A time for reflection S-N solstice :: equinox

Analemma image: Anthony Ayiomamitis

Ever since we first took note of the passing Seasons, and what is left of them today, we have marvelled and come to recognise the extremes of the calendar in the sky.

For humanity in the North and the South. 

The emergence of culture, societies, and civilization has been  dependent upon the calendar - whether recorded in customs and rites, giant blocks of stone, papyrus, or binary code.

As the solstice fast approaches - Sunday, 21 December 2025 15:03-4 - and the Sun touches its lowest, southernmost point, I think of (former) family and friends 'way down' south, and the distance between the hemispheres, represented in the analemma. Of course then there is the solstitial experience of humanity in the south as the sun crests the highest point in their sky.

It must be amazing to see the nightsky from the far south(?). 

How might we explain this culturally, with the benefit of foresight? This apparent celestial 'opposition' of Earth's path around the Sun, is reflected N-S in who bears the impact of climate change and the need attend to planetary health.

But, then look at the equinox, the north and south are seemingly united? 

Is there a baton passed in March and September?

Perhaps, this can be a celebration of global health, for both hemispheres. With a simultaneous 'nod' to planetary health and the search for social and climate justice.
 

What Complex Threads We Weave

Good luck Suns & Daughters . . .

Individual

|

      INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

HUMANISTIC  --------------------------------------  MECHANISTIC      

 SOCIOLOGY  :    POLITICAL 

|

Group

'The sun may be on its lonesome now - its closest neighbour is 4.2 light years away - but that wasn't always the case. Once upon a time it had close family. After their birth in the same cloud of dust and gas that formed our solar system, these solar siblings scattered hundreds of light years apart in the MilkyWay. In May, astronomers reported the first one: a star called HD 162826. "It looks like the sun, but a little-bit bluer," says Ivan Ramirez at the University of Texas at Austin, who led the study. It's also warmer than the sun and 15 per cent more massive. The star is about 110 light years away, and you can see it with the aid of a pair of binoculars in the left arm of the constellation Hercules.'

'To find its family ties, Ramirez's team combed through galactic archaeology studies, which model the motions of the Milky Way. These predictions laid out where sibling stars would be now if they had formed in the same place as the sun. Though they spread out in different directions, their positions still give away their birthplace, Ramirez says. He narrowed down the search area to 30 stars, and then looked at them closely to find a family resemblance. Only HD 162826 had a similar chemical make-up to the sun. A separate team led by Eric Mamajek at the University of Rochester in New York also studied the star and found it is the same age as the sun, as would be expected for two stars born together. Even more tantalising, HD 162826 is already in a catalogue of stars that might harbour planets.'

Science funding

Rebecca Boyle. Strangest star. New Scientist. 20 September 2014: 223, 2987, pp.38-41.

Image: Sadalsuud, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Questions in eclipse

 Last Friday 9th I had a Zoom chat for 30 mins, regards Hodges' model with faculty in the USA.

We touched upon:

• background to Hodges' model
• courses taught across the water and interests
• overlaps, inc. person-centered care - socio-technical
• informatics & literacies
• maths/logic

As an outcome it was suggested I forward some questions I'm currently of Hodges' model. Questions that for me, are challenging, put me in the dark, and may not even be valid?

Going through my draft notes I picked out 20, beginning with the working title:

Hodges’ Model as a mathematical object and relational ontology:
category theory or category mistake?

1. Can it be argued there is what amounts to a care locus - that can 'locate' person-centredness?
   
   
2. Can the model's domains be seen as functions?
   
   
3. Are the domains placeholders?
   
   
4. Is there a case to test, and if logical implement co-domains (e.g. parity of esteem)?
   
   
5. Are there other 'structures' in Hodges' model,  for example L-shaped forms, that is relations that involve three domains and (seemingly) omit one?
   
   
6. Are there practical - case studies - that can be associated with such structures?
   
   
7. Can Hodges' model be considered as a single conceptual space (Gärdenfors), or a series of four? (blog posts)
   
   
8. Can Hodges' model be used to identify and apply threshold concepts (Meyer & Land)? (blog posts)
   
   
9. Can we argue that the structure of Hodges’ model as defined by the axes extent, provides and invites inverse relations?
   
   
10. Is Hodges' model as a structure only (a template) equivalent to an empty set (empty set as an initial object)?
11. Is this a mathematical analogue (being neutral) to a practitioner's unconditional positive regard?
    
    
12. Taking its axes and four (care/knowledge) domains can Hodges' model be reduced to a graph?
    
    
13. If Hodges' model acknowledges/incorporates Cartesian duality, are there Cartesian products?
    
    
14. In these Cartesian products are critical operations, e.g. relating to psychotropics - physical health; eating disorder - physical/mental health; complex emotional needs - policy (evidence-based care)?
    
    
15. If the model is inverted, mirrored ... what follows: is the structure - function - consistency retained?

    
    
16. Is Hodges' model 'closed' in comparison with Buzan's (open?) approach to mind-mapping?
    
    
17. There is an 'equation of time': is there an 'equation of care'?
    
    
18. Thought experiments: (semantic distance... cognitive linguistics)
    
    

    Which concept (INTERPERSONAL :: SCIENCES) is closer to the ‘INDIVIDUAL’ axes; which is closest to the ‘GROUP’ (SOCIOLOGY :: POLITICAL)?

    
    

    Which concept (SOCIOLOGY :: INTERPERSONAL) is closer to the HUMANISTIC axes; which is closest to the MECHANISTIC (SCIENCES :: POLITICAL)?

    
    
19. Role of 'types' in Hodges' model - that is, patient / model as a whole as objects (with identity)?
    
    
20. What significance can be gleaned given commonality between several mathematical terms, e.g. group, object, (co-)domain and Hodges' model?

I can no doubt structure - group these questions, and I've not picked out many concerned with Hodges' model as a set, or, as yet, those venturing into category theory. I am wondering, what the commutative law might tell us about holistic, integrated care, and parity of esteem when applied through Hodges' model? Also refining 3-4 case examples to explore and illustrate the same?

While it is maths that prompts this diversion, perhaps ultimately health care disciplines can determine its own formal approach that can produce its own context-sensitive rules, that straddle mathematics/logic and the humanities?

In initial emails, I'd noted the forthcoming eclipse across the USA. Checking, my interlocutor is just N of the path of totality (I wish!) for April's total eclipse. I'm enjoying the darkness here too.

https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2024/where-when/

#TotalEclipse2024 #SolarEclipse2024

An observational record and learning from 30,000 years ago

"A fascinating example is the shoulder blade of an ox unearthed in the 1980s (Figure 1) by archaeologists investigating a stone age encampment in the south of France. Carbon dating showed this to be approximately 30,000 years old. The bone was marked with inscriptions that the archaeologist couldn't decipher. It was clear they were neither a tally, nor a pattern, nor any recognisable form of writing. Late one night one of the archaeologists noticed the moon, and something in its shape caught his curiosity.

Aurignacian Lunar Calendar / diagram, drawing after Marshack, A. 1970; Notation dans les Gravures du Paléolithique Supérieur, Bordeaux, Delmas / Don’s Maps
Figure 1 my source: https://sservi.nasa.gov/articles/oldest-lunar-calendars/

Then it struck him. Here, on this fragment of bone, was a lunar calendar complete with 72 observations ... something like 1,600 generations ago. One of our common ancestors (statistically, all of us can claim a relationship to this thoughtful person) 30,000 years ago had the intellectual curiosity to watch the moon, night after night, and then transcribe these movements, at scale, onto the stone age equivalent of the back of an envelope, as he (or she) attempted to "think it through". What makes us human is our ability to think, learn and adapt to our changing environment. The story of the stone age learner gets even better when you imagine a small community of people (adults, adolescents, children on their laps) sitting around a campfire every night working out the meaning of the lunar phases together." pp.72-73.

Abbott, J. & Ryan, T. (2000). Chapter 4, How mass education eclipsed apprenticeship, The Unfinished Revolution: Learning, Human Behavior, Community, and Political Paradox, Stafford, UK: Network Educational Press. (The figure in the book does not include the bone.)

Previously: 'diagrams' , 'archaeology'

[I am also still trying to clear papers and books, as some posts will suggest.]

ERCIM News No. 130 Special Theme: "Assistive Technologies for a More Accessible and Inclusive Society"

Dear ERCIM News reader, 

Assistive Technologies for a More Accessible and Inclusive Society is the special theme of ERCIM News No.130, just published at https://ercim-news.ercim.eu/ 

ERCIM NEWS 130

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Conference: Diagrams in Science, Science in Diagrams

Johannes Stabius, Astrolabium imperatorium: detail (Nuremberg: Johann Stuchs, 1515). Courtesy Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich, Einbl. VIII, 12, broadside, 61 × 45 cm.

Diagrammatic forms of visualization are ubiquitous in scientific publications, as well as in popular mediations of scientific contents. Every computer interface relies on diagrammatic forms, combining textual and graphical elements. Diagrams abstract and encode information. They are indispensable in many scientific contexts, and, together with charts and graphs, also in the daily media, reaching a wide audience of experts and non-experts.

 

As natural and familiar as these abstract forms of representing information are to us, they are products of many historical developments. Their historical roots may go back to prehistoric epochs. However, the historical integration of diagrams in scientific contexts is relatively recent. Even if these developments with regard to Western cultures have their origin in antiquity and were significantly developed further in the sciences of the Middle Ages, the early modern period can be considered the first flourishing phase of the diagram in practically all areas of the sciences of that time.

This event proposes to trace this historical development in the early modern period. It takes a truly interdisciplinary approach when talking about a timespan of roughly 500 years (1300-1800) across all early modern sciences, from Architecture to Zodiac men in medicine. The talks bring together research on the culture of the diagram in various sciences of the epoch to form a large overall picture.

This event aims at tracing the emergences and the disruptions of traditions of diagrams in all fields of scientific theory and practice, e.g. (but not restricted to) geometry, astronomy, medicine, philosophy, alchemy, law, theology, and music.

It will address, among others, questions such as the following:

1. Do the diagrams under investigation come from a precise tradition or do they form the foundation of such a tradition?

2. What is the scientific/disciplinary context of the diagrams under investigation and how do they relate to it?

3. What is the aim of the diagrams under investigation (illustration, explanation, demonstration, etc.)?

4. How does the medium carrying diagrams under investigation impact their form and role (print, manuscript)?

5. What are the most intriguing visual/graphical features to be found in the diagrams under investigation?

6. How do the diagrams under investigation interact with the text and which vocabulary is used to refer to the diagrams?

7. What justifies the diagrams under investigation to be labelled as ‘diagrams’ (and not ‘tables’, ‘maps’, etc.) and what is a reasonable demarcation line here?

8. How do the diagrams under investigation relate to scientific practices (experiments, taking measures, etc.)?

More details:

https://www.biblhertz.it/3101937/conference-diagrams-in-science-science-in-diagrams.html

"Supernova" squared* ...?

PERSON identity MEMORY

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ----------------------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

DYAD - FAMILY -  COMMUNITY - POPULATION

	[eventual] Supernova

*or rectangled?

 

Humanity: Still trying to join the Dots - Individual :: Collective

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ----------------------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group - population

sub-conscious pattern recognition   "Differences in belief have substantial impacts ranging from personal identity formation ...	"Our ancestors once saw the faces of gods in the stars - joining the dots in the heavens to create a celestial pantheon." Whipple
... to social/group affiliation and exclusion ...	... to national and international political dynamics."

 

Sources: 

Whipple, T. (2020) Join the dots for a glimpse of the Almighty, The Times, September 10. p.17.

Adam B. Weinberger, Natalie M. Gallagher, Zachary J. Warren, Gwendolyn A. English, Fathali M. Moghaddam, Adam E. Green. Implicit pattern learning predicts individual differences in belief in God in the United States and Afghanistan. Nature Communications, 2020; 11: 4503 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18362-3

 

The nature of catastrophe and disaster

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ----------------------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group - population

"Across northern Europe the earthquake inspired a shift from a philosophical "best of all possible worlds" optimism, ruled over by a beneficent God, to a new, darker world order of rational scepticism.	"Disaster" derives from the Greek for an ill-fated, or "bad" star  - in Italian, the dis-astro. "Disaster" captures the essence of astrology. A conjunction of planets, or the passage of a comet, triggers a calamity on earth.
The contrasting old and new worlds are captured in the original meanings of the terms "disaster" and "catastrophe."	"Catastrophe" describes the final resolution of the story in a Greek drama. In a tragedy by Aeschylus or Euripides, within the "catastrophe," one or more of the characters will die. The catastrophe is the inevitable consequence. The catastrophe is the moral." p.40.

 

Robert Muir-Wood (2016) The Cure for Catastrophe: How We Can Stop Manufacturing Natural Disasters, London: OneWorld Publications. ISBN-10: 1786070057

Psyche: Amid the Mind and Stars

INDIVIDUAL

|

INTRA- INTER-PERSONAL : SCIENCES

HUMANISTIC -------------------------------------------------- MECHANISTIC

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

GROUP

"The Greek origin of the word psyche (breath) is well known but psyche also referred to life as action or as soul, some special force or spirit which entered living creatures. ... It was natural that when psychology and and medical psychology became established with institutions, they would wish for armorial bearings and it was logical that some representation of psyche should be incorporated. ... Some psychiatrists would consider mind to be an epiphenomenon of brain function, many of whose mysteries will eventually yield to scientific and clinical investigation and most would consider the emergent subjective experiences as important in determining behaviour. The current motto "Let Wisdom Guide" is certainly suitable whatever interpretation or meaning is given to Psyche and whatever direction psychiatry may take in the future." p.429,431. James, F.E. (July 1991). "Psyche". Psychiatric Bulletin. 15 (7): 429–31. doi:10.1192/pb.15.7.429

Artist's concept of the asteroid 16 Psyche which is thought to be a stripped planetary core. Image credit: Maxar/ASU/P. Rubin/NASA/JPL-Caltech

Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss  Antonio CANOVA (1757 – 1822) Marble - H. 1.55 m; L. 1.68 m; D. 1.01 mMR 1777 Paris, Musée du Louvre © 2010 Musée du Louvre / Raphaël Chipault

Political mythology: Government pronouncements on psyche?

Mercury: Care in Transit or Transformation?

INDIVIDUAL

|

INTRA- INTER-PERSONAL : SCIENCES

HUMANISTIC -------------------------------------------------- MECHANISTIC

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

GROUP

Hermes (Mercury) - the messenger Mercury Abducting Psyche © Musée du Louvre/P Philibert.
Public understanding of Science Social Media (or Political)? Patient engagement in clinical records	Data, Information, Knowledge (Wisdom)? Data, Information Law & Regulation Information Governance & Accountability

How to Safely Observe the Sun (Infographic)
https://www.space.com/15614-sun-observing-safety-tips-infographic.html

See also:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/11/last-transit-of-mercury-until-2032-how-to-watch-livestream/

Jones, P. (2008) Exploring Serres’ Atlas, Hodges’ Knowledge Domains and the Fusion of Informatics and Cultural Horizons, IN Kidd, T., Chen, I. (Eds.) Social Information Technology Connecting Society and Cultural Issues, Idea Group Publishing, Inc. Chap. 7, pp. 96-109.

Libration before Liberation

Last week I visited "The Moon" exhibition at The National Maritime Museum Greenwich. As I videoed the phases of the moon that was on display I recalled how we actually see more than the 50% that is the near-side of the Moon.

 individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ----------------------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group - population

Sometimes more (knowledge)  is revealed than first  appears ... Attend to the 'libration of ideas'. Reflect first ...
Imagine if we shared a generic means to share ideas and concepts...?	... then Liberate.

The Adrian Piper Foundation Berlin Multi-Disciplinary Fellowship 2020 ...

individual - self

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ----------------------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group- population

"The APRA Foundation Berlin Multi- Disciplinary Fellowship has the purpose  of promoting research on the conception,  constitution and structure of the self,	surviving and flourishing  in a global environment; and
with the educational goals of (i) increasing knowledge and public awareness of individual and societal strategies for	(ii) discovering, identifying and promoting the cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural flexibility through which these strategies are expressed."

Text: http://www.adrianpiper.com/foundation/M-DFellowshipMission&Guidelines.shtml

http://www.adrianpiper.com/index.html

http://adrianpiper.com/foundation/M-DFellowshipMission&Guidelines.shtml#guidelines

Situational awareness: How do you assure the quality of your 'BIG picture'?

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ----------------------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group

	Four Lasers Over Paranal

My source: New Scientist

InSight: Mars in Mind

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ----------------------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group

insight [full <--------> none]
I am NOT ill ! You are ill !	Place of safety Local vs 'Out-of-area'

Written in the Stars: Is this blog a zibaldone?

"One proof among a thousand of how purely physical systems influence intellectual and metaphysical ones is the system of Copernicus. For the thinker, the Copernican system completely changes the idea of nature and man conceived and thought of as natural in the old, so-called Ptolemaic system. It reveals a plurality of worlds, shows that man is not a unique being, in the same way as the position, movement, destiny of the world is not unique, and opens up an immense field of thoughts about the infinity of creatures that, according to all the laws of analogy, must live on other planets that are entirely analogous to our own, and those planets which, though we cannot see them, may also move around other suns, namely the stars." pp.81-82.

Giacomo Leopardi (1798-1837)

Leopardi, G. (2013) zibaldone: The Notebooks of Leopardi. London: Penguin Group.

Circle of Life - c/o Ben Lockett

Spiritual - Being

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic --------------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group

Credit and my source:
Ben Lockett/Fortitude Press: The Times, 6 January 2018, p.6. "Circle of life This image of a woman in the Staffordshire moorlands appearing to touch the North Star was created using a technique called star trail photography"

The Farthest - run

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic --------------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group

In 1976 a lower sixth student new to the grammar school competes in the annual cross country. The previous victor had won every year. Listening to his friends, another win was a given. Not in 1976. The new student never won at Secondary School, but he was on the team. Out most dinner times, training from Ashton around Garswood. The day after, the  form teacher said something in the vein of  -"Oh there'll be  presentations!" The student listened and still listens. There never was a presentation, not a whisper; but the journey, the run - continues... and the student is grateful for that ...

Planetarium, Mercury

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic --------------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group

My source: The Times, June 9 2017, p.13.

Fight to Power - Flight to Wonder

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic -------------------------------------------  mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group-population

Photo sources:

Star Party

Nazeer Al-Khatib
Freelance Photographer‎‏ based in Aleppo

#Syria Fighters from the Free Syrian Army react as they fight against the IS near #Dabiq on October 15 #AFP Photo by @NazeerAlk

My source:

Smith, H.L. (2016). Caliphate crumbles as holy village falls, The Times, 17 October, pp.34-35.