Information,persuasion and freedom: Implications of communications technology

By examining what constitutes persuasive communication and when it can be considered to be an obstacle to freedom, the author discusses the implications of communications technology for human decision-making. An argument is made that information overload can restrict freedom by affecting man's capacity to process and evaluate information by short-circuiting the rational thought process. Because the control and dissemination of information can be used to alter human behavior, it is important to start investigating the impact of information management in terms of its economic, political and sociological aspects.     

Realization, completers, and ceteris paribus laws in psychology

I defend Jerry Fodor's ([1991]) account of the semantics ofceteris paribus laws against an objection raised by Peter Mott([1992]). In doing so, I clarify certain issues regarding thenature of realization. I argue that not all things that realizea state or property are realizers of that state or property:the relation x realizes y tolerates the inclusion of gratuitouselements in x— elements that play no particular role inthe realization of y— whereas the relation x is a realizerof y does not. I then criticize a rejoinder that, in effect,builds such gratuitous elements into the antecedents of thelaws of a science of the realized properties.

1. Fodor's Proposal
2. Mott's Objection
3. Conjunctive States, Realization, and MinimalRealization
4. Mixed Antecedents

     

There and back again: Revisiting Vannevar Bush,the linear model,and the freedom of science

Despite its age, Vannevar Bushs Science: The Endless Frontier has remained a touchstone for science funding policy discussions. More specifically, many claim that Bush ushered in a new ‘social contract’ that allowed scientists to freely choose projects in accordance with their own interests while promising deliverables for the society that funds scientific institutions. Despite the prominence of The Endless Frontier, there are countless interpretations of its argumentative structure. Building off others, I develop an interpretation of how the linear model relates to the freedom of science in SEF. I critically assess this view and argue that it provides a valuable starting point for a social contract for the 21st century. To accomplish this, I clarify Bush's stance on the linear model and show that it bypasses the most common objections against its plausibility, consider the relationship between Bush's conception of the freedom of science and the rise of citizen science, and articulate a more nuanced approach to government intervention in research priority setting.     

论技术与自然规律

 从规律论的视角看技术,技术是人工控制条件下自然规律的定向作用。在技术系统中,自然规律及其作用方式被人为地选择和限定,从而依赖于人的活动。技术发展要求不断推进科学研究,在进一步揭示和掌握自然规律的基础上来实现技术进步。     

Powers of SPR functions and preservation properties

Basic properties of a new class of strictly positive real (SPR) functions are stated. Four problems are studied. The first deals with SPR preservation of transfer functions, obtained under the composition of polynomials with SPR0 functions. The second deals with Hurwitz stability preservation of the numerator of transfer functions, obtained under the composition of polynomials with SPR0 functions. The third deals with making a Hurwitz closed-loop plant, an SPR0 function by substituting s by SPR0 functions. The four deals with the synthesis of simultaneous SPR feedback plants. For the new class of SPR0 functions, a characterization is presented. For the first and second problems, sufficient conditions are presented using the new class of SPR0 functions. For the third and four problems, two examples are presented, the first being for simultaneous SPR closed-loop systems via constant controllers. The second is for simultaneous stabilization via universal feedback adaptive control.     

反垄断法与市场集中度的测算

企业并购是解决目前中国产业结构中企业规模过小的有效途径之一，然而并购又可能导致垄断。通过对市场集中度指标的实证分析，讨论了并购的可行性问题，并把它应用于反垄断法规的制定中。     

国内外民间组织管理的经验与启示

一、来自英国的经验在与民政部的几位同志赴英考察学习中,我觉得英国的经验对于中国,特别是对于我们下一步推进民间组织法律政策环境的改善应该有很好的参考意义。1、民间组织以社会公益为使命在英国,对民间组织一般不用“非营利组织”或“非政府组织”这样的概念,使用最多的是“慈善组织”的概念。英国强调民间组织的公益性的一面。通常我们把民间组织分为“公益性组织”和“互益性组织”。公益性组织比较好理解。互益性组织,比如行业协会是典型的互益性组织,它们面向会员、面向一定社会群体,以行业为边界,主要为同行业的企业家们提供互益…     

天地交泰,学科交兴

古人云:十年磨一剑。《科学技术与辩证法》廿年炼一刊,可谓渐入炉火纯青佳境。其刊名和宗旨,都和学科交叉有不解之缘。《三国演义》开篇云:“天下大势,合久必分,分久必合”。从科学发展的角度看,如果说2 0世纪是学科“必分”占主导的时期,则2 1世纪是学科“必合”占主导的时期。我们正处在两种观念的转型期。著名科学家钱三强早在1 985年就指出:“本世纪末到下一个世纪初将是一个交叉科学时代。”[1 ]这说明,世纪交接中涌现出的不仅是一系列交叉性学科,而是一个以交叉和整合为特点的交叉科学时代。这种不同时代的交替和转换是历史的、必然的…     

Technological competition and patent strategy: Protecting innovation,preempting rivals and defending the freedom to operate

Drawing on the resource-based view of the firm, we examine the effect of technological competition over a patent on the firm's choice of patenting strategy. We claim that technological competition makes the traditional strategy of protecting focal innovations from imitation less likely and increases the likelihood of a play strategy — i.e. using patents to avoid the risk of hold-up by other patent owners, or as a bargaining chip in litigation and cross-licensing. However, we claim also that technological competition over a target close to the firm's core technology should lead to use of a fence strategy i.e. to blocking the commercial endeavors of rivals and preempting substitute inventions. We find support for our hypotheses using data from a large-scale survey of European patent applications.