Robots and reality: a reply to Robert Sparrow

We commonly identify something seriously defective in a human life that is lived in ignorance of important but unpalatable truths. At the same time, some degree of misapprehension of reality may be necessary for individual health and success. Morally speaking, it is unclear just how insistent we should be about seeking the truth. Robert Sparrow has considered such issues in discussing the manufacture and marketing of robot ‘pets’, such as Sony’s doglike ‘AIBO’ toy and whatever more advanced devices may supersede it. Though it is not his only concern, Sparrow particularly criticizes such robot pets for their illusory appearance of being living things. He fears that some individuals will subconsciously buy into the illusion, and come to sentimentalize interactions that fail to constitute genuine relationships. In replying to Sparrow, I emphasize that this would be continuous with much of the minor sentimentality that we already indulge in from day to day. Although a disposition to seek the truth is morally virtuous, the virtue concerned must allow for at least some categories of exceptions. Despite Sparrow’s concerns about robot pets (and robotics more generally), we should be lenient about familiar, relatively benign, kinds of self-indulgence in forming beliefs about reality. Sentimentality about robot pets seems to fall within these categories. Such limited self-indulgence can co-exist with ordinary honesty and commitment to truth.     

Mary Boole and curve stitching: a look into heaven

Mary Everest Boole had a lifelong interest in the unconscious mind, the psychology of learning, and how these relate to the teaching of mathematics and science. She recommended many practical exercises and teaching aids, one of which was the technique of curve stitching, which she had invented while still a child herself.     

A second look at Egghe’s universal IR surface and a simple derivation of a complete set of universal IR evaluation points

Egghe’s three papers regarding the universal IR surface (2004, 2007, 2008) clearly represent an original and significant contribution to the IR evaluation literature. However, Egghe’s attempt to find a complete set of universal IR evaluation points (P,R,F,M) fell short of his goal: his universal IR surface equation did not suffice in and of itself, and his continuous extension argument was insufficient to find all the remaining points (quadruples). Egghe found only two extra universal IR evaluation points, (1,1,0,0) and (0,0,1,1), but it turns out that a total of 15 additional, valid, universal IR evaluation points exist. The gap first appeared in Egghe’s earliest paper and was carried into subsequent papers. The mathematical method used here for finding the additional universal IR evaluation points involves defining the relevance metrics P,R,F,M in terms of the Swets variables a,b,c,d. Then the maximum possible number of additional quadruples is deduced, and finally, all the invalid quadruples are eliminated so that only the valid, universal IR points remain. Six of these points may be interpreted as being continuous extensions of the universal IR surface, while the other nine points may be interpreted as being “off the universal IR surface.” This completely solves the problem of finding the maximum range possible of universal IR evaluation points.     

Insects which turn and look

The compound eyes of insects and crustaceans are not uniform: regions which look in different directions become specialized for different functions. Some regions have larger facets and smaller angles between adjacent visual axes. Larger facets allow greater resolution for individual ommatidia of the eye; smaller angles between their axes allow a greater density of sampling stations. Many insects have one or more foveas, together with specialized visual habits, but even without a fovea, turning to look is probably a basic part of insect behaviour. Accurate alignment of the head axis then allows the estimation of distance without necessity for stereopsis. The form of the eye in many insects strongly suggests that they measure range over long distances by parallax rather than by binocular overlap.     

International chemistry for a sustainable society

Since 1978, thanks to Deng Xiaoping's open policy, China's story has been a big success: not only in becoming a world economy power, but also for great advancem...     

Science and taste. Painting, passions, and the new philosophy in seventeenth-century Leiden.

This article argues that the art collection owned by Franciscus dele Bo?, Sylvius, a professor of practical medicine at the University of Leiden from 1658 to 1672, gives insight into some aspects of the character and significance of the new philosophy in the midseventeenth century. Through his teaching, his advocacy, and his practice of the new experimental philosophy, Sylvius played a role in shaping and institutionalizing the practices of the new philosophy that spread throughout Europe in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Sylvius's house design and large painting collection also exemplified the consumption and taste of the northern Netherlands in the seventeenth century. An examination of both Sylvius's science and his taste can help us understand what was at stake for Sylvius and his contemporaries in their practice of the new philosophy. This article finds that Sylvius's taste and his science both involved practices of social distinction, demarcation, and control. Moreover, both were enmeshed in controversy about the epistemological status of knowledge gained through the senses and about the practices by which that knowledge was gathered.     

Construction of a Japanese Patent Database and a first look at Japanese patenting activities

A new comprehensive patent database based on patent applications filed with the Japanese Patent Office is described. We present the methodology for the construction of this database, the IIP Patent Database, its basic features and we discuss the recent history of patenting in Japan. We also compare citing-cited patterns of Japanese patents in this database with the citing-cited patterns for the same patents registered in the US, using OECD patent family information to identify US counterparts. We found similar patterns in the two countries, although citation is provided by patent examiners in Japan, while in the US a large share of citations is made by inventors.     

Environmental chemistry: the earth-air-water factory

The earth—with its attendant atmosphere and hydrosphere, its vegetation and animal population—forms an immensely complicated dynamic system which defies detailed analysis. Nevertheless, models based on broad generalisations can be very informative. This article¹ reviews the lessons that can be learnt by regarding the whole earth-air-water system as a gigantic chemical factory.     

Patents versus ex post rewards: A new look

Economic studies that aim at comparing the patent system social efficiency versus an ex post reward system rest on an outdated view of patents. They assume that firms use the patent system only in order to be granted a short-term commercial monopoly rent. This assumption is convenient because it allows straightforward comparisons between patents and rewards but it is not confirmed by empirical studies, which stress that in many industries most firms use patents as strategic devices to trade technologies and to ease R&D collaborations. This change leads to rethinking the framework of the patent-reward debate.     

科学知识社会学的史学实践——评夏平与沙弗尔的《利维坦与空气泵——霍布斯、波义耳与实验活动》

科学社会学和科学史这两大学科有一个共同的基本问题，那就是如何看待科学与社会的关系。以默顿为代表的传统科学社会学，把科学作为一种社会体制，主张对科学体制进行社会学考察。科学史中则产生了旷日持久的思想史与社会史之争，主流观点认为思想史是主体，社会史是补充。两大学科的共同特点是，都把社会对科学的影响看作是一种弱影响，只分析社会如何为科学提供动力，没有对社会如何影响科学知识本身做出评价。而且，在已有的框架下，科学知识与科学体制、思想史与社会史之间，区别是显而易见的。     

Popularizing the ancestry of man: Robert Ardrey and the killer instinct

This essay examines Robert Ardrey (1908-1980)-American playwright, screenwriter, and prolific author-as a case study in the popularization of science. Bringing together evidence from both paleoanthropology and ethology, Ardrey became in the 1960s a vocal proponent of the theory that human beings are innately violent. The essay shows that Ardrey used his popular scientific books not only to consolidate a new science of human nature but also to question the popularizer's standard role, to reverse conventional hierarchies of scientific expertise, and to test the boundaries of professional scientific authority. Understanding how he did this can help us reassess the meanings and uses of popular science as critique in Cold War America. The essay also shows that E. O. Wilson's sociobiology was in part a reaction to the subversive political message of Ardrey's science.     

College Chemistry: how a textbook can reveal the values embedded in chemistry

This paper explores the norms, values and ethical attitudes that Linus Pauling wanted to convey to his students in his famous textbook College Chemistry. In this classic textbook, Pauling aimed to introduce beginners into the world of chemistry by presenting chemistry as a systematic science based on a collection of empirical data and a recent theoretical framework. In doing so, he expressed his epistemic and didactic choices clearly. College Chemistry therefore offers an ideal opportunity to examine some of the norms at the core of chemistry's 'moral economy'.