The alchemy of terminology, symbols, and signs ...

Or, 'What is a nurse doing … in a chemistry class?' [Ack. See Estrada]

In reading, I was reminded that chemistry adopted mathematical symbols for its own use. Not only that, but as a core science (with physics and biology, emerging from natural philosophy) there is a historical development from the time of alchemy:

Please see (with a graphical abstract):

C.Wentrup, The Transition from Alchemical to Modern Chemical Symbolism: from Bergman and Guiton de Morveau to Hassenfratz and Adet, Higgins, Richter, Dalton, and Berzelius. ChemPlusChem. 2024, 89, e202400033. https://doi.org/10.1002/cplu.202400033

This journey matters today as the use of symbols, in mathematics or other fields can be a barrier to learning and hence personal and disciplinary progress:

Ollie Hunter. Lost in translation: Demystify scientific symbolic language to help your chemistry students overcome any potential learning barriers. Royal Society of Chemistry, 23 May 2022.

As acknowledged many times, it is easy to take a word, or concept from one discipline and 'fit' it to - or in another. Or is it? Estrada concludes:

“The complexities of modern science and modern society have created a need for scientific generalists, for men trained in many fields of science.” This is a paradigm of science in the XXI century, where the advent of such fields like the study of complex systems requires multidisciplinary approaches. But the previous phrase was not written in the XXI century. It is the starting sentence in The education of a scientific generalist” published in Science in 1949 (Bode et al. 1949).' p.161. 

'Mathematics has been defined as the science of patterns. Thus, mathematicians search for “numerical patterns, patterns of shape, patterns of motion, patterns of behavior, voting patterns in a population, patterns of repeating chance events, and so on” (Byers 2010). Once a pattern is identified either in chemistry or in mathematics, the researcher can proceed to the clarification of the systematic rule which is behind that pattern. This is evident in the analogy used here between code-breaking and structure elucidation. This attachment to patterns makes both chemists and mathematicians very prone to the use of pictures. An organic chemist hardly can say anything about the chemical reactivity (or any physical or chemical property) of a molecule from its exact quantum-mechanical Hamiltonian. However, she will construct a complete narrative about the physical and chemical properties of a molecular structure drawn in a piece of paper, even if such a molecule is completely imagined. The power of pictures in mathematics is discussed in the book Mathematics and the Unexpected by Ivar Ekeland (1990) where its value is recognized as fundamental in the early stages of the development of mathematical ideas. This also introduces a very important analogy among chemists and mathematicians. Namely, that they use a proper language in their respective fields. While physicists use the mathematical language in their investigations, chemists use the sophisticated language of chemical formulas and specific symbols to represent charges, rearrangements, partial equilibria, etc. These “invented” languages mainly appear only in Chemistry and in Mathematics, making them unique intellectual activities.' p.162.

With thanks to the author, Ernesto Estrada IFISC for additional thoughts and insights:

Estrada, E. What is a mathematician doing…in a chemistry class?. Found Chem 26, 141–166 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10698-023-09497-4

Affordances

Affordance

An affordance is a perceptual pattern with survival significance. Affordances are relational, rather than objective or subjective properties. As Gibson, who coined the term, observes, 'An important fact about the affordances of the environment is that they are in a sense objective, real, and physical, unlike values and meanings, which are often supposed to be subjective, phenomenal and mental. But, actually, an affordance is neither an objective property nor a subjective property; or it is both if you like. An affordance cuts across the dichotomy of subjective-objective and helps us to understand its inadequacy' (Gibson 1979, 129). 
[Proust, Glossary, p.309.]

 

INDIVIDUAL

|

 INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

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

SOCIOLOGY  :   POLITICAL 

|

GROUP

subjective	objective

Re. 'Survival significance' ...

Does this make affordances relevant in clinical education, and education more generally?

What of assisted dying in theory, policy, law and practice?

Are there any implications for the models employed by artificial intelligence - LLMs, neurosymbolic reasoning / AI (wave x)?

Source: Joëlle Proust (2013). The Philosophy of Metacognition: Mental Agency and Self-Awareness.  Oxford: Oxford University Press, Oxford. ISBN: 978-0-19-960216-2

Précis of The Philosophy of Metacognition:
https://joelleproust.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/pdf15.pdf 

See also: 'subject' : 'object' : 'affordance' : 'interface'

NANDA-I Newsletter - theme of clinical reasoning

'This month at NANDA-I, we have been exploring the theme of clinical reasoning.

Clinical reasoning is at the heart of nursing; it’s how nurses make sense of complex patient information and choose the best path forward. While many nurses think of diagnosis as the centerpiece, it’s really the thinking that leads up to it, gathering cues, interpreting what matters most, and then safely determining goals and actions, that makes all the difference in outcomes. Strong reasoning helps nurses notice subtle changes and act with confidence.

As healthcare grows more complex, understanding how nurses think, not just what tools they use, helps elevate care for every patient. We’ll be sharing insights throughout the year to help you stay connected to nursing knowledge and its impact on care delivery and education.'

 

Teaching Tip: Clinical Reasoning in Practice

Start With Assessment to Improve Reasoning

When nurses work with standardized languages and clinical judgment tools, it’s tempting to dive right into diagnosis. But the most accurate and useful nursing judgments always come from strong, systematic assessment first. Quality assessment supports better interpretation of patient needs and more precise identification of nursing responses. Quick Tip: Use a flexible assessment framework, whether it’s a conceptual model or a tool like functional health patterns, to make sure you’re capturing the data that matters most first. When you build a solid foundation with assessment, everything that follows (including diagnostic thinking) becomes clearer and more grounded.

 

My source: 'Friends of NANDA®-I Newsletter' subscription (with my emphasis).

See also:
https://nanda.org/2025/12/nanda-360-for-educators-and-researchers-strengthening-nursing-knowledge-through-diagnosis-centered-reasoning/

Assessment, plus planning, implementation - action, evaluation (plus, formulation).

Functional and cognitive [Health, Illness, Climate, Poverty, Political, Security, Prevention, Self-care, ...] patterns.

'... make sure you’re capturing the data that matters most first' - Situated, Context, Salience.

For a competent practitioner an assessment can also be 'therapeutic' for the patient.

Previously: 'classification' : 'diagnosis' : 'NANDA' : 'ICD'

Disciplinary bridges ... how's your sense of direction?

As an advocate for Hodges' model, I've acquired an affinity for inter- multi- transdisciplinary bridges, especially medical sociology, those leading towards the mathematical, and human geography. An old but significant influence is:

Chapman, K. (1979). People, pattern, and process: an introduction to human geography. London: Edward Arnold.

Chapman begins with the concept of distance, speed of movement and the consequence of the shrinking world. Our ability to move faster has radically altered the total travel time: from what was a 50 mile walking-day. In chapter 2, 'A Conceptual Framework' refers to:

• Decision making - the basic mechanism
• The Spatial Context
• The Content of Space
• Dimensions of Space
• Spatial Process - Causality in Time and Space

Overall, the book also takes me back to a paper I cited in 2007: Bell jars and bell curves

I'm sure the 'School of Geography' at Leeds is unrecognisable today from that of the 1980s. But the referenced paper in the 'Bell jars..' post:

Macgill, S.M. (1984). Structural Analysis of Social Data, A Guide to Ho's Galois Lattice Approach and A Partial Re-Specification of QAnalysis, Working Paper 416, School of Geography, University of Leeds. Abstract 1985

- still gives me an itch I can't scratch. 

 I could not fully understand, or follow, the print quality doesn't help, but it captured my imagination (perhaps that is enough?).

Chapter 9 stands out with 'Spatial Pattern' pp.203-234, 9.1.1 Topologic Structures, pp.205-209. Here, Chapman explains and has examples of connectivity matrices, with three indices to calculate the connectivity in a graph. All grist for the mill.

Happy Solstice too!

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

Being constantly rational - in pursuit of evidence . . .

. . . while being chased by the absurd . . .

Individual

|

      INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

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

 SOCIOLOGY  :    POLITICAL 

|

Group

Descartes’ - cogito ergo sum^ A psychological case formulation for ...?	(Being constantly …) rational^ ... in pursuit of evidence
Drama: A case formulation for the audience.	Absurd: When £££$$$ meets health  - the where of when the audience aren't interested in the how, and why of the case formulation.

The theatre of the absurd does not need language.

Hodges' model?

In absurd terms the structure must go! No ifs ands or buts ...
Replace the intellectual concepts with poetic images
 but before you do optimise for distance from sense. 

"In the Theatre of the Absurd, the audience is confronted with actions that lack apparent motivation, characters that are in constant flux, and often happenings that are clearly outside the realm of rational* experience. Here, too, the audience can ask 'What is going to happen next?' But then anything may happen next, so that the answer to this question cannot be worked out according to the rules of ordinary probability based on motives and characterizations that will remain constant throughout the play. The relevant question here is not so much what is going to happen next but what is happening? 'What does the action of the play represent?'" Esslin. (p.416).

*and relational?

^D’ANDREA, F. (2017). BEING HUMAN. A FEW REMARKS ABOUT DESCARTES’ COGITO ERGO SUM. Studi Di Sociologia, 55(2), 135–146. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26479662

Esslin, Martin. Chapter 8 The Significance of the Absurd. The Theatre of the Absurd. London: Pelican, 1982. (3rd Ed.).

Previously: relational - rational

Migraine: Mind - Body and Art c/o Kustaa Saksi

"A migraine, says Kustaa Saksi, is like an unexpected visit from an irritating old friend. A sudden attack upends your plans; causes havoc; you never know when it will leave. 

The 48-year-old Finnish textile artist has lived with these repetitive, immobilising headaches and their accompanying visual disturbances — ranging from partial blind spots to borderline hallucinations — since childhood. 

'It usually happens on the side of my eye, then it’s like a sun, travelling from east to west,' he says. 'At one point it will take over my whole vision, then it vanishes.'" 

https://www.ft.com/content/f85c900b-9547-44a5-bbc1-ba65d44331d9

INDIVIDUAL

|

INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

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

SOCIOLOGY  :   POLITICAL 

|

GROUP

'Aftermath' 2019 Jacquard Weave 172 x 236cm (67" x 93")	'Attack' 2019 Jacquard Weave 166 x 238 cm (66" x 94")

My source:
Barrett, H. (2023) Interiors: A migraine's many colours. FTWeekend, House&Home. 8-9 July. p.6.

Cognitive and Affective Empathy c/o Simon Baron-Cohen

   New Scientist 3311

"At the bottom, Nicholas Conard, archaeologist and director of the nearby museum in Blaubeuren, Germany, pointed to a layer of rock. 'Right here is 20,000 years ago,' he said. Then he pointed about a metre lower. 'Here, we are at 40,000 years ago.' 

I was in awe, suddenly aware that I was standing where our early human ancestors lived and breathed so long ago. But it was what they invented that inspired my trip. Hohle Fels is where, in 2008, Conard and his colleagues discovered the earliest known musical instrument, a flute carved from a vulture bone that is thought to be about 40,000 years old.

It is the product of what I argue are parallel revolutions in human cognition. In my career studying the human brain through the lens of understanding autism, I have devoted a lot of time to understanding empathy, its role in our evolution and how it still underpins human interaction today. But around the same time that the brain changes arose that enabled us to use empathy, another equally critical set of changes took place: the evolution of a pattern-seeking brain network, what I refer to as the systemising mechanism, that provides the foundation for human invention - including that of musical instruments." p.34.

INDIVIDUAL

|

     INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

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

SOCIOLOGY  :   POLITICAL 

|

GROUP

"One of these circuits, the empathy circuit, enabled a raft of new behaviours, including the ability to deceive others, teaching, self-reflection, social "chess" and flexible communication that relied on shared reference, including storytelling. These explain why modern humans could make stealth weapons and jewellery: we were keeping track of what others might think, know, intend, feel, want and believe." p.36. COGNITIVE EMPATHY theory of mind

AFFECTIVE EMPATHY "- the drive to respond to another person's mental state with an appropriate emotion." p.36.

Baron-Cohen, S. (2020) Our Restless Minds, New Scientist, 248: 3311, pp.34-39.

Autism Research Centre, Cambridge University

The Pattern Seekers, Simon Baron-Cohen.

PsychoPathology: Space, Social Perception, and Mental Disorders ...

In the Philos-L "The Liverpool List" I noticed this (online) issue of Psychopathology and was drawn to its themes, especially that of space.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

129. Space, Social Perception, and Mental Disorders: Phenomenological and Empirical Approaches
Bader, O.; Bizzari, V.; Fuchs, T.
https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/524754 (Open Access)

132. Scale for Space and Time Experience in Psychosis: Converging Phenomenological and Psychopathological Perspectives
Arantes-Gonalves, F.; Wolman, A.; Bastos-Leite, A.J.; Northoff, G.
https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/519500

143. Alterations in the Experience of Time, Space, and Intersubjectivity and the Interaction with Pre-Existent Psychopathology during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Lau, I.; et al.
https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/522345

156.  Reopening Selves: Phenomenological Considerations on Psychiatric Spaces and the Therapeutic Stance
Thoma, S.; Schwnzl, I.; Galbusera, L.
https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/517888

168. Borderline We-Space? The Phenomenology of the Background of Safety in Borderline Personality Disorder
Van Duppen, Z.; Schmidt, P.; Lowyck,B.
https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/520860

179. Borderline Personality Disorder, Lived Space, and the Stimmung
Lo Monte, F.; Englebert, J.
https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/521182

190. Background Feelings of Belonging and Psychological Trauma
Wilde, L.
https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/518327

201. Interpersonal and Intersubjective Alienation in Social Stigmatization and Depression
Paskaleva-Yankova, A.
https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/519253 (Open Access)

211. Gestalt Perception and the Experience of the Social Space in Autism: A Case Study
Bader, O.; Fuchs, T.
https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/524562 (Open Access)

Edited - removed active links, affiliations, spurious text codes/line breaks, added one et al.

INDIVIDUAL

|

 INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

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

SOCIOLOGY  :   POLITICAL 

|

GROUP

psycho- space Intra- Interpersonal Intersubjective	-pathology space empirical
social perception 'We-space'?	space 'We-space'?

Between the humanistic AND mechanistic ...

There is need for a new academic discipline, a hybrid called -

humanics

 

- a hybrid between the humanities and the STEM disciplines

 

 

Individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

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

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

Population

intra- interpersonal	sciences
culture and society	political

 

 

 "A “robot-proof” education, Aoun argues, is not concerned solely with topping up students’ minds with high-octane facts. Rather, it calibrates them with a creative mindset and the mental elasticity to invent, discover, or create something valuable to society—a scientific proof, a hip-hop recording, a web comic, a cure for cancer. Aoun lays out the framework for a new discipline, humanics, which builds on our innate strengths and prepares students to compete in a labor market in which smart machines work alongside human professionals.

The only certainty about the future is change. Higher education based on the new literacies of humanics can equip students for living and working through change."

http://robot-proof.com/#about

 

STEM, in full is science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Joseph E. Aoun (2017) Robot-Proof Higher Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

 

 My source: Livsey, A. The human factor, FT Weekend, Life&Arts, 20-21 January, 2018. p.9.

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

 

Science can see around corners: What about Health & Social Care?

As stressed here before, records are crucial in many work situations. In healthcare acutely so, for safety, accountability, professionalism, legal and other reasons. Even before we reach the point of creating the (comprehensive) record (paper or electronic) clinicians are focussed upon the data and information provided (the referral: does it qualify as a referral and other gate-keeping / triage stages?). The search then begins, often described idiomatically as shedding some light on the problem.*

This is the purpose of Hodges' model.

The starting point is what can we 'see'?

In other words, what do we know?

These initial facts are the first pieces of the jig-saw. A jig-saw that will always be incomplete unless we take into account the four domains and the overall spiritual situation. Having visited the four domains captured the key concepts, drawn out the relationships and meanings with the patient / carer when possible, we can then integrate as needed. This as needed, then influences the way and what is defined as the context which we must capture, assure and preserve for subsequent evaluation (and dynamic update).

While technology can enable us to look through walls, around corners, in health and social care there are many limits. We must access and assess all the domains.

Otherwise - forget all talk of the big picture.

Reflection and critical thinking can facilitate effective reasoning and decision making and (multiple) points of view, whatever 'room' we initially find ourselves in:

INDIVIDUAL

|

INTER-PERSONAL : SCIENCES

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

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

GROUP

Knowledge Skills Education Training Intuition Light in the Shadows	New Scientist, 6 November 2019

In taking into account all the domains and the spiritual it may be that there is nothing of marked relevance (salience) in one or more. It is checking, asking the question that counts, being conscious of what is happening 'next door'.

My source:

Seeing around corners: How to decipher shadows to see the invisible
Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24432550-800-seeing-around-corners-how-to-decipher-shadows-to-see-the-invisible/#ixzz65ISAh2QS
New Scientist, 6 November 2019.

Image source: https://twitter.com/Adjuvancy/status/1193628284170522624?s=20

*Patients, clients are never a problem, but one-day I will be an absolute pain-in-the-neck.

"Cloud Reservoirs in Finite Glitch Space" by Jacob Hashimoto

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

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

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group - population

	Jacob Hashimoto Cloud Reservoirs in Finite Glitch Space (Reservoir III), 2018 Woodblock monoprint, 65 x 60 inches

Jacob Hashimoto

Cloud Reservoirs in Finite Glitch Space (Reservoir III), 2018.
Woodblock monoprint, 65 x 60 inches


My source: The New York Review of Books, August 15 - September 25, 2019, Volume LXVI, Number 13, p.19.

Hodges' model: a blanc space, neutral for structure & content

On twitter today I mentioned the discovery of the book Panaesthetics by Daniel Albright. It was a buy in the end. A great discovery saddened to then learn that its author is no longer with us. Although I have not read it there will be much to draw from it: literally. I have often written about Hodges' model being initially a neutral space, a blank sheet. What is a starting position is always political as with Hodges' model. Its structure regiments the paper it is drawn upon. The presence of a political care - knowledge domain makes a statement. Structurally and in content the sense of neutrality is broken. Albright points to historical support as he discusses "What is painting?".

"White, said Superville, is an innocent peaceful color, calming us in the way that pure snow or moonlight calms. Black implies "silence and solitude, sadness, death, and oblivion"; red is "the hieroglyph of life and movement . . . the excess of luminous rays, just as the colour black is its absorption and annihilation." But this correlation of color with emotional state is less original than Superville's belief that color and lines are "the identical signs of one invariable language, and the associations of the one automatically imply the associations of the other" - every color corresponds to a linear pattern, every linear pattern presupposes a certain color. Superville provides a diagram to prove his point: red throws its arms into the air; black is stooped, submissive; "white , an invariable, pure sign, like the horizontal line, occupies the middle space between two extremes" (fig. 27)." p.102.

This is not the exact figure from the book but the meaning is relayed (I think).

A contact from the OU and 'The Difference that Makes a Difference' Conferences David Chapman kindly commented on this post on Facebook:

David Chapman "White is an innocent, peaceful, color". Except when it is the colour of the KKK, colonialism and slavery? I like the use of the shapes and can see that there may be ideas you can use in the quad, though.

Unlike · Reply · 1 · March 4 at 8:44am

I've expanded on my Facebook response below:

Thanks David, Yes I realise there's a potentially racist tone to this "white as pure". It is of course about the ideas, structure and form. I still refer implicitly to Michel Serres' work and the significance of 'blanc' and in previous posts. There are many ethnocultural connotations as to how black, white, greys and colours are interpreted and what they mean. As a tool it is important that Hodges' model conveys neutrality. In this case no emotional, value-based stance is taken.

Another thought from the past I recall is the BBC micro wordprocessor View and its appearance on a monochrome (Phillips) screen. Green on black (the new 'blanc'?) worked best. The penultimate blanc is the night sky...?

Albright, D. (2014) Panaesthetics On the Unity and Diversity of the Arts. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Diagram: http://www.dezenovevinte.net/obras/av_rc_baile_en.htm

Is Hodges' model a Self-Organising Hypothesis Network?

"The proposed approach is based on 3 key steps. First, derive knowledge from different sources of information (experimental data, expert learning, machine learning). Secondly, unify the different knowledge representations. Finally, organise the unified knowledge in a way that captures its generalisation hierarchy and facilitates the design of efficient prediction algorithms (Figure 3)." page 2 of 21.

Figure 3 The SOHN methodology. Different sources of knowledge are unified using a common representation based on the concept of hypothesis. The hypotheses can be organised into a hierarchical network to capture the knowledge in a standardised way (page 3 of 21).

Straight away this figure in Hanser et al. (2014) suggested learning and learners and the four care domains of Hodges' model. There are profound differences of course.

The information at the start takes the form of concepts, data, but 'information' also applies. The context in combining chemistry and informatics is radically different when it comes to who, or what is learning in that first arrow. The paper's keywords are:

Machine learning Knowledge discovery Data mining SAR QSAR SOHN Interpretable model Confidence metric and Hypothesis Network.

To a healthcare or social care student the knowledge encountered may well be raw. The principle of Hodges' model encourages the generation of hypotheses within and then across the model's knowledge domains. The learn-er can then attempt to unify these thoughts and reflections, organising them in a variety of ways. Hodges' model is not itself in self-organising, but there is a pattern-learning process for the learner and a pattern-matching process for the expert or specialist.

Hanser, T., Barber, C., Rosser, E., Vessey, J., Webb, D., & Werner, S. (2014). Self organising hypothesis networks: A new approach for representing and structuring SAR knowledge. Journal of Cheminformatics, 6(1), 1-21.

Perceptive Movement (Fifteen Points in 1 of 4)

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

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

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group-population

My source:
A presentation at Conceptual Spaces at Work 2012
& Brilliant Ideas, Bloomberg, Random International

SEMEOTICONS: Reflecting self-care

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

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

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL
|

group

Reflection

SEMEOTICONS

My source:
Dean, J. Smart mirror will reflect the state of your health. The Times, July 29 2015. p.13.

From: Slow is beautiful (Bloomstein, net, July 2014)

The quotes below are from a one page article in the July issue of net magazine. The message is that while efficiency in online experiences is critical especially in ecommerce and business there is still a place for 'slow' and content that asks questions (I hope so):

"Second thoughts undermine efficient ecommerce experiences. But if we only value efficiency, we ignore opportunities for learning and validation that characterise effective, less transactional experiences.

... (How several brands - "Foster Good Decisions")

DESIGN FOR QUESTIONS

These content types and design patterns aren't necessarily the fastest way for users to complete transactions. Instead, they help users engage with purchases with greater confidence, satisfaction and certainty. When content pushes us to weigh options and wrestle with difficult concepts, it pushes us to ask questions - and place greater weight on their answers."

It does not take a giant leap of imagination to consider this in health and social care contexts?

Margot Bloomstein, .net, July 2014, Issue 255, p. 42.

Gestalt, patterns and models: pressing buttons

The three recent events have all in different ways emphasized the role of patterns.

Patterns were there at the Drupal Education Camp, then the Visual Methodologies Workshop and the Scottish Ruby Conference.

There is a lot of very informative content in .net magazine. In the two most recent issues a single page has proved a great help (Buttons gestalt, .net August 2012, p.74) and in the current issue (.net Summer 2012) page 72.

Gene Crawford notes that gestalt in graphic design refers to how a person will recognise and react to an element of something we've designed. Buttons are discussed as an essential part of any design. Crawford points out how a button is the end point in submitting a form, completing an action, or transaction of some form.

A button has to fit in with an overall design - so that as an individual element it shouts out its function, its potential; whether or not that potential is realised.

In case of a medical emergency there is only one button to press: that which activates emergency procedures.

When we are concerned to deliver health and social care the button we should press is: Hodges' model. This is a compound operation. One press activates four (five) buttons: four care domains. This is the umbilicus, not just the nexus, the physical 'belly' button, but the mind, the social, political and spiritual.

For holistic, reflective and integrated care viewing h2cm as a button begs we contemplate the potential that lies beneath. Beneath in the sense of what follows after the button is activated. This is precisely Gene's focus in the summer 2012 issue of .net Mental Models on page 72.

He points to a book: Mental Models Aligning Design Strategy With Human Behaviour, which I also learned of from a lady staying in Lund at the same B&B. Here the thought processes of a visitor to a web site are central. I have some old content - archive material, but vital and still central to understanding and the history of h2cm. How are visitors to navigate their way to find original content, what mental model do they bring even before they seek out menus and buttons. What expectations will they associate with the words and vocabulary of the website: Hodges' model, conceptual framework, structure, content, and conceptual spaces?

I often think of h2cm as a care (information) architecture and Crawford notes the need for empathy with users as a website is designed. So, closer than ever these worlds: nursing and websites. ...

Hodges' model: asking for a fight while searching for the cosmic background holistic radiation

There is an awful lot to fight for at the moment; what with the countdown to Copenhagen and the ongoing struggles of the new economic butterfly from its cocoon - its life plainly in the balance - even before its wings have dried.

Meanwhile, in its four quiet corners Hodges' model is also asking for a fight. Now don't panic, the fight in prospect is an orderly, disciplined affair as per Queensberry Rules(?).

Disciplines new and old seek structures upon which to base their questions, hypotheses, methods and theories. This explains in part the structure of Hodges' model. In facilitating holistic and integrated care through:

• personal and group reflection
• cross curricula application
• socio-technical perspectives
• bridging the theory - practice gap
• ....

Hodges' model is actually asking us to if not tear down the axes, then at least render them irrelevant.

In the same way (well almost) we now recognise new 'super' structures in cosmology, in time we may realise new semantic - ontological structures across and between the existing humanistic - mechanistic domains of h2cm.

Additional links:
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change


Image source: Barnabu - Google Earth add-ons and visualizations.