Nature Of Progress Research Articles

Thomas Reid on the Improvement of Knowledge

Thomas Reid often seems distant from other Scottish Enlightenment figures. While Hume, Hutcheson, Kames, and Smith wrestled with the nature of social progress, Reid was busy with natural philosophy and epistemology, stubbornly loyal to traditional religion and ethics, and out of touch with the heart of his own intellectual world. Or was he? I contend that Reid not only engaged the Scottish Enlightenment's concern for improvement, but, as a leading interpreter of Isaac Newton and Francis Bacon, he also developed a scheme to explain the progress of human knowledge. Pulling thoughts from across Reid's corpus, I identify four key features that Reid uses to distinguish mature sciences from prescientific arts and inquiries. Then, I compare and contrast this scheme with that of Thomas Kuhn in order to highlight the plausibility and originality of Reid's work.

Analysis of SIR Epidemic Model with Different Basic Reproduction Numbers and Validation with HIV and TSWV Data

In this paper, the SIR epidemic model containing three classes of individuals in a closed population: susceptible, infected and recovered is considered. The nonnegativity and boundedness of solutions of the model equations are entrenched and how the basic reproduction number determines the severity of an epidemic outbreak is analyzed. The general reproduction number is determined, and the role of general reproduction number in predicting the nature of epidemic progress is illustrated. An analytical solution of the model has been developed by using Picard’s method as well as the obtained solution has been compared to the numerical solution derived by the Monte Carlo simulation method. To validate the analytical solution, the system of solutions has been fitted to clinical global data provided by WHO and some experimental data taken from the literature and has been shown that despite of some significant errors, the analytical solution yields approximated result as per the clinical as well as experimental data.

TCM chemical biology--emerging interdiscipline of "TCM chemistry" and "biology"

Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) is a research area with highly original innovation features,and is also a Chinese name card to the world. However,TCM owns a unique theoretical system which is quite different from western modern medicine,leading to an awkward situation of deficient modern social identity as well as poor international spread. Therefore,how to establish a research strategy in line with the characteristics of TCM itself to systematically interpret the unique scientific connotation of TCM is always a public hot topic. Based on persistent practical exploration and scientific consideration in TCM,our group firstly promoted the concept of traditional Chinese medicine chemical biology(TCM chemical biology,TCMCB). The major idea of TCMCB is to clarify the nature of TCM regulating life progress to link TCM to modern medicine by using TCM components as chemical tools. Notably,TCMCB mainly focuses on TCM target identification and TCM-guided disease molecular mechanism exploration,further to clarify the basic law of TCM mediating disease process. Finally,TCMCB-guided scientific studies can help explain TCM theory and promote the developmentof modern innovative drugs based on identified targets using TCM active components. Moreover,TCMCB is of vital importance for investigating the scientific nature of biological progress and the pattern of disease occurrence and development,indicating a key significance for modern life science and medicine. This review introduces the definition of TCMCB as well as its academic thought,research method,technology system and scientific significance,for providing new research ideas and scientific thoughts for TCM development.

Is the Rate of Scientific Progress Slowing Down?

Some of the biggest debates over the last decade have focused on the rate of progress, both economic and scientific. As is common in times of economic crisis or slowdown, commentators have focused on what might have gone wrong. In this paper, we consider whether the rate of scientific progress has slowed down, and more generally what we know about the rate of scientific progress, based on these literatures and other metrics we have been investigating. This investigation takes the form of a conceptual survey of the available data. We consider which measures are out there, what they show, and how we should best interpret them, to attempt to create the most comprehensive and wide-ranging survey of metrics for the progress of science. In particular, we integrate a number of strands in the productivity growth literature, the “science of science” literature, and various historical literatures on the nature of human progress. If progress in science is slowing down, as indeed we have some reason to believe, these data may help us figure out where the problem has come from. We then could act to speed it up, or at least try to figure out how to do so.

Tragedy, Perseverance, and Chance - The Story of CAR-T Therapy

“In 2010, 5-year-old Emily Whitehead was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.” So begins this remarkable story of how Emily became the first child to receive CART-19 (chimeric antigen receptor T-cell) therapy. She remains alive and well, and her successful treatment re-energised a whole line of research – the first CART therapy was licensed in US in August 2017. This perspective article describes the long and eventful research route towards successful cancer immunotherapy, which started in 1893 when surgeon William Coley found that streptococcus injection shrunk an inoperable osteosarcoma. As well as the wonderful insights into our powerful immune system, this article describes the methodical but also opportunistic nature of scientific progress, and the inventive but also determined characteristics of the pioneering scientists and families.

Do Labour Laws and Rising Real Wages Explain Employment Stagnation in the Organized Manufacturing Sector of India? An Empirical Investigation

One of the most contentious policy issues in India is the demand for labour market flexibility. This paper empirically investigates two major reasons normally advanced in literature for explaining the phenomena of ‘jobless growth’ in the organized manufacturing sector and consequently introducing labour flexibility, namely (i) job security laws by strictly regulating hire and fire of workers makes labour adjustment process virtually impossible to undertake and (ii) rising real wages encourage adoption of capital intensive techniques in production – each impeding (not necessarily independently) employment growth. From our empirical analysis we find little evidence to support these claims. In fact, evidence suggests considerable flexibility in workforce adjustment already enjoyed by firms through growing use of contract workers. Employment stagnation is rather explained by the method employed by Annual Survey of Industries to estimate workers and the underlying nature of technological progress witnessed in the organized manufacturing sector during the study period.

A Glance at Solow’s Growth Theory

This article examines the growth theory of Robert Solow1 , which has been a point of reference of economic growth since the 1950s. First, the article analyzes the path-breaking model of growth contained in Solow’s article “A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growt” published in The Quarterly Journal of Economics (1956). Second, it looks at the contribution of Solow to growth accounting and to the new method of studying capital formation in economic growth through the vintage ap- proach. Therefore, the work analyzes the article “Technical Change and the Aggregate Production Function” published in The Review of Economics and Statistics (1957). In the latter publication, Solow, through the aggregate production function, tries to measure growth and provide an explanation of the nature of technical progress. The article also examines Solow’s 1960 essay “Investment and Technical Progress” based on the hypothesis of embodied technological progress and the vintage approach.

Measuring economic growth using production possibility frontier under Harrod neutrality

Economic growth occurs when an economy’s production at the full employment level increases. Increase in the production at the full employment level is shown by an outward shift of production possibility frontier (PPF). The aim of this study is to measure capacity growth of an economy by utilizing equation of the PPF. The present study takes into account a bowed-out (concave to the origin) PPF in order to measure economic growth. Thus, at first, concavity conditions are obtained. Besides, the study augments Cobb–Douglas production function by assuming the nature of technological progress as Harrod neutral. For this reason, concavity conditions are obtained assuming Harrod neutrality. The first result of the article documents that there are conditions in order to guarantee positive economic growth. The second result indicates that growth of productive capacity depends on (i) rate of growth of labour, (ii) rate of growth of level of technology (rate of growth of the labour productivity) and (iii) elasticity parameters, under specific conditions. Based on these results, our study formally proves that the long-term or natural or potential rate of growth is determined by rate of growth of effective labour.

Technological Progress, the Supply of Hours Worked, and the Consumption-Leisure Complementarity

At least since 1870 hours worked per worker declined and real wages increased in many of today’s industrialized countries. The dual nature of technological progress in conjunction with a consumption-leisure complementarity explains these stylized facts. Technological progress drives real wages up and expands the amount of available consumption goods. Enjoying consumption goods increases the value of leisure. Therefore, individuals demand more leisure and supply less labor. This mechanism appears in an OLG-model with two-period lived individuals equipped with per-period utility functions of the generalized log-log type proposed by Boppart-Krusell (2016). The optimal plan is piecewise defined and hinges on the wage level. Technological progress moves a poor economy out of a regime with low wages and an inelastic supply of hours worked into a regime where wages increase further and hours worked continuously decline.

Color and Character: West Charlotte High and the American Struggle over Educational Equality by Pamela Grundy

Reviewed by: Color and Character: West Charlotte High and the American Struggle over Educational Equality by Pamela Grundy Elisabeth Moore Color and Character: West Charlotte High and the American Struggle over Educational Equality. By Pamela Grundy. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2017. Pp. 248.) From Charleston to Charlottesville, recent headlines and events have focused our nation's attention on the history and persistence of racial inequality in the United States. In Color and Character, Pamela Grundy skillfully and eloquently speaks to a populace wracked with racial turmoil once again. Grundy utilizes the history of West Charlotte High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, to weave together a historical narrative that makes a powerful statement about the regressive nature of progress and the persistence of contemporary racial inequality. As a case study, West Charlotte High proves to be an ideal candidate for this study. West Charlotte High School was the subject of the pivotal Swann v. Charlotte Mecklenburg court case which ruled in 1971 that busing to achieve desegregated school was constitutional. Originally one of the state's most successful African American schools, West Charlotte was eventually heralded as a prime example of the victories of the desegregation period. However, throughout the late twentieth century, West Charlotte experienced gradual resegregation and declined academically. As an accurate historical narrative directed toward a broad populace to make a political statement, the book excels. Grundy presents with clarity and tact a narrative that reveals the complexity of race in the United States. Her ability to discuss complex topics, such as intraracial class differences amongst the African American community, the drawbacks of urban-renewal programs for minority groups, and even the negative impact of integration on African American communities, is impressive. Most importantly, the work undeniably leaves the reader with a deeper understanding of the persisting inequality remaining to be addressed in this nation. Her chapter on busing demonstrates the unequal sacrifices asked of minority groups throughout the course of segregation and reveals the academic segregation that persisted in [End Page 132] the most integrated school in the nation. The work also situates the case study within a broader national narrative. This strength is a particular asset during the work's final chapters which trace West Charlotte's resegregation and institutional decline amidst the backdrop of the 1980s conservative resurgence. Unfortunately, Grundy often gets distracted in this national narrative and leaves readers grasping for a more complex understanding of West Charlotte itself. This problem is compounded by the work's longer chronology. Grundy analyzed a period of roughly seventy-five years in less than two hundred pages. While impressive, this ultimately hindered Grundy's ability to dig deeply enough in her analysis. As a work of scholarly inquiry seeking to contribute to the robust historiography on the Civil Rights Movement, Grundy struggled in a few critical areas. Throughout the study, Grundy overly relies on a number of oral histories she conducted. While oral histories are undeniably a rich primary source, the difficulties of oral history demand that they be studied in tandem with a plethora of other sources. Most of the individuals interviewed for the first section of the book were seventy to eighty years old and reminiscing about their elementary-school experience at West Charlotte. This is particularly a problem when she allows students to speak through rose-colored glasses about their experience in segregated schools, with little interpretation. Grundy addresses this issue in her methodology section, but this discussion should have been more overt throughout her analysis. Grundy's work will not surprise students of the Civil Rights Movement or the history of race in the United States. Yet her analysis of the complexity of busing, the evolution of rights rhetoric surrounding whites, the downfalls of urban-renewal programs, and even the internal segregation of integrated schools does an impeccable job making these scholarly discussions approachable to a broader audience. It also interprets them within a longer institutional chronology that assists readers in grasping the ongoing impact of historical decisions. Elisabeth Moore West Virginia University Copyright © 2018 West Virginia University Press

Scientific Progress: Why Getting Closer to Truth Is Not Enough

ABSTRACTThis discussion note aims to contribute to the ongoing debate over the nature of scientific progress. I argue against the semantic view of scientific progress, according to which scientific progress consists in approximation to truth or increasing verisimilitude. If the semantic view of scientific progress were correct, then scientists would make scientific progress simply by arbitrarily adding true disjuncts to their hypotheses or theories. Given that it is not the case that scientists could make scientific progress simply by arbitrarily adding true disjuncts to their hypotheses or theories, it follows that the semantic view of scientific progress is incorrect.

Numerical investigation on the effect of shrouds around an immersed isolation condenser on the thermal stratification in large pools

This paper deals with the numerical investigation on thermal stratification phenomena in the Gravity Driven Water Pool (GDWP) of the Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR). Study has been performed at decay power level to simulate thermal stratification in GDWP for Station Black-Out (SBO) conditions. Thermal stratification in GDWP has been simulated using a three-volume pool nodalization approach. The study points to characteristic nature of progress of thermal stratification in the GDWP. Full potential of the pool water can be realised only if the entire inventory of water rises to saturation temperature. This can be achieved only by mixing of water. Thermal stratification prevents realisation of the full heat removal potential of the pool water volume particularly below the Isolation Condenser (IC). The single vertical shroud deployed in the pool is the simplest passive internal, which ensures participation of whole pool inventory. A parametric study on single and three-shroud configurations has been performed by varying shroud location or spacing and shroud height. The study indicates limited suppression of thermal stratification by single-shroud configuration compared to three-shroud configuration. The performance of both single and three-shroud configurations was found to be similar for the first three days. However, during a prolonged SBO, the three-shroud configuration was found to be superior due to enhanced mixing. Parametric study was conducted to arrive at an optimum spacing and shroud height for three-shroud configuration. Studies were also conducted to understand the influence of conductivity of shroud material and leakage through shroud on its performance.

The Origins of the Economics of Innovation: John Rae (1824)

John Rae has recently been rediscovered as a precursor of the endogenous growth theory. This study argues that Rae needs to be rediscovered a second time for his original contribution to clarify the role of the innovation and technical change within the economic systems. The aim of this paper is to suggest that the origins of the Economics of innovation go back to many years before Schumpeter’s theory (1911), with the original study by John Rae in 1834. The Scottish philosopher with his book Statement of Some New Principles on the Subject of Political Economy, issued in 1834, put forward the basis of the Economics of innovation individuating the nature, causes and effects of the technological progress on economic growth of nations. Rae also discusses the evolution and role of vital technologies for the wealth and employment of nations in Europe and America. Overall, then, this study here suggests the importance of Rae’s work for the origin of the Economics of innovation and a definition of this discipline, which embodied the main concepts appeared during the history of the economic thought. The conclusions are tentative, but it is the first step to detect the purpose of this important research field that explains one of the causes of economic growth and progress of nations over time.

Unbuilding the City: Writing Demolition

Unbuilding the City: Writing Demolition

“Civilization” and the Self-Critical Tradition

Of all the terms in modern social science, none is more reviled by academics today than “civilization.” Post-colonial theorists such as Aime Cesaire and Edward Said have influenced generations of scholars who see the term as little more than a veil for scientific racism and colonial aggression. The sociologists Norbert Elias and Pierre Bourdieu have also portrayed European conceptions of civilization as justifications for social hierarchy and exclusion. This article highlights the convergent denunciation of “civilization” by these theorists. The article provides a fresh perspective on the history of the word “civilization” by highlighting the role of the term in generating an atmosphere of self-critical reflection. The word “civilization” post-dates, and bears a strong trace of, Rousseau’s indictment of modern society in The Discourse on Inequality. The first author to use the word “civilization,” the Marquis de Mirabeau, spoke in a Rouseauian fashion of “false civilization” and “the barbarity of our civilizations.” In nineteenth- and twentieth-century usages, “civilization” was a central term in the framing of questions about the contradictory nature of progress. The term even figures prominently in debates about the basis of colonial authority—debates sponsored by some colonial administrators themselves. Some of the top colonial administrators in the early twentieth were pioneers in advancing cultural anthropology. These administrators forged the viewpoint that natives had valuable “civilizations” of their own. The radical theorists discussed in this article have portrayed “civilization” as a sign of colonial arrogance inherited from a hyper-rational and chauvinistic Enlightenment. In contrast, this article traces how a keyterm was born in the liberal atmosphere of the Enlightenment and generated an expanding space of self-doubt afterward. When we appreciate that a large slice of modern Western civilization is a critical inquiry about the meaning of itself, and when we recognize that the language of civilization helped create a public sphere of doubt even within the colonial enterprise, we can conclude that the radical theorists discussed in this essay are less than reliable guides to the contours of European cultural history.

WHY HASN’T ECONOMIC PROGRESS LOWERED WORK HOURS MORE?

Abstract:Why hasn’t economic progress lowered work hours more? One of Keynes’s most famous essays is his “Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren.” Keynes predicts that within one hundred years — which would bring us to 2030 — most scarcity will have disappeared and most individuals will work no more than fifteen hours a week. My question is a simple one: Why wasn’t Keynes right? Why have working hours remained as long as they have? Why hasn’t progress taken a more leisurely and less material form than what we have observed? Investigating that issue will help us get at the question of just how much progress has occurred. Under one view, Western life has been caught in a kind of rat race, and a lot of the gains of progress are illusory. For instance there is the argument that higher incomes are largely consumed as part of a futile race to win relative status, and living standards aren’t nearly as high as they might appear. Under some alternative scenarios, people haven’t moved to Keynes’s scenario for some good reasons, such as enjoying work more than we might think, or other hypotheses, as I will outline. In that case the observed changes in real income are robust, and measured correctly, or progress may even be greater than income measurements would indicate. I hope that addressing Keynes’s paradox can help us better understand this longstanding debate on the nature of modern progress.

Progress, fascism and the Last Humans

This paper re-evaluates the notion of progress in light of the trauma represented by interwar European fascism. It critically examines the widespread assumption that interwar European fascism demonstrates the illusory, or even pernicious, nature of progress. Seeing fascists as enraged crusaders against the march of history, whose aim was to impede the further rise of what Nietzsche contemptuously referred to as ‘the Last Humans,’ affords a perspective from which progress, at least in its main current, no longer appears invalidated by fascism. The criterion of democratic mass empowerment, furthermore, can usefully distinguish between two mutually exclusive notions of progress: the first, of largely Hegelian provenance, was committed to mass empowerment; the second, while intractably opposing progress as a democratic enterprise, also appropriated it for radically anti-democratic purposes, transmuting its meaning so that the Last Humans are no longer conceived as its beneficiaries but, at most, as its tools.

A Working Definition of Moral Progress

Essentially everyone agrees that the outlawing of slavery, or the beginning of women’s suffrage, or the defeat of Nazism constitute paradigmatic examples of moral progress in human history. But this consensus belies a deep division about the nature of moral progress more generally, a consequence of the foundational differences among and within normative traditions regarding the nature and scope of the ‘moral’ in moral progress. This essay proposes that philosophers might nonetheless converge on a working definition of moral progress by identifying a proxy property that reliably tracks moral progress, but which does not purport to be coextensive with the philosophically-relevant property. The aim of this essay is to identify this proxy property with emerging empirical measures of population welfare, and to show why this indicator of moral progress can garner overlapping consensus from a variety of normative traditions.

The Application of Project Base Constructive Paly to Encourage Student's Ability in Creative Expression and Communication

This research is conducted based on several findings in TK Sejahtera, Bandung regarding to its teaching practice and the nature of the children progress. The application of quasi experiment on the project base play program is aimed to redirect children desire to play and aggressive energy into schemed creative activity. Children mostly show their preference as adaptive problem solver in their creative style and always try to negotiate their idea in communication process. The outcome of the research shows some progress in children creative and communication abilities in the test of variance. The experiment shows large effect in creative expression medium significance in communication ability. It can be conclude that the research have successful in endorsing children creative and communication ability along with their various characteristics

Moral Progress and Human Agency

The idea of moral progress is a necessary presupposition of action for beings like us. We must believe that moral progress is possible and that it might have been realized in human experience, if we are to be confident that continued human action can have any morally constructive point. I discuss the implications of this truth for moral psychology. I also show that once we understand the complex nature and the complicated social sources of moral progress, we will appreciate why we cannot construct a plausible comprehensive action-guiding theory of moral progress. Yet while the nature and sources of moral progress consistently thwart many theoretical hopes, the idea of moral progress is a plausible, critically important and morally constructive principle of historical interpretation.