'Compositionality' - Journal

'Compositionality is a diamond open-access journal for research using compositional ideas, most notably of a category-theoretic origin, in any discipline. Compositionality describes and quantifies how complex things can be assembled out of simpler parts. Topics may concern foundational structures, an organizing principle, or a powerful tool. Example areas include but are not limited to: mathematics, computation, logic, physics, chemistry, engineering, linguistics, and cognition.

Compositionality is free of cost for both readers and authors (diamond open access). You can find our editorial policies here. Our first issue was published, under ISSN 2631-4444, in December 2019.'

Continued ... 

A Scope with the Big Picture in Mind

Coverage plans are ready for NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope prelaunch and launch activities. Roman is NASA’s next-generation observatory designed to explore some of the universe’s biggest mysteries, including dark energy. NASA and SpaceX are targeting Roman’s liftoff for no earlier than 7:26 a.m. EDT Sunday, Aug. 30, aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Launch coverage begins at 6:20 a.m. Live coverage of these events will stream through a variety of platforms. Learn where to watch online: 

https://www.nasa.gov/live ...

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education for ALL life chances Nancy Grace	STEMM Observation Scale
ROMAN Girls - Women in Science	Political investment in Science for Public and Planetary Good

See also:

Nancy Grace Roman

https://science.nasa.gov/mission/roman-space-telescope/

Previously: 'women' : 'astronomy' : 'big picture'

Apollo - Artemis II and the Joy of Earth

Since Artemis II was launched, several more-senior people in the media have been interviewed, with their reflections on certain lunar events in 1969 with the Apollo programme.

 

I too remember being woken up, taking several giant steps down the stairs and huddling around the black & white TV set in the early hours. I'm so glad I did that.

 

Thanks mum and dad. X

 

Following the livestream from Artemis, it's brilliant to see Christina Koch and Victor Glover onboard too.

 

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art002e008487 (April 4, 2026) - NASA astronaut and Artemis II mission specialist Christina Koch peers out of one of the Orion spacecraft's main cabin windows, looking back at Earth, as the crew travels towards the Moon. Image Credit: NASA

"I have not complained about the weather one single time. I'm glad there is weather. I've not complained about traffic. I'm glad there are people around. One of the things that I did when I got home - I went down to shopping centers, and I'd just go around there, get an ice cream cone or something, just watch the people go by, and think: "Boy, we're lucky to be here. Why do people complain about the Earth? We are living in the garden of Eden."                     Alan Bean. Apollo 12

Image: NASA

Text: https://www.livingspace.earth/home/2018/5/remembering-alan-bean
 

Previously: 'Apollo' : 'exploration' : 'moon' 

Lavoisier: Math - Chemistry; Quantity, Quality, Principle ...

The philosophy of science, can not avoid being viewed historically, which leads us to learn how mathematics literally took hold, from physics, to chemistry and biology. The application of mathematics to chemistry provides many and ongoing insights:

'Curiously enough, Kant’s own student, Jeremias Benjamin Richter (1762-1807), would only a few years later disprove his professor with his PhD dissertation On the use of the mathematical method in chemistry (Richter 1789). It laid the groundwork for stoichiometry as an algebraic approach to chemistry, including what was later called the ‘law of constant proportion’ that John Dalton used for his atomism on chemical grounds (Richter 1792-3, Dalton 1808). Moreover, at the time of Kant’s writing, experimental philosophy was taking over most of the centers of European research to become the mainstream methodology of modern science, which would later denounce the ideal of a priori knowledge in science as ‘mere’ metaphysics. Although some philosophers of mathematical physics still adhere to that ideal today, Kant was a late partisan in the struggle for the methodological priority of mathematics in the study of nature as it was exemplified by the old field of ‘rational mechanics’. Yet, his view on science became marginalized as much as his verdict on chemistry, that it would be alien to mathematics, was refuted.'

The pitfalls presented and Schummer's 2.4 A methodological suggestion for defining mathematical chemistry are helpful.

Joachim Schummer. Why Mathematical Chemistry Cannot Copy Mathematical Physics and How to Avoid the Imminent Epistemological Pitfalls. HYLE--International Journal for Philosophy of Chemistry, Vol. 18, No.1 (2012). pp. 71-89. https://www.hyle.org/journal/issues/18-1/schummer.htm

Maths is filled with tragedy, but the personal manifestation in my lack of ability, pales to insignificance to the many scientific and human tragedies history reveals. Consider Galois, and Lavoisier:

‘Only a moment to cut off that head and a hundred years may not give us another like it,’ lamented the 18th-century French mathematician Joseph Louis Lagrange. The head in question had belonged to the French aristocrat and chemist Antoine Laurent Lavoisier, who was executed at the hands of French revolutionaries on 8 May 1794. Lavoisier’s ideas changed the face of chemistry. He is best remembered for overthrowing the phlogiston theory, but perhaps his greater and more lasting achievement was to impose order on the language and symbolism that have shaped the thoughts of chemists.'

Paul Board, The Aristocrat who revolutionised chemistry, New Scientist. May 7, 1994 (Volume 142, Issue 1924). https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg14219243-300/

In an essay in the Charles Coulston Gillispie's essay in the history of scientific ideas, Chapter VI. The Rationalization of Matter, describes how Lavoisier sought to develop an algebraic approach:

'But what is most interesting is Lavoisier's mode of representing these results, so correct in quantity, so wrong in principle. In order to sec what he was about, one has to follow him into some detail. It is obvious, he writes, that acidification of a metal involves many variables-heat, concentration, chemical affinities, etc. each of which is a force acting with characteristic energy. Therefrom results a problem complex and difficult of solution: [my emphasis]

"Better to exhibit the state of the question in this respect, and in order to show at a glance the result of what happens in metallic solutions, I have constructed formulas of a sort, which could at first be taken for algebraic formulas, but which have not the same object, and do not derive from the same principles . . ."'

Gillispie, Charles Coulston. The Edge of Objectivity: An Essay in the History of Scientific Ideas. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1960.

Gillispie quotes at length to demonstrate Lavoisier's approach*. There is a more accessible (for me, here) source in -

Stefano Zambelli (2012). Chemical Kinetics, an Historical Introduction, Chemical Kinetics, Dr Vivek Patel (Ed.), ISBN: 978-953-51-0132-1, InTech, Available from: 
http://www.intechopen.com/books/chemicalkinetics/chemical-kinetics-an-historical-introduction

Please see page 6: 3. Chemical equilibrium conception: The law of mass action.

To close, there is reading and advice to be carried forward in:

Guillermo Restrepo & José L. Villaveces, "Mathematical Thinking in Chemistry". Special Issue: Chemistry and Mathematics, Part 1. HYLE--International Journal for Philosophy of Chemistry, Vol. 18, No.1 (2012). pp. 3-22. https://www.hyle.org/journal/issues/18-1/restrepo-villaveces.htm

Gillispie concludes his illustrated exploration of Lavoisier:

'Is this not the most tantalizing memoir in the history of chemistry, and in Lavoisier's the most appealing? Here alone, one gets a sense of modesty. He never claims for these expressions the dignity of algebra. "We are still very far from being able to introduce mathematical precision into chemistry, and I beg, therefore, that no one consider these formulas . . . as more than simple annotations, of which the object is to ease the labors of the mind." (But compare this disclaimer with what he says of algebra itself in the Method of Chemical Nomenclature: "Algebra is the analytical method par excellence: it was invented to facilitate the labors of the mind, to compress into a few lines what would take pages to discuss, and to lead, finally, in a more convenient prompt and certain manner to the solution of very complicated questions.")' p.245.

*in - Lavoisier, A.L. (1782). Considerations sur la dissolution des metaux dans les acides, Mémoires de l’Académie des sciences 1782, pp. 492-527, Available from http://www.lavoisier.cnrs.fr/ice/ice_book_detail-fr-text-lavosier-Lavoisier-49- 5.htm

viii Book: Bill Ross - 'Order and the Virtual'

 'The Philosophy and Science of Deleuzian Cosmology'

So much of what we experience is nuanced. What was conscious thought, becomes tacit knowledge and unconscious. Is that consciousness nullified as Ross writes on page 76? I wrote a note 'reflection as hesitation'; also prompted to think about intution (p.83) and our word uses in 'retardation' (which here is no problem at all - in physics and complex sciences/systems. Again the 'principle of least action' arises (p.82). With more physics and cosmology to follow, it helps a little that 'manifold' has landed begging to be understood across the contexts. Bill Ross notes how Delueze and Michel Serres used the game metaphor [Game analogy #1]. Again, lifting this to a scribble 'Health-Illness is quite a game'! This will be the subject of a post soon. In England at least the law and manifold on health (being productive) and illness has been utterly disrupted. The game-table has been kicked over, by those in society who still able? New spaces, and canvases are needed. Kantian thought and interpretations are added to Leibniz. A heady mix but clearly essential as Bill Ross's critique is developed. 

 

The book was a must-read, as in the contents: Complexity (with a presentation next month), cosmology, Serres, and Claude Shannon. In Game Analogy #2, "Communication is understood here to encompass much more than meaningful exchange; all phenomena 'communicate'". p.85. I couldn't agree more with with these 'games', this thought being 'situated within the purchase of information theory' (p.86). Bizarrely (or not), in the same year two papers:

Jones, P. (1996) Humans, Information, and Science, Journal of Advanced Nursing, 24(3),591-598.

Jones, P. (1996) An overarching theory of health communication? Health Informatics Journal,2,1,28-34. 

Ross explains the global view of Michel Serres when it comes to 'information'. This entranced me, and I only scratched the skin:

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.

Here there's a pointer to the cosmology to follow - Ross is true to the title. I have let most of the Astronomy Yearbooks go, but retain a few. Not just for key birth-years, but articles that are well written and researched historical snapshots. Here, Bill Ross discusses the game of Cepheid variables and their significance in mapping the universe. Truly, fascinating. Weaver's three levels of salient action are listed. Threads are tied too, with conclusions offered. These rules are reappraised, physics ever present. In light of one of the above papers I should revisit Serres, and Leibniz; the search for 'overarching explanatory power' (p.91) is ongoing. This game draws on Serres invitation to imagine a diagram, a network of nodes, channels, and propositions. This tabular formulation and its relations for me, spans the history of economics (Quesnay's tableau), the current state of economics (human values), and next (mathematical?) steps for Hodges' model. So many questions here: surely node  can't be an axis? I felt like Hansel, picking up sweets, Cartesian lines, scalene forms, thresholds, coming across hoops to jump through through to terminal equilibri. As you walk the sound of the thalweg, downstream... where Bergson features once again.

 

Reading Ross, over several months coincided with several key themes gaining in personal coherence. Bayesian ideas as might be applied to Hodges' model, even if in a naïve way (c/o feedback on draft notes). The remainder of chapter 3 includes time (thought), percept (space), to close with Deleuze's Ideal Game. I looked up Cortázarian Hopscotch https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hopscotch_(Cort%C3%A1zar_novel), as the preface is titled. Ross reflects on the Ideal Game (does it exist, for Deleuze, only in thought?), and the distinction between 'domestic' chance (Baysian) and radical contingency belonging to the clinamen. In response to 'physical action and and the thought being on the same continuum', don't ask (please!), but I scribbled: 'corridor care' - a dangerous game, far from ideal. Plus, bird's using quantum entanglement to navigate. 'Kant's chaotic manifold', I will also investigate for next month(?).

Chapter 4 'Order as Complexity' proved most relevant. Every page is touched by graphite.

Deleuze has a 'blind spot' (p.111), something that Hodges' model seeks to ameloirate. But then of course at the model's center (nexus - as noted) that decussation of the axes invites a darkness of its own. If Hodges' model assists forethought and foresight  While inviting complexity, this interdisciplinary palette can also facilitate trandiscipinary sense-making. 'Magnitudes of intensity' reminded me of logarithmic thresholds within our perceptual apparatus. This is like reading Serres. A flow of punctum, simultaneity, delay (again) but its contribution to causal series, and Aionic time. I was taken (frequently)  to plane, person, personhood, chronicity, scales, local to global to glocal.

'BwO' (p.117)? That's 'body without organs: DELEUZE, GUATTARI a thousand plateaus - capitalism and s c h i z o p h r e n i a'.

There is a 'corner' amid those thousand plateaus. n.b. to self - 'triangulation always needs one other'. I cannot resolve the frameworks as yet, scientific - otherwise or otherwhere; but you can take flight from here. Physics takes it place as 'complexity begets complexity'. Bill Ross utilises well-recognized sources, Penrose, Kauffman, Kolmogorov and Bohm.

As with the frameworks internal and external complexity must be untangled 1-4 (p.124?). I can laugh now, did I really try to marry up Order  - Disorder :: Simple - Complex (complicated?) to the domains of Hodges' model? So often reading philosophy, you feel an imposter playing games with words, as in: 'different similarities' and 'similar differences' (p.125). But of course, this is serious scholarship. Especially, when it involves lines, a rough circle, segments and dimensions: disorder becomes different degrees of order. Page 126 delivers Deleuze in spades, Ross pulls his thoughts together. It is fitting for me that Ross closes chapter 4 with a nod to transdisciplinarity.

Chapter 5 deals with symmetry and disymmetry; indifference and difference; limits and non-locality. There is an argument to follow (p.133). With 'group theory' mentioned on p.131, I've a lot of things to 'look up' [topology too]. Despite appearances I recognise the lack of symmetry in Hodges' model. This is what the situation does (practice) and means (theory): 'There is no reason under the sun which can rely on perfect symmetry' (p.135).  Where do/can we locate 'spooky action at a distance' in Hodges' model (p.140)? 

The Higgs role! Who knew? 'the speed of light. It represents a retardation.' Thanks Bill Ross, fascinating pp. 135-174. Plus, axes too. Note to self: when we die do we 'simply' set sail on the Dirac Sea? Attending the Bill Ross Memorial Workshop – BSP Special Event 2025 last September:

https://hodges-model.blogspot.com/2025/09/bill-ross-memorial-workshop.html

the esteem .. and love .. that Bill Ross engendered in the people that knew him. The preface refers to chats in university cafes. How I wish. I wonder what Bill would have made of Hodges' model and the ongoing project here? Vitally, I get a distinct sense that he would have found time to listen ... 

'Bill Ross (1964 – 2022) had interests ranging widely across contemporary philosophy and culture, with a particular interest in the relations between science and philosophy. As managing editor, he was the driving force behind Clinamen Press, which in the early 2000s published new works by contemporary philosophers, and English translation of important works by continental philosophers such as Henri Bergson, Gaston Bachelard and Michel Serres. He completed his PhD in philosophy at Staffordshire University, where he taught on the MA in the Philosophy of Nature, Information, and Technology. Bill had a lifelong passion for the connections between science and philosophy, on which he had published several important articles. Bill was working on a monograph on the philosophy and science of Deleuzian cosmology, which was has been posthumously published by Edinburgh University Press. This event is to celebrate Bill’s book and his life, and to allow his friends, his colleagues, and anyone interested in his work or the topics and issues addressed by his work to continue the conversation that Bill’s work inspires.'

https://www.thebsp.org.uk/bill-ross-memorial-workshop-deleuzian-cosmologies/

 

Many thanks again to Edinburgh University Press for my copy - a keeper! Bill Ross RIP.

 

Bill Ross (2024) Order and the Virtual: The Philosophy and Science of Deleuzian Cosmology. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-order-and-the-virtual.html

AI - World Models

'What Is a World Model?

World models are neural networks that understand the dynamics of the real world, including physics and spatial properties. They can use input data, including text, image, video, and movement, to generate videos that simulate realistic physical environments. Physical AI developers use world models to generate custom synthetic data or downstream AI models for training robots and autonomous vehicles.'

https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/glossary/world-models/

In healthcare a 'world model' is slightly more expansive, hence the importance of experienced humans. We call these - nurses, doctors, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, social workers and many other professions, support workers and disciplines. They learn and train for many years and must continue to learn and unlearn throughout their careers. Their work and engagement is shaped and directed by human values, which are in turn informed by social change, evidence-based research, professional guidance, policy and law.

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	WORLD MODEL

Modelling turbulence in flight: and other situations?

'Thomas Q. Carney, a retired professor of aviation technology at Purdue University in Indiana who has logged more than 11,000 flight hours as a pilot, said, "The better the model, the more it captures of the particular turbulent field, then the better the forecast, which is what the pilot is going to use."'

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complexity and turbulence here ...	Birnir, B., & Angheluta, L. (2025). Scaling of Lagrangian structure functions. Phys. Rev. Res., 7(2), 023225.  https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.7.023225
here	and here ...

'To try to make sense of chaos, Dr. Birnir worked with Luiza Angheluta-Bauer, a theoretical physicist at the University of Oslo, to devise a model that combines two different methods for observing turbulence: what are known as Lagrangian and Eulerian mechanics. Experts say that neither framework can fully explain how turbulence works. 

That's because these two frameworks look at fundamentally different aspects of a turbulent system. In Lagrangian mechanics. researchers observe a simple particle. while in the Eulerian framework they look at a single point in space. Put simply, Lagrangian mechanics is like watching a leaf flow downriver, subject to the whims of eddies in the water. On the other hand, Eulerian mechanics is like watching a rock that protrudes from the river's surface and studying how the turbulence of the water moves around that fixed point.

Lagrangian turbulence is trickier to model because it requires an understanding of how a lone particle will behave. That lone particle will "execute the most complicated motion that you could imagine," Dr. Birnir said.

Knowing how each type of turbulence fits into the bigger picture is akin to selecting the appropriate lens for a microscope, since both are highly dependent on perspective. "Same turbulence, different stories," said Tomek Jaroslawski a postdoctoral fellow at the Center of Turbulence Research at Stanford University.' Nazaryan, p.12.

Nazaryan, A. A new theory of in-flight turbulance lands, Science: The New York Times International Edition, October 15, 2025, p.12.

[Subscription: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/science/physics-airplanes-turbulence.html ].

See previously: 'care architecture' : 'Serres' : 'complexity' - and, if needed 'spiritual'

Bill Ross Memorial Workshop – BSP Special Event 2025

A workshop in memory of Bill Ross, and to celebrate the posthumous publication of his book Order and the Virtual: The Philosophy and Science of Deleuzian Cosmology (2024). 

Convened by the British Society for Phenomenology with the family and friends of Bill.

I never met Bill Ross, nor had I learned of his work prior to receiving news of this workshop. I attended today in Manchester; also realising I'd intended to post the details. It was well worth the effort in the (predictable!) rain. The speakers and sessions were as follows:

• Dan Smith (Purdue University): “Reality is a Problem: Deleuze’s Metaphysics of Manifolds”
• Michael Epperson (California State University, Sacramento): “Relational Realism and the Ontogenetic Universe: Subject, Object, and Ontological Process in Quantum Mechanics”
• Vera Bühlmann (Vienna University of Technology): “Cosmic splendour and signal messages, or the choice that will remain unmade”
• Kemal Tezgin (Virginia Tech): “The Virtuality of Space: A Deleuzian Reading of Quantum Fields”
• Robin Durie (University of Exeter) & Craig Lundy (London Metropolitan University): “What the imagination already knew: Science & Myth in the Genesis of Desert Islands”

Order and the Virtual (2024)

The sessions were informative and stimulating for studies here (category theory was noted).

With thanks to Carol at Edinburgh University Press, I have a review copy of Bill Ross's text.

Looking at the contents and index there are many fields in common, which I will share over the coming months.

As with the Laws of Form conference last year in Liverpool, here is another group of academics and scholars, welcoming and keen to share their expertise and learn.

So, thanks to Carol again for what looks an exciting book and the organisers and sponsors of this brilliant event acknowledging and commemerating the work of Bill Ross.

I will try to be more timely with news of related events, and developments. More to follow, but to close for now ...

'Bill Ross (1964 – 2022) had interests ranging widely across contemporary philosophy and culture, with a particular interest in the relations between science and philosophy. As managing editor, he was the driving force behind Clinamen Press, which in the early 2000s published new works by contemporary philosophers, and English translation of important works by continental philosophers such as Henri Bergson, Gaston Bachelard and Michel Serres. He completed his PhD in philosophy at Staffordshire University, where he taught on the MA in the Philosophy of Nature, Information, and Technology. Bill had a lifelong passion for the connections between science and philosophy, on which he had published several important articles. Bill was working on a monograph on the philosophy and science of Deleuzian cosmology, which was has been posthumously published by Edinburgh University Press. This event is to celebrate Bill’s book and his life, and to allow his friends, his colleagues, and anyone interested in his work or the topics and issues addressed by his work to continue the conversation that Bill’s work inspires.'

https://www.thebsp.org.uk/bill-ross-memorial-workshop-deleuzian-cosmologies/

Graphene just broke a fundamental law of physics

Graphene just broke a fundamental law of physics.

Its electrons just did something physicists thought was impossible. For nearly 200 years, metals have obeyed the Wiedemann-Franz law – the rule that electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity always rise and fall together. 

But in ultra-clean graphene, researchers at the Indian Institute of Science found the opposite. As electrical conductivity increased, thermal conductivity dropped, shattering a principle taught in every physics textbook. 

The key lies at the “Dirac point,” a strange electronic tipping point where graphene is neither a metal nor an insulator. Here, electrons stop behaving like individual particles. Instead, they flow collectively as a nearly perfect fluid – a state called a “Dirac fluid.” 

This discovery doesn’t just rewrite the rules for graphene. It provides a tabletop window into extreme physics usually reserved for black holes and high-energy colliders. Scientists say this behavior could help probe mysteries of quantum entanglement, black hole thermodynamics, and the very fabric of matter itself.

 ["Universality in quantum critical flow of charge and heat in ultraclean graphene." Nature Physics, 2025] ...

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While I can't fully understand this paper (even the abstract!), I realise that it is taking what seems a long time^ for industry and business to understand and realise the potential of graphene in industrial and technological applications.
Hopefully, applications will emerge, that are beneficial to all. Reducing energy use, improving efficiency, removing pollutants even more effectively, imcreasing the durability and hence lifetime of materials and products, and more.	Also, marvellous to see global collaboration at work, as science continues to asks questions. ^I could have written exploitation there, but could we put the collective and planetary first?

Majumdar, Aniket and Chadha, Nisarg and Pal, Pritam and Gugnani, Akash and Ghawri, Bhaskar and Watanabe, Kenji and Taniguchi, Takashi and Mukerjee, Subroto and Ghosh, Arindam. (2025) Universality in quantum critical flow of charge and heat in ultraclean graphene, Nature Physics. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41567-025-02972-z

Arxiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.03193

My source: https://x.com/Rainmaker1973/status/1966896966316474505

Which includes a video 5m 'Quantum Critical Flow in Graphene: Charge & Heat Dynamics'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrImy9PAHGk

See also on W2tQ: 'physics : 'women'

'The Bells of Nagasaki' by Takashi Nagai

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	nuclear
'The Bells of Nagasaki' by Takashi Nagai	power

Takashi Nagai, William Johnston (Translator), Richard Lloyd Parry (Introducer). The Bells of Nagasaki. London: Penguin.

https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/469083/the-bells-of-nagasaki-by-nagai-takashi/9781529952605

My source:
Olivia Ward-Jackson. What one man saw in the ruins of Nagasaki, Review, The Daily Telegraph. 26 July 2025. pp.6-7.

See also:

UN Peace Bell

Jones, P. (1994) An Enthusiast's View of CAL. (Problems in production of CAL - Simulation effects of Nuclear Weapons - conversion of GWBASIC to BBC BASIC from BYTE - with original author's permission - J Fanchi). IT in Nursing. 6,2.

'Critical Notes on the Nature of Sociology as a Science'

4Ps

As a model of care (education, management, safety, systems, ...)*, or a conceptual model, conceptual framework, or however described, Hodges' model, as with its many peers is idealised.

You quickly 'see' that the 4Ps I've associated with the knowledge - care domains of Hodges' model are far specific, or limited to that domain alone.

In our dialogues, media and literature it becomes obvious that in addition to physical, sequential, and  natural (scientific) processes, there are also political,  sociological, and psychological, or mental  (interpersonal) processes.

I've always been drawn to the diagonal distances between the interpersonal-political domains; and that between the sociological-scientific. The latter I think about often as it makes the news regularly, when education is raised, literacy, the state of our schools, colleges, universities and (globally) the public's understanding of the sciences. So finding a paper heading for its centennial birthday caught my attention. Not just that, but the journal - Social Forces is (very much!) still with us aged 103 this year. Unsurprisingly, I like the way Woodard contrasts the mechanistic and humanistic:

Hodges' model

'For there is a further distinction to be made among evaluations of functional appropriateness. I may analyze the functional appropriateness of the gears and pulleys of a machine. That is applied mechanics, not the pure science of mechanics. For the function of the machine is tacked on to it arbitrarily and does not emerge from the data of the science of mechanics. But the same may not be said of hearts and lungs, of mental and emotional processes, or of social structures, functions, and processes. Here the functions are not extraneously tacked onto an arbitrarily assembled collation. They are inescapable emergents from the process of scientific analysis and are warp and woof of our data as it confronts us, in situ, in the natural universe. They are not in any sense superimposed.' p.32.

Interesting point regarding 'hearts and lungs' - to possibly return to? Also, as a template Hodges' model provides a 'warp and woof' for data gathering - a foundation.

Woodard, J. W. (1932). Critical Notes on the Nature of Sociology as a Science. Social Forces, 11(1), 28–43. https://doi.org/10.2307/2569615 

*Please give it a try whatever your field, and let me know your thoughts. ... h2cmng AT yahoo.co.uk

Still sorting books: "The holographic paradigm and other paradoxes"

There has been overlap in my subscription to the Laws of Form mail list and a (David) Bohm list. With the difference, I unsubscribed from the latter, in an effort to focus. The work of Bohm is still very much on the radar and book shelves (well, boxes currently). Continuing to clear books, I've been reading through some relevant sections and quote here at length from:

Wilber, K. (Ed.), (1982) The holographic paradigm and other paradoxes. Boulder, CO: Shambhala.

The Enfolding-Unfolding Universe: A conversation with David Bohm (pp.44-104)

"WEBER: You've spoken of clarity often today and in the past: therefore, isn't it necessary at this point to consider consciousness and the knower, the one who is or isn't clear?

BOHM: Yes, we could come to that. The point is that consciousness is confused. Confusion is nonclarity. And if you say, a person is not clear, you mean he's confused, although it is more polite to say he's not clear. And confusion means "melting together." Things that are different are seen as one and things that are one are seen as broken up into many. So confusion clearly causes chaos." p.61.

"BOHM: Well, yes, we can consider that maybe that is what is, but, at the same time we have to be very  careful to say that thought cannot grasp it, so at some stage thought has to put this question aside as to what is, you see. Thought cannot grasp that which is. And any attempt to grasp that which is engages us in serious self-deception which confuses everything. So that thought has to learn or somehow come to a state of discipline, or whatever you want to call it, spontaneous discipline, its own discipline. 

WEBER: Order?  

BOHM: Yes, order, in which it does not attempt to grasp the questions which are beyond it, such as the question of that which is. It can grasp any relative question which is conditioned, or in some way, conditional. So even the nonmanifest consciousness of the  nonmanifest matter, which is highly subtle, is still within the possible area of thought."  p.64.

"WEBER: Deeply. So you're saying that prior to this current awareness of the centrality of consciousness, what we've been trying to do is hopeless because we've addressed small social problems all in the wrong domain, so to speak. 

BOHM: Yes. Well, really not going to their source at all." p.80.

"WEBER: Which was the old Cartesian or dualistic model.  

BOHM: Right. It also leads to infinite regress, unless you end it by  God or somewhere.

Now I think we come to a point where we're raising a question which was similar to what was raised in  yesterday's discussion.  How long can we go on trying to talk about what is beyond thought by making an intellectual construction? You see, because when we  make such an intellectual construction we  have a content and we have implied that the one who is constructing it is also supposed to be beyond that content. So he evades the very thing we attempt to include him in and in that very attempt he gets out. And so it seems that there is some limit to how far you can go in that  process, in that approach. Therefore it's best to say that in this approach in which we attempt to make a map, or a sketch of some  kind of what reality is, that we are really dealing with something limited. Korzybski used to say: "Whatever we say it is, it isn't."

WEBER: The map is not the territory. . . .

BOHM: That's right. Yes. And therefore what we are doing is making maps, making sketches, making concepts. And see, that's why I said the other night that science, for example, theoretical  science, is not primarily concerned with observing things but with observing ideas. ..."  p.84

The Tao of Physics Revisited  (pp.215-248)

"CAPRA: Yes, they would look at genetics, individual parts and so on. 

WEBER: They have the Cartesian view, whereas you're saying that this is the new vision, emphasizing interdependence, interconnectedness, the dynamics of the whole. 

CAPRA: But I should say that both reductionism and holism are necessary. 

WEBER: I understand. You are not suggesting that we abolish the other. You are saying we should supplement one with the other. 

CAPRA: If you want to get the full story, then you need both views. Because either one gives you only half of the story. This is what I see as the future of science, and I see a future science as no longer distinguishing between disciplines. 

WEBER: That's a very radical view. 

CAPRA: Yes, and by the way Heinsenberg already said that years ago. In one of his books, The Part and the Whole, he ends with his view of future science, and I agree very much with that. I have come to believe that in the future we will apply a network of models, and we will use different languages to describe different phenomena at different levels. We will not worry any longer whether we are doing biology or psychology or physics or anthropology or whatever; we won't be worried about these classifications." p.241.

Reading of The Systems View of Life - A Unifying Vision is also ongoing (p.240 ... and a joy) with posts to follow.

See also:

https://kfoundation.org/krishnamurti-and-david-bohm/

Peter Higgs - Boson and Field

"Higgs theorised that particles would acquire mass by interacting with a new type of field. That field had a very special excitation of its own, another particle called the Higgs boson. The Higgs field solved a huge question in theoretical particle physics, and the Higgs boson was a tantalising target that experimentalists could hunt for in order to tie theory to reality.

“If you remove everything from the vacuum, all matter or quantum fluctuations, all electromagnetic stuff, all gravity, you will be left with the Higgs field,” says Frank Close at the University of Oxford. “And we need that just like a goldfish needs water. It stabilises empty space.”

Working independently from Higgs, Belgian physicists Francois Englert and Robert Brout reached the same conclusion, also in 1964."

New Scientist

On BBC Radio 4 11th April 1500 UT, Frank Close extended the goldfish analogy: "as if some clever goldfish have proved that they are immersed in something because they have found a molecule of H₂O."

BBC Inside Science

The following is from a previous post:

UK Higher Education Research Excellence Framework - Disciplines

https://hodges-model.blogspot.com/2023/07/ref-uk-higher-ed-h2cm.html

INDIVIDUAL

|

     INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

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

SOCIOLOGY  :   POLITICAL 

|

GROUP

Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience Archaeology Theology and Religious Studies Philosophy [Mathematics & Logic] ^Communication  as Intra- Interpersonal (Skills) Neurodiversity hence an individual's sense-making

Clinical Medicine (Neuroscience) Public Health, Health Services and Primary Care Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy Biological sciences  Agriculture, Food and Veterinary Sciences Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences Chemistry Physics Mathematical Sciences Computer Science and Informatics Engineering Architecture, Built Environment and Planning Geography and Environmental Studies Archaeology Area Studies Sport and Exercise Sciences,

Archaeology Social Work and Social Policy Sociology Anthropology and Development Studies area studies Education Modern Languages and Linguistics English Language and Literature History Classics Communication^, Cultural and Media Studies, Library and Information Management Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies

Leisure and Tourism Archaeology Economics and Econometrics Business and Management Studies Law area studies Politics and International Studies

34 subject-based Units of Assessment (UOAs)

1st April 2030 From Person to Planet:

First Call for the First Transdisciplinary Health 

and Social Care Conference -

Everyone is Invited!

Open to all health and social care professions and disciplines:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_healthcare_occupations

A celebration of the Hodges' field.😉

RIP Peter Higgs

'LA Gun Club' (2016) by Jane Hilton

intent - maximum damage - social/vicarious trauma - policy fatigue(s)

Individual
   |

      INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

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

 SOCIOLOGY  :   POLITICAL 

|

Group

With thanks to Jane Hilton

https://www.palogallery.com/exhibitions/35-la-gun-club-jane-hilton/overview/

Top left: intra- interpersonal
Target E. Age: 26. Occupation: Architecture student. Gun: Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum revolver.
"I wanted to use the same gun as Clint Eastwood used in the movie Dirty Harry."

Top right: sciences
Target G. Age: 37. Occupation: Range master for a gun club. Gun: Beretta 92 FS 9mm pistol.
"I have the perfect job. I own many guns, I just love looking at them. I'm not bothered about shooting them. My favourite is the Kimber Warrior because it shoots large bullets."

Bottom left: sociology

Target A. Age: 35. Occupation: Federal security. Gun: Glock 22 .40 caliber pistol.
"I cannot believe I shot that hostage's ear on my target. I learnt to shoot when I was in the military Marine Corps infantry."

Bottom right: political
Target H. Age: 32. Occupation: Stay at home Mom. Guns: Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum revolver, Beretta 9mm pistol and Colt 5.56mm rifle (shooter's own).
"I own all 3 guns I used to shoot my target. Me and my husband go to different gun clubs all the time."

My source:
Alexander James, SNAPSHOT: 'LA Gun Club' (2016) by Jane Hilton. FT Weekend, Life&Arts, 17-18 February 2024. p.19.

Book review iv. General Psychotherapy: Principles and Common Theoretical Aspects - Rediscovering Humanity

   General Psychotherapy

My late teens - early twenties coincided with the emergence of chaos, fractals and yes - emergent phenomena. Consequently, I had to refer back to Chapter 3, as Hartmann-Kottek writes:

"If we imagine a fractal that encompasses all categories similarly to a quantum in this regard, all cells, organs, particularly the human brain, the entire person, groups of people, races, nature and the earth would also be in field and structure at the same time. This does not appear to be an abnormal notion. Several experiences with field phenomena of the relationship level would consequently gain their natural allocation.

Indeed, we are familiar with notions that cross categories with regard to states of matter: Water as ice, snowflakes, liquid, vapour, mist and clouds are normal aspects of daily life."p.215.

This resonates at present with reading on categories, seeking theory and to what extent can mathematics and logic be applied to Hodges' model and more importantly, to the humanities? There is some toing-and-froing in the book, but for me having read the book - it works. If a student asked me what is a good subject to study at high school. It would be Social and Economic History, especially if you are thinking of pursuing mental health nursing, psychiatry, or psychology. General nursing too, I would add, acknowledging the need for holistic and integrated theory, practice and management. 

Chapter 7: is a regular rollercoaster in terms of history and cultures:

The Spirit of the Times and Cultural Epochs as Reference Systems Along with Their Transformation of the Ideal Level of Human Development – A Historical Journey Into the Past to Learn for the Future

In healthcare we need to constantly ask (it's called mandatory training) about the protected characteristics, the various literacies, including emotional, spiritual, cultural; and all the determinants of health. And we need to be cognizant of all of them: individual, environmental, commercial, educational, social, and educational (hence why 'categories' are salient).

The discussion of non-European cultures are particularly rewarding - Africa, Australia, Polynesia, Ancient far East, Native Americas, Egypt, Yoruba and others. Page 437 brings Martial arts, where synergy between mind, body and spirit is central. Reflecting culture and the association between health, well-being, the human condition and pastoral care chapter 7 covers the main religions and relationships between several. The influence of aesthetics in certain cultures is also introduced. The book is a springboard for further reading. Section 7.1.2 on an Integrative, Holistic Stance as a Countermovement provides the names and dates of  more than fifteen personalities: Alexius Meinong (1853-1920) ... Wilhelm Witte (1915-1985). Through the history described, it is interesting to reflect on the significance of the holding of knowledge and power imbued through its use. The end of chapter is an effort to take stock of social development - a non-trivial task given the dynamic world we try to exist within. 

 I found I was rolling together chapters 6,7 and 8 even as they hold-their-own in content and placement. As a community mental health nurse I still reflect upon:

• There is no overarching theory of health communication.
• Gatekeeping is alive and well.
• The current often vociferous 'debate' between psychiatrists, psychologists, patients/clients, carers and nurses too.

Chapter 8 returns to the integration of psychotherapy with the politics of research, or how the exercise of power within psychotherapy research has resulted in crises. I wished I'd paid more attention, but I do recall at some events, conferences instances of animosity between different therapeutic camps. Hartmann-Kottek does not labour the final chapter. There are positive messages here too. A page and a half overview informs us that globally there is research attending to the knowledge and not the interests of particular therapeutic organisations and associations. Statistics, evidence, fake science are discussed, the history in psychotherapy and how this frames the future. When I started reading the book behavioural science was in the news for the wrong reasons. 

Chapter 8 reminds me of the proverb 'Reap what you sow'. Now across health and social care how many gates and gate-keepers are there? Outside of 'emergency' triage: how many are legitimate, needed? How as the original role - processes changed? In England there is ongoing debate about IAPT - Improving Access to Psychological Therapies. Fascinating and troubling the apparent increase in diagnosis of autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Still many questions to be asked, especially on access to therapy within  the auspices of universal health coverage.

Here on the blog and in my application of Hodges' model, it may seem that the POLITICAL domain is the constant elephant. The thing to be climbed over, circumvented, accepted for all its ills (no pun intended). Politics, the political is a tool. It is, in Hodges' model, an essential domain in terms of care delivery and knowledge. The idea of that "Competitive constellations happen." (p.465) is of course a reality. In championing and studying Hodges' model this is well recognised. Chapter 8 is a mélange of socio-political concepts which briefly reveal what must be better resolved not just in psychotherapy, but health and social care: all the determinants.

Hodges' model = a natural home for contextual research?

 "At long last, 'contextual research' (Wampold et al.) has put an end to the belief solely in standardised and manualised treatment programmes." p.345.

While the above gives me great encouragement - a note in book: "Generalising partial perspectives only ever lead to impasse." (p.458) reminds me to take nothing for granted.

Chapter 8 places an emphasis on balance.

Hartmann-Kottek uses the term '(r)evolutionary' in chapter 8. This is fitting as the chapter begins with history - with or without the Dodo. Perhaps quantum descriptions can be found by (necessarily) and paradoxically increasing the theory-practice gap. Taking 'theory' even further away from the noise, complexity of practice. We often consider theory, as an opportunity to be idealist. How often (in the past?) have nurses found the nursing theory - model they are trying to apply ungainly as the day-to-night pressures of care delivery make themselves known? Perhaps ironically by venturing further into theory new vistas will appear, with timely and much needed perspectives given the demands of health in the 21st Century.

 'I' - 'Individual' 'SELF' 'Patient' 'Client'

  |

    INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

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

SOCIOLOGY  :   POLITICAL 

|

dyad / couple  family  GROUP community population

PSYCHO - PSYCHO - ... experience-related,  mind and	- TECHNICS^ - MECHANICS^ confrontational connections in the physiological patterns ... (p.480).
foundational collective context i dyad, triad, couples, families, small and large groups	foundational collective context ii gates, gate-keepers, gate-keeping access, accessibility

Many thanks to Prof. Hartmann-Kottek and Springer for the review copy. I will add the related posts below soon.

An enjoyable, informative read and a great contribution to my CPD. There are many more points to highlight and I may do so in the future.

Hartmann-Kottek, L. (2022). General Psychotherapy, Principles and Common Theoretical Aspects - Rediscovering Humanity. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87466-7.

^Used in the text.