Human Inquiry Research Articles

It all began in Issaquah 50 years ago

Abstract “Somehow scientists still pursue the same questions, if now on higher levels of theoretical abstraction rooted in deeper layers of empirical evidence… To paraphrase an old philosophy joke, science is more like it is today than it has ever been. In other words, science remains as challenging as ever to human inquiry. And the need to communicate its progress… remains as essential now as then.” — Tom Siegfried, Science News 2021 In fact, essential questions about pain have not changed since IASP's creation in Issaquah: what causes it and how can we treat it? Are we any closer to answering these questions, or have we just widened the gap between bench and bedside? The technology used to answer questions about pain mechanisms has certainly changed, whether the focus is on sensory neurons, spinal cord circuitry, descending controls or cortical pain processing. In this paper, we will describe how transgenics, transcriptomics, optogenetics, calcium imaging, fMRI, neuroimmunology and in silico drug development have transformed the way we examine the complexity of pain processing. But does it all, as our founders hoped, help people with pain? Are voltage-gated Na channels the new holy grail for analgesic development, is there a pain biomarker, can we completely replace opioids, will proteomic analyses identify novel targets, is there a “pain matrix,” and can it be targeted? Do the answers lie in our tangible discoveries, or in the seemingly intangible? Our founders could barely imagine what we know now, yet their questions remain.

Moderating Natural Theology: A Heuristic Interrogative Approach

This article proposes an underappreciated value for traditional natural theology and its familiar arguments for the existence of God, without endorsing the soundness or the rational cogency of these arguments. Famously, Aquinas and Kant represent two extremes, with Aquinas endorsing some natural theology arguments for God’s existence and Kant opposing such arguments. This article recommends a moderating approach, on the grounds that while Aquinas is unduly optimistic here by the epistemic standards of many inquirers, Kant is too pessimistic regarding the heuristic value of the relevant natural theology arguments. The neglected heuristic value of these arguments, according to this article, is in their prompting in unique ways some challenging and fruitful questions for inquiry about God. The disputed natural theology arguments have not achieved anything near a consensus on their soundness or rational cogency, but they still can have significant heuristic value aside from their soundness or rational cogency. This article identifies the relevant fruitful questions and their theoretical importance for human inquiry about God. Ultimately, a heuristic interrogative approach to familiar arguments of natural theology gives these arguments a new role with resilient heuristic value for inquiry about God, even if they do not justify the belief that God exists. Such moderation, this article contends, is rationally defensible with regard to these arguments.

Digital Humanities

Abstract Current conversations around the manifestations of artificial intelligence have led to binary viewpoints that either predict apocalyptic visions of imminent human obsolescence or forthcoming machinic sentience and technological singularity. Amid these polarized perspectives, the materiality of massive digital infrastructures that regularly exploit vulnerable labour forces and the environmental costs driving such emerging forms of digitality are being systematically erased. As a field bridging humanistic enquiry and computational methods, digital humanities finds itself at the epicentre of such debates around the potentials and pitfalls of what artificial intelligence and its futures imply for scholarly and humanistic practices. Therefore, this chapter identifies and reviews interventions from 2023 and early 2024, across both discursive and physical locations, to show how current disciplinary conversations in digital humanities must emerge from both traditional and unconventional sites, which navigate the intersections between artificial and human domains, while emphasizing the provocations and issues that will shape the future of the field.

A possible worlds semantics for trustworthy non-deterministic computations

The notion of trustworthiness, central to many fields of human inquiry, has recently attracted the attention of various researchers in logic, computer science, and artificial intelligence (AI). Both conceptual and formal approaches for modeling trustworthiness as a (desirable) property of AI systems are emerging in the literature. To develop logics fit for this aim means to analyze both the non-deterministic aspect of AI systems and to offer a formalization of the intended meaning of their trustworthiness. In this work we take a semantic perspective on representing such processes, and provide a measure on possible worlds for evaluating them as trustworthy. In particular, we intend trustworthiness as the correspondence within acceptable limits between a model in which the theoretical probability of a process to produce a given output is expressed and a model in which the frequency of showing such output as established during a relevant number of tests is measured. From a technical perspective, we show that our semantics characterizes the probabilistic typed natural deduction calculus introduced in D'Asaro and Primiero (2021)[12] and further extended in D'Asaro et al. (2023) [13]. This contribution connects those results on trustworthy probabilistic processes with the mainstream method in modal logic, thereby facilitating the understanding of this field of research for a larger audience of logicians, as well as setting the stage for an epistemic logic appropriate to the task.

Exploring the intersection of neuroscience and the soul: Understanding the mysteries of the mind

Over the past five decades, scientific progress has underscored the imperative of integrating diverse fields of human inquiry, highlighting their interdependence. Thus, the segregation of humanities from neuroscience appears ludicrous, akin to a jest played upon rational thinkers. With the imminent advent of the human genome project, biotechnology is forging ahead, offering prospects for significant advancements in organ regeneration. While macro evolution may have concluded, micro-evolution persists within the realm of the brain. Neural Darwinism evolves continuously as long as consciousness and memory endure. Amidst diverse internal physiological mechanisms and external stimuli, an alternative theory to preprogrammed directionalism emerges, positing three mechanisms: developmental variation and selection, experiential selections, and reentrant signaling. Reentrant signaling reorients and correlates external inputs, preceding the development of consciousness and psychic evolution. Cholinergic and aminergic neuro-modelling systems emerge as fitting value systems. The primary function of consciousness lies in unifying the myriad categorizations inherent in perception into a cohesive SCENE. Evolution further entails the capacity of reentrant signaling to be guided by a value system, presenting abundant choices. With trillions of neurons and connections, freedom of choice may yield either enlightenment or tyranny. Intriguingly, the evolutionary progression toward worship has shifted from external environments to internal contemplation. Neuroscience stands poised as the next frontier in unraveling the mysteries of the mind and soul, representing the next stage in human understanding and evolution.

Conversational AI

Abstract: Conversational AI systems are becoming increasingly popular across many industries and are transforming the way people interact with technology. For a more authentic, human-like connection and a smooth user experience, these systems should combine text-based interactions with multimodal capabilities. The authors of this work suggest a new approach to improving conversational AI systems' usability by combining speech and visual analysis. By combining visual and auditory processing capabilities, AI systems can better understand human inquiries and instructions. Both visual data and speech can be better understood with the use of computer vision algorithms and natural language processing techniques, respectively. Conversational AI systems can provide more accurate and tailored replies by integrating many modalities to better grasp human intent and context. The development of multimodal conversational AI presents a significant difficulty in ensuring the smooth integration of voice and visual processing units. A strong architectural design and advanced algorithms are necessary for the simultaneous synchronization and comprehension of data from several modalities in real-time. The system needs to keep track of the conversation's context even when it switches between different forms of communication so it can keep providing fair and relevant responses all through the engagement. Customization is key to making multimodal conversational AI better for users. Based on user data and preferences, the system may tailor interactions to offer more relevant ideas and support. Users are more invested in the AI system over time, and they have a better experience overall because to customization. Ensuring the privacy and security of important audiovisual data is of the utmost importance while building multimodal conversational AI. Strong encryption, anonymization technologies, and compliance with data protection regulations are vital for user privacy and system confidence. Continuous improvement is key to the success of multimodal conversational AI systems. The feedback from users can help the developers improve the system and add new features. Thanks to this iterative technique, the AI system stays flexible and can adjust to changing consumer preferences. By combining voice and picture processing, conversational AI systems have a great deal of promise for improving the user experience. Through the integration of visual and auditory signals, these systems have the ability to comprehend user intent more accurately, provide customized experiences, and completely transform the way humans engage with technology.

Integrating the humanities and the social sciences: six approaches and case studies

The social sciences are still young, and their interaction with older siblings such as philosophy and theology is still necessarily tentative. This paper outlines three ways in which humanistic disciplines such as philosophy and theology might inform the social sciences and three in which the social sciences might inform the humanities in turn, proceeding in each case by way of brief “case studies” to exemplify the relation. This typology is illustrative rather than exhaustive, but each of its halves nonetheless roughly tracks the development of a research project in the social sciences and humanities, respectively. In the first direction, (1) the humanities can help the social sciences identify new directions and scope for their inquiry; (2) provide conceptual clarity for constructs that the social sciences elect to study; and (3) enrich & clarify the interpretation of empirical results. Moving in the opposite direction, the social sciences can help (4) furnish new data for humanistic reflection; (5) confirm (or challenge) claims from the humanities; and (6) develop and assess interventions for achieving the goods highlighted by humanistic inquiry.

A case study of incorporating digital technologies into audio-visual-oral English teaching in the context of digital humanities

Digital humanities is an interdisciplinary field as well as a set of methods and approaches that combine computational methods with humanistic inquiry. While discussions about the digital transformation of education have become more intense due to the increasing impact of digital technologies, there is still a need to explore the practice of integrating these technologies with audio-visual-oral English teaching. This article starts from the three characteristics of digital humanities research and moves on to document a three-year-long integration of digital technologies into audio-visual-oral English teaching, with emphasis on building online education infrastructure, deepening technology integration guided by the SAMR Model, and incorporating contests into formal learning. It emphasizes that the incorporation of digital technologies not only brings about significant changes in teaching philosophy, content, methods, and evaluation but also fosters the development of a new type of teacher-student relationship as teachers’ role evolves from simply “teaching and problem-solving” to placing greater emphasis on “guiding and mentoring”.

Exploring Literary Studies through Digital Humanities

In the modern era, the digital approach helps to research and contemplate language and literature studies. By applying digital tools, it continues to evolve by offering innovative approaches to analyzing texts, understanding language, and exploring the cultural significance of literary works. The blossoming field of digital humanities has revolutionized the way scholars approach the analysis and understanding of language and literature. Digital humanity aims to explore the merging of technology and humanistic inquiry within the domain of language and literature studies. It illustrates how technology enhances our comprehension of language evolution, authorship traits, genre classification, and narrative structures. Moreover, the application of these digital techniques transcends mere analysis, cherishing new modes of interpretation and enabling novel insights into the creation, dissemination, and reception of literary texts and linguistic resources. It offers interdisciplinary opportunities, combining humanities research with computational methods to explore language and literature in novel and insightful ways. The digital humanities provide innovative methods and tools that enrich research, teaching, and interpretation within the literary field. The role of digital humanities is not only to enhance traditional methodologies but also to cultivate innovative approaches to engross and interpret cultural artefacts in a technologically mediated world.

Why Mary left her room

AbstractI argue for an account of grasping, or understanding that, on which we grasp via a higher‐order mental act of Husserlian fulfillment. Fulfillment is the act of matching up the objects of our phenomenally presentational experiences with those of our phenomenally representational thought. Grasping‐by‐fulfilling is importantly different from standard epistemic aims, in part because it is phenomenal rather than inferential. (I endorse Bourget's (2017) arguments to that effect.) I show that grasping‐by‐fulfilling cannot be a species of propositional knowledge or belief, and that it is not essentially connected to justification. I motivate a revisionary epistemology on which achieving propositional knowledge and coming to grasp are dual epistemic aims. My account makes sense of a common occurrence—that we are often unmoved to act on our beliefs until we come to phenomenally experience them in some way. It also explains puzzling features of human inquiry.

A Laboratory for Humanistic Inquiry: Manuscripts at the University of Chicago Library

A Laboratory for Humanistic Inquiry: Manuscripts at the University of Chicago Library

Reconfiguring science education through caring human inquiry and design with pets

ABSTRACT Background Natureculture (Fuentes, 2010; Haraway, 2003) constructs offer a powerful framework for science education to explore learners’ interactions with and understanding of the natural world. Technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR) designed to reveal pets’ sensory worlds and companionship with pets can facilitate learners’ harmonious relationships with significant others in naturecultures. Methods At a two-week virtual summer camp, we engaged teens in inquiring into dogs’ and cats’ senses using selective color filters, investigations, experience design projects, and understanding how the umwelt (von Uexküll, 2001) of pets impacts their lives with humans. We qualitatively analyzed participants’ talk, extensive notes, and projects completed at the workshop. Findings We found that teens engaged in the science and engineering practices of planning and carrying out investigations, constructing explanations and designing solutions, and questioning while investigating specific aspects of their pets’ lives. Further, we found that teens checking and taking pets’ perspectives while caring for them shaped their productive engagement in these practices. The relationship between pets and humans facilitated an ecological and relational approach to science learning. Contribution Our findings suggest that relational practices of caring and perspective-taking coexist with scientific practices and enrich scientific inquiry.

A critique of the traditional and the post-gettier theories of justification: an intervention with epistemological functionalism

In their quest to refute the sceptics’ challenge to the possibility of knowledge, epistemologists have over the years strived to demonstrate how our beliefs can be appropriately justified. This paper critically examines two of these traditional or anti-sceptical theories of justification, namely: Foundationalism and Coherentism, as well as three famous post-Gettier theories of justification: Reliability, Defeasibility and Causal theories. Notwithstanding their relevant contributions in clarifying the conditions for the justification of knowledge, the paper argues that none of these theories attains the requirements of rational success without vulnerability to the sceptics’ challenge, since each is nettled with some identified epistemic defects, especially due to their emphasis on a single and fixed idea of rational justification – with preference for formal adequacy over functional efficacy of knowledge claim in human inquiry. As a way forward, the paper argues for epistemic justification in a functionalistic framework and concludes with the positive recommendation of this perspective as a more viable alternative approach to epistemic justification. The expository and critical methods of philosophical analysis are adopted in the work.

Narrative, Catastrophe and Historicity in Eighteenth-century French Literature

This is surely an ambitious, original and complex book. In it, Jessica Stacey displays a remarkable knowledge of eighteenth-century French thought as well as a solid understanding of how historical narratives are formed and function. Her main aim is to cast light on the ways in which changing perceptions of historical time affected feelings of nationhood and national belonging in eighteenth-century France. She does so by considering a series of literary works and analysing the representations and interpretations of man-made catastrophes contained in them. The choice to focus on disasters of this sort when explaining national boundary formation is properly and intelligently justified by the author. As Stacey points out, ‘catastrophe’, a ubiquitous notion in a time far less optimistic than is normally assumed, acquired in the eighteenth century a new meaning (previous meanings living on, alongside it) partly forged through the opposition between catastrophes willed by God and catastrophes caused by men. The latter, which are the focus of this book, could and had to be properly understood. Whether historical or imaginary, they could be subject to human inquiry and, by the same token, they might then serve as a ‘powerful tool of critique’. In particular, investigating and explaining how a catastrophe had been overcome in the past could offer those stricken the means to face an ongoing disaster; but it could also foster a feeling of unity, supplying an image of a community of belonging which, thanks to its ingenuity, resilience and strength, had once been able to overcome the devastation caused by war or civil war. From this angle, analysing either a real or a fictitious catastrophe could, in some circumstances, more or less unwittingly contribute to forging a feeling of historical community—that is, a national narrative. Obviously, for this to be the case, a convincing continuity between past and present community/communities had to be established. This is a crucial aspect, one that is properly considered in this book. In fact, by building on Reinhart Koselleck’s ideas about changing perceptions of historical time and on François Hartog’s ‘regimes of historicity’, Stacey has been able to highlight ‘catastrophe’s dual role as narrative device and object of historical study’.

Transparency to Visibility (T2V)

Advances in network visualization technologies have the potential to humanistic inquiry devoted to better understanding the circulation of power and influence within cultural systems. While new technologies have made generating high-quality and even dynamic network visualizations relatively easy, key challenges remain for humanities researchers. Creative, historiographic, biographical, and similar artifacts are usually not easily transformed into the kinds of data structures necessary for network visualization. The Transparency to Visibility (T2V) Project was initiated to develop new methods and toolkits that can support humanistic researchers who need to transform unstructured textual datasets into data structures that support useful and informative network visualization. The T2V team used bioethics accountability statements to pilot and evaluate different methods for transforming and visualizing relational networks based on data in unstructured text. The resulting machine-learning-enhanced natural language processing (NLP) and metadata-assisted approaches offer promising potential pathways for contemporary digital humanities and future toolkit development.

Religious Ethics and the Spirit of Undomesticated Dissent

ABSTRACTThe field of religious ethics contributes to practices of resistance and hope in broader society. In advancing my claim that religious ethics contributes to practices of resistance and hope today, I first tell a story about the changing demographics in the field of religious ethics and why this demographic shift is important. I next focus on womanist religious scholarship as an exemplary discourse in religious ethics and how it has contributed to practices of resistance and hope in the academy and within contemporary society. While a few scholars in JRE over the last 50 years have cited and engaged womanist ethicists like Katie Cannon and Emilie Townes, I want to offer a more explicit argument on how the womanist idea has contributed to practices of resistance and hope. I maintain that womanist religious scholarship embodies the practice of undomesticated dissent and that such dissent might be understood as a contribution to larger humanistic inquiry within the academy. Finally, I briefly consider an objection to my argument through engaging Stanley Fish's claim that the purposes and ends of institutions of higher education should not be oriented toward activism.

Quantum mechanics and Alexander Bogdanov's worldview: A conversation

AbstractThis paper is a transcript of the dialogue between Carlo Rovelli and Mike Jackson after Rovelli's delivery of the 2021 Annual Mike Jackson Lecture, hosted by the Centre for Systems Studies at the University of Hull. The dialogue covers a range of topics, including how Rovelli developed a sense of curiosity in his youth; the connection between his interests in science and politics; the pathology of disciplinary divisions in academia; the value of Bogdanov's transdisciplinarity; Rovelli's theory of quantum gravity; the notions of granularity, indeterminism and relationality underpinning quantum mechanics; the role of the observer; mistaken uses of quantum mechanics; relational and network views of the world; how the discipline of Physics is becoming more systemic; the concept of levels of analysis in relation to nature and human inquiry; and the future for humanity.

Muslim Ethics and the Ethnographic Imagination

ABSTRACTTheoretical and methodological discussions of ethnography and ethics have appeared regularly in the Journal of Religious Ethics for at least the past 13 years. Many of these conversations have been preoccupied by the relationship between “normative” work in religious ethics and “descriptive” work on moral worlds and patterns of reasoning. However, there has often been a perceived impasse when it comes to drawing “normative” ethical arguments from fine‐grained ethnographic study. This paper begins by assessing significant contributions to religious ethics made by ethnographers of Islam, focusing on the way they render a stark descriptive/normative binary irrelevant. I then turn to an example from my own fieldwork that expands our understanding of the relationship between ethnography and ethics. Through this example, I argue that ethical thinkers working outside the academy—theologians, activists, and cultural producers—also draw on an “ethnographic imagination” to make moral arguments. I end by reflecting on how the “ethnographic imagination” situates religious ethics as part of broader humanistic inquiry, showing that careful accounts of how people do live are always enmeshed with visions of how we should live.

Suspected rodenticide exposures in humans and domestic animals: Data from inquiries to the Norwegian Poison Information Centre, 2005-2020.

Rodent control is necessary to prevent damage and spread of disease, and the most common pesticides used for urban and rural rodent control are anticoagulant rodenticides. The aim of this present study was to present data on suspected exposure to rodenticides in humans and domestic animals in Norway based on inquiries to the Norwegian Poison Information Centre in the 16-year period from 2005 through 2020. A total of 4235 inquiries regarding suspected exposures to rodenticides were registered in the study period. Of these, 1486 inquiries involved humans and 2749 animals. Second generation anticoagulants were involved in 68% of human exposures and 79% of animal exposures. Dogs were the most frequent species involved in the animal exposures with 93% of the inquiries, while cats were second most frequent involved. Around 50% of the human inquiries concerned children at the age of 0-4 years. Only 2% of the cases were in the age group 10-19 years, while adults comprised 35% of the inquiries. Acute poisonings accounted for almost 100% of the inquiries among both humans and animals. The exposure was accidental in 99% of the animal exposures and in 85% of the human exposures. In humans, only 14 inquiries were regarding occupational related accidents. Misdeed or self-inflicted injury accounted for 15% of the human inquiries and were the cause of 79% of the severe poisonings. Severe poisoning was only assessed in 1% of the cases involving children under 5 years. In contrast, 17% of the inquiries concerning adults (≥20 years) were assessed as severe. Subsequently, to prevent human and animal rodenticide exposure, we urge the use of non-chemical methods such as sanitation, rodent proofing (a form of construction which will impede or prevent rodents access to or from a given space or building) and mechanical traps. Restricting the use of rodenticides to professional pest controllers (or other persons with authorisation), reinforcing high quality education of these persons, and securing compliance of the best codes of practice could be advocated to reduce accidental exposure to rodenticides in humans and animals.

How do we achieve good education in wound care and tissue viability services?

British Journal of Community NursingVol. 27, No. Sup12 Clinical CommentHow do we achieve good education in wound care and tissue viability services?Alison SchofieldAlison SchofieldE-mail Address: [email protected]Clinical Manager, Mole Digital; Honorary Tissue Viability Nurse, York and Scarborough NHS Foundation TrustSearch for more papers by this authorAlison SchofieldPublished Online:15 Dec 2022https://doi.org/10.12968/bjcn.2022.27.Sup12.S24AboutSectionsView articleView Full TextPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail View article References Adderley U. National Wound Care Strategy update: online education resources for all. Wounds UK. 2022; 18(2):72–73 Google ScholarAlterio M, McDrury J. Learning through storytelling in higher education: using reflection and experience to improve learning. Routledge; 2003 Crossref, Google ScholarBenner P. From novice to expert. Menlo Park. CA:Adaison-Wesley; 1984 Crossref, Google ScholarFosnot C. Constructivism: theory, perspectives and practice. New York: Teachers College; 1996 Google ScholarFried R. The passionate teacher. Boston: Beacon Press; 1995 Google ScholarHolloway S. Growing a specialism through education: wound care education 5 years on. Wounds UK. 2019; 15(4):20–25 Google ScholarHolloway S. Embedding wound management education into existing curricula. Wounds UK. 2020; 16(3):10–12 Google ScholarJarvis P. Adult learning in the social context. Routledge: Oxford; 2011 Google ScholarNHS Business Service Authority. NHS learning support fund (LSF). 2022. https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/nhs-learning-support-fund-lsf. (accessed 3 October 2022) Google ScholarNoddings N, Witherell C. Epilogue: themes remembered and foreseen. In: WitherellNoddings (eds). Stories lives tell: narrative and dialogue in education. New York: Teachers College Press; 1991 Google ScholarNursing and Midwifery Council. The code: professional standards of practice and behaviour for nurses, midwives and nursing associates. 2018. https://www.nmc.org.uk/standards/code/ (accessed 1 November 2022) Google ScholarOusey K, Sollitt F, Rigby M. Supporting tissue viability by developing business knowledge and skills. Wounds UK. 2019; 15(5):66–69 Google ScholarReason P, Hawkins P. Story telling as inquiry. In: Reason P (ed). Human inquiry in action: developments in new paradigm research. London: Sage Publications; 1988 Google ScholarRoyal College of Nursing. Frequently asked questions: education grants. 2022. https://rcnfoundation.rcn.org.uk/Apply-For-Funding/Educational-grants/FAQ-Education-Grants. (accessed 1 November 2022) Google ScholarSchofield A. What have tissue viability services learnt from the coronavirus pandemic? Nurs Times. 2021; 117(3):23–25. https://cdn.ps.emap.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/02/210224-What-have-tissue-viability-services-learnt-from-the-coronavirus-pandemic.pdf Google ScholarThe British Association of Urology Nurses. The British Association of Urology Nurses. 2022. https://www.baun.co.uk/ (accessed 1 November 2022) Google ScholarThe Queens Nursing Institute. The Queen’s Nursing Institute. 2022. https://qni.org.uk/ (accessed 1 November 2022) Google Scholar FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails 1 December 2022Volume 27Issue Sup12ISSN (print): 1462-4753ISSN (online): 2052-2215 Metrics History Published online 15 December 2022 Published in print 1 December 2022 Information© MA Healthcare LimitedPDF download