade away without being fully enfolded into almost all aspects of academic and pedagogical activity. While it is early to predict the exact place of this technology in education, we present thoughts to aid deliberations and give a brief review of the opportunities and challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]