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2011 | Book

Integrative Problem-Solving in a Time of Decadence

Author: George Christakos

Publisher: Springer Netherlands

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About this book

Presents a unique study of Integrative Problem-Solving (IPS). The consideration of 'Decadence' is essential in the scientific study of environmental and other problems and their rigorous solution, because the broad context within which the problems emerge can affect their solution. Stochastic reasoning underlines the conceptual and methodological framework of IPS, and its formulation has a mathematical life of its own that accounts for the multidisciplinarity of real world problems, the multisourced uncertainties characterizing their solution, and the different thinking modes of the people involved. Only by interpolating between the full range of disciplines (including stochastic mathematics, physical science, neuropsychology, philosophy, and sociology) and the associated thinking modes can scientists arrive at a satisfactory account of problem-solving, and be able to distinguish between a technically complete problem-solution, and a solution that has social impact.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter
Chapter 1. The Pursuit of Knowledge
Abstract
In the course of his inexplicable existence, Man bequeathed to his descendants multiple evidence, worthy of his immortal origin. As he also bequeathed vestiges of the dawn’s remnants, snowballing celestial reptiles, kites, diamonds and glances of hyacinths. Amidst moans, tears, famine, lamentations and cinder of subterranean wells.
George Christakos
Chapter 2. Problem-Solving Revisited
Abstract
Philosophers have the reputation of intellectuals for whom an ability to uncork a wine is the apotheosis of practicality. Nevertheless, I am among those who believe that philosophy has numerous practical benefits. Inter alia, philosophy is an ideal subject for learning thinking skills. In this chapter, we will see how IPS can benefit considerably by integrating the argumentative and conceptual focus of philosophy with the rigor and effectiveness of the scientific approach. By integration, of course, is not meant the unification of the different sciences. IPS requires neither the development of common laws for all disciplines nor a common ontology. Yet it implies a set of shared skills and thinking style that make it possible to synthesize diverse knowledge sources from different disciplines and direct them toward the solution of the in situ problem.
George Christakos
Chapter 3. Emergence of Epibraimatics
Abstract
Two and a half millennia have passed since the “father of medicine” brought people’s attention to the key role of the brain in human affairs. In the footsteps of Hippocrates, the workings of the brain continue to be at the center of twenty-first century cutting-edge research. Epibraimatics emerges as a synthesis of epistemic ideas and principles (Epi) from the broader field of brain sciences (brai) with the goal of developing action-based mathematics (matics) for solving real-world problems under conditions of multisourced uncertainty and composite space–time change. Also, as noted earlier, Epibraimatics assigns considerable weight on the meaning of things. By re-examining the implications of these ideas in the broader IPS context, the above synthesis assigns a meaning to the problem–solution that is conceptually different than the conventional interpretation. In the same spirit, Epibraimatics seeks a relationship between objectivity and interpretivity involving a generative tension between the two. Hence, it is concerned about any factor that could threaten to topple the sensitive balance between objectivity and interpretivity to one side or the other (objective approaches to problem-solving do strip particular moments of phenomenal life of their particularity, and interpretive approaches are biased by the participation of the subject).
George Christakos
Chapter 4. Space–Time and Uncertainty
Abstract
Let us start with a metaphor: The matter of space–time may be represented by the so-called“Canvas vs. Parenthood” dilemma (Musser): Is space–time like a canvas that exists whether or not the artist paints on it, or is space–time akin to parenthood that does not exist until there are parents and children? A related question is the “asymmetry of time”: Is time’s asymmetry a property of states of the world rather than a property of time as such? One could even consider the far-flung connections between the geometry of space–time and the distribution of attributes within space–time: Can this distribution influence space–time and vice versa?
George Christakos
Chapter 5. Stochastic Reasoning
Abstract
Sometime during the early fifth century BC, Heraclitus famously uttered: Φύσις κρύπτεται ϕιλεί. Many centuries later, Werner Heisenberg famously postulated that “Not only is Nature stranger than we think, it is stranger than we can think.” Was Heisenberg right, and what exactly he meant by “we can think”? The spirit of this book is based on the premise that the precise meaning of this sort of thoughts can attune IPS to new dimensions of human inquiry, change one’s sense of what is possible and meaningful, and guide one toward unforeseen horizons of understanding.
George Christakos
Chapter 6. Stochastic Calculus
Abstract
Stochastic reasoning resembles a spider’s web: concentric, firm, transparent, and well spun. This is a web that draws into itself all the conceptual elements of integrative problem-solving (IPS). Ideas and thoughts wing towards it, where metaphors flit through the web to become its nourishment. In the light that it casts on the premises (knowledge bases and the agent’s prior mental states), the conclusions (problem-solutions and new findings) begin to glow. In this setting, the prime goal of this chapter is to consider the development of a stochastic calculus that is in agreement with the basic conceptual principles of stochastic reasoning discussed in the previous chapter.
George Christakos
Chapter 7. Operational Epibraimatics
Abstract
Any attempt to quantify the IPS postulates introduced in Section 3.5 is a challenging yet intriguing affair. The quantification should provide a description of the real-world situation that is close and at the same time at some distance to experience. These two complementary IPS requirements are indispensable in the development of a meaningful IPS approach that balances the significant values and potential limitations of human experience. In his effort to satisfy these requirements, the Irish novelist James Joyce provided an enlightening literary metaphor of dualism. In his novels, Joyce was able to describe people from close-up and also out of a distance by assuming an “indifference” position up in the clouds above Dublin.
George Christakos
Chapter 8. On Model-Choice
Abstract
In the course of integrative problem solving (IPS), in the broad sense, investigators encounter a plethora of models representing aspects of the real-world that seem relevant to the solution of the problem at hand. These models (mathematical or otherwise, analytical or computational) are characterized by a varying degree of complexity and fundamentality. One cannot be perfectly sure which model is the best one for the situation, in the same way that one cannot know absolutely in a metaphysical sense. This was, in fact, Plato’s philosophical perspective: ultimate reality (or pure forms; see Section 2.2.4) is too perfect to be knowable by humans.
George Christakos
Chapter 9. Implementation and Technology
Abstract
It is possible that some readers find the book full of notions of abstract reasoning that would astonish a medieval theologian, so to speak. Nevertheless, it becomes clearer by the day that in the emerging Conceptual Age to be able to reflect on abstract ideas and relationships, understand notions that are removed from the mere facts of “here and now,” and perceive analogies between what appear to be totally unrelated entities (and thereby understand higher levels of abstraction), will be the key to the solution of the increasingly complex and subtle problems that characterize the 21st century. As noted several times in this book, the theory of simple ideas and “quick and dirty” solutions is under increasingly suspicion nowadays, and the far-reaching consequences of this suspicion are yet to be assessed.
George Christakos
Chapter 10. Epilogue
Abstract
As was said in the Foreword, the ideas and thoughts presented in the book rather constitute an unfinished project or, if the readers prefer, an unended quest. Yet, the notion that human agents need to be engaged in problem-solving as part of their intellectual development is an old one, going back to Aristotle who wrote about the “development of talents” (Phelps 2009). In light of the discussion in the previous chapters, one can detect a strong knowledge synthesis component in real-world problem-solving. Knowledge synthesis institutes a broad framework in which different sets of mental entities describing constituent phenomena in the individual disciplines are integrated to solve the composite in situ problem under conditions of multisourced uncertainty. In general, description, explanation, and prediction can be all essential elements of a composite solution. As a result of these considerations, some readers may detect some similarity between the knowledge synthesis perspective of IPS and the Quinean interpretation of problem-solution as a “matrix” or “integrated body” of multidisciplinary KBs. The Quinean “matrix” can be changed or adapted in light of new evidence or as a result of a revision in the agent’s thinking style. The “matrix” allows epistemic pluralism, i.e., the adequate formulation and understanding of a specified problem may involve distinct data sources and methods of producing knowledge. An Epibraimatics premise is that the accommodation of this plurality could lead to more successful IPS.
George Christakos
Backmatter
Metadata
Title
Integrative Problem-Solving in a Time of Decadence
Author
George Christakos
Copyright Year
2011
Publisher
Springer Netherlands
Electronic ISBN
978-90-481-9890-0
Print ISBN
978-90-481-9889-4
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9890-0