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To handle unintended changes in the environment by agents, we propose an environment-centric active inference EC-AIF in which the Markov Blanket of active inference is defined starting from the environment. In normal active inference, the Markov Blanket is defined starting from the agent. That is, first the agent was defined as the entity that performs the "action" such as a robot or a person, then the environment was defined as other people or objects that are directly affected by the agent's "action," and the boundary between the agent and the environment was defined as the Markov Blanket. This agent-centric definition does not allow the agent to respond to unintended changes in the environment caused by factors outside of the defined environment. In the proposed EC-AIF, there is no entity corresponding to an agent. The environment includes all observable things, including people and things conventionally considered to be the environment, as well as entities that perform "actions" such as robots and people. Accordingly, all states, including robots and people, are included in inference targets, eliminating unintended changes in the environment. The EC-AIF was applied to a robot arm and validated with an object transport task by the robot arm. The results showed that the robot arm successfully transported objects while responding to changes in the target position of the object and to changes in the orientation of another robot arm., Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures

The Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) in asymmetric multilayers is crucial for spintronics. However, it is also significant even in symmetric ones, and unveiling its atomic-level origin remains an issue. We use electron microscopy to propose defect-mediated bulk DMI in Pt/Co/Pt. We find an enhancement of the net DMI by increasing sputter gas pressure. The samples have a compositional gradient, but their compositional asymmetry is weak. Our analysis suggests that the asymmetric distribution of dislocations in the compositional gradient regions generates bulk DMI. Our results indicate the importance of bulk DMI in multilayers and could facilitate the development of spintronic devices.

Magnetic racetrack memory (RTM) uses a series of either domains or skyrmions as data bits along nanowires. However, it lacks reading error detection capability in nanowires, which requires high electric current density for the deterministic motion of domain walls (DWs) or skyrmions. Here, we propose a method of a reading error-detectable RTM and explore domain-stored skyrmion structures for this RTM. This method uses domains as memory cells and assigns the presence and absence of a skyrmion in a domain to different bits, enabling the electrical signal of any memory cells to output the opposite sign to that of the adjacent memory cells. Using simulations and Lorentz microscopy, we demonstrate that perpendicularly magnetized nanowires with relatively large Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction can achieve domain-stored skyrmion structures. Additionally, our simulations show that when DWs approach to skyrmions during spin-orbit torque-induced motion, angular momentum transfers from DWs to skyrmions, resulting in fast motion of skyrmions.

Reducing wealth inequality and increasing utility are critical issues. This study reveals the effects of redistribution and consumption morals on wealth inequality and utility. To this end, we present a novel approach that couples the dynamic model of capital, consumption, and utility in macroeconomics with the interaction model of joint business and redistribution in econophysics. With this approach, we calculate the capital (wealth), the utility based on consumption, and the Gini index of these inequality using redistribution and consumption thresholds as moral parameters. The results show that: under-redistribution and waste exacerbate inequality; conversely, over-redistribution and stinginess reduce utility; and a balanced moderate moral leads to achieve both reduced inequality and increased utility. These findings provide renewed economic and numerical support for the moral importance known from philosophy, anthropology, and religion. The revival of redistribution and consumption morals should promote the transformation to a human mutual-aid economy, as indicated by philosopher and anthropologist, instead of the capitalist economy that has produced the current inequality. The practical challenge is to implement bottom-up social business, on a foothold of worker coops and platform cooperatives as a community against the state and the market, with moral consensus and its operation., Comment: 27 pages, 6 figures

Based on interactions between individuals and others and references to social norms, this study reveals the impact of heterogeneity in time preference on wealth distribution and inequality. We present a novel approach that connects the interactions between microeconomic agents that generate heterogeneity to the dynamic equations for capital and consumption in macroeconomic models. Using this approach, we estimate the impact of changes in the discount rate due to microeconomic interactions on capital, consumption and utility and the degree of inequality. The results show that intercomparisons with others regarding consumption significantly affect capital, i.e. wealth inequality. Furthermore, the impact on utility is never small and social norms can reduce this impact. Our supporting evidence shows that the quantitative results of inequality calculations correspond to survey data from cohort and cross-cultural studies. This study's micro-macro connection approach can be deployed to connect microeconomic interactions, such as exchange, interest and debt, redistribution, mutual aid and time preference, to dynamic macroeconomic models., Comment: 37 pages, 11 figures

Reducing wealth inequality and disparity is a global challenge. The economic system is mainly divided into (1) gift and reciprocity, (2) power and redistribution, (3) market exchange, and (4) mutual aid without reciprocal obligations. The current inequality stems from a capitalist economy consisting of (2) and (3). To sublimate (1), which is the human economy, to (4), the concept of a "mixbiotic society" has been proposed in the philosophical realm. This is a society in which free and diverse individuals, "I," mix with each other, recognize their respective "fundamental incapability" and sublimate them into "WE" solidarity. The economy in this society must have moral responsibility as a coadventurer and consideration for vulnerability to risk. Therefore, I focus on two factors of mind perception: moral responsibility and risk vulnerability, and propose a novel model of wealth distribution following an econophysical approach. Specifically, I developed a joint-venture model, a redistribution model in the joint-venture model, and a "WE economy" model. A simulation comparison of a combination of the joint ventures and redistribution with the WE economies reveals that WE economies are effective in reducing inequality and resilient in normalizing wealth distribution as advantages, and susceptible to free riders as disadvantages. However, this disadvantage can be compensated for by fostering consensus and fellowship, and by complementing it with joint ventures. This study essentially presents the effectiveness of moral responsibility, the complementarity between the WE economy and the joint economy, and the direction of the economy toward reducing inequality. Future challenges are to develop the WE economy model based on real economic analysis and psychology, as well as to promote WE economy fieldwork for worker coops and platform cooperatives to realize a desirable mixbiotic society., Comment: 35 pages, 6 figures

Aiming for a mixbiotic society that combines freedom and solidarity among people with diverse values, I focused on nonviolent communication (NVC) that enables compassionate giving in various situations of social division and conflict, and tried a generative AI for it. Specifically, ChatGPT was used in place of the traditional certified trainer to test the possibility of mediating (modifying) input sentences in four processes: observation, feelings, needs, and requests. The results indicate that there is potential for the application of generative AI, although not yet at a practical level. Suggested improvement guidelines included adding model responses, relearning revised responses, specifying appropriate terminology for each process, and re-asking for required information. The use of generative AI will be useful initially to assist certified trainers, to prepare for and review events and workshops, and in the future to support consensus building and cooperative behavior in digital democracy, platform cooperatives, and cyber-human social co-operating systems. It is hoped that the widespread use of NVC mediation using generative AI will lead to the early realization of a mixbiotic society., Comment: 14 pages

The philosophical world has proposed the concept of "mixbiotic society," in which individuals with freedom and diverse values mix and mingle to recognize their respective "fundamental incapability" each other and sublimate into solidarity, toward solving the issues of social isolation and fragmentation. Based on this concept, the mixbiotic society measures have been proposed to evaluate dynamic communication patterns with reference to classification in cellular automata and particle reaction-diffusion that simulate living phenomena. In this paper, we applied these measures to five typologies of organizational structure (Red: impulsive, Amber: adaptive, Orange: achievement, Green: pluralistic, and Teal: evolutionary) and evaluated their features. Specifically, we formed star, tree, tree+jumpers, tree+more jumpers, and small-world type networks corresponding to each of five typologies, conducted communication simulations on these networks, and calculated values for mixbiotic society measures. The results showed that Teal organization has the highest value of the mixism measure among mixbiotic society measures, i.e., it balances similarity (mixing) and dissimilarity (mingling) in communication, and is living and mixbiotic between order and chaos. Measures other than mixism showed that in Teal organization, information is not concentrated in a central leader and that communication takes place among various members. This evaluation of organizational structures shows that the mixbiotic society measures is also useful for assessing organizational change. In the future, these measures will be used not only in business organizations, but also in digital democratic organizations and platform cooperatives in conjunction with information technology., Comment: 25 pages, 6 figures

Social isolation is caused by the impoverishment of community (atomism) and fragmentation is caused by the enlargement of in-group (mobism), both of which can be viewed as social problems related to communication. To solve these problems, the philosophical world has proposed the concept of "mixbiotic society," in which individuals with freedom and diverse values mix and mingle to recognize their respective "fundamental incapability" each other and sublimate into solidarity. Based on this concept, this study proposes new mixbiotic society measures to evaluate dynamic communication patterns with reference to classification in cellular automata and particle reaction diffusion that simulate living phenomena. Specifically, the hypothesis of measures corresponding to the four classes was formulated, and the hypothesis was validated by simulating the generation and disappearance of communication. As a result, considering communication patterns as multidimensional vectors, it found that the mean of Euclidean distance for "mobism," the variance of the relative change in distance for "atomism," the composite measure that multiplies the mean and variance of cosine similarity for "mixism," which corresponds to the well-going of mixbiotic society, and the almost zero measures for "nihilism," are suitable. Then, evaluating seven real-society datasets using these measures, we showed that the mixism measure is useful for assessing the livingness of communication, and that it is possible to typify communities based on plural measures. The measures established in this study are superior to conventional analysis in that they can evaluate dynamic patterns, they are simple to calculate, and their meanings are easy to interpret. As a future development, the mixbiotic society measures will be used in the fields of digital democracy and platform cooperativism toward a desirable society., Comment: 52 pages, 10 figures

Given the concerns around the existing subjective and objective policy evaluation approaches, this study proposes a new combined subjective-objective policy evaluation approach to choose better policy that reflects the will of citizens and is backed up by objective facts. Subjective approaches, such as the Life Satisfaction Approach and the Contingent Valuation Method, convert subjectivity into economic value, raising the question whether a higher economic value really accords with what citizens want. Objective policy evaluation approaches, such as Evidence Based Policy Making and Multi-Agent-Based Simulation, do not take subjectivity into account, making it difficult to choose from diverse and pluralistic candidate policies. The proposed approach establishes a subjective target function based on a multiple regression analysis of the results of a residents questionnaire survey, and uses MABS to calculate the objective evaluation indices for a number of candidate policies. Next, a new subjective-objective coupling target function, combining the explanatory variables of the subjective target function with objective evaluation indices, is set up, optimized to select the preferred policies from numerous candidates. To evaluate this approach, we conducted a verification of renewable energy introduction policies at Takaharu Town in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan. The results show a good potential for using a new subjective-objective coupling target function to select policies consistent with the residents values for well-being from 20,000 policy candidates for social, ecological, and economic values obtained in MABS. Using the new approach to compare several policies enables concrete expression of the will of stakeholders with diverse values, and contributes to constructive discussions and consensus-building.

Methodologies for evaluating and selecting policies that contribute to the well-being of diverse populations need clarification. To bridge the gap between objective indicators and policies related to well-being, this study shifts from constitutive pluralism based on objective indicators to conceptual pluralism that emphasizes subjective context, develops from subject-object pluralism through individual-group pluralism to WE pluralism, and presents a new policy evaluation method that combines joint fact-finding based on policy plurality. First, to evaluate policies involving diverse stakeholders, I develop from individual subjectivity-objectivity to individual subjectivity and group intersubjectivity, and then move to a narrow-wide WE pluralism in the gradation of I-family-community-municipality-nation-world. Additionally, by referring to some functional forms of well-being, I formulate the dependence of well-being on narrow-wide WE. Finally, given that policies themselves have a plurality of social, ecological, and economic values, I define a set of policies for each of the narrow-wide WE and consider a mapping between the two to provide an evaluation basis. Furthermore, by combining well-being and joint fact-finding on the narrow-wide WE consensus, the policy evaluation method is formulated. The fact-value combined parameter system, combined policy-making approach, and combined impact evaluation are disclosed as examples of implementation. This paper contributes to the realization of a well-being society by bridging philosophical theory and policies based on WE pluralism and presenting a new method of policy evaluation based on subjective context and consensus building., Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures

Given the wealth inequality worldwide, there is an urgent need to identify the mode of wealth exchange through which it arises. To address the research gap regarding models that combine equivalent exchange and redistribution, this study compares an equivalent market exchange with redistribution based on power centers and a nonequivalent exchange with mutual aid using the Polanyi, Graeber, and Karatani modes of exchange. Two new exchange models based on multi-agent interactions are reconstructed following an econophysics approach for evaluating the Gini index (inequality) and total exchange (economic flow). Exchange simulations indicate that the evaluation parameter of the total exchange divided by the Gini index can be expressed by the same saturated curvilinear approximate equation using the wealth transfer rate and time period of redistribution and the surplus contribution rate of the wealthy and the saving rate. However, considering the coercion of taxes and its associated costs and independence based on the morality of mutual aid, a nonequivalent exchange without return obligation is preferred. This is oriented toward Graeber's baseline communism and Karatani's mode of exchange D, with implications for alternatives to the capitalist economy., Comment: 17 pages, 1 table, 7 figures

In solving today's social issues, it is necessary to determine solutions that are acceptable to all stakeholders and collaborate to apply them. The conventional technology of "permissive meeting analysis" derives a consensusable choice that falls within everyone's permissible range through mathematical analyses; however, it tends to be biased toward the majority in a group, making it difficult to reach a consensus when a conflict arises. To support consensus building (defined here as an acceptable compromise that not everyone rejects), we developed a composite consensus-building process. The developed process addresses this issue by combining permissible meeting analysis with a new "compromise choice-exploration" technology, which presents a consensusable choice that emphasizes fairness and equality among everyone when permissible meeting analysis fails to do so. When both permissible meeting analysis and compromise choice exploration do not arrive at a consensus, a facility is provided to create a sublated choice among those provided by them. The trial experimental results confirmed that permissive meeting analysis and compromise choice exploration are sufficiently useful for deriving consensusable choices. Furthermore, we found that compromise choice exploration is characterized by its ability to derive choices that control the balance between compromise and fairness. Our proposed composite consensus-building approach could be applied in a wide range of situations, from local issues in municipalities and communities to international issues such as environmental protection and human rights issues. It could also aid in developing digital democracy and platform cooperativism., Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures, 9 tables

Islamic and capitalist economies have several differences, the most fundamental being that the Islamic economy is characterized by the prohibition of interest (riba) and speculation (gharar) and the enforcement of Shariah-compliant profit-loss sharing (mudaraba, murabaha, salam, etc.) and wealth redistribution (waqf, sadaqah, and zakat). In this study, I apply new econophysics models of wealth exchange and redistribution to quantitatively compare these characteristics to those of capitalism and evaluate wealth distribution and disparity using a simulation. Specifically, regarding exchange, I propose a loan interest model representing finance capitalism and riba and a joint venture model representing shareholder capitalism and mudaraba; regarding redistribution, I create a transfer model representing inheritance tax and waqf. As exchanges are repeated from an initial uniform distribution of wealth, wealth distribution approaches a power-law distribution more quickly for the loan interest than the joint venture model; and the Gini index, representing disparity, rapidly increases. The joint venture model's Gini index increases more slowly, but eventually, the wealth distribution in both models becomes a delta distribution, and the Gini index gradually approaches 1. Next, when both models are combined with the transfer model to redistribute wealth in every given period, the loan interest model has a larger Gini index than the joint venture model, but both converge to a Gini index of less than 1. These results quantitatively reveal that in the Islamic economy, disparity is restrained by prohibiting riba and promoting reciprocal exchange in mudaraba and redistribution through waqf. Comparing Islamic and capitalist economies provides insights into the benefits of economically embracing the ethical practice of mutual aid and suggests guidelines for an alternative to capitalism., Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures

The novel concept of a Cyber-Human Social System (CHSS) and a diverse and pluralistic 'mixed-life society' is proposed, wherein cyber and human societies commit to each other. This concept enhances the Cyber-Physical System (CPS), which is associated with the current Society 5.0, a social vision realised through the fusion of cyber (virtual) and physical (real) spaces following information society (Society 4.0 and Industry 4.0). Moreover, the CHSS enhances the Human-CPS, the Human-in-the-Loop CPS (HiLCPS), and the Cyber-Human System by intervening in individual behaviour pro-socially and supporting consensus building. As a form of architecture that embodies the CHSS concept, the Cyber-Human Social Co-Operating System (Social Co-OS) that combines cyber and human societies is shown. In this architecture, the cyber and human systems cooperate through the fast loop (operation and administration) and slow loop (consensus and politics). Furthermore, the technical content and current implementation of the basic functions of the Social Co-OS are described. These functions consist of individual behavioural diagnostics, interventions in the fast loop, group decision diagnostics and consensus building in the slow loop. Subsequently, this system will contribute to mutual aid communities and platform cooperatives., Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures. see https://ietresearch.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1049/cps2.12037

How can we limit wealth disparities while stimulating economic flows in sustainable societies? To examine the link between these concepts, we propose an econophysics asset exchange model with the surplus stock of the wealthy. The wealthy are one of the two exchange agents and have more assets than the poor. Our simulation model converts the surplus contribution rate of the wealthy to a new variable parameter alongside the saving rate and introduces the total exchange (flow) and rank correlation coefficient (metabolism) as new evaluation indexes, adding to the Gini index (disparities), thereby assessing both wealth distribution and the relationships among the disparities, flow, and metabolism. We show that these result in a gamma-like wealth distribution, and our model reveals a trade-off between limiting disparities and vitalizing the market. To limit disparities and increase flow and metabolism, we also find the need to restrain savings and use the wealthy surplus stock. This relationship is explicitly expressed in the new equation introduced herein. The insights gained by uncovering the root of disparities may present a persuasive case for investments in social security measures or social businesses involving stock redistribution or sharing., Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures. Published online at https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0259323

Respecting minority opinions is vital in solving social problems. However, minority opinions are often ignored in general majority rules. To build consensus on pluralistic values and make social choices that consider minority opinions, we propose aggregation methods that give weighting to the minority's positionality on cardinal cumulative voting. Based on quadratic and linear voting, we formulated three weighted aggregation methods that differ in the ratio of votes to cumulative points and the weighting of the minority to all members, and assuming that the distributions of votes follow normal distributions, we calculated the frequency distributions of the aggregation results. We found that minority opinions are more likely to be reflected proportionately to the average of the distribution in two of the above three methods. This implies that Sen and Gotoh's idea of considering the social position of unfortunate people on ordinal ranking in the welfare economics, was illustrated by weighting the minority's positionality on cardinal voting. In addition, it is possible to visualize the number and positionality of the minority from the analysis of the aggregation results. These results will be useful to promote mutual understanding between the majority and minority by interactively visualizing the contents of the proposed aggregation methods in the consensus-building process. With the further development of information technology, the consensus building based on big data will be necessary. We recommend the use of our proposed aggregation methods to make social choices for pluralistic values such as social, environmental, and economic., Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures. Published online at http://www.redfame.com/journal/index.php/ijsss/article/view/5171