Flawed Idea Research Articles

Beyond the 'Protected Area' Paradigm in Conservation: Exploring India's Forest Legislation as a New Conservation Model for Developing Countries.

To achieve global biodiversity targets, expanding protected area (PA) networks has been regarded as a major strategy in international commitments. However, the PA strategy often fails to achieve its objective - preserving biodiversity and ecosystem services. In addition, the expansion of PA areas could replicate and amplify historical injustices such as forced evictions, state-led physical violence, assimilation of culture and loss of traditional ecological knowledge, affecting communities' livelihood, quality of life and rights. There is an increasing consensus that the post-2020 biodiversity conservation framework should be rights-based and sensitive to the role and contributions of local communities towards achieving the PAs' targets. India's Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2006 may be considered a useful framework for biodiversity conservation in the context of this new conservation vision. It puts local people at the centre stage, making them active participants in designing and managing conservation. PAs following 'fortress conservation' approach were based on the flawed idea that human interference endangers biodiversity and therefore habitats should be preserved by force if required. Such an idea contradicts the recent understanding that ecosystems once perceived as 'wilderness', have been transformed by people. PAs undermine the intricate and intertwined relationship of humans with their immediate ecosystem. The conservation model proposed by FRA 2006, on the other hand, recognises local communities as an integral part of ecosystem and thereby acknowledges people's rights and agency in conservation. It ensures locals' equitable benefits from economic activities, and provides equitable opportunities to participate in decision-making. Though various provisions under FRA empowered local people in conservation, it faces various challenges during the implementation on the ground. It is argued that a clear and appropriate institutional arrangement specifying various stakeholders' power, roles and responsibilities in the conservation and management of bioresources (including the protection of endangered species) should be developed for transformative change in biodiversity conservation.

Level of competence of rural physicians in primary health care in the diagnosis of malignant neoplasms of main localizations

Objective. To analize the level of rural PHC doctors` competence on the issues of diagnosis and routing patients with suspected cancer. Materials and methods. The study was conducted using a survey of medical workers involved in the diagnosis of malignant neoplasms of four main localizations (specialist doctors and paramedics of examination rooms) of the Central District Hospital of five rural municipal districts of the Magnitogorsk oncological cluster of Chelyabinsk region. 35 physicians took part in the study. Results. The results of the survey were quite negative: the minority of respondents are aware of the exact duration of the mandatory initial diagnostic examination, the period of informing the oncologist about the patient diagnosed with cancer, and the scheme for assigning municipal medical organizations to outpatient oncology centers. Conclusions. The surveyed contingent is characterized by: low oncological alertness and unsatisfactory competence concerning the initial manifestations of malignancies; inclusion of symptoms of the formed cancer in the number of early manifestations of malignancies, which means that a doctor, unsure of the diagnosis, as if waiting for the appearance of an obvious, from his point of view, symptom of a tumor, and as a result, the patient has an advanced stage of cancer; 3) flawed ideas about the full list of necessary methods for diagnosing malignant neoplasms of leading localizations; unsatisfactory knowledge of regulatory documentation on the routing of patients with suspected cancer.

The Ill-Thought-Through Aim to Eliminate the Education Gap across the Socio-Economic Spectrum

Background: In an era of dramatic technological progress, the consequent economic transformations, and an increasing need for an adaptable workforce, the importance of education has risen to the forefront of the social discourse. The concurrent increase in the awareness of issues pertaining to social justice and the debate over what this justice entails and how it ought to be effected, feed into the education policy more than ever before. From the nexus of the aforementioned considerations, concern about the so-called education gap has emerged, with worldwide efforts to close it. Methods: I analyze the premises behind such efforts and demonstrate that they are founded upon fundamentally flawed ideas. Results: I show that in a society in which education is delivered equitably, education gaps emerge naturally as a consequence of differentiation due to talents, the tendency for matched mate selection, and the heritability of intellectual traits. Conclusion: I issue a call for a redirection of efforts away from the ill-founded idea of closing the education gap to the understanding of the magnitude of its unfair contributions, as well as to those social aspects that can modulate it in accordance with what a society deems fair according to its values.

Gendered Violence and the Role of Insects in the Arthropoetics of Natalie Scenters-Zapico

Theorized in this essay as a central element of ecoGothic horror, the threat of gendered violence functions in contemporary ecoGothic texts as a revision of traditional conflicts between agential nature and the human. Examining the arthropoetic works of Fronterista poet and educator Natalie Scenters-Zapico, this essay argues that heteropatriarchy complicates understandings of "the human" in ecoGothic literature, as the already flawed idea of human agency is markedly less stable in the context of Scenters-Zapico's women speakers. In examining the ways that sexism, gender inequality, and gendered violence inhabit a large portion of the ecoGothic, this essay also charts new territory in critical scholarship by focusing on the role of insects in literary representations of the ecoGothic. Read through the lens of what I deem the Latinx ecoGothic, this essay suggests that the poems "The Hunt," "He Finds a Kissing Bug," and "Last Night I Was Killed by Man" situate their female speakers in ambivalent relationships with insects and arachnids in ways that mirror the horrors of sexualized/gendered violence as well as the actions that subjects of said violence take to resist these horrors.

Renaming Gleason Score 6 Prostate to Noncancer: A Flawed Idea Scientifically and for Patient Care.

Renaming Gleason Score 6 Prostate to Noncancer: A Flawed Idea Scientifically and for Patient Care.

Re-constructing Self-identity and Reorienting National Discourse: Critical Insights into an Autobiographical Book Karukku by an Indian Dalit Writer Bama

All battles cannot be won by swords or guns alone, particularly when the battle is against discriminatory ideologies and supremacist ideas. Dalit Writer Bama’s book Karukku is one such attempt to contest, resist and replace all such flawed ideas and hegemonic dogmas that have dehumanized Indian Dalits for centuries. This testimonio exposes the shameful and ugly facets of Indian societal structure, in which caste-based stratification has unfortunately and unjustly treated those very masses who have most diligently served this ancient civilization with their sweat and blood. Through this book, Bama makes an impactful appeal to her fellow folks—the Dalits and, in particular, to the Dalit women—to join hands together in re-conceptualizing and re-asserting their collective as well as individual identities so as to claim their rightful place in the Indian social order. This article not only delineates upon these multiple dimensions of this masterpiece that have contributed substantially to Dalit feminism but also argues that this book must be read as a thought-provoking piece of ‘Resistance literature’. Further, this article will also make an attempt to trace the intersecting trajectories between ‘Dalit feminism’, ‘Black feminism’ and ‘Postcolonialism’.

Beyond fortress conservation: The long-term integration of natural and social science research for an inclusive conservation practice in India

The separation of people from their landscapes undergirds conservation action, especially in the global south. Such a ‘fortress conservation’ approach is based on the flawed idea that local people's use of forests endangers biodiversity and therefore habitats should be protected by force if necessary. Such a conservation approach runs contrary to the recent understanding that ecosystems once perceived as ‘wilderness’ have been transformed by people. Long-term interdisciplinary research has produced a nuanced understanding of the linkages between ecological and social processes. An example of such long-term engagement is a series of programmes by Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) in the Western Ghats and the Himalayas. We describe programmes in four sites: Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger reserve, Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve, Senchal Wildlife Sanctuary and Vembanad Ramsar site. Our experiences highlight primarily, a broadening of the initial focus on the ecological dynamics to include social dimensions. Secondly, a programmatic rather than a project-mode approach has enabled a clear long-term vision. Third, the research and action work has continued a tradition in conservation science of field-based, empirical work driven by theory as well as produced grounded knowledge. Such a long-term ‘dirt on the boots’ approach has built a platform from which ATREE is able to launch programmes that have made an impact on livelihoods and landscapes. And finally, long-term engagement and a strong network of local actors have allowed us to implement and inform conservation policy.

A Wasted Eden: Colonial Water Management and Ecological Change in Kitui, Kenya 1948–63

This research paper historicizes colonial water management policies in Kitui, Kenya, under the British colonial state. British development policy weaponized water shortages in order to enforce destocking amongst Kamba populations, leading to a wide array of ecological challenges. The paper contends that the state’s use of water as a tool of population management and land improvement was based on flawed ideas of society and environment that ultimately contributed to the demise of the area’s major betterment project, the B2 Yatta Scheme.

Editor's Introduction

Chaos and Interdisciplinarity, the theme of this volume of the journal, reflects the topic of the June 2019 conference of the Jungian Society for Scholarly Studies held in Asheville, North Carolina. I doubt that anyone imagined how relevant the topic of chaos would be, several months later, as we go to press in March 2020. At the Spring Equinox, which reminds us of the fundamental fact of ceaseless change, humanity is facing the social, cultural, economic, and political chaos created by the COVID-19 pandemic. We do not know what the future holds. It is said that the opposite of chaos is order, but kindness may be its true opposite, or its antidote and medicine, when chaos is painful, when it spreads, disease-like, among persons. Kindness takes little effort, but it begins with attention—and attention is scarce when chaos reigns. Chaos distills attention into the present moment and draws the heart toward the thoughtful action one can take in the only moment there is. Then one chooses to be kind or cruel, generous of soul or miserly. Momentary acts of kindness are more than momentary medicine: they are a tincture that dissolves into the chaos and, when recollected hours, days, or months later, soothes our response to it. “Performing random acts of kindness and senseless beauty,” a popular motto years ago, is a flawed idea. Kindness should be intentional and habitual, a generous impulse from one soul to another. Better: Perform intentional acts of kindness and enduring beauty. And so, at this moment, I name the great acts of kindness that made the 2020 volume of the journal possible: our terrific editorial team, especially Heather, Lisa, Matthew, and Peter; our generous peer reviewers; and the artists, poets, and scholars whose work is featured in these pages. The contributors explored the topic of chaos from a rich array of disciplines, including anthropology, art history, biology, climate science, complexity theory, cultural studies, ecology, economics, ecopsychology, ethics, folklore, genetics, literature, mythology, neurobiology, psychedelic research, religious studies, and shamanic studies. Methodological approaches include arts-based research, autoethnography, case study, hermeneutics, and phenomenology. May our work be a contribution to a thoughtful world and a reminder that beauty is always worth creating.
 Elizabeth Èowyn Nelson, General Editor

Flawed Ideas of Development and Strategic Management and their Implications to Marginalized Groups

There are aspects of violence which are committed by firms in a sophisticated way. To this end, I argue that, since firms and their influential agents (who often work as third parties and claim neutrality) participate in designing and performing violent activities under an influence of ideological beliefs, certain aspects of violence are difficult to trace. In other words, it is not always easy to point out exactly which powerful actors did what to result in violence such as injury and killing. Because of this limited traceability of actions, certain consequences of such violence remain invisible for a long period of time. However, such violence has devastating effects which go beyond the physical and mental harm suffered by the victim, affecting even the socio-emotional situations of marginalized people. Accordingly, I conceptualize a form of violence with limited traceability and invisible negative consequences, which is termed as insensitive violence. By doing so, I also discuss the misinterpretations of development perspectives that encourage recursive use of insensitive violence at the expense of environmental damage and emotional degradation of marginalized communities.

Principle of Least Expressiveness

I'm always delighted to discover a connection between two ideas that I'm already fond of on their own, so I'd like to share a connection I found recently. The first idea is writing code that expresses my thinking about the problem domain, and the second is the principle of least expressiveness (PLE). The connection is that I can use the PLE to reveal my thinking about the problem domain, and because all ambiguity stops at the code, the act of programming using the PLE can help me simplify and debug the flawed ideas I have in my head.

A blow to boundaries

Pimm argues that setting global limits for environmental damage is a flawed idea that should be abandoned. Pimm explaines that the original boundaries idea looked at nine environmental processes affected by humanity, such as fresh water use, and the safe global limits for them, were one of those, the extinction rate was argued to have breached the limit of 10 per million species a year and was into tipping point territory and an extinction rate changes over time and is often far from global in impact.

Fate’s Take-Out Slide: A Baseball Scout Recalls Can’t-Miss Prospects Who Did by George Genovese, Dan Taylor

Reviewed by: Fate’s Take-Out Slide: A Baseball Scout Recalls Can’t-Miss Prospects Who Did by George Genovese, Dan Taylor Rob Edelman George Genovese with Dan Taylor. Fate’s Take-Out Slide: A Baseball Scout Recalls Can’t-Miss Prospects Who Did. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2017. 214 pp. Paper, $29.95. Across the decades, how many up-and-coming movie actors have been hyped as the next James Dean, the wannabe Marilyn Monroe, the hot new Humphrey Bogart? Each gripped the attention of moviegoers with star-turns in highly-publicized films only to have no follow-up, no second-act. Five years later, those who lauded their initial successes were asking themselves, “Gee, whatever happened to so-and-so? What was his name again?” It’s the same in sports. The 1954 Topps baseball card dubbed 18-year-old Frank Leja a “prize Big League prospect” who “has been likened by Yankee scouts to the immortal Lou Gehrig.” But Leja played in just twenty-six major league games. In twenty-three at-bats, he made just one hit. How many other youngsters have been tabbed as sure shots by big league scouts, managers, or coaches, only to quickly fade into oblivion? This question is at the core of Fate’s Take-Out Slide: A Baseball Scout Recalls Can’t-Miss Prospects Who Did, a thoughtful and, at its best, fascinating volume charting the plights and fates of “can’t-miss” superstars. Its author is George Genovese, who played in the minor and (ever-so-briefly) major leagues, managed in the minors and, most impressively, topped his career as a big-league scout. Genovese of course has no spot in Cooperstown; however, the Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation honored him with its lifetime achievement award. And his awareness of the quirks of scouting is summed up in his Introduction. “Success and failure can be as close as the length of a gnat’s wing,” he observes. “For every Maury Wills, whose speed changed the game, there is a Howie Jennings, who might have achieved as much or more if it wasn’t for a bad decision. For every Sandy Koufax, whose name became synonymous with pitching greatness, there is a Paul Pettit, who may have been every bit as good were it not for a flawed idea. For every Juan Marichal, who used a unique pitching style and great talent to reach Cooperstown, there is a Nestor Chavez, whose date with brilliance was taken by tragedy” (3–4). Fate’s Take-Out Slide combines Genovese’s recollections of his career with bits of baseball history penned by Dan Taylor, his co-author. A range of individuals are touched upon, each in a separate chapter. Perhaps the best-known is Monty Stratton, whose big league promise was negated by crippling tragedy when a hunting mishap shed him of his right leg. “Maybe he’d [sic] would have been like Lefty Gomez and Bob Feller,” Genovese muses. “Maybe he would have followed his teammate, Ted Lyons, into the Hall of Fame. Who [End Page 229] knows” (26–27). Of infielder Jim Baxes, a 1949 Pacific Coast League all-star-turned minor league nomad with one lone big-league campaign a decade later, Genovese observes, “He had a lot of ability. He should have been in the big leagues back when he had that big year with Hollywood, but that girl (sultry screen newcomer Barbara Payton) had a ring in his nose. She really ruined his career” (45). The ballplayer on the book’s cover may not be readily recognizable, but it is a face who in 1950 was earning headlines as baseball’s initial $100,000 bonus baby. That would be the aforementioned Pettit, who never quite cut it as a big leaguer. “Paul Pettit was tremendous,” Genovese recalls. “He was something special . . . . Paul was a very good athlete. He could hit, he had power, and he could run, too. It’s unfortunate that when people talk about Paul, they talk about the money because he was a very good ballplayer, a real good ballplayer and a real good person, too” (46). The sagas of Pettit, Baxes, and Stratton cover the first...

Scientism and Social Engineering: Lessons Learned from the Collapse of Communism and the Western Response

The collapse of communism was one of the momentous historical events of our time. Surely the experience with socialism and communism during the 20 century provide major lessons for the future so that these mistakes will not be repeated. A useful analogy can even be drawn with the Renaissance as Europe emerged from the hegemony of the medieval Church. Yet I fear that some of the most important lessons about the problems of utopian social engineering have not been learned—as if the mistake in communism was using the sacred texts from the wrong church as opposed to the scientific blueprints based on modern economics (the texts of the right church). Future generations may end up repeating the mistakes based on the same flawed ideas dressed up in different clothing.

The Assertive China Narrative: Why It Is Wrong and How So Many Still Bought into It

Dissenting assaults on the conventional wisdom that China’s foreign policy became more ‘assertive’ in 2009–2010 have intensified. In this article I develop this revisionist critique in three ways. First, to make the most valid and cumulative assessment of the accuracy of the ‘assertive China narrative’ to date, I conceptualise its key empirical claim as a case of the general phenomenon of ‘foreign policy change’. Second, based on this framework, I present a range of new empirical evidence that, taken as a whole, strongly challenges the notion of a new Chinese assertiveness. Third, since academic China and Asia experts played a pivotal role in creating the narrative, I raise a comprehensive explanation of why a great many scholars so strikingly went along with the flawed idea.

Do They Really Get It? Evaluating Evidence of Student Understanding of Power Series

Most teachers agree that if a student understands a particular mathematical topic well, he/she will probably be able to do problems correctly. The converse, however, frequently fails: students who do problems correctly sometimes do not actually have robust understandings of the topic in question. In this paper we explore this phenomenon in the context of power series, one of the most challenging topics in the calculus curriculum. We report on a small pilot study of calculus students working in pairs on power series problems in an interview setting. We first describe general tendencies in the students' work and then, concentrating on one pair of students, we document how they arrived at correct answers, explaining their answers in appropriate terms, despite having significantly flawed ideas about those series. Implications for further research and the teaching of power series are discussed.

Thrifty genes for obesity, an attractive but flawed idea, and an alternative perspective: the ‘drifty gene’ hypothesis

Almost 50 years ago Neel proposed a hypothesis to explain the prevalence of obesity and diabetes in modern society--the 'thrifty gene' hypothesis. The fundamental basis of the hypothesis was that, in our early evolutionary history, genes, that promoted efficient fat deposition would have been advantageous because they allowed their holders to survive at periods of famine. In modern society, such genes are disadvantageous because they promote fat deposition in preparation for a famine that never comes, and the result is widespread obesity and diabetes. In recent years I, and others, have questioned some of the fundamental assumptions of this hypothesis--particularly focusing on whether differential survival of lean against obese in famines provides sufficient selective pressure for the spread of so-called 'thrifty genes'. These arguments have been criticized because famines not only affect survival but also fecundity, and obese people would be expected to sustain fecundity longer in the face of food shortages. In this paper, I show that the reduced fecundity argument is flawed because famines are almost universally followed by periods of enhanced fecundity, which offsets the decline observed during the famine itself. The net effect of famines on fecundity is consequently insufficient to rescue the thrifty gene idea. Elsewhere, I have suggested an alternative scenario that subsections of the population have a genetic predisposition to obesity due to an absence of selection, combined with genetic drift. The scenario presented earlier was based on evidence from prehistory concerning the release of our ancestors from heavy predation pressure around 2 million years ago. I suggest here that this is one of a number of potential scenarios based on random genetic drift that may explain the specific aetiology of the obesity epidemic. Together, these alternatives, based on central notion that genetic drift rather than positive selection was a dominant factor, may be called the 'drifty gene' hypothesis.

Are instructional explanations more effective in the context of an impasse?

Effective instructional explanations help the students to construct coherent mental representations. To do so, one condition is that they must be tailored to students’ needs. It is hypothesized that explanations are more helpful if they also explicitly aid the students to detect problems in their mental representations, as this provokes an impasse that motivates students to process the explanation deeply. Participants were provided with a computer-based material on plate tectonics and then with explanatory support in the form of either a tailored explanation preceded by an impasse-trigger (I + E group) or an identical explanation without the impasse-trigger (noI + E group). After the reading of the materials they solved retention and transfer tests; their flawed ideas were also counted. Participants in the I + E group recalled more correct information, generated more transfer solutions, and showed fewer flawed ideas than those in the noI + E group. This indicates that tailored explanations combined with impasse-triggers that make explicit conflicts between the text model and the students′ models can indeed foster deep learning.

Postconflict Reconstruction in Africa: Flawed Ideas about Failed States

Postconflict state reconstruction has become a priority of donors in Africa. Yet, externally sponsored reconstruction efforts have met with limited achievements in the region. This is partly due to three flawed assumptions on which reconstruction efforts are predicated. The first is that Western state institutions can be transferred to Africa. The poor record of past external efforts to construct and reshape African political and economic institutions casts doubts on the overly ambitious objectives of failed state reconstruction. The second flawed assumption is the mistaken belief in a shared understanding by donors and African leaders of failure and reconstruction. Donors typically misread the nature of African politics. For local elites, reconstruction is the continuation of war and competition for resources by new means. Thus their strategies are often inimical to the building of strong public institutions. The third flawed assumption is that donors are capable of rebuilding African states. Their ambitious goals are inconsistent with their financial, military, and symbolic means. Yet, African societies are capable of recovery, as Somaliland and Uganda illustrate. Encouraging indigenous state formation efforts and constructive bargaining between social forces and governments might prove a more fruitful approach for donors to the problem of Africa's failed states.

Emergence of Cooperation in Public Goods Problems

In this paper, we discuss several issues related to public goods provision. Unlike many Austrians, we do not think that the concept of public goods - or of collective action - is an inherently flawed idea, even though we reject the alleged welfare implications of public goods theory, as proposed by orthodox public finance literature. We then argue that the structure of a generic public goods problem is more a game of chicken or an assurance game than a prisoner's dilemma and that this has important implications with regard to the plausibility of cooperative outcomes. Namely, when the public goods problem has the weakest-link structure and can be represented as an assurance game, then the cooperative outcome will be self-enforcing. In many cases, the public goods problems can be transformed into weakest-link games or different mechanisms can be found to ensure cooperation. We also discuss the difference between a public goods problem and collusion. We assert that, unlike public goods problems, collusive agreements have the structure of a prisoner's dilemma. Overall, our paper suggests that there are reasons to be optimistic about stability and efficiency of stateless societal orders.