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Why should inquiry be possible, only if some knowledge is required
to guide it, as conventionally understood? Contrary to the
conventional wisdom held by many thinkers in all human history
hitherto existing, there are some fundamental dialectic principles
hidden behind any categories of understanding in knowing. And these
principles impose some constraints, at both methodological and
ontological levels, together with other levels in culture, society,
nature, and the mind - on how reality is to be understood.
Furthermore, the specific categories of understanding (as
conventionally understood), even if valid at all (which are often
not the case), are often not that important, when compared with
these more fundamental dialectic principles hidden behind them. The
focus on understanding the nature of knowledge has been much
misplaced, in this sense, in the intellectual history hitherto
existing, and much time and talent have been wasted for something
less important. If true, this thesis will alter the way of how
knowledge is to be understood across the board.
Is written by a highly knowledgeable and well-respected scholarA
new theory called The Holistic Theory of KnowledgeA comprehensive
analysis of knowledge in relation to methodology and ontology, from
the perspectives of nature, the mind, society, and culture
The Future of Information Architecture examines issues surrounding
why information is processed, stored and applied in the way that it
has, since time immemorial. Contrary to the conventional wisdom
held by many scholars in human history, the recurrent debate on the
explanation of the most basic categories of information (eg space,
time causation, quality, quantity) has been misconstrued, to the
effect that there exists some deeper categories and principles
behind these categories of information - with enormous implications
for our understanding of reality in general. To understand this,
the book is organised in to four main parts: Part I begins with the
vital question concerning the role of information within the
context of the larger theoretical debate in the literature. Part II
provides a critical examination of the nature of data taxonomy from
the main perspectives of culture, society, nature and the mind.
Part III constructively invesitgates the world of information
network from the main perspectives of culture, society, nature and
the mind. Part IV proposes six main theses in the authors synthetic
theory of information architecture, namely, (a) the first thesis on
the simpleness-complicatedness principle, (b) the second thesis on
the exactness-vagueness principle (c) the third thesis on the
slowness-quickness principle (d) the fourth thesis on the
order-chaos principle, (e) the fifth thesis on the
symmetry-asymmetry principle, and (f) the sixth thesis on the
post-human stage.
Is the invention of accounting so useful that, as Charlie Munger
once said, "you have to know accounting. It's the language of
practical business life. It was a very useful thing to deliver to
civilization. I've heard it came to civilization through Venice
which of course was once the great commercial power in the
Mediterranean"? (WOO 2013) This positive view on accounting can be
contrasted with an opposing view by Paul Browne that "the recent
[accounting] scandals have brought a new level of attention to the
accounting profession as gatekeepers and custodians of social
interest." (DUM 2013) Contrary to these opposing views (and other
ones as will be discussed in the book), accounting (in relation to
addition and subtraction) are neither possible (or impossible) nor
desirable (or undesirable) to the extent that the respective
ideologues (on different sides) would like us to believe. Of
course, this reexamination of different opposing views on
accounting does not mean that the study of addition and subtraction
is useless, or that those fields (related to accounting)-like
bookkeeping, auditing, forensics, info management, finance,
philosophy of accounting, accounting ethics, lean accounting,
mental accounting, environmental audit, creative accounting, carbon
accounting, social accounting, and so on-are unimportant. (WK 2013)
In fact, neither of these extreme views is plausible. Rather, this
book offers an alternative (better) way to understand the future of
accounting in regard to the dialectic relationship between addition
and subtraction-while learning from different approaches in the
literature but without favoring any one of them (nor integrating
them, since they are not necessarily compatible with each other).
More specifically, this book offers a new theory (that is, the
double-sided theory of accounting) to go beyond the existing
approaches in a novel way and is organized in four chapters. This
seminal project will fundamentally change the way that we think
about accounting in relation to addition and subtraction from the
combined perspectives of the mind, nature, society, and culture,
with enormous implications for the human future and what I
originally called its "post-human" fate.
Is moral goodness really so desirable in the way that its
proponents through the ages would like us to believe? For instance,
in our time, there is even this latest version of the popular moral
idea shared by many, when Dalai Lama suggested that " w]e need
these human values of compassion and affection]....Even without
religion, ...we have the capacity to promote these things." (WK
2009) The naivety of this popular moral idea can be contrasted with
an opposing (critical) idea advocated not long ago by Sigmund Freud
(1966), who once wrote that "men are not gentle creatures who want
to be loved, and who at the most can defend themselves if they are
attacked; they are, on the contrary, creatures among whose
instinctual endowments is to be reckoned a powerful share of
aggressiveness. As a result, their neighbor is for them...someone
who tempts them to satisfy their aggressiveness on him, to exploit
his capacity for work without compensation, to use him sexually
without his consent, to seize his possessions, to humiliate him, to
cause him pain, to torture and to kill him. Homo homini lupus."
Contrary to the two opposing sides of this battle for the high
moral ground, morality and immorality are neither possible nor
desirable to the extent that their respective ideologues would like
us to believe. But one should not misunderstand this challenge as a
suggestion that ethics is a worthless field of study, or that other
fields of study (related to ethics) like political philosophy,
moral psychology, social studies, theology, or even international
relations should be dismissed. Needless to stress, neither of these
two extreme views is reasonable either. Instead, this book provides
an alternative (better) way to understand the nature of ethics,
especially in relation to morality and immorality-while learning
from different approaches in the literature but without favoring
any one of them (nor integrating them, since they are not
necessarily compatible with each other). This book offers a new
theory to transcend the existing approaches in the literature on
ethics in a way not thought of before. This seminal project is to
fundamentally alter the way that we think about ethics, from the
combined perspectives of the mind, nature, society, and culture,
with enormous implications for the human future and what I
originally called its "post-human" fate.
Contrary to the thinking of many contemporaries, both capitalism
and democracy will not last and are to be superceded one day by
post-capitalism and post-democracy. The short-lived triumph of
market capitalism and liberal democracy in the post-Cold War era
does not imply the coming end of systematic ideology, of structural
oppression, or of violent conflict at the rational endpoint of
history. Unfortunately, violence does not disappear but only takes
a different form of hegemony, as it has throughout history. The
difference is, each age has its own form to adjust to, so we
believe in ours, and those before us believed in theirs, just as
those after us will in theirs. In The Future of Capitalism and
Democracy, Peter Baofu evaluates how and why capitalism and
democracy have failed at the institutional, organizational,
structural, cultural, systemic, cosmological, and bio-psychological
levels in order to synthesize the often conflicting ideals of
freedom, equality, and fraternity (broadly defined to include all
dimensions of life), so much cherished by many minds since the
modern era. And this is so, even if democracy and capitalism have
different meanings in different cultures and societies. In the end,
Baofu shows that capitalism and democracy, hegemonic as they are in
the post-Cold War era, are just experiments in history and will not
last, just as feudalism and aristocracy before them could not.
Is public administration so effective that, as William Poole once
wrote, "it is highly desirable that policy practice be formalised
to the maximum possible extent"? (FAM 2014). This favourable view
on policy and implementation can be contrasted with an opposing
view by Thomas Sowell, who warned that "you will never understand
bureaucracies until you understand that for bureaucrats procedure
is everything and outcomes are nothing." (FAM 2014a) Contrary to
these opposing views (and other ones as will be discussed in the
book), public administration (in relation to policy and
implementation) are neither possible (or impossible) nor desirable
(or undesirable) to the extent that the respective ideologues (on
different sides) would like us to believe. Needless to say, this
questioning of different opposing views on policy and
implementation does not suggest that the study of public
administration is worthless, or that those diverse fields (related
to public administration) -- like policy analysis, program
evaluation, sociology, psychology, philosophy, performance
management, organisational development, economics, anthropology,
geography, law, political science, social work, environmental
planning, human resources, organisational theory, budgeting,
ethics, and so on should be ignored. (WK 2014, 2014a & 2014b)
In fact, neither of these extreme views is plausible. Rather, this
book offers an alternative (and better) way to understand the
future of public administration in regard to the dialectic
relationship between policy and implementation, while learning from
different approaches in the literature but without favouring any
one of them (nor integrating them, since they are not necessarily
compatible with each other). More specifically, this book offers a
new theory (that is, the tensional theory of public administration)
to go beyond the existing approaches in a novel way, and is
organised in four chapters. This seminal project will fundamentally
change the way that we think about public administration in
relation to policy and implementation from the combined
perspectives of the mind, nature, society, and culture, with
enormous implications for the human future and what I originally
called its "post-human" fate.
Is public administration so effective that, as William Poole once
wrote, "it is highly desirable that policy practice be formalised
to the maximum possible extent"? (FAM 2014) This favourable view on
policy and implementation can be contrasted with an opposing view
by Thomas Sowell, who warned that "you will never understand
bureaucracies until you understand that for bureaucrats procedure
is everything and outcomes are nothing." (FAM 2014a) Contrary to
these opposing views (and other ones as will be discussed in the
book), public administration (in relation to policy and
implementation) are neither possible (nor impossible) nor desirable
(or undesirable) to the extent that the respective ideologues (on
different sides) would like us to believe. Needless to say, this
questioning of different opposing views on policy and
implementation does not suggest that the study of public
administration is worthless, or that those diverse fields (related
to public administration) -- like policy analysis, program
evaluation, sociology, psychology, philosophy, performance
management, organisational development, economics, anthropology,
geography, law, political science, social work, environmental
planning, human resources, organisational theory, budgeting,
ethics, and so on should be ignored. (WK 2014, 2014a & 2014b)
In fact, neither of these extreme views is plausible. Rather, this
book offers an alternative (and better) way to understand the
future of public administration in regard to the dialectic
relationship between policy and implementation, while learning from
different approaches in the literature but without favouring any
one of them (nor integrating them, since they are not necessarily
compatible with each other). More specifically, this book offers a
new theory (that is, the tensional theory of public administration)
to go beyond the existing approaches in a novel way, and is
organized in four chapters. This seminal project will fundamentally
change the way that we think about public administration in
relation to policy and implementation from the combined
perspectives of the mind, nature, society, and culture, with
enormous implications for the human future and what I originally
called its "post-human" fate.
Are the visual arts really so central in our time that, as Doug
Adams once said, "people under 60, raised on television remember by
what they see [F]ilm and television are really the language of
today"? (TE 2013) This central view on the visual arts can be
contrasted with an opposing view by Camille Paglia, who wrote that
"the visual is sorely undervalued in modern scholarship. Art
history has attained only a fraction of the conceptual
sophistication of literary criticism. Drunk with self-love,
criticism has hugely overestimated the centrality of language to
western culture. It has failed to see the electrifying sign
language of images." (TE 2013a) Contrary to these opposing views
(and other ones as will be discussed in the book), the visual arts
(in relation to techniques and spirits) are neither possible (nor
impossible) nor desirable (or undesirable) to the extent that the
respective ideologues (on different sides) would like us to
believe. Needless to say, this questioning of the opposing views on
the visual arts does not mean that the study of techniques and
spirits is useless, or that those fields (related to the visual
arts)like drawing, cosmetics, manicure, painting, landscape,
calligraphy, photography, digital art, computer technology,
advertisement, graphic design, filmmaking, fashion, sculpture,
architecture, and so onare unimportant. (WK 2013) Of course,
neither of these extreme views is reasonable. Instead, this book
offers an alternative (better) way to understand the future of the
visual arts in regard to the dialectic relationship between
techniques and spiritswhile learning from different approaches in
the literature but without favoring any one of them (nor
integrating them, since they are not necessarily compatible with
each other). More specifically, this book offers a new theory (that
is, the ephemeral theory of the visual arts) to go beyond the
existing approaches in a novel way and is organized in four
chapters. This seminal project will fundamentally change the way
that we think about the visual arts in relation to techniques and
spirits from the combined perspectives of the mind, nature,
society, and culture, with enormous implications for the human
future and what I originally called its "post-human" fate.
Are the visual arts really so central in our time that, as Doug
Adams once said, "people under 60, raised on television remember by
what they see. "[F]ilm and television are really the language of
today"? (TE 2013) This central view on the visual arts can be
contrasted with an opposing view by Camille Paglia, who wrote that
"the visual is sorely undervalued in modern scholarship. Art
history has attained only a fraction of the conceptual
sophistication of literary criticism. Drunk with self-love,
criticism has hugely overestimated the centrality of language to
western culture. It has failed to see the electrifying sign
language of images." (TE 2013a) Contrary to these opposing views
(and other ones as will be discussed in the book), the visual arts
(in relation to techniques and spirits) are neither possible (nor
impossible) nor desirable (or undesirable) to the extent that the
respective ideologues (on different sides) would like us to
believe. Needless to say, this questioning of the opposing views on
the visual arts does not mean that the study of techniques and
spirits is useless, or that those fields (related to the visual
arts) -- like drawing, cosmetics, manicure, painting, landscape,
calligraphy, photography, digital art, computer technology,
advertisement, graphic design, filmmaking, fashion, sculpture,
architecture, and so on -- are unimportant. (WK 2013) Of course,
neither of these extreme views is reasonable. Instead, this book
offers an alternative (better) way to understand the future of the
visual arts in regard to the dialectic relationship between
techniques and spirits -- while learning from different approaches
in the literature but without favoring any one of them (nor
integrating them, since they are not necessarily compatible with
each other). More specifically, this book offers a new theory (that
is, the ephemeral theory of the visual arts) to go beyond the
existing approaches in a novel way and is organized in four
chapters. This seminal project will fundamentally change the way
that we think about the visual arts in relation to techniques and
spirits from the combined perspectives of the mind, nature,
society, and culture, with enormous implications for the human
future and what I originally called its "post-human" fate.
Is it really true that, as the Roman philosopher Seneca famously
said in antiquity, "It is the quality rather than the quantity that
matters"? (TE 2013) This popular view on quality can be contrasted
with an opposing view by John Ruskin, who wrote that "the strength
and power of a country depends absolutely on the quantity of good
men and women in it." (TE 2013a) Contrary to these opposing views
(and other ones as will be discussed in the book), human resources
(in relation to quantity and quality) are neither possible (nor
impossible) nor desirable (or undesirable) to the extent that the
respective ideologues (on different sides) would like us to
believe. Of course, this questioning of the opposing views on human
resources does not imply that the study of quantity and quality is
worthless, or that those fields (related to human resources)like
demographics, human resource management, labor economics,
development studies, environmental migration, modernization,
organizational studies, sustainable growth, and so onare
unimportant. (WK 2013) Needless to say, neither of these extreme
views is reasonable. Instead, this book offers an alternative
(better) way to understand the future of human resources in regard
to the dialectic relationship between quantity and quality
(especially, though not solely, in the context of
demographics)while learning from different approaches in the
literature but without favoring any one of them (nor integrating
them, since they are not necessarily compatible with each other).
More specifically, this book offers a new theory (that is, the
post-human theory of demography) to go beyond the existing
approaches in a novel way and is organized in four chapters. This
seminal project will fundamentally change the way that we think
about human resources in relation to quantity and quality
(especially, though not solely, in the context of demographics)
from the combined perspectives of the mind, nature, society, and
culture, with enormous implications for the human future and what I
originally called its "post-human" fate.
Is it really true that, as the Roman philosopher Seneca famously
said in antiquity, "It is the quality rather than the quantity that
matters"? (TE 2013) This popular view on quality can be contrasted
with an opposing view by John Ruskin, who wrote that "the strength
and power of a country depends absolutely on the quantity of good
men and women in it." (TE 2013a) Contrary to these opposing views
(and other ones as will be discussed in the book), human resources
(in relation to quantity and quality) are neither possible (nor
impossible) nor desirable (or undesirable) to the extent that the
respective ideologues (on different sides) would like us to
believe. Of course, this questioning of the opposing views on human
resources does not imply that the study of quantity and quality is
worthless, or that those fields (related to human resources)like
demographics, human resource management, labor economics,
development studies, environmental migration, modernization,
organizational studies, sustainable growth, and so onare
unimportant. (WK 2013) Needless to say, neither of these extreme
views is reasonable. Instead, this book offers an alternative
(better) way to understand the future of human resources in regard
to the dialectic relationship between quantity and quality
(especially, though not solely, in the context of
demographics)while learning from different approaches in the
literature but without favoring any one of them (nor integrating
them, since they are not necessarily compatible with each other).
More specifically, this book offers a new theory (that is, the
post-human theory of demography) to go beyond the existing
approaches in a novel way and is organized in four chapters. This
seminal project will fundamentally change the way that we think
about human resources in relation to quantity and quality
(especially, though not solely, in the context of demographics)
from the combined perspectives of the mind, nature, society, and
culture, with enormous implications for the human future and what I
originally called its "post-human" fate.
Is the traditional understanding of cause and effect in aetiology
so certain that Arthur Eddington therefore proposed in 1927 "the
arrow of time, or time's arrow" involving "the 'one-way direction'
or 'asymmetry' of time", such that "a cause precedes its effect:
the causal event occurs before the event it affects. Thus causality
is intimately bound up with time's arrow"? (WK 2014) This certain
view on cause and effect can be contrasted with an opposing view by
Michael Dummett, who suggested instead, back in 1957, that "there
was no philosophical objection to effects preceding their causes",
or what is now known as "retrocausality". (WK 2014a) Contrary to
these opposing views (and other ones as will be discussed in the
book), aetiology (in relation to cause and effect) are neither
possible (or impossible) nor desirable (or undesirable) to the
extent that the respective ideologues (on different sides) would
like us to believe. Of course, this questioning of different
opposing views on cause and effect does not mean that the study of
aetiology is useless, or that those diverse fields (related to
aetiology) -- like physics, engineering, biology, philosophy,
medicine, epidemiology, government, geography, spatial analysis,
psychology, statistics, mathematics, economics, management,
history, law, sociology, theology, and so on -- are worthless. (WK
2014b & 2014c) In fact, neither of these extreme views is
plausible. Rather, this book offers an alternative (better) way to
understand the future of aetiology in regard to the dialectic
relationship between cause and effect -- while learning from
different approaches in the literature but without favouring any
one of them (nor integrating them, since they are not necessarily
compatible with each other). More specifically, this book offers a
new theory (that is, the pluralist theory of aetiology) to go
beyond the existing approaches in a novel way, and is organised in
four chapters.
Is the traditional understanding of cause and effect in aetiology
so certain that Arthur Eddington therefore proposed in 1927 "the
arrow of time, or time's arrow" involving "the 'one-way direction'
or 'asymmetry' of time", such that "a cause precedes its effect:
the causal event occurs before the event it affects. Thus causality
is intimately bound up with time's arrow"? (WK 2014) This certain
view on cause and effect can be contrasted with an opposing view by
Michael Dummett, who suggested instead, back in 1957, that "there
was no philosophical objection to effects preceding their causes",
or what is now known as "retrocausality". (WK 2014a) Contrary to
these opposing views (and other ones as will be discussed in the
book), aetiology (in relation to cause and effect) are neither
possible (or impossible) nor desirable (or undesirable) to the
extent that the respective ideologues (on different sides) would
like us to believe. Of course, this questioning of different
opposing views on cause and effect does not mean that the study of
aetiology is useless, or that those diverse fields (related to
aetiology) -- like physics, engineering, biology, philosophy,
medicine, epidemiology, government, geography, spatial analysis,
psychology, statistics, mathematics, economics, management,
history, law, sociology, theology, and so on -- are worthless. (WK
2014b & 2014c) In fact, neither of these extreme views is
plausible. Rather, this book offers an alternative (better) way to
understand the future of aetiology in regard to the dialectic
relationship between cause and effect -- while learning from
different approaches in the literature but without favouring any
one of them (nor integrating them, since they are not necessarily
compatible with each other). More specifically, this book offers a
new theory (that is, the pluralist theory of aetiology) to go
beyond the existing approaches in a novel way, and is organised in
four chapters.
Is the nature of the atmosphere really so predictable that, as
James Mahoney confidently said, "we know that humans are
influencing the climate. There's no question about that"? (TE 2013)
This view on the atmosphere can be contrasted with an opposing view
by James Glassman, who warned us that "the real world is more
unpredictable and uncertain than the idealised world that academics
push for." (TE 2013a) Contrary to these opposing views (and other
ones discussed in the book), aerology or the study of the
atmosphere (in relation to predictability and non-predictability)
are neither possible (or impossible) nor desirable (or undesirable)
to the extent that the respective ideologues (on different sides)
would like us to believe. Of course, this questioning of the
opposing views on aerology does not mean that the study of
predictability and non-predictability is useless, or that those
fields (related to aerology) -- like meteorology, climatology,
atmospheric physics, atmospheric chemistry, cloud physics,
aeronomy, hydrology, atmospheric modelling, climate change, chaos
theory, complexity theory, planetary science, and so on -- are
unimportant. (WK 2013) In fact, neither of these extreme views is
reasonable. Instead, this book offers an alternative (better) way
to understand the future of aerology in regard to the dialectic
relationship between predictability and non-predictability -- while
learning from different approaches in the literature but without
favouring any one of them (nor integrating them, since they are not
necessarily compatible with each other). More specifically, this
book offers a new theory (that is, the constructivist theory of
aerology) to go beyond the existing approaches in a novel way and
is organised in four chapters. This seminal project will
fundamentally change the way that we think about aerology in
relation to predictability and non-predictability from the combined
perspectives of the mind, nature, society and culture, with
enormous implications for the human future and what I originally
called its "post-human" fate.
Is the nature of the atmosphere really so predictable that, as
James Mahoney confidently said, "we know that humans are
influencing the climate. There's no question about that"? (TE 2013)
This view on the atmosphere can be contrasted with an opposing view
by James Glassman, who warned us that "the real world is more
unpredictable and uncertain than the idealised world that academics
push for". (TE 2013a) Contrary to these opposing views (and other
ones discussed in the book), aerology or the study of the
atmosphere (in relation to predictability and non-predictability)
are neither possible (or impossible) nor desirable (or undesirable)
to the extent that the respective ideologues (on different sides)
would like us to believe. Of course, this questioning of the
opposing views on aerology does not mean that the study of
predictability and non-predictability is useless, or that those
fields (related to aerology) -- like meteorology, climatology,
atmospheric physics, atmospheric chemistry, cloud physics,
aeronomy, hydrology, atmospheric modelling, climate change, chaos
theory, complexity theory, planetary science, and so on -- are
unimportant. (WK 2013) In fact, neither of these extreme views is
reasonable. Instead, this book offers an alternative (better) way
to understand the future of aerology in regard to the dialectic
relationship between predictability and non-predictability -- while
learning from different approaches in the literature but without
favouring any one of them (nor integrating them, since they are not
necessarily compatible with each other). More specifically, this
book offers a new theory (that is, the constructivist theory of
aerology) to go beyond the existing approaches in a novel way and
is organised in four chapters. This seminal project will
fundamentally change the way that we think about aerology in
relation to predictability and non-predictability from the combined
perspectives of the mind, nature, society and culture, with
enormous implications for the human future and what I originally
called its "post-human" fate.
Are the rules and principles in phonology so general that, as
Jacques Derrida once said, "as soon as there is language,
generality has entered the scene"? (REL 2013) This general view on
language (or phonology in the current context) can be contrasted
with an opposing view by Alfred North Whitehead that "we think in
generalities, but we live in detail." (BRAIN 2013) Contrary to
these opposing views (and other ones as will be discussed in the
book), phonology (in relation to generality and specificity) are
neither possible (nor impossible) nor desirable (or undesirable) to
the extent that the respective ideologues (on different sides)
would like us to believe. Surely, this re-examination of different
opposing views on phonology does not mean that the study of
generality and specificity is futile, or that those fields (related
to phonology) -- like descriptive linguistics, theoretical
linguistics, psycholinguistics, phonetics, speech synthesis, speech
perception, morphophonology, articulatory phonology, laboratory
phonology, phonotactics, and so on -- are unimportant. (WK 2013) In
fact, neither of these extreme views is reasonable. Rather, this
book offers an alternative (better) way to understand the future of
phonology in regard to the dialectic relationship between
generality and specificity -- while learning from different
approaches in the literature but without favouring any one of them
(nor integrating them, since they are not necessarily compatible
with each other). More specifically, this book offers a new theory
(that is, the inclusionist theory of phonology) to go beyond the
existing approaches in a novel way and is organised in four
chapters.
Is the degree of probability that an individual holds when betting
on a particular outcome really so subjective that, as Frank Ramsey
once argued, "objective logical relations" do not exist and that
"probability is 'the logic of partial belief"? (WK 2012a) This
subjective interpretation of probability can be contrasted with an
objective view by John Keynes, who argued instead that "logical
probabilities are conceived to be objective, logical relations
between propositions (or sentences), and hence not to depend in any
way upon belief". (WK 2012) Contrary to these opposing
interpretations (and other ones as will be discussed in the book),
probability (in relation to both objectivity and subjectivity) are
neither possible (nor impossible) nor desirable (or undesirable) to
the extent that the respective ideologues (on different sides)
would like us to believe. Surely, this questioning of the opposing
interpretations on probability does not entail that probability is
useless, or that those fields related to probability (like
"statistics, finance, gambling, science, artificial
intelligence/machine learning and philosophy") are not worth
studying. Needless to say, neither of these extreme views is
reasonable. Instead, this book offers an alternative way to
understand the future of probability, especially in the dialectic
context of objectivity and subjectivity -- while learning from
different approaches in the literature but without favouring any
one of them (nor integrating them, since they are not necessarily
compatible with each other). More specifically, this book offers a
new theory (that is, the interpretivist theory of probability) in
order to go beyond the existing approaches in a novel way. To
understand this, the book is organised in four chapters. This
seminal project will fundamentally change the way that we think
about probability in relation to objectivity and subjectivity from
the combined perspectives of the mind, nature, society, and
culture, with enormous implications for the human future and what I
originally called its "post-human" fate.
Is positive thinking really so healthy that, as Martin Seligman
(2000) and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi passionately thus argued, "we
believe that a psychology of positive human functioning will arise,
which achieves a scientific understanding and effective
interventions to build thriving individuals, families, and
communities"? This optimistic view on positive thinking for health
can be contrasted with an opposing view by Barbara Ehrenreich
(2009), who "extensively critiqued 'positive psychology'" and
showed "how obsessive positive thinking impedes productive action,
causes delusional assessments of situations, and people are then
blamed for not visualising hard enough and thus 'attracting'
failure even in situations when 'masses of lives were lost'." (WK
2013; R Byrne 2006) Contrary to these opposing views (and other
ones as will be discussed in the book), health care (in relation to
mental health and physical health in the context of mind and body)
are neither possible (or impossible) nor desirable (or undesirable)
to the extent that the respective ideologues (on different sides)
would like us to believe. Surely, this questioning of the opposing
views on health care does not suggest that the study of health care
is worthless, or that those fields (related to health care) like
medicine, chiropractic, health system, dentistry, health info tech,
nursing, psychiatrics, clinical psychology, occupational therapy,
pharmacy, allied health, and so on are unimportant. Needless to
say, neither of these extreme views is reasonable. Instead, this
book offers an alternative (better) way to understand the future of
health care, especially in the dialectic relationships between
mental health and physical health in the context of mind and body
-- while learning from different approaches in the literature but
without favouring any one of them (nor integrating them, since they
are not necessarily compatible with each other). More specifically,
this book offers a new theory (that is, the interconnected theory
of health care) to go beyond the existing approaches in a novel way
and is organised in four chapters.
Are words really so determined by rules that, as Leonard Bloomfield
once argued in defence of the "morpheme-based" morphology, "word
forms are analysed as arrangements of morphemes", such that there
are "rules to combine morphemes into word forms, or to generate
word forms from stems "? (WK 2012) But there is an opposing
approach to morphology known as the "word-based" morphology, which
"takes paradigms as a central notion", in that it "states
generalisations" which categorise "words based on the pattern they
fit into. This applies both to existing words and to new ones.
Application of a pattern different from the one that has been used
historically can give rise to a new word", (WK 2012) Contrary to
these opposing approaches (and other ones as will be discussed in
the book), morphology (in relation to both typologies and rules)
are neither possible (or impossible) nor desirable (or undesirable)
to the extent that the respective ideologues (on different sides)
would like us to believe. Of course, this questioning of the
opposing approaches to morphology does not mean that morphology is
worthless, or that those fields (related to morphology) like
morphophonology, semantics, syntax, pragmatics, anthropological
linguistics, etymology, sociolinguistics, computational
linguistics, evolutionary linguistics, philosophy of language,
neurolinguistics, psycholinguistics, and so on are unimportant.
Needless to say, neither of these extreme views is reasonable.
Instead, this book offers an alternative (better) way to understand
the future of morphology, especially in the dialectic context of
typologies and rules -- while learning from different approaches in
the literature but without favouring any one of them (nor
integrating them, since they are not necessarily compatible with
each other). More specifically, this book offers a new theory (that
is, the fusional theory of morphology) to go beyond the existing
approaches in a novel way. If successful, this seminal project is
to fundamentally change the way that we think about morphology in
relation to typologies and rules from the combined perspectives of
the mind, nature, society, and culture, with enormous implications
for the human future and what I originally called its "post-human"
fate.
Is the invention of accounting so useful that, as Charlie Munger
once said, "you have to know accounting. It's the language of
practical business life. It was a very useful thing to deliver to
civilization. I've heard it came to civilization through Venice
which of course was once the great commercial power in the
Mediterranean"? (WOO 2013) This positive view on accounting can be
contrasted with an opposing view by Paul Browne that "the recent
[accounting] scandals have brought a new level of attention to the
accounting profession as gatekeepers and custodians of social
interest." (DUM 2013) Contrary to these opposing views (and other
ones as will be discussed in the book), accounting (in relation to
addition and subtraction) are neither possible (or impossible) nor
desirable (or undesirable) to the extent that the respective
ideologues (on different sides) would like us to believe. Of
course, this reexamination of different opposing views on
accounting does not mean that the study of addition and subtraction
is useless, or that those fields (related to accounting)-like
bookkeeping, auditing, forensics, info management, finance,
philosophy of accounting, accounting ethics, lean accounting,
mental accounting, environmental audit, creative accounting, carbon
accounting, social accounting, and so on-are unimportant. (WK 2013)
In fact, neither of these extreme views is plausible. Rather, this
book offers an alternative (better) way to understand the future of
accounting in regard to the dialectic relationship between addition
and subtraction-while learning from different approaches in the
literature but without favoring any one of them (nor integrating
them, since they are not necessarily compatible with each other).
More specifically, this book offers a new theory (that is, the
double-sided theory of accounting) to go beyond the existing
approaches in a novel way and is organized in four chapters. This
seminal project will fundamentally change the way that we think
about accounting in relation to addition and subtraction from the
combined perspectives of the mind, nature, society, and culture,
with enormous implications for the human future and what I
originally called its "post-human" fate.
Is moral goodness really so desirable in the way that its
proponents through the ages would like us to believe? For instance,
in our time, there is even this latest version of the popular moral
idea shared by many, when Dalai Lama suggested that " w]e need
these human values of compassion and affection]....Even without
religion, ...we have the capacity to promote these things." (WK
2009) The naivety of this popular moral idea can be contrasted with
an opposing (critical) idea advocated not long ago by Sigmund Freud
(1966), who once wrote that "men are not gentle creatures who want
to be loved, and who at the most can defend themselves if they are
attacked; they are, on the contrary, creatures among whose
instinctual endowments is to be reckoned a powerful share of
aggressiveness. As a result, their neighbor is for them...someone
who tempts them to satisfy their aggressiveness on him, to exploit
his capacity for work without compensation, to use him sexually
without his consent, to seize his possessions, to humiliate him, to
cause him pain, to torture and to kill him. Homo homini lupus."
Contrary to the two opposing sides of this battle for the high
moral ground, morality and immorality are neither possible nor
desirable to the extent that their respective ideologues would like
us to believe. But one should not misunderstand this challenge as a
suggestion that ethics is a worthless field of study, or that other
fields of study (related to ethics) like political philosophy,
moral psychology, social studies, theology, or even international
relations should be dismissed. Needless to stress, neither of these
two extreme views is reasonable either. Instead, this book provides
an alternative (better) way to understand the nature of ethics,
especially in relation to morality and immorality-while learning
from different approaches in the literature but without favoring
any one of them (nor integrating them, since they are not
necessarily compatible with each other). This book offers a new
theory to transcend the existing approaches in the literature on
ethics in a way not thought of before. This seminal project is to
fundamentally alter the way that we think about ethics, from the
combined perspectives of the mind, nature, society, and culture,
with enormous implications for the human future and what I
originally called its "post-human" fate.
To what extent is there really a universal structure, whether
innate or not, of language for learning? Or conversely, is language
learning mainly context-based? And, in the end, does the very
nature of language delimit our mental world-such that "the limits
of my language mean the limits of my world" or, in a different
parlance, constitute "the prison house of language"?Contrary to the
conventional wisdom held by many in history, all these seemingly
plausible views are highly misleading, to the extent that something
vital is missing in the conventional debate, such that the nature
of learning has yet to be more comprehensively and systematically
understood.This is not to say, however, that the literature in the
study of language (and other related fields) hitherto existing in
history has been much ado about nothing. In fact, much can be
learned from different theoretical approaches in the literature.The
virtue of this book is to provide an alternative (better) way to
understand the nature of learning, especially (though not
exclusively) in relation to language-which, while incorporating the
different views in the literature, transcends them all in the end,
with the use of language and also beyond it. This inquiry may sound
academic, but it has enormous implications not just for the narrow
concern with the nature of language, but also, more importantly,
for the larger concern with the nature of thinking, feeling, and
doing in learning, both with the use of language and beyond it.If
true, this seminal work will fundamentally change the way that we
think, not only about the nature of language, in a small sense- but
also about the nature of learning, with the use of language and
also beyond it, from the combined perspectives of the mind, nature,
society, and culture, for the human future and what I originally
called its "post-human" fate, in a broad sense.
Why should some essential properties of geometry (i.e., infinity,
symmetry, and dimensionality) be both necessary and desirable in
the way that they have been constructed-albeit with different
modifications over time-since time immemorial? Contrary to the
conventional wisdom in all history hitherto existing, the essential
properties of geometry do not have to be both necessary and
desirable. This is not to suggest, of course, that one has nothing
to learn from geometry. On the contrary, geometry has contributed
to the advancement of knowledge in many ways since its inception as
a field of knowledge some millennia ago. The point in this book,
however, is to show an alternative (better) way to understand the
nature of geometry, which goes beyond human conception, intuition,
and imagination, together with worldly experience of course, as its
foundation, while learning from them all-with theoretical
implications for time travel, hyperspace, and other important
issues. If true, this seminal view will fundamentally change the
way that the nature of abstraction in the thinking process is to be
understood, with its enormous implications for the future
advancement of knowledge, in a small sense, and what I originally
called its post-human fate, in a large one.
What exactly is so appealing in formal science, such that its
influence can be seen in numerous disciplines nowadays, for
practical purposes like better functionality, performance, and so
on-as Pythagoras already famously said in antiquity: "Number is the
ruler of forms and ideas and the cause of gods and demons"?This
contemporary addiction to practical convenience in formal science
has turned a blind eye to its other side, which has impoverished
both our knowledge of reality and the well-being of our
lifeworld.Contrary to conventional wisdom, the other side of this
appealing addiction has yet to be comprehensively understood, nor
has the fact that its practical convenience is neither possible nor
desirable to the extent that the proponents of formal science would
like us to believe. Needless to say, this by no means suggests that
formal science should not be used for practical purposes, or that
the literature in formal science (and other related fields like
computer science, information theory, microeconomics, decision
theory, statistics, and linguistics, just to cite a few of them)
should be dismissed. Of course, neither of these two extreme views
is reasonable either.Instead, this book provides an alternative
(better) way to understand the nature of formal science, especially
in relation to systems theory for practical convenience-while
learning from different approaches in the literature but without
favoring any one of them (nor integrating them, since they are not
necessarily compatible with each other). In the end, this book
offers a new theory to transcend the existing approaches in the
literature in a new direction not thought of before. This seminal
project is to fundamentally alter the way that we think about
formal science, from the combined perspectives of the mind, nature,
society, and culture, with enormous implications for the human
future and what I originally called its "post-human" fate.
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