Background Ideas Research Articles

Deep learning: A guide for practitioners in the physical sciences

Machine learning is finding increasingly broad applications in the physical sciences. This most often involves building a model relationship between a dependent, measurable output, and an associated set of controllable, but complicated, independent inputs. We present a tutorial on current techniques in machine learning—a jumping-off point for interested researchers to advance their work. We focus on deep neural networks with an emphasis on demystifying deep learning. We begin with background ideas in machine learning and some example applications from current research in plasma physics. We discuss supervised learning techniques for modeling complicated functions, beginning with familiar regression schemes, and then advancing to more sophisticated deep learning methods. We also address unsupervised learning and techniques for reducing the dimensionality of input spaces. Along the way, we describe methods for practitioners to help ensure that their models generalize from their training data to as-yet-unseen test data. We describe classes of tasks—predicting scalars, handling images, and fitting time-series—and prepare the reader to choose an appropriate technique. We finally point out some limitations to modern machine learning and speculate on some ways that practitioners from the physical sciences may be particularly suited to help.

Contextualizing critical junctures: what post-Soviet Russia tells us about ideas and institutions

The present article asks what lessons the empirical case of institutional change in post-Soviet Russia yields for the recent research on ideas and institutions. Its main point is that in post-Soviet Russia a clash between imported foreground ideas and deep domestic background ideas led to an ideational division among the elite of the country that became a main obstacle to the provision of coherent economic reforms. This story stands in some contrast to much of the newer literature on ideas and institutions, which tends to see critical junctures as leading from one equilibrium to another. I argue that tensions between imported foreground ideas and deep domestic backgrounds are likely to occur in other cases of far-reaching processes of institutional change based on Western ideas but taking place beyond the realm of Western, industrialized countries. Therefore, I argue, some general lessons on the interplay between ideas and institutions might be drawn from this case study.

The Fantasy Method of Urban Design

El metodo fantastico de diseno urbano es una experimentacion metodologica interdisciplinaria que busca predecir las fuerzas sociales y tecnologicas que influiran en el futuro de nuestras ciudades, de modo que podamos disenarlas de acuerdo con estas predicciones. Usar la fantasia es una forma de expandir la mente de los estudiantes de diseno mas alla de los parametros tecnicos o de los limites espaciales, y permite exponerlos a un mundo con una narrativa medioambiental ampliada, con todas sus posibilidades sociales y sus complejidades politicas. Este articulo describe la fantasia como metodo de diseno urbano por medio de tres estudios de caso inspirados en tres textos influyentes: Utopia, de Tomas Moro (1516); Frankenstein, de Mary Shelley (1818); y Guia del autoestopista galactico, de Douglas Adams (1978). Estos estudios de caso no utilizan obras de ficcion como ideas secundarias, sino como instrumentos que inspiran narrativas de cambio en el diseno de las ciudades del futuro. Permiten demostrar que el estudio de lo fantastico bajo la lupa de las ciudades del futuro no es un escape hacia un mundo de fantasia, sino una respuesta activa a las diversas fantasias tecnologicas e industriales, tan extravagantes como excesivas, que tienen tanto peso en nuestras vidas urbanas contemporaneas.

THE MAASAI AND THE ANCIENT ISRAELITES: AN EARLY 20TH CENTURY INTERPRETATION OF THE MAASAI IN GERMAN EAST AFRICA

The idea that a certain ethnic or social group is historically related to the ancient Israelites is a widespread phenomenon in Africa. In some cases the identification is made from a ‘we’-perspective about ‘our’ group, such as the Lembas in Zimbabwe and South Africa. In other cases it is made from a ‘they’-perspective about ‘their’ group, such as Moritz Merker’s claim about the Maasai of East Africa. Merker served as a colonial officer in German East Africa, and his Die Masai: Ethno-graphische Monographie eines ostafrikanischen Semitenvolkes (1904, 1910 2 ) is generally seen as the first ethnographic study of the Maasai, and as such it continues to receive attention. However, the ethnographic focus of the book is framed by a discussion about the past of the Maasai, arguing – with reference to contemporary German Assyriology and Biblical Studies – that they are a Semitic people originating in Arabia and sharing roots with the ancient Israelites. The article discusses Merker’s claim and argues that its central idea of a non-African background of the Maasai reflects Merker’s colonial, interpretive context.

Research Directions in Interior Architecture in the Higher Education in Thailand (1997-2016)

This research aims to explore research directions in interior architecture in the higher education in Thailand within the past two decades (1997-2016). This research is a part of the quinquennial curriculum renewal process of the master degree of interior architecture programme, Department of Interior Architecture, King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL). The systematic literature review was conducted to track back on theses in interior architecture in the higher education in Thailand. The query focused on master degree theses published from 1997 to 2016 within ThaiLIS-Thai Library Integrated System (TTLIS) in which research, theses, and dissertations of all universities in Thailand were systematically collected. The keyword ‘interior architecture’ was used to search for thesis documents in TTLIS with specifically refined results on master degree theses in all universities in Thailand. One hundred and ninety-six theses were found in the search. This research comprises two stages. In the first stage, all one hundred and ninety-six theses were systematically reviewed and categorized into different types of research. It was found that there was no predictive research type and no novel theoretical framework generated among studied theses. In second stage, semi-structure interview was adopted to explore details of participants’ experiences of doing their theses; inspirations, background ideas, supports, and obstacles. A lack of generating new theoretical frameworks in interior architecture in the higher education in Thailand has weaken the progression of research in this discipline. Developing a novel theoretical framework in interior architecture in the higher education in Thailand is recommended.

El fondo del paisaje: una pauta de lectura paisajística del cine ruso y soviético a partir del concepto de fondo como categoría estética

La idea de fondo (horizonte) es consustancial al nacimiento del paisaje en Occidente, un concepto que el cine hereda y asume desde sus orígenes. Este artículo plantea específicamente la posibilidad de acercarse, a partir de esta figura, a la representación de la naturaleza en el cine ruso y soviético. El artículo desarrolla la idea de que el fondo es una categoría estética en sí misma a partir de la cual se puede establecer una pauta de análisis diacrónico e histórico de dicha cinematografía. Desde un punto de vista metódologico, el artículo se basa en la doble distinción planteada por Maurizia Natali entre la figura y el fondo y el fondo del fondo. Temporalmente, se centra específicamente en las virtualidades del fondo hasta la consolidación del Realismo Socialista a mediados de los años 30 del pasaso siglo.

Arguing deep ideational change

ABSTRACTHow do actors come to contest previously uncontested background ideas? This is a difficult question to ask. On the one hand, deep backgrounds seem to be too foundational for actors to transform. Their political efficacy appears to end where ideas constitute their efficacy in the first place. On the other hand, ideas must not be reified. Even deeply taken-for-granted ideas do not always stay the same, and agents have a lot to do with these changes. In order to answer this question, we draw from social theory and rhetorical studies. We conceptualize the deep background as nomos, and the more easily accessible background as endoxa. We then proceed to identify three sets of conditions that make nomic change possible. These relate to opportunity, message, and messenger. Nomic change becomes possible when the need for something new has become widely established and a supply of new nomic ideas is easily available (opportunity); new nomic ideas are ‘smuggled’ into more orthodox and widely resonating arguments (message) as well as rhetorical encounters in which these arguments are made; and advocates are widely recognized as interlocutors (messenger). A plausibility probe of nomic contestation about nuclear governance provides evidence for this framework.

The roots of neo-liberal resilience: Explaining continuity and change in background ideas in Europe’s political economy

Defines and elucidates the concept of ‘background ideas’; Defines and elucidates neo-liberalism and its relationship to background ideas; Uses discursive institutionalism as framework for analysis of background ideas and neo-liberalism; Explores different levels of neo-liberal ideas in terms of philosophy, program, and policy; Considers how different levels of ideas may be transformed over time through revolutionary or evolutionary change; Examines different forms of ideas, especially as philosophies, ideologies, and discourse, and different types of ideas, both cognitive and normative; Considers the different ways in which ideas are constructed and communicated by policy or political entrepreneurs and/or act in discursive policy communities; Discusses political entrepreneurs as ideological, pragmatic, or opportunistic. Neo-liberalism has come to constitute the core background idea of European political economies, as the unquestioned set of beliefs, understandings, or core philosophy exercising a seemingly incontrovertible hold since the 1980s in Europe. Using a discursive institutionalist framework, this article defines background ideas; describes their different forms, levels, and types; theorizes about the nature of continuity and change in such ideas; and considers the agents and discursive processes through which such ideas are constructed and disseminated. It illustrates throughout with examples of neo-liberalism, from the philosophical origins through its many different permutations in different institutional contexts over time. This article concludes that although ‘background ideas’ as a concept remains somewhat elusive, it is nonetheless useful as a way of understanding how neo-liberalism has managed to infuse people’s deepest assumptions about the possible and thereby to set the limits of the imaginable with regard to political economic action.

A rhetorical field theory: Background, communication, and change

Develops a rhetorical field theory that conceptualises the relationship between background ideas and foreground communication Distinguishes between two layers of background ideas ( nomos and topoi) that underpin communicative encounters in a field Conceptualises communicative opportunities and moves through which actors change the nomos of a field Illustrates the added value of a rhetorical field theory by inquiring into nomic change in the nuclear-weapons field A burgeoning literature in International Relations draws on Bourdieu’s theory of social fields to address the question of how actors make and unmake order in world politics. Inquiring into deeply seated background ideas constituting order, this literature often neglects how communication reproduces and (de)contests background ideas. Our article seeks to remedy this shortcoming by outlining a rhetorical field theory. This theory puts background ideas and foreground communication on an equal footing and conceptualises their relationship in detail. We distinguish between two layers of background ideas ( nomos and topoi) and address the crucial question of how nomic change becomes possible. We introduce a typology of nomic change (destabilisation, adaption, disorientation, shift) and conceptualise the interplay of rhetorical opportunities and rhetorical moves that bring about particular types of nomic change. We probe this theoretical framework by analysing the recent nomic change in the nuclear-weapons field. This empirical analysis provides evidence for our theoretical framework.

Introduction: Background ideas in international relations

Distinguishes five contending International Relations perspectives on background ideas Calls for more cross-fertilisation across perspectives to deal with conceptual challenges pertaining to backgrounds, agency, as well as change and persistence Summarises contributions to forum The actors we study do not reflect upon their background ideas. They simply take them for granted. Precisely because of this taken-for-grantedness, these ideas are very powerful. They shape world politics in profound ways. The discipline of International Relations has neglected background ideas for a long time. In the last two decades, however, a heterogeneous cluster of research has developed that inquires into what constitutes background ideas, how backgrounds affect politics, and how they come to change. The purpose of this special forum is to take stock of the current state of research, to make authors embracing different perspectives on background ideas engage with one another’s arguments, and thus to improve our explanatory and normative understandings of backgrounds in world politics.

What is war good for? Background ideas and assumptions about the legitimacy, utility, and costs of offensive war

Explores the concept of ‘background’ taken-for-granted ideas in politics, linking this notion to Habermas’ ‘lifeworld’ and Focault’s ‘episteme’ Explicates decision-makers’ background ideas about the utility and effectiveness of war Suggests that offensive war is not as effective as decision-makers tend to assume and that decision-makers tend to discount the costs of war Shows that beliefs about the effectiveness of war—specifically the articulation of military necessity and proportionality—tend to weaken the just war and international law limitations on war ‘Background ideas’ are the essential foundation for decision-making, action, and institutionalized practices. These ideas are sometimes explicitly articulated—when defended or asserted in new contexts—but more often simply assumed and unstated. Decision-makers often believe that war works—that it is effective—and moreover that war can achieve objectives at comparatively low cost. Jus ad bellum and jus in bello considerations in the just war tradition—including last resort, necessity, probability of success, and proportionality, and the idea of double effect—are also explicitly concerned with utility—whether and when war works. Utility is also an essential element in the discourse about military necessity. Does war work? What is it good for? Why does it tend to extremes of violence? What are its costs? How do decision-makers hold onto beliefs about the utility of war in the face of disconfirming evidence?

Racial and imperial thinking in international theory and politics: Truman, Attlee and the Korean War

Connects the background ideas of race and empire to world politics Uses case of Truman and Attlee in the Korean War Argues that liberal-realist internationalists’ assumptions about the US-led post-war order obscure those background ideas and fail to understand the character of the post-war order Argues liberal-realist internationalism is akin to a legitimating ideology rather than an explanatory theory Argues that such failings render liberal internationalism inadequate to explain or prescribe ways for the United States/West to manage the ‘rise of the rest’ today This article connects the background ideas of race and empire to world politics by looking at the world views and actions of Truman and Attlee in the Korean War. The article argues that liberal-realist internationalists’ assumptions about the US-led post-war order obscure those background ideas and fail to understand the character of the post-war order. I consider two kinds of ‘background ideas’—policy-makers’ and those embedded in liberal internationalism. Put together, these ideas render liberal-realist internationalism akin to a legitimating ideology rather than an explanatory theory. More broadly, and in the longer run, such failure to comprehend the character of the post-war order, and the roles of race, empire and periphery war in it, renders the theory inadequate to explain or prescribe ways for the United States/West to manage the ‘rise of the rest’ today.

Illuminated Manuscripts from Turfan Tracing Silk Road Glamour by Analyzing Pigments

Investigation of manuscripts found in sites along the Silk Road shows the history of communication and exchange between Asia and the Mediterranean over the centuries. Different scripts and languages preserved on paper in certain styles provide information about traditions and provenance. To get an idea of the cultural background of the highly developed painting techniques obvious in some illuminated manuscripts, the material used for writing and painting is analyzed. Singular Sogdian and Tocharian manuscripts from Turfan show text on one side with a colorful painting on the other side of the document. In comparison with other productions of different periods or usages from the site, special features are worked out to characterize cultural roots or influence in the network of relationships. Details analyzed in the most elaborated documents show various influences led to the colorful masterpieces.Statement of significance The bundle of manuscripts from Silk Road sites, distributed in different collections, is the most important source material for historic investigation and comparison of scripts, languages, and texts. It became obvious that not only originals, but also translations and copies are common. Some fragments are supposed to fit together. Knowing the composition of inks and paints is often the only way to determine that they have a common source. The highly developed writing material used in a specific place or region or for a special purpose, in particular, gives an extremely important hint about the cultural context of a document.

The Schwartz Space: Tools for Quantum Mechanics and Infinite Dimensional Analysis

An account of the Schwartz space of rapidly decreasing functions as a topological vector space with additional special structures is presented in a manner that provides all the essential background ideas for some areas of quantum mechanics along with infinite-dimensional distribution theory.

La Fenomenología del Lenguaje y el Concepto de la Razón Práctica en el Pensamiento de Charles Taylor

Tomando como punto de partida el concepto que tiene Taylor acerca del ser humano como un ser de significados, este articulo estudia el modo como Taylor elabora su concepcion del uso practico de la razon, recuperando ciertas nociones fundamentales de la tradicion fenomenologica y hermeneutica relativas al lenguaje, como lo son la idea del trasfondo y la situacion encarnada del hombre. Puesto que, en definitiva, el trasfondo constituye un horizonte de referencia anterior, desde el punto de vista ontologico, al dominio subjetivo de la razon en el agente humano, el analisis de Taylor termina por favorecer ciertos enfoques de la filosofia contemporanea como, por ejemplo, la analitica existenciaria de Heidegger, que buscan prescindir, paradojicamente, de la premisa del sujeto. Si atendemos a esta indicacion, un desafio que resta, pues, al desarrollo futuro de los modos de comprension de la filosofia moral, y de la antropologia filosofica, es el de como vincular el analisis del problema moral, de un sujeto de sentidos, con una teoria ontologica del trasfondo que es, en cambio, a-subjetiva.

Gandhi, Conversion, and the Equality of Religions: More Experiments with Truth

AbstractEven though Gandhi is often cited in the debate on religious conversion in India, his viewpoints have not been systematically analyzed. One reason is that his writings present a confounding blend of concepts derived from different traditions. The article argues that this fact provides a unique entry point into Gandhi’s thought. By looking for systematic patterns in his distortive use of English-language terms and ideas, the background ideas that have structured his reasoning can be traced. The conceptual distortions in Gandhi’s writings are shaped by these ideas, which reflect typical Indian attitudes and modes of thought on the question of religion and conversion. Analyzing his writings in this way not only allows for an explanation of his views on religion and his antagonism to conversion, but also clarifies the widespread unease towards Christian proselytism in contemporary India.

Amitav Ghosh's SEA OF POPPIES: Speaking Weird English

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image sizeKeywords: Asian American historical novelAsian American literary aestheticsAsian American literatureAmitav GhoshWeird English Notes Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting (2008) by Vijay Prashad describes a polycultural society as one that offers the flexibility of a shifting and evolving self that adapts and incorporates a wide variety of cultural influences within any singular idea of ethnicity or background. Lascars are Indian Ocean sailors who may or may not claim Portuguese, Indian, Chinese, African, European, and North American ancestry. We could argue that Ghosh attributes to Weird English the supposed intentions of the Esperanto language. Nabob: Westerner who went to India and made great wealth there through trade. Mohurs: Gold coins, historically about fifteen silver rupees. Larkin: Hindi for “girl” is larki. Bundo: In Hindi bandho means “tie it up,” but grammatically here the indicative “to tie up.” Very commonly the English used Hindi imperatives as indicatives or nouns. Paltan: An indigenous corruption of the English word platoon. Mems: Plural of memsahib, once exclusively used in connection with European women. Annas: Sixteen annas made a rupee before decimalization caught up with subcontinental currencies. Jooties: Hindi for shoes would be juti. Definitions of mohurs, mems, and annas from Words in Indian English (1991) by S. Muthiah, a companion to the Hobson-Jobson Dictionary; other definitions supplied by James Lambert. Literally “a bolt of lightning” but used to mean “love at first sight.” This was an expression that became popular toward the end of the eighteenth century and has an oblique reference to Zeus (hence lightning) but was popularized by Stendhal in the nineteenth century.

The syzygy surfer: (Ab)using the semantic web to inspire creativity

This article discusses our development of a new web engine, the syzygy surfer, which aims to induce a search/browsing experience that is more creative than traditional search. We do this by purposefully combining the ambiguity of natural language with the precision of semantic web technologies. Here, we set out the framework for our investigation and discuss the context and background ideas that are informing the research. This paper offers some preliminary examples taken from our work in progress on the device and suggests the way ahead for future developments and applications.

Modeling and simulation of ion transport in dielectric liquids - Fundamentals and review

This review paper introduces fundamental knowledge about and presents recent developments in modeling and simulation of ion transport and electrohydrodynamic flow in dielectric liquids. Starting with the formulation of the governing equations, we introduce background ideas as well as the related modeling of ion dissociation, recombination, injection, and discharge, which play key roles in the charge creation and transport problem. Numerical methods and solutions are then presented for the onedimensional problem over the domain between a pair of parallel electrodes. In particular, we show how the electrical properties of a nonpolar liquid, m-xylene, can be derived from the matching of the numerical solutions with Novotny's experimental data. Two asymptotic solution methods, one for the overlap-layer and the other for the thin-layer regimes, are then presented; in particular, we show a remarkably high accuracy for the solutions. The current-voltage relation with ion dissociation and recombination is shown to be completely different from that without them. A historical review of the modeling and simulation of ion transport and electrohydrodynamic flow is finally touched upon.

The Eastern Construction of the Artificial Mind

In this paper we will analyse the possible similarities and differences between scientists dealing with AI and robotics from the West and those from the East. Another question that arises is: is there such a thing as an AI & robotics paradigm specific to Eastern research? Through the analysis of cultural, philosophical and technical aspects, this research will show that there is no real Eastern model of the artificial mind, although their background ideas have influenced world-wide research in the field deeply.