There is enormous excitement surrounding AI technology. This excitement is driven, at least in part, by hype: exaggerated claims about the capabilities of AI. Since AI is an inherently interesting and sensational topic, and since there has been a lot of hype claims made about it, discussions of AI in public discourse are suffused with hype. These hype conditions have significant potential consequences concerning distribution of resources and environmental damage. This paper argues that these hype (...) conditions also pose a distinct risk for researchers who work on AI. In short, the risk is that, in hype conditions, ordinary research activities and communication may unintentionally contribute to hype. Research is often exploratory or involves arguing for hypotheses that are not accepted as scientific consensus. Furthermore, there is always a chance that even excellent science will result in error; this is known as inductive risk. However, not all errors have the same consequences. Sometimes, accepting a false hypothesis can have worse consequences than rejecting a true one, or vice versa. A researcher might, quite reasonably, argue in a published article for a hypothesis about AI that turns out to be false. At the same time, because of the hype conditions surrounding AI, the article may be read by a much wider audience than they intend. Thus, when arguing for hypotheses, researchers run an inductive risk of contributing to AI hype. This risk needs to be considered by researchers when deciding how to conduct inquiry and communicate their results. (shrink)

There is a literature across science and technology studies, sociology of science, and philosophy examining the phenomenon of hype in science and technology. While definitions of hype vary, most accounts share a critical stance, viewing them as misleading or distorting scientific and public discourse. This paper takes a different approach by asking whether certain aspects of hyping might, under specific conditions, be beneficial. Rather than thinking about hype as isolated episodes, I think about hyping as a communicative (...) strategy that affects decision-making under uncertainty. While individual instances of hype are harmful and often short-lived, as a practice, hyping might nevertheless be efficient in allocating resources. I draw an analogy between aggressively promoting the potential of emerging technologies despite significant uncertainty, and the Upper Confidence Bound (UCB) algorithm in reinforcement learning, a strategy shown to perform well in problems involving multiple uncertain choices. By drawing this analogy, I identify the conditions under which hyping can function as a collective implementation of UCB in a multi-agent, distributed context. To do so, I present a formal model that allows us to think about hyping as a mechanism for orchestrating public attention and helping shape the direction of scientific inquiry. (shrink)

This essay focuses on anthropomorphism as both a form of hype and fallacy. As a form of hype, anthropomorphism is shown to exaggerate AI capabilities and performance by attributing human-like traits to systems that do not possess them. As a fallacy, anthropomorphism is shown to distort moral judgments about AI, such as those concerning its moral character and status, as well as judgments of responsibility and trust. By focusing on these two dimensions of anthropomorphism in AI, the essay (...) highlights negative ethical consequences of the phenomenon in this field. (shrink)

As humans, we have an innate tendency to ascribe human-like qualities to non-human entities. Whilst sometimes helpful, such anthropomorphic projections are often misleading. This commentary considers how anthropomorphising AI contributes to its misrepresentation and hype. First, I outline three manifestations (terminology; imagery; and morality). Then, I consider the extent to which we ought to mitigate it.

This paper studies class theory over the logic HYPE recently introduced by Hannes Leitgeb. We formulate suitable abstraction principles and show their consistency by displaying a class of fixed-point (term) models. By adapting a classical result by Brady, we show their inconsistency with standard extensionality principles, as well as the incompatibility of our semantics with weak extensionality principles introduced in the literature. We then formulate our version of weak extensionality (appropriate to the behavior of the conditional in HYPE) (...) and show its consistency with one of the abstraction principles previously introduced. We conclude with observations and examples supporting the claim that, although arithmetical axioms over HYPE are as strong as classical arithmetical axioms, the behavior of classes over HYPE is akin to the one displayed by classes in other nonclassical class theories. (shrink)

Modern society exhibits a deep cognitive asymmetry: the dominance of neurotypical convergence over structural reasoning. History has never been a smooth accumulation of knowledge, but the rare work of minds who broke consensus to open new coherence pathways. Each time, the doors they opened were swiftly flooded. Not with discovery, but with words. This paper diagnoses the neurotypification of society as a structural drift in which symbols have displaced structure, ego and hype have replaced feedback, and the doing of (...) knowledge has been eclipsed by the talking about it. Scientific publication exemplifies this pathology: a culture measuring truth in volume and citation rather than coherence yield, producing a self-reinforcing symbolic network detached from first principles. The result is a civilization in symbolic lock-in, mistaking language for reality and authority for discovery. Through historical analysis and contemporary symptoms, this work frames the crisis not as moral failure but as attractor dynamics of a species that has chosen words over world. (shrink)

In this paper, I argue that, contrary to common opinion, a counterexample against a philosophical theory does not amount to conclusive evidence against that theory. Instead, the method of counterexamples allows for the derivation of a disjunction, i.e., ‘either the theory is false or an auxiliary assumption is false’, not a negation of the target theory. This is so because, whenever the method of counterexamples is used in an attempt to refute a philosophical theory, there is a crucial auxiliary assumption (...) that needs to be taken into account. The auxiliary assumption is that making intuitive judgments in response to hypothetical cases about the subject matter in question (e.g., knowledge or proper names) is a good method for finding out truths about that subject matter. Without good reasons to think that this assumption is warranted, the negation of a philosophical theory whose content is alleged to be in conflict with the content of an intuition cannot be justifiably derived using an argument that employs the method of counterexamples. (shrink)

With DLT’s success in driving the development of cryptocurrency (such as Bitcoin), the technology bridged to a myriad of knowledge-based applications, most notably in the areas of commerce, industry and government . In the language of technology sector insiders, these areas were ‘disrupted’ by Blockchain. Some higher education analysts, technology industry insiders and futurists have claimed that Blockchain technology will inevitably disrupt higher education in a similarly dramatic fashion. The aim of this commentary is to introduce a healthy dose of (...) realism into the hype-filled atmosphere of the Blockchain-for-higher-education narrative. A postdigital approach is taken because it treats digital and non-digital technologies as having equal material and cultural standing as candidates to transform higher education. (shrink)

Large Reasoning Models are marketed as systems that ‘think’ before they answer, displaying chains of thought that purport to show their reasoning. Echoing Dreyfus’ Critique of Artificial Reason, this paper critiques this attribution in three steps. First, we trace a genealogy from Leibniz through Turing showing that ‘reasoning,’ understood as formal symbol manipulation, is the founding concept of artificial intelligence – older than the term ‘intelligence’ itself – and supplies the most charitable standard against which such systems can be measured. (...) Second, we argue that current systems fail even this standard: their training procedures provide no mechanism for valid inference, their performance collapses on precisely the problems that stepwise reasoning should master, and their displayed traces are presented as explanations while lacking any fidelity guarantee to the underlying computation. Unlike traditional Explainable AI methods, they are optimized for plausibility, not faithfulness – which, as empirical research suggests, makes them structurally deceptive. Third, we ask why the vocabulary persists despite these findings, and examine the ideological work it performs: it underwrites investment and geopolitical positioning, and sustains a narrative in which each new system appears as a step on a necessary path toward the future. (shrink)

The editorial introduces issue 21.1 of Technoetic Arts via a critical reflection on the artificial intelligence hype (AI hype) that emerged in 2022. Tracing the history of the critique of Large Language Models, the editorial underscores that there are substantial ethical challenges related to bias in the training data, copyright issues, as well as ecological challenges which the technology industry has consistently downplayed over the years. -/- The editorial highlights the distinction between the current AI technology’s reliance on (...) extensive pre-existing human-generated data for pattern recognition and the performative process inherent in art practice. Patterns of creative output can be replicated without a thorough understanding of underlying concepts. In contrast, the performative process of art practice, as explored through the conceptual frameworks of creativity by Noam Chomsky, Charles Sanders Peirce, and Roger T. Ames and discussed in previous publications by this editorial's author, creates concepts and continually ‘strives to extend itself towards the unknown.’ -/- Following this introductory section, the editorial provides an overview of the ten articles featured in this issue of Technoetic Arts. The first four texts engage with emerging technologies from various perspectives in art and design. The subsequent six articles, part of a special section titled 'Perspectives from Chandigarh,' reflect a quest for meaningful existence within colonial, patriarchal, and biopolitical structures that frame everyday practices of exclusion and oppression. (shrink)

This paper extends the diagnosis of The Neurotypification of Society by tracing further manifestations of symbolic lock-in across contemporary culture. It examines three major trajectories: the rise of binary thinking under the computational paradigm, the transition to a verbal and service-based economy, and the exponential maladaptation triggered by social media feedback loops. Together, these movements reveal a civilization increasingly optimized for symbolic consensus at the expense of structural reasoning and recursive feedback. Binary computation has not merely transformed technology but cognition (...) itself, amplifying discrete-state logic and eroding tolerance for ambiguity. The economic shift from material production to symbolic mediation entrenches language as the primary substrate of value, deepening the identification of words with reality. Social media completes the arc, creating a hype economy where presence collapses into performance and immersion is replaced by perpetual self-description. The paper also explores the rise of anxiety as a cultural signal: the body’s response to verbal saturation and the systematic suppression of nonverbal, coherence-rich modalities of thought. These observations do not prescribe remedies but act as further probes, mapping the contours of a society drifting into symbolic gravity, where doing dissolves into talking and reality itself risks becoming another layer of description. (shrink)

The current AI hype cycle combined with Psychology's various crises make for a perfect storm. Psychology, on the one hand, has a history of weak theoretical foundations, a neglect for computational and formal skills, and a hyperempiricist privileging of experimental tasks and testing for effects. Artificial Intelligence, on the other hand, has a history of conflating artifacts for theories of cognition, or even minds themselves, and its engineering offspring likes to move fast and break things. Many of our contemporaries (...) now want to combine the worst of these two worlds. What could possibly go wrong? Quite a lot. Does this mean that Psychology and Artificial Intelligence can best part ways? Not at all. There are very fruitful ways in which the two disciplines can interact and theoretically inform the interdisciplinary study of cognition. But to reap the fruits one needs to understand how to steer clear of potential traps. (shrink)

While recently hyped as a defense against AI plagiarism, oral exams have fallen out of favor in American philosophy departments. They are often perceived as part of an antiquated system where the day-to-day coursework is sharply distinguished from a 100% weighted final exam, with a more oppositional than collaborative student-professor relationship. Such examinations do not lend themselves to blind grading, and also reinforce the existing privilege of students who are confident, fast-spoken, and know what to study. This kind of oral (...) examination is clearly at odds with the contemporary transparent and collaborative process embodied in techniques like specifications grading, with its proven benefits for novice philosophy students in introductory-level courses. I want to defend a rather different role for oral exams. Novice philosophy students need rapid feedback in order to know whether they have correctly understood the expectations embodied in syllabi and rubrics. Six best practices are offered for achieving this goal while minimizing drawbacks. (shrink)

Artificial intelligence (AI) companies and their rhetoric infringe on academia in harmful ways, mirroring past uncritical acceptance of industry logics, such as those of tobacco and petroleum. In this position piece, we tease apart and explain why phrases like 'generative AI' impede scholarly discussion because by design these expressions are used to dazzle and sidestep scrutiny. Furthermore, we contend with the AI industry's logics to enable rejecting frames such as: that we must embrace the future, that this hype cycle (...) is unique, that anthropomorphism and circular reasoning hold water when discussing AI systems, and that students are now all cheating or all need to use AI. To these ends, we expound on why universities must take their role seriously to a) counter the AI industry's marketing, hype, and harm; and to b) safeguard higher education, critical thinking, expertise, academic freedom, and scientific integrity. For each point we raise, we include pointers to relevant work to further inform and convince our colleagues. (shrink)

Clinical researchers should help respect the autonomy and promote the well-being of prospective study participants by helping them make voluntary, informed decisions about enrollment. However, participants often exhibit poor understanding of important information about clinical research. Bioethicists have given special attention to “misconceptions” about clinical research that can compromise participants’ decision-making, most notably the “therapeutic misconception.” These misconceptions typically involve false beliefs about a study’s purpose, or risks or potential benefits for participants. In this article, we describe a misconception involving (...) false beliefs about a study’s potential benefits for non-participants, or its expected social value. This social value misconception can compromise altruistically motivated participants’ decision-making, potentially threatening their autonomy and well-being. We show how the social value misconception raises ethical concerns for inherently low-value research, hyped research, and even ordinary research, and advocate for empirical and normative work to help understand and counteract this misconception’s potential negative impacts on participants. (shrink)

I present an ontology of criteria for evaluating theory to answer the titular question from the perspective of a scientist practitioner. Set inside a formal account of our adjudication over theories, a metatheoretical calculus, this ontology comprises the following: (a) metaphysical commitment, the need to highlight what parts of theory are not under investigation, but are assumed, asserted, or essential; (b) discursive survival, the ability to be understood by interested non-bad actors, to withstand scrutiny within the intended (sub)field(s), and to (...) negotiate the dialectical landscape thereof; (c) empirical interface, the potential to explicate the relationship between theory and observation, i.e., how observations relate to, and affect, theory and vice versa; (d) minimising harm, the reckoning with how theory is forged in a fire of historical, if not ongoing, abuses—from past crimes against humanity, to current exploitation, turbocharged or hyped by machine learning, to historical and present internal academic marginalisation. This work hopes to serve as a possible beginning for scientists who want to examine the properties and characteristics of theories, to propose additional virtues and vices, and to engage in further dialogue. Finally, I appeal to practitioners to iterate frequently over such criteria, by building and sharing the metatheoretical calculi used to adjudicate over theories. (shrink)

This paper examines the potential educational uses of chat-based large language models (LLMs), moving past initial hype and skepticism. Although LLM outputs often evoke fascination and resemble human writing, they are unpredictable and must be used with discernment. Several metaphors—like calculators, cars, and drunk tutors—highlight distinct models for student interactions with LLMs, which we explore in the paper. We suggest that LLMs hold a potential in students’ learning by fostering proleptic reasoning through scaffolding, i.e., presenting a technological accompaniment in (...) anticipating and responding to potential objections to arguments. Here, the technical limitations of LLMs can be reframed as beneficial when fostering anticipatory reasoning. Whether their outputs are accurate or not, evaluating them stimulates learning. LLMs require students to critically engage, emphasizing analytical thinking over mere memorization. This interaction helps solidify knowledge. Additionally, we explore how engaging with LLMs can prepare students for constructive collective discussions and provide first steps in addressing epistemic injustices by highlighting potential research blind spots. Thus, while acknowledging the sociopolitical and ethical complexities of using LLMs in education, we suggest that when used in an informed way, they can promote critical thinking through anticipatory reasoning. (shrink)

While the present information ecosystem is still undergoing a tsunami of repeated algorithmic superintelligence (ASI) achievement claims linked to the motif of the epistemic perpetuum mobile (EPM), will the laterally emerging and slowly propagating quantum ASI hype finally lead to a multiversal fear of missing out? Instead of adding novel entries to the already large enough and growing set of prophecies about the future promulgated in the deepfake era, this paper written for purposes of self-education utilizes a recent epistemic (...) complexity theory to answer the following natural scientific question: could the impossibility to build a multiversal ASI be amenable to experimental problematization? (shrink)

Our approach to this topic and all other topics on genuine spirituality is this: no concessions to hype, no therapeutic reassurance, no consoling conclusions. -/- The Gurdjieff and de Salzmann material, when read carefully rather than summarised from secondary sources, actually does point to something structurally exact and immensely important for understanding the structure of our deepest self. De Salzmann's notebooks are unusual in contemplative literature because she does not describe achievement. She describes the recurring failure of presence and (...) the mechanism of that failure with a precision that most spiritual writing actively avoids. That precision is the spine of the series of articles built here. Everything else, Evagrius, Sartre, Anna Freud, serves it rather than competing with it. -/- This paper, together with the broader Vedicvibes and Authentic Spirituality project, stands in sharp contrast to much of what is found online. Most writing on inner demons is organised around the reader's comfort. It wants to offer a method that works, a process with stages, a promise of resolution. It suggests there is an answer to the question: how do I gain the upper hand over my inner demons? That requirement distorts everything downstream. The moment you decide the reader must leave feeling better, you cannot say what this paper says: that the search instrument is itself the problem, that naming the demon consolidates it, that there is no terminal point. Those are not comfortable things. They are, however, what the material actually implies if you follow it without flinching. -/- The topics pursued here, from the colonisation of inner space paper through to this one, have been organised around exactly the opposite commitment: follow the argument where it goes, not where it would be welcome. That is rare enough that it produces a different kind of writing. -/- -/- Abstract -/- The phrase "inner demons" is used casually, almost decoratively, in contemporary psychological and spiritual discourse. This paper takes it seriously. It argues that what we call inner demons are not exotic entities to be exorcised or romanticised, but structural features of identified consciousness: habitual patterns of reactivity, self-narrative, and compulsive attention that operate precisely because they remain unseen. The paper traces a genealogy of this insight from Evagrius Ponticus and John Cassian through Jung's shadow, psychoanalytic defense theory, Buddhist klesha psychology, and the existential phenomenology of Sartre and Heidegger, before arriving at the decisive formulation: the work of G.I. Gurdjieff (c. 1866,1949) and Jeanne de Salzmann (1889,1990). The central argument is that finding inner demons requires the development of a quality of inner attention, what de Salzmann called presence, that is capable of observing without identifying. Without this prior capacity, the search for inner demons merely produces new stories about them, which themselves become the next round of identification. Inner demons are not what we find inside ourselves. They are what prevents us from finding ourselves. The paper situates this inquiry within the author's broader series on authentic spirituality and draws on his contemplative practice at Quinta Quixote. (shrink)

An AI winter may be defined as the stage when technology, business, and the media come to terms with what AI can or cannot really do as a technology without exaggeration. Through discussion of previous AI winters, this paper examines the hype cycle (which by turn characterises AI as a social panacea or a nightmare of apocalyptic proportions) and argues that AI should be treated as a normal technology, neither as a miracle nor as a plague, but rather as (...) of the many solutions that human ingenuity has managed to devise. (shrink)

In this article, we present a definition of a hyperintensionality appropriate to relevant logics. We then show that relevant logics are hyperintensional in this sense, drawing consequences for other non-classical logics, including HYPE and some substructural logics. We further prove results concerning extensionality in relevant logics. We close by discussing related concepts for classifying formula contexts and potential applications of these results.

Could 2024 be the year heralding what one could term the deepfake universe apocalypse scenario or could it be the year that a future history of science may e.g. interpret as the year of the first literally universe-sized algorithmic hype bubble? This commentary introduces the metaphor of "GPT-Universe" and the assumptions hidden beneath it.

There are a number of premises underlying much of the vigorous debate on pharmacological cognitive enhancement. Among these are claims in the enhancement literature that such drugs exist and are effective among the cognitively normal. These drugs are deemed to enhance cognition specifically, as opposed to other non-cognitive facets of our psychology, such as mood and motivation. The focus on these drugs as cognitive enhancers also suggests that they raise particular ethical questions, or perhaps more pressing ones, compared to those (...) raised by other kinds of neuroenhancement. Finally, the use of these drugs is often claimed to be significant and increasing. Taken together, these premises are at the heart of the flurry of debate on pharmacological cognitive enhancement. In this article, it is argued that these are presumptions for which the evidence does not hold up. Respectively, the evidence for the efficacy of these drugs is inconsistent; neurologically it makes little sense to distinguish the cognitive from non-cognitive as separate targets of pharmacological intervention; ethically, the questions raised by cognitive enhancement are in fact no different from those raised by other kinds of neuroenhancement; and finally the prevalence rates of these drugs are far from clear, with the bulk of the claims resting on poor or misrepresented data. Greater conceptual clarity along with a more tempered appreciation of the evidence can serve to deflate some of the hype in the associated literature, leading to a more realistic and sober assessment of these prospective technologies. (shrink)

Well before the COVID-19 pandemic, proponents of digital psychiatry were touting the promise of various digital tools and techniques to revolutionize mental healthcare. As social distancing and its knock-on effects have strained existing mental health infrastructures, calls have grown louder for implementing various digital mental health solutions at scale. Decisions made today will shape the future of mental healthcare for the foreseeable future. We argue that bioethicists are uniquely positioned to cut through the hype surrounding digital mental health, which (...) can obscure crucial ethical and epistemic gaps that ought to be considered by policymakers before committing to a digital psychiatric future. Here, we describe four such gaps: The evidence gap, the inequality gap, the prediction-intervention gap, and the safety gap. (shrink)

Louise Brown's birth in 1978 heralded a new era not just in reproductive technology, but in the relationship between science, cells, and society. For the first time, human embryos could be created, selected, studied, manipulated, frozen, altered, or destroyed, outside the human body. But with this possibility came a plethora of ethical questions. Is it acceptable to destroy a human embryo for the purpose of research? Or to create an embryo with the specific purpose of destroying it for research? In (...) an attempt to construct ethical and legal frameworks for the new era of cellular reprogramming, legislators and ethicists have tried to distinguish between different kinds of biological entity. We treat cells differently depending on whether they are human or animal, somatic cells or gametes, and on whether they are embryos or not. But this approach to the ethics of cellular reprogramming is doomed to failure for the simple reason that cellular reprogramming in itself destroys the distinctions that the law requires to function. In this article, we explore the historical trajectory of cellular reprogramming and its relationship with ethics and society. We suggest that the early hype of embryo research has not obviously fulfilled expectations, but since new avenues of research are continuously opening, it is hard to say definitely that these promises have been broken. We explore the forthcoming challenges posed by the creation of DNA from scratch in the laboratory, and the implications of this for understandings of identity, privacy, and reproduction. We conclude that while ethics used to seek answers in biological facts, this is no longer possible, and a new approach is required. (shrink)

New approaches to biomedical evidence are emerging in relation to innovative technologies and data sources. These include digital health, which promises to revolutionise established paradigms such as Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) and address longstanding criticism from philosophy and beyond. In this paper, we investigate the promises and show the limitations of digital health for the epistemology of medicine. Focusing on a paradigmatic type of digital health technologies – wearable devices – we specify the key epistemic assumptions at the basis of digital (...) health and show their grounding on ideas of internal and external validity that come from EBM and promise to fix its limitations. Hence, digital health is expected to address longstanding issues of EBM and expand and reinforce its paradigm, and yet going in this direction exacerbates and creates concerns for the epistemology of medical evidence, with ethical and social implications too. In observational studies, we show that wearables are used with the assumption of extending EBM approaches to internal validity. Yet new and different issues emerge, leading to complicated trade-offs and concerns about overdetection and high false positive rates. In intervention studies, wearables are used with the assumption of creating a larger and more diverse evidential basis, potentially mitigating concerns about external validity. However, we argue that this can exacerbate and create new issues of representativity. Behind the hype, we thus paint a nuanced picture of the contribution of digital health to EBM and biomedical research and show the need to acknowledge limitations to avoid harmful applications. (shrink)

The rise of molecular epigenetics over the last few years promises to bring the discourse about the sociality and susceptibility to environmental influences of the brain to an entirely new level. Epigenetics deals with molecular mechanisms such as gene expression, which may embed in the organism “memories” of social experiences and environmental exposures. These changes in gene expression may be transmitted across generations without changes in the DNA sequence. Epigenetics is the most advanced example of the new postgenomic and context-dependent (...) view of the gene that is making its way into contemporary biology. In my article I will use the current emergence of epigenetics and its link with neuroscience research as an example of the new, and in a way unprecedented sociality of contemporary biology. After a review of the most important developments of epigenetic research, and some of its links with neuroscience, in the second part I reflect on the novel challenges that epigenetics presents for the social sciences for a re-conceptualization of the link between the biological and the social in a postgenomic age. Although epigenetics remains a contested, hyped, and often uncritical terrain, I claim that especially when conceptualized in broader non-genecentric frameworks,. (shrink)

Public debates over the morality of new or emerging technologies tend to devolve into false dichotomies of optimism versus pessimism. Playing God with Emerging Technologies: How to Avoid the Traps of Techno-Optimism and Techno-Pessimism provides a conceptual apparatus for engaging in such debates in a critical manner through the constructive lens of “playing God” arguments. Moti Mizrahi sketches a conceptual framework consisting of an argumentation scheme for “playing God” arguments along with Critical Questions. This framework can be used to analyze (...) and evaluate “playing God” arguments as they are made in debates over the ethical development and deployment of new and emerging technologies, such as solar geoengineering, Artificial Intelligence (AI), autonomous vehicles, autonomous weapons, and more. Mizrahi argues that “playing God” arguments allow us to assume an intermediate, critical attitude between the extremes of hype and panic as well as to approach the governance of new or emerging technologies in ways that might help to increase our control over, improve our understanding of, and prevent our misuse or abuse of such technologies. (shrink)

This paper connects truthmaker semantics with a trivalent interpretation of the indicative conditional. This merger substantially extends the scope of both approaches and has attractive philosophical implications. First, we can unify a realist and an informational interpretation of when a state verifies or accepts a sentence. Second, the framework recaptures central features of various analyses of conditionals: the material conditional analysis, Leitgeb's HYPE conditional, the Chrysippus test, and the Ramsey test.

Series Note This paper belongs to the Authentic Spirituality series, a sequence of essays developed from the author's wider work on contemplative phenomenology, inner light, yoga, medical critique, and embodied practice. Across these domains, the central question remains the same: what remains real when hype, projection, ideology, and spiritual theatre are stripped away? Abstract This paper contributes to the series Authentic Spirituality by examining how closed symbolic systems colonise inner space. Through a comparative reading of Jean Lorédan's account of (...) the Gaufridy sorcery trial and Jules Bois' Le Satanisme et la magie (1895), the paper argues that spiritual misdirection does not depend only on belief, coercion, or historical superstition. It operates wherever images, doctrines, rituals, and interpretations occupy the field of experience so completely that no open inner space remains. -/- Lorédan shows the mechanism from the side of the accused, whose lived reality is absorbed by an inquisitorial template already prepared in advance. Bois shows the same mechanism from the side of the investigator, whose prolonged immersion in dark magick gradually draws the observer into the phenomenological atmosphere of the material studied. Together, these cases reveal a single structure, the occupation of consciousness by a closed interpretive field. -/- Against this background, the paper develops a phenomenological account of yoga, not as posture, belief, or spiritual identity, but as the capacity to sustain open, non-interpretive attention. This account is brought into dialogue with Gurdjieff's concept of identification and Jeanne de Salzmann's elaboration of presence as its counterforce. Identification, in de Salzmann's precise formulation, is the structural default of attention without inner ground: consciousness merges with whatever it attends to, leaving no witnessing space. This corresponds directly to the mechanism of closed-system absorption described here, and de Salzmann's practice of presence corresponds directly to what this paper calls inner emptiness. In this convergence, yoga and the Gurdjieff Work point toward the same prior capacity. The paper concludes that authentic spirituality is not defined by exotic imagery, ritual intensity, or metaphysical claims, but by its ability to open inner space rather than occupy it. (shrink)

Recent advances in AI-generated environments, immersive simulations, and extended-reality technologies have intensified claims that artificial worlds may soon become indistinguishable from reality, or even function as autonomous realities in their own right. High-fidelity virtual environments, motion-based simulators, and generative AI systems increasingly produce experiences that feel continuous, responsive, and convincing. This paper argues that such claims rest on a conceptual conflation between experiential realism and ontological reality. While artificial worlds can generate rich and persuasive experiences, they do not constitute independent (...) realities. Rather, all AI-generated and simulated environments remain grounded in physical embodiment and a physical environment that constrain and sustain them. -/- The paper advances the central claim that grounding in bodily and environmental constraints is not a limitation of artificial worlds but a necessary condition for their coherence and navigability. Without such grounding, immersive environments risk experiential vividness without structural stability, leading to breakdowns that reveal the limits of artificial worldhood. By distinguishing experience from reality and fabrication from autonomy, the paper offers a conceptual intervention into contemporary AI hype and clarifies the ontological status of simulated environments, with implications for AI discourse, design expectations, and governance narratives. (shrink)

Cohen (2023) takes a fair and measured approach to the question of what ChatGPT means for bioethics. The hype cycles around AI often obscure the fact that ethicists have developed robust frameworks...

As the value of a university degree plummets, the popularity of digital microcredentials has soared. Similar to recent calls for the early adoption of Blockchain technology, the so-called ‘microcredentialing craze’ could be no more than a fad, marketing hype or another case of ‘learning innovation theater’. Alternatively, the introduction of these compact skills- and competency-based online certificate programs might augur the arrival of a legitimate successor to the four-year university diploma. The thesis of this article is that the craze (...) for microcredentialing reflects (1) administrative urgency to unbundle higher education curricula and degree programs for greater efficiency and profitability and (2) a renascent movement among industry and higher education leaders to reorient the university curriculum towards vocational training. (shrink)

Drawing on Seamus Heaney and his symbolic reference to a great sea change or tidal wave in epic poem “The Cure at Troy” (1990) – much referred to in these gradually post-pandemic times and indicating that a new chapter is about to begin – and “The City” by Ted Hughes, where a life is read like a poem and in the many depths of the urban space the writer roams “my own darkness”, this paper looks at human resilience in the (...) face of an interrupted COVID reality that has brought a fundamental shift to the way we view the world and our role in society. In our era of a New Normal, the idea that “less is more” is quickly becoming a mantra for our times, a time characterised by a gradual distancing from material hype while we turn to nature for solace and guidance – as importantly advocated by Heaney and Hughes who illuminate our path as we gain a greater understanding of what really matters at the core. We likewise begin to see commonalities between people and cultures, and we open up a space for a greater sense of authenticity. As we are now stepping into the initial stages of 2023, entering a new chapter; have we gained existential insights from the COVID-19 pandemic and will this lead to new beginnings where the written word helps us along the way? (shrink)

Few recent developments in information technology have been as hyped as blockchain, the first implementation of which was the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Such hype furnishes ample reason to be skeptical about the promise of blockchain implementations, but I contend that there’s something to the hype. In particular, I think that certain blockchain implementations, in the right material, social, and political conditions, constitute excellent bases for common knowledge. As a case study, I focus on trust in election outcomes, where the (...) ledger records not financial transactions but vote tallies. I argue that blockchain implementations could foster warranted trust in vote tallies and thereby trust in the democratic process. Finally, I argue that if the promise of blockchain implementations as democratic infrastructure is to be realized, then democracies first need to ensure that these material, social, and political conditions obtain. (shrink)

The method of metaphysics: Metaphysics is empirical but depends not, like the sciences, on recondite experience but on close attention to aspects of everyday experience we ordinarily scarcely notice. "Real" is a broader concept than "exists" (which applies only to particulars) and also applies to phenomena, kinds, and laws, which are real, but not, of course, existent entities. But "there are real kinds, laws, etc." doesn't imply that all the kinds and laws we believe are real, are. I call my (...) approach "Innocent Realism" because--though it's certainly not naive--it requires attending to experience, so far as possible, without substantial preconceptions. There is one real world, enormously varied but also integrated. It includes physical stuff, kinds, laws, etc. and, here on earth, a vast array of human artifacts, physical, social, intellectual, and imaginative, all intimately interconnected. All this requires human mindedness (a better word than "mind" because it doesn't suggest that human mentality is an organ like the heart or the liver). Rather, it's a complex congeries of dispositions and abilities: to understand even such a relatively simple thing as what's involved in someone's believing something, we need to take account of the person's dispositions to behavior, verbal and otherwise; to the neurophysiological realizations of these dispositions; and to their connections to the world and to words in the person's linguistic community--this last requiring other people's words-world connection. "Virtual" reality is just one more computer artifact, clever, no doubt, but not metaphysically startling. It's oversold, but this is advertising hype, not serious metaphysics. (shrink)

The theoretical prediction of Higgs boson was arguably one of the most important contributions in particle physics in the 20th century, with significant implications for modern cosmology. Its reported discovery in 2012 was celebrated as one of the most significant scientific achievements of all times. The fierce public discourse that followed was at large ignited by the media-hyped nickname “God particle” attributed to Higgs boson. The debate regarding the science-religion relation reinvigorated once again and plenty theologically informed views were expressed. (...) In this paper, I take into consideration the authoritative views expressed by the Catholic Church and the Greek-Orthodox Church and I discuss them in comparison with each other, as well as in juxtaposition with other views expressed in the public discussion on the issue, in an attempt to draw philosophically interesting inferences. (shrink)

Today, artificial intelligence, especially machine learning, is structurally dependent on human participation. Technologies such as Deep Learning (DL) leverage networked media infrastructures and human-machine interaction designs to harness users to provide training and verification data. The emergence of DL is therefore based on a fundamental socio-technological transformation of the relationship between humans and machines. Rather than simulating human intelligence, DL-based AIs capture human cognitive abilities, so they are hybrid human-machine apparatuses. From a perspective of media philosophy and social-theoretical critique, I (...) differentiate five types of “media technologies of capture” in AI apparatuses and analyze them as forms of power relations between humans and machines. Finally, I argue that the current hype about AI implies a relational and distributed understanding of (human/artificial) intelligence, which I categorize under the term “cybernetic AI”. This form of AI manifests in socio-technological apparatuses that involve new modes of subjectivation, social control and discrimination of users. (shrink)

Artificial intelligence (AI) tools increasingly influence writing practices in educational contexts, yet writing studies expertise is too often sidelined in current discussions about writing in the context of generative AI. This paper presents core insights from rhetorical genre theory and genre-based pedagogy as a way to inform the teaching of research and writing in relation to generative AI tools. Our analysis focuses on three key concepts that are of central concern: intention, process, and trust. Attention to these concepts helps us (...) navigate between extreme hype and grave concern about generative AI tools and writing pedagogy. We draw on established theoretical frames and recent empirical research and highlight how longer-standing insights about intention, process, and trust relate to the teaching of research and writing in the presence of generative AI tools. This work contributes to ongoing conversations about the role of AI in writing pedagogy by foregrounding deep disciplinary expertise and recent empirical evidence. (shrink)

This second volume is a continuation of the first volume’s 20th century conceptual foundations of quantum physics extending its view to the principles and research fields of the 21st century. A summary of the standard concepts, from modern advanced experimental tests of 'quantum ontology’ to the interpretations of quantum mechanics, the standard model of particle physics, and the mainstream quantum gravity theories. A state-of-the-art treatise that reports on the recent developments in quantum computing, classical and quantum information theory, the black (...) holes information paradox and the holographic principle to quantum cosmology, with some attention on contemporary themes such as the Bose-Einstein condensates as also to the more speculative areas of quantum biology and quantum consciousness. A final chapter on the connections between the quantum realm and philosophical idealism concludes this volume. Considering how the media (sometimes also physicists) present quantum theory, which focuses only on highly dubious ideas and speculations backed by no evidence or, worse, promote pseudo-scientific hypes that fall regularly in and out of fashion, this is a ‘vademecum’ for those who look for a serious introduction and deeper understanding of the 21st century quantum theory. All topics are explained with a concise but rigorous intermediate level style which may, at times, require some effort. However, you will finally acquire an unparalleled background in the conceptual foundations of quantum physics, enabling you to distinguish between the real science backed by experimental facts and mere speculative interpretations. (shrink)

The Neuro-Functionalist Aesthetic Theory is a framework grounding artistic value in the universal biological mechanisms that govern entertainment, cognitive efficiency, and prediction. I argue that the fundamental function of art is to provide entertainment in a neuro-functional sense: the engagement of the brain’s predictive, pattern-recognizing systems, resulting in perceptual closure and reward. This approach contrasts with contemporary art-world practices, which often prioritize narrative, hype, and subjective epistemic constructs over the biological foundations of aesthetic experience. I propose a hierarchical model (...) of artistic value, analyze where various forms of art succeed or fail within this hierarchy, and offer a moral critique of systems that invert functional value, skill, and effort in favor of socially manufactured consensus. The goal is to re-anchor aesthetic theory in human nature without collapsing into naive subjectivism or rigid formalism. (shrink)

Critical discourse on large language models (LLMs) has bifurcated between epistemic dismissal that invokes some form of the stochastic parrot metaphor to puncture hype, and pragmatic accommodation that treats LLM capability improvements as grounds for updating the critique. We argue that both misdiagnose the problem as the issue is not whether or not LLMs work, but what kind of working is happening and at whose cost. Drawing on meta-theoretical frameworks of cognitive science, feminist labor analysis and critical pedagogy, we (...) propose a conceptual reorientation. We develop this claim through registers of (i) the cognitive, examining what is forfeited when statistical pattern-matching substitutes for the iterative, grounded processes that constitute thinking; (ii) the pedagogical, examining how “AI literacy” as currently deployed is itself a symptom of the confusion it purports to address; and (iii) the political, examining how the infrastructure framing of AI naturalizes asymmetric labor displacement, particularly of feminized cognitive and reproductive work. The stochastic parrot, deployed with mechanistic precision rather than mere rhetorical convenience, specifies what is forfeited when cognitive labor is delegated, who bears the cost, and why a literacy adequate to this moment must begin from the epistemology of those most harmed by the systems it describes. We conclude with underlining that critical AI literacy, which this paper embodies an instance of, is the only sensible way forward. (shrink)

The theory that Kit Fine calls 'semantic relationism' replaces standard semantic compositionality with an alternative according to which statements of the form '... A … A ...’ and ‘... A … B ...’ (e.g., ‘Cicero admires Cicero’ and ‘Cicero admires Tully’) differ in semantic content—even where the two terms involved are exactly synonymous—simply in virtue of the recurrence that is present in the former statement and absent from the latter. A semantic-relationist alternative to standard compositionality was first explicitly proffered by (...) Hilary Putnam in 1954 and later by others in the latter part of the 20th Century. However, semantic relationism had already been implicitly rejected in Frege’s 1892 landmark masterpiece "Über Sinn und Bedeutung" (“On Sense and Reference”). The present compilation of three previously published essays cuts through the hype and thoroughly rebuts semantic relationism, particularly Fine’s more developed version (2007). A fatal fallacy is exposed in Fine's high-flown purported formal disproof of Millianism with standard compositionality. Standard Millianism does not implode; Fine's overzealous attempt to demolish it does. The failure of his purported disproof renders Fine's central notion of coordination either redundant or empty. So-called coordination is non-semantic if it is anything real. (shrink)

This book explores how robotics and artificial intelligence can enhance human lives but also have unsettling “dark sides.” It examines expanding forms of negativity and anxiety about robots, AI, and autonomous vehicles as our human environments are reengineered for intelligent military and security systems and for optimal workplace and domestic operations. It focuses on the impacts of initiatives to make robot interactions more humanlike and less creepy. It analyzes the emerging resistances against these entities in the wake of omnipresent AI (...) applications. It unpacks efforts by developers to have ethical and social influences on robotics and AI, and confronts the AI hype that is designed to shield the entities from criticism. The book draws from science fiction, dramaturgical, ethical, and legal literatures as well as current research agendas of corporations. Engineers, implementers, and researchers have often encountered users' fears and aggressive actions against intelligent entities, especially in the wake of deaths of humans by robots and autonomous vehicles. The book is an invaluable resource for developers and researchers in the field, as well as curious readers who want to play proactive roles in shaping future technologies. (shrink)

Purpose: The study analyzes the evolution of Business Model Innovation (BMI) in the IT sector, which is mentioned in many available scientific publications. The major output of this paper is concrete customer requirements that invite business model innovations to managed IT services and challenges to establish corresponding business model innovations. -/- Design/Method/Approach: The study identified more than 200 journal articles and conference articles with BMI and IT service providers, and it conducted a mapping review of current research to identify relevant (...) academic theories, implementation strategies, and BMI in the managed IT service sector while highlighting gaps in empirical research. -/- Findings: Most applied are BMI and the framework of dynamic capabilities in business models of IT services. Early movers, who develop a comprehensive platform strategy, can achieve an invulnerable moat and establish a leading market position. -/- Practical Implications: The insights of this study could be applied by large companies, small- and medium-sized companies and start-ups, researchers, etc. They can use the insights to innovate their current business models and improve tailored client solutions. -/- Originality/Value: The study concludes that business model innovations and IT service providers develop areas for future success. -/- Research Limitations/Future Research: The design of the study is based on a systematic literature review and limited to the areas of BMI research in the IT service sector. For further research projects, individual articles can be chosen to perform in-depth analysis. Our trend analysis shows the focus on main technologies. However, this can be compared with the technologies mentioned in the Gartner Hype Cycle. Further research could be conducted to overcome limitations and cover the uncertain content of this research. -/- Paper Type: Conceptual -/- JEL Classification: M21, O14, O33. (shrink)

How the Profit Motive Influences Media’s Role in Politics and Product Innovation -/- Introduction -/- Media plays a crucial role in shaping public opinion, influencing political discourse, and driving consumer behavior. Ideally, journalism should serve as a watchdog, holding power accountable and informing the public with accurate, unbiased information. Similarly, the media’s role in promoting products should focus on genuine innovation that benefits society. However, the profit motive has significantly altered these dynamics. Instead of prioritizing public welfare, media institutions often (...) focus on financial gain, leading to political bias, misinformation, and consumer culture driven by unnecessary product upgrades rather than true innovation. -/- Despite these challenges, the profit motive remains essential in sustaining economic growth, creating jobs, and driving technological progress. Businesses, including media and technology firms, must continue to generate profit to support their employees, invest in innovation, and maintain financial stability. This essay explores how media’s pursuit of profit has shaped politics and product innovation—sometimes leading to manipulation and overconsumption—while also highlighting the necessity of profit for economic stability and job creation. -/- The Profit Motive In Political Influence -/- Media companies operate as businesses, and their financial survival depends on maximizing profits. This has led to the prioritization of sensationalism, bias, and political influence over objective journalism. -/- 1. Sensationalism and Misinformation -/- To attract more viewers, readers, and online engagement, media companies rely on dramatic headlines, fear-mongering, and emotionally charged content. Instead of presenting balanced perspectives, media outlets choose narratives that generate more engagement, regardless of accuracy. -/- Example: During election cycles, media outlets often focus on scandals and controversies rather than discussing real policy issues. In the 2016 U.S. presidential election, much of the media coverage fixated on the “Clinton emails” rather than substantive discussions about economic policy, healthcare, or climate change. -/- 2. Corporate Ownership and Political Bias -/- Many mainstream media companies are owned by large corporations with vested interests in certain political outcomes. This ownership structure influences editorial decisions, leading to biased reporting that serves corporate and elite interests rather than public welfare. -/- Example: Billionaire-owned media companies, such as The Washington Post (owned by Jeff Bezos) and Fox News (controlled by Rupert Murdoch), have been accused of pushing narratives that align with their owners' political and business interests. -/- 3. Political Advertising and Pay-to-Play Journalism -/- Political campaigns and corporations pay large sums to media companies for favorable coverage. This financial dependency can lead to biased reporting or the suppression of critical stories. -/- Example: In the Philippines, politicians often use paid news segments and political ads disguised as news reports, creating the illusion of widespread public support while suppressing dissenting voices. -/- 4. Media-Driven Political Polarization -/- To maximize audience loyalty, many media organizations take strong partisan positions, reinforcing ideological divisions. This leads to echo chambers where people only consume content that aligns with their preexisting beliefs, further polarizing society. -/- Example: In the U.S., Fox News caters primarily to conservative audiences, while MSNBC leans toward liberal perspectives. This divide reinforces political tribalism, making constructive dialogue difficult. -/- The Profit Motive In Product Innovation -/- Beyond politics, media also plays a significant role in shaping consumer behavior and perceptions of innovation. While technological advancements and new products can improve lives, media-driven marketing often prioritizes unnecessary upgrades and exaggerated benefits over true innovation. -/- 1. The Role of Media in Shaping Consumer Demand -/- Since advertising revenue is a primary income source for most media companies, they prioritize content that appeals to advertisers rather than educating or informing the public. this leads to an emphasis on promoting new products, sometimes regardless of their necessity or actual innovation. -/- Example: Tech companies use media partnerships to generate excitement about new product releases, even when the changes are minimal. A major smartphone manufacturer, for instance, may introduce minor camera improvements or design tweaks and market them as groundbreaking innovations. -/- 2. Social Media and Influencer-Driven Product Hype -/- The rise of social media has intensified product marketing, making influencers a key force in driving demand. Many influencers, backed by corporate sponsors, promote products without critically evaluating their real impact or necessity. -/- Example: Luxury brands and smartphone companies pay influencers to showcase their products as status symbols. This creates an artificial perception of exclusivity and necessity, leading consumers to purchase items they might not truly need. -/- 3. The Illusion of Innovation Through Frequent Upgrades -/- Many industries, particularly technology and fashion, rely on planned obsolescence—introducing frequent but minor updates to create the illusion of innovation. This strategy encourages consumers to upgrade their products regularly, even when older models remain functional. -/- Example: A leading electronics company releases new smartphone models annually, often with only minor feature enhancements. Many devices slow down over time due to software updates, subtly pressuring users to replace their devices sooner than necessary. -/- 4. Psychological Manipulation in Advertising -/- Media uses psychological tactics to influence consumer behavior. Limited-time offers, aspirational advertising, and fear-based marketing create artificial demand for new products. -/- Example: Beauty magazines and social media ads promote anti-aging products by associating youth with success and attractiveness. This fosters insecurity, encouraging unnecessary spending on skincare and cosmetic treatments. -/- Why the Profit Motive Must Continue -/- Despite these challenges, the profit motive remains essential to economic stability, job creation, and continuous innovation. Businesses, including media companies, rely on profits to sustain their operations and support employees. -/- 1. Job Creation and Economic Growth -/- Profitable businesses provide stable employment, allowing workers to earn wages, support their families, and contribute to economic growth. Media companies, for example, employ journalists, editors, graphic designers, marketers, and IT professionals. The same is true for product innovation, where research and development teams, factory workers, and sales professionals all benefit from profitable enterprises. -/- Example: The global tech industry supports millions of jobs, from engineers developing new products to retail workers selling them. Without profit incentives, companies would have little motivation to expand, invest, and hire more employees. -/- 2. Funding for Innovation and Technological Advancements -/- Profit enables companies to invest in research and development, leading to technological breakthroughs that improve quality of life. Whether in medicine, transportation, or communication, businesses reinvest earnings into innovation that benefits society. -/- Example: The telecommunications industry continually advances due to profits that fund research into faster internet speeds, better security features, and more efficient network infrastructure. -/- 3. Stability and Business Sustainability -/- Without profit, businesses cannot survive in the long term. Media companies, for instance, require revenue to pay journalists and produce high-quality content. Similarly, manufacturers must generate income to continue developing new products. A balanced approach—where profitability coexists with ethical responsibility—ensures economic stability while minimizing harm. -/- Conclusion -/- The profit motive has significantly shaped the media’s role in both politics and product innovation. While it sometimes leads to sensationalism, misinformation, and excessive consumerism, it remains essential for job creation, economic stability, and technological progress. The key challenge is finding a balance—ensuring that media and businesses remain profitable while also prioritizing truth, sustainability, and genuine innovation. Addressing these issues requires policy reforms, media literacy education, and a shift toward more responsible journalism and marketing practices. By fostering ethical profit-driven growth, society can benefit from stable incomes, continuous innovation, and an informed public. -/- . (shrink)

A Balanced Economic Model: The Feedback Loop Between Public and Private Sectors with MMT as a Stabilizing Mechanism -/- Introduction -/- Modern capitalism thrives on competition, profit motives, and consumer demand. However, the system is flawed because it allows extreme wealth inequality, market instability, and frequent economic crashes. Advertising, as an essential part of capitalism, manipulates consumer behavior to sustain profits. While this fuels economic growth, it also distorts the real needs of society. -/- A better alternative Is a hybrid (...) economic model where government-created jobs, social safety nets, and free public services coexist with a profit-driven private sector. The key to making this work is a feedback loop mechanism that keeps the two sectors balanced, ensuring economic stability while preventing extreme inequality and unnecessary market collapses. This essay explores how Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) can support this feedback loop economy to create a self-regulating system where both public and private sectors benefit from each other. -/- I. The Feedback Loop Between Private Companies and Government Economic Policies -/- A feedback loop mechanism is a self-regulating system where different components interact, adjust, and respond to maintain balance. In the economy, the public sector (government jobs, social safety nets, and public services) and the private sector (businesses, investments, and free markets) create a mutual dependency: -/- 1. Government Spending Creates Consumer Demand → Private Sector Growth -/- Government creates jobs with good salaries in infrastructure, education, healthcare, and technology. -/- This injects money into the economy, giving people the purchasing power to buy goods and services from private companies. -/- As demand increases, businesses grow, hire more workers, and expand operations. -/- 2. Private Sector Growth → Increases Government Revenue Without High Taxation -/- As private companies generate profits, they pay taxes and reinvest in expansion. -/- Strong consumer demand reduces the need for excessive taxation because economic growth itself funds public programs. -/- Businesses compete not only for profits but also for innovation and efficiency. -/- 3. Social Safety Nets Prevent Market Collapses -/- During recessions, government stabilizes the economy by expanding social programs (unemployment benefits, food assistance, healthcare). -/- This prevents demand from crashing, ensuring that businesses still have customers even in economic downturns. -/- As the economy recovers, government reduces spending, allowing the private sector to take the lead again. -/- This dynamic cycle ensures that economic booms and recessions are smoothed out, preventing extreme market crashes or mass unemployment. -/- II. The Role of MMT in Supporting the Feedback Loop -/- Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) provides the economic foundation for this model by proving that a sovereign government can spend money without being constrained by traditional budget rules. Unlike mainstream economic thinking, which suggests that governments must “balance the budget,” MMT argues that government spending should adjust based on economic conditions. -/- 1. Government-Backed Job Programs as an Economic Stabilizer -/- MMT allows governments to fund public jobs without relying solely on taxation. -/- If private companies cut jobs, the government can expand its workforce to absorb the unemployed. -/- When the economy stabilizes, people move back to higher-paying private jobs, reducing government spending. -/- 2. Preventing Inflation Through Resource Control -/- MMT acknowledges that inflation happens when there’s too much money chasing too few goods. -/- The government can remove excess money through targeted taxation and invest in productivity (e.g., infrastructure, education) to keep supply stable. -/- This prevents excessive inflation while keeping the economy growing. -/- 3. Continuous Money Circulation Without Debt Crises -/- Governments can print money to fund essential services, but they control inflation by investing in real production capacity (e.g., factories, renewable energy, technology). -/- This means public investment directly benefits private businesses, keeping both sectors in sync. -/- This MMT-backed feedback loop ensures that economic downturns do not lead to catastrophic business failures or mass unemployment. -/- III. The Role of Advertising in a Balanced Economic System -/- Advertising, while necessary for businesses, often manipulates consumer behavior in a way that creates artificial demand. In a feedback loop economy, advertising should be regulated to align with real consumer needs rather than exploiting psychological weaknesses. -/- 1. Ethical Advertising Policies -/- Companies should be incentivized to market based on quality and innovation rather than manipulation. -/- False advertising and monopolistic dominance should be regulated to prevent consumer exploitation. -/- 2. Consumer Education Programs -/- Public education should include critical thinking courses to help people make informed purchasing decisions. -/- This reduces the influence of manipulative advertising, ensuring that businesses compete fairly. -/- This ensures that the feedback loop remains healthy, preventing unnecessary overproduction and unsustainable consumer debt. -/- IV. Real-World Examples of a Balanced System -/- Some countries have successfully implemented elements of this feedback loop economic model: -/- Nordic Countries (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland) -/- Have free healthcare, education, and social safety nets while maintaining a competitive private sector. -/- Use progressive taxation to prevent extreme inequality, ensuring that economic growth benefits everyone. -/- Germany -/- Uses government-backed vocational training programs to ensure a highly skilled workforce. -/- Strong public-private partnerships help both sectors support each other dynamically. -/- Japan -/- Government plays a major role in funding research, infrastructure, and innovation, allowing private businesses to thrive. -/- Uses state-owned enterprises strategically while ensuring a competitive private market. -/- These examples prove that a properly managed hybrid model is more resilient, fair, and stable than extreme capitalism or extreme socialism. -/- V. Conclusion: A Self-Regulating Economy for the Future -/- A feedback loop economic system provides the best of both worlds: ✔ Government ensures economic stability through public job creation and social safety nets. ✔ Private companies drive innovation and competitiveness with strong consumer demand. ✔ MMT allows government spending to adjust dynamically without unnecessary austerity measures. ✔ Advertising is reformed to encourage ethical business practices and informed consumer choices. ✔ Inflation is controlled through taxation, investment, and resource management. -/- By integrating these feedback loop mechanisms, we can create a self-regulating economic model where both public and private sectors reinforce each other, ensuring long-term stability, prosperity, and economic fairness. -/- Policy Framework for a Balanced Economic System: Global Best Practices -/- To fully integrate the feedback loop mechanism between the public and private sectors, specific policies must be implemented to ensure economic stability, innovation, and fairness. Below are real-world policy examples that demonstrate how different countries successfully manage their economies using a mix of government intervention and free market principles. -/- I. Public Job Creation as an Economic Stabilizer -/- One of the biggest issues in capitalism is economic recessions leading to mass layoffs, which then reduce consumer spending, creating a vicious cycle of economic decline. The solution is public sector job programs that absorb unemployed workers during downturns and allow them to transition back to private jobs when the economy improves. -/- Global Examples -/- ✔ United States (New Deal Programs – 1930s) -/- During the Great Depression, the U.S. government created millions of jobs in construction, public works, and conservation projects. -/- These projects boosted infrastructure while providing employment, helping to revive the economy. -/- ✔ Argentina’s Jefes de Hogar Program (2002-2006) -/- Aimed at mitigating mass unemployment during Argentina’s economic crisis. -/- The government hired unemployed citizens to work in community service, infrastructure, and public health projects. -/- Created social stability and demand for private goods, helping Argentina recover. -/- ✔ Germany’s Kurzarbeit Program (Ongoing) -/- In times of economic slowdown, the German government pays companies to keep workers employed at reduced hours rather than laying them off. -/- This prevents mass unemployment, ensuring that workers still have income and spending power. -/- Policy Recommendation: → Implement automatic public employment programs during recessions to keep demand stable and prevent economic crashes. -/- II. Social Safety Nets to Support Consumer Demand -/- A strong social safety net ensures that consumers have purchasing power even in economic downturns, keeping the private sector stable. -/- Global Examples -/- ✔ Nordic Model (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland) -/- Provides free healthcare, education, and unemployment benefits, preventing extreme poverty. -/- Funded through progressive taxation, ensuring that the wealthy contribute fairly to society. -/- This creates a stable consumer base for private companies, benefiting the entire economy. -/- ✔ Universal Basic Income (UBI) Experiments (Finland, Canada, Kenya) -/- Finland tested a UBI program where unemployed citizens received a monthly payment regardless of employment status. -/- Results showed that recipients were more likely to start businesses and find better jobs, proving that social safety nets do not reduce work incentives. -/- ✔ Singapore’s Housing and Retirement System -/- The government helps citizens buy homes with public funds, ensuring stable housing. -/- A mandatory retirement savings system (Central Provident Fund) ensures that people have money after they retire. -/- These policies reduce financial anxiety, allowing people to focus on entrepreneurship and economic growth. -/- Policy Recommendation: → Implement universal healthcare, free education, and unemployment benefits to ensure that economic downturns do not collapse consumer spending. -/- III. Regulating Advertising to Align with Consumer Needs -/- Unregulated advertising manipulates consumer behavior, creating unnecessary demand and overconsumption, which destabilizes economies. Governments can regulate advertising to ensure ethical business practices. -/- Global Examples -/- ✔ European Union (Strict Advertising Laws) -/- The EU bans false advertising, ensuring that companies cannot make misleading claims about their products. -/- Certain junk food and alcohol ads are restricted to protect public health. -/- ✔ France’s Ban on Child-Targeted Advertising -/- Prevents unethical marketing towards children, reducing unnecessary consumerism. -/- ✔ Japan’s Culture of Product Quality Over Hype -/- Japanese companies emphasize product reliability and long-term value, reducing dependence on manipulative advertising. -/- Policy Recommendation: → Implement ethical advertising regulations to prevent false marketing, predatory ads targeting vulnerable consumers, and excessive consumer debt. -/- IV. Public-Private Partnerships for Innovation and Infrastructure -/- Rather than treating the government and private sector as separate entities, a well-balanced system interconnects them through public-private partnerships (PPPs) to drive innovation. -/- Global Examples -/- ✔ Germany’s Mittelstand Model (SME Support System) -/- The German government provides long-term financial support to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are the backbone of the economy. -/- Ensures that private businesses have stable growth without excessive corporate monopolies. -/- ✔ China’s State-Led Economic Model (Strategic Government Investments) -/- The government invests heavily in infrastructure and technology, allowing private businesses to thrive with low-cost logistics and energy. -/- Balances capitalist competition with government support, ensuring stability. -/- ✔ United States (NASA & SpaceX Collaboration) -/- NASA funded SpaceX and other private space companies, leading to rapid innovation in space technology. -/- This proves that government funding can accelerate private sector breakthroughs. -/- Policy Recommendation: → Use government funding to support innovation and long-term infrastructure projects while allowing private businesses to benefit and expand. -/- V. MMT as a Tool for Economic Stability -/- Traditional economic models suggest that governments must “balance their budgets” like households, but this is a flawed concept. Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) argues that sovereign nations with their own currency (like the U.S., Japan, and the UK) can create money to fund essential services without relying on debt from private banks. -/- How MMT Works in Practice -/- ✔ Japan’s National Debt Strategy -/- Japan has one of the highest debt-to-GDP ratios in the world, yet it has no financial crisis because it borrows in its own currency. -/- Instead of austerity, Japan uses public investment to maintain economic stability. -/- ✔ U.S. Stimulus During COVID-19 -/- The U.S. government printed money to send direct payments to citizens, preventing a total economic collapse. -/- Inflation was controlled by adjusting taxation and investment in production capacity. -/- ✔ EU’s Post-COVID Recovery Fund -/- The European Union used public money to stabilize industries and workers, preventing extreme recessions. -/- Policy Recommendation: → Use MMT-based strategies to fund infrastructure, social programs, and innovation, ensuring economic stability without excessive reliance on private banking debt. -/- VI. Conclusion: Creating a Self-Regulating Economy -/- A feedback loop economy that integrates public job creation, private sector competition, social safety nets, and MMT-backed fiscal policies provides a self-regulating system that ensures: -/- ✔ Stable employment and consumer demand even during economic downturns. ✔ Innovation and competition in the private sector without excessive monopolies or market crashes. ✔ Government-funded infrastructure and social programs that benefit both workers and businesses. ✔ Ethical advertising that prevents consumer exploitation and unnecessary debt. ✔ Balanced inflation control through strategic taxation and investment. -/- By combining the best policies from different global models, we can build an economic system that minimizes business bankruptcies, prevents recessions, and maximizes innovation and economic fairness. -/- . (shrink)

The Internet-of-Things (IoT) is gradually being established as the new computing paradigm, which is bound to change the ways of our everyday working and living. IoT emphasizes the interconnection of virtually all types of physical objects (e.g., cell phones, wearables, smart meters, sensors, coffee machines and more) towards enabling them to exchange data and services among themselves, while also interacting with humans as well. Few years following the introduction of the IoT concept, significant hype was generated as a result (...) of the proliferating number of IoT-enabled devices, which (according to many projections) are expected to amount to several billion in the next years. During recent years, this hype has been turning to reality, as a wave of IoT applications with significant social and economic has been emerging. Data analytics is the process of deriving knowledge from data, generating value like actionable insights from them. This article reviews work in the IoT and big data analytics from the perspective of their utility in creating efficient, effective and innovative applications and services for a wide spectrum of domains. We review the broad vision for the IoT as it is shaped in various communities, examine the application of data analytics across IoT domains, provide a categorization of analytic approaches and propose a layered taxonomy from IoT data to analytics. IoT data analysis is an integral element of any non- trivial IoT system. Nevertheless, IoT analytics are still in their infancy, as IoT data still remain largely unexploited. (shrink)

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, excitement broke out around the potential for drones to generate aerial solutions to devilish pandemic problems. But despite the hype, pandemic drones largely failed to take to the sky and far from the scale initially imagined. This article pursues the failure of the pandemic drone to materialise, showing how it nevertheless functioned as a locus of experimentation for remote logics and processes. As such, we shift focus away from what the pandemic (...) drone is to if and where it – or its logics – can be found. To learn from the pandemic drone, we turn to three trajectories of failure: failure as experiment, failure as imaginary and failure as glitch. With particular attention to specific case studies, we show how failure enables drone logics and processes to migrate across various socio-technical forms, sites and applications of automated decision-making responses to the pandemic. (shrink)