We argue that, under certain plausible assumptions, de Sitter space settles into a quiescent vacuum in which there are no dynamical quantum fluctuations. Such fluctuations require either an evolving microstate, or time-dependent histories of out-of-equilibrium recording devices, which we argue are absent in stationary states. For a massive scalar field in a fixed de Sitter background, the cosmic no-hair theorem implies that the state of the patch approaches the vacuum, where there are no fluctuations. We argue that an analogous conclusion (...) holds whenever a patch of de Sitter is embedded in a larger theory with an infinite-dimensional Hilbert space, including semiclassical quantum gravity with false vacua or complementarity in theories with at least one Minkowski vacuum. This reasoning provides an escape from the Boltzmann brain problem in such theories. It also implies that vacuum states do not uptunnel to higher-energy vacua and that perturbations do not decohere while slow-roll inflation occurs, suggesting that eternal inflation is much less common than often supposed. On the other hand, if a de Sitter patch is a closed system with a finite-dimensional Hilbert space, there will be Poincaré recurrences and dynamical Boltzmann fluctuations into lower-entropy states. Our analysis does not alter the conventional understanding of the origin of density fluctuations from primordial inflation, since reheating naturally generates a high-entropy environment and leads to decoherence, nor does it affect the existence of non-dynamical vacuum fluctuations such as those that give rise to the Casimir effect. (shrink)

People around the world seek climate risk information to guide their decisions. For instance, projections about future flood risk inform where households choose to live, how lenders manage credit risks, and which communities receive federal funding. Yet data limitations and fundamental validation challenges raise important concerns about the reliability of such projections. The principles of transparency and reusability help address these concerns by enabling scrutiny of assumptions and methods, development of foundational data and tools, and consistent application of evaluation standards. (...) While there is ongoing debate about how much transparency commercial climate risk services should provide, many expect noncommercial actors to lead the way on operationalizing transparency and reusability to fulfill their knowledge-building role in the climate risk ecosystem. However, despite prominent success stories, we find a substantial gap between principles and practice: Only four percent of the most-cited peer-reviewed climate risk studies in recent years fully share their data and code although this is a widely accepted minimum standard for transparency. We highlight low-cost measures that noncommercial researchers can take now to improve transparency and reusability. We also emphasize that transformative progress requires substantial investment, cross-sector collaboration, and careful consideration of tradeoffs, data rights, and multiple perspectives on equity. We hope this perspective accelerates both immediate actions and longer-term conversations to improve the ability of science to effectively support timely, evidence-based, and sound climate risk management. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:The Ramp and the Stop SignLinda Pollack-JohnsonWhen I first began working as a medical interpreter, my goal was simply to use my language skills to help people. I looked forward to learning more about the cultures of my two non-English languages (French and Italian). I did not anticipate that I would learn so much about the talents and culture of those who are differently-abled. I had no clue (...) that I would learn to see the world differently—more fully—and that I would have the opportunity to be part of life-changing moments for those I serve.Most of my interpreting assignments are at hospitals and doctors' offices, where I help Italianspeaking patients navigate through the maze of the U.S. healthcare system. I often get assigned to work at one of the best hospitals in the country, where a lot of research into new treatments takes place.A new gene therapy drug was developed at that hospital to treat children suffering from a degenerative retinal disease. This disease gradually clouds the vision of the afflicted children. Without the one-time treatment, they eventually lose their vision completely. Six of the subjects who are part of the clinical trial for this drug are Italian. They live in Italy and fly back and forth to the US for their check-ups. They have been involved in this study for over 10 years, so all of them are young adults now. More recently, some of them are starting to come with their spouses.This was the case for Matteo (not his real name) who came for his annual visit with his wife Paola (not her real name). Matteo was one of the first courageous volunteers to get the experimental treatment. At that early stage, the dosage considered to be safe was significantly lower than the safe dosage they are using now. As a result, Matteo did not experience as much improvement in his vision as might have been possible later in the game. He can see things that are close to him but not at a distance. He has learned to use and rely on his other senses to compensate for his visual impairment.Matteo, Paola, and I were walking from the main hospital, where we had just finished a lunch break, and were heading to the building where Matteo was scheduled to meet with his ophthalmologist. I looked at my watch and realized we had time to kill before the doctor would be ready for us. I suggested we take a moment to tour a portion of the building that looked very inviting but that I had not had time to explore.A large section of the first-floor lobby of the building has an extra-high ceiling. It creates a kind of atrium, from the lobby to the second floor. A graceful, winding ramp meanders in appealing, gentle curves through this open space. It resembles a vine where the stem is the ramp and where an occasional round "leaf" sticks out from the side of the ramp and serves as a kind of rest stop or balcony where one can pause and appreciate the view. I think it would be really fun to explore it in a wheelchair, but that was not necessary or appropriate for our little group—Matteo is able to walk and navigate on his own, sometimes with the help of a guide. [End Page E1]I opted to lead them downhill, so we took the elevator up one floor and started from the top of the ramp at the second floor. From there, the first "rest stop" was an empty balcony where I described to Matteo that the clear, plexiglass panels making up the protective railing were etched with the names of what I imagined were the donors who contributed to the hospital or to this artistic installation. It was nice but not particularly "accessible" to a person with a visual impairment.We moved on down the ramp. The next rest stop was only slightly more interesting. It had a tall, clear glass display case in the center of the balcony. You could walk completely around it, but I was unsure... (shrink)

Are there parallels between the "moment of insight" in science and the emergence of the "unknowable" in religious faith? Where does scientific insight come from? Award-winning biologist Robert Pollack argues that an alliance between religious faith and science is not necessarily an argument in favor of irrationality: the two can inform each other's visions of the world. Pollack begins by reflecting on the large questions of meaning and purpose--and the difficulty of finding either in the orderly world described (...) by the data of science. He considers the obligation to find meaning and purpose despite natural selection's claim to be a complete explanation of our presence as a species--a claim that calls upon neither natural intention, nor design, nor Designer. Next, the book focuses on matters of free will, from the choice of a scientist to accept evidence, to the choice of a religious person to accept a revelation, to a patient's loss of free will in medical treatment. Here Pollack addresses questions of ethics and offers a provocative comparison of two difficult texts whose contents remain incompletely understood: the DNA "text" of the human genome and the Hebrew record of Jewish written and oral law. In closing, Pollack considers the promise of genetic medicine in enabling us to glimpse our own future and offers a reconsideration of the possible utility of the so-called placebo effect in curing illness. Whether refuting a DNA-based biological model of Judaism or discussing the Darwinian concept of the species, Pollack, under the banner of free inquiry, presents a genuine, vital, and well-argued assay of the intersection of science and religion. (shrink)

The perceived support of supernatural agents has been historically, ethnographically, and theoretically linked with confidence in engaging in violent intergroup conflict. However, scant experimental investigations of such links have been reported to date, and the extant evidence derives largely from indirect laboratory methods of limited ecological validity. Here, we experimentally tested the hypothesis that perceived supernatural aid would heighten inclinations toward coalitional aggression using a realistic simulated coalitional combat paradigm: competitive team paintball. In a between-subjects design, US paintball players recruited (...) for the study were experimentally primed with thoughts of supernatural support using a guided visualization exercise analogous to prayer, or with a control visualization of a nature scene. The participants then competed in a team paintball battle game modeled after “Capture the Flag.” Immediately before and after the battle, participants completed surveys assessing confidence in their coalitional and personal battle performance. Participants assessed their coalition’s prospects of victory and performance more positively after visualizing supernatural aid. Participants primed with supernatural support also reported inflated assessments of their own performance. Importantly, however, covarying increases in assessments of their overall coalition’s performance accounted for the latter effect. This study provided support for the hypothesis that perceived supernatural support can heighten both prospective confidence in coalitional victory and retrospective confidence in the combat performance of one’s team, while highlighting the role of competitive play in evoking the coalitional psychology of intergroup conflict. These results accord with and extend convergent prior findings derived from laboratory paradigms far removed from the experience of combat. Accordingly, the field study approach utilized here shows promise as a method for investigating coalitional battle dynamics in a realistic, experientially immersive manner. (shrink)

Scientific uncertainty puzzles many people. The puzzlement arises when scientists have more than one answer, and disagree among themselves. This book helps people find their way through this maze of scientific contradiction and uncertainty. By acquainting them with the ways that uncertainty arises in science, how scientists accommodate and make use of uncertainty, and how they reach conclusions in the face of uncertainty, the book enables readers to confidently evaluate uncertainty from their own perspectives, in terms of their own experiences.

Decision-makers increasingly invoke equity to motivate, design, implement, and evaluate strategies for managing flood risks. But there is no objective definition of equity. This pluralistic setting calls for transparency about underlying values, but this practice is uncommon. Here, we review how equity is measured by surveying peer-reviewed publications that explicitly state an interest in equity in the context of flood-risk management. We develop a simple taxonomy for how transparent measurements can be defined. We map reviewed measurements to this taxonomy. Finally, (...) we offer guidance on how the pursuit of a clear and consistent quantitative evidence base about equity can become more widespread in flood-risk research and beyond. (shrink)

This chapter takes a brief look at drone warfare, paying particular attention to the Israeli attack on Gaza in early 2009. It also closely examines and critiques the New York Times’ role in promoting positive public opinion of drone warfare and its coverage of the Gaza attack.

This chapter compares the US government machine to Weber’s rational-legal theory of bureaucracy, and emphasizes fascism as interpenetration, signifying the collapse of the public and private spheres of structure, polity, and society into one. It examines the policies of President Theodore Roosevelt and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and their influences on capitalism and the State.

This chapter analyzes the drone’s connection to the wider framework of political-commercial-military expansion. It discusses three long-term prospects for continuity of imperialism/militarism: the creation of a climate of fear, the acceptance of secrecy in the determination of policy choices, and a shrinkage of the political-ideological spectrum on which permissible policy and action occurs and legitimacy is determined and given moral weight.

This chapter examines the USA’s close alignment between capitalism and the State in the post–Civil War period onward, as well as the military-component included as part of an integrated ruling group and protector-underwriter of capitalist expansion and success after 1945. It also discusses the potential transitions of capitalism and socialism to fascism.

This chapter examines the operator and the operation of remote drone strikes and confronts the question of who is ultimately more morally culpable—the pilot of the drone, or the person who orders the attack. Through examination of post-traumatic stress disorder, civilian and child causalities, and statistics from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, the author critiques the Obama Administration’s response to both foreign and domestic tragedies.

This chapter analyzes the effective synonymity of democracy and capitalism in the twentieth century, as well as the growing synonymity between militarism and capitalism. The author also takes into account the individual’s role and contribution to capitalism, alongside an increasing emphasis placing ownership above any other human attribute.

This chapter discusses the political policies and practices associated with President Obama and John Brennan, former director of the CIA, including drone-targeted assassination, deregulation, and the pivot of American forces and geopolitical interest from Europe to Asia. Throughout, the author includes his journal entries from 2013, responding to political events at the time.

This chapter examines first the differences in foreign and domestic policy during the presidential campaigns of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney in 2012. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal then becomes an important foil for President Obama’s liberal policies.

This introduction seeks to reinterpret the nature of government and its relation to capitalism, as well as preview the following chapters, with topics including the reconceptualization of military power, the “just war” doctrine, and the potential progression of the USA toward fascism.

This chapter analyzes the political-cultural phenomenon of habituation to indifference, particularly in regard to violence. This phenomenon has been achieved by groups of the unified impact which, together with structure, institutions, and culture, have an influence on the trend toward the commodification of the individual and his/her thinking and feeling, that which brings self-pacification to fruition.

This chapter develops President Obama’s use of drone warfare, at the center of his policy framework, in greater detail, to bring out its wider historical-philosophical context. Beyond tactics, strategy, personality, and leadership, this is both a moral question and, by implication, a psychoanalytic snapshot of the society that approves, or is indifferent to, this course.

Emerging from World War II, the USA actively sought the consolidation of its banking, industrial, and commercial sectors, creating a political economy of advancing monopoly capitalism. This chapter traces the impact of this process of nation-building and development of capitalism on the USA’s increased independence from Europe, and the creation of a new crucial agenda of labor pacification and a US foreign policy of market expansion.

This chapter discusses the moral transgressions involved in drone strikes, particularly in reference to specific laws and policies. These include the Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF), the selection and authorization of victims, and the concept of “just war.”.

This chapter illustrates the development of the author’s political views and ideologies and his education in radicalism. The author discusses Marx, Freidel, and Moore, as well as how his views have changed or remained the same over the years, especially in relation to Barack Obama’s administration.

This chapter includes a critique of President Barack Obama’s policies, including his championship of drone-targeted assassination and approach to social justice. The chapter focuses on President Obama’s “countertransference”—the author’s theory of President Obama’s role as a blank slate onto which Americans could transfer their personal desires for government, and President Obama’s use of that transference to pursue his own goals.

This chapter looks at three policy directions from President Obama’s first three years in office that have influenced the fusion of financialization and militarization in capitalism: the mobilization of force (including the pivot to Asia), heightened convergence of operating principles in reshaping American capitalism for the challenges of globalization, and the gradual separation of government from public reach, the better to conduct military affairs and ensure business hegemony against domestic critics or international rivals. These policies set President Obama somewhat apart (...) from his Europe-centric predecessors, as does his acceleration of the drone campaign. (shrink)

This chapter argues that use of drones helps promote the re-creation of Cold War fears of an imminent threat to the nation’s peace and welfare. It also studies the use of drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen to act as precedents for future threats to the USA’s security.

This chapter confronts the issue of whether a feudal past, its presence or absence, proves decisive in the subsequent development of political structure and ideology. By comparing the USA to Japan, the author analyzes hierarchy and homogeneity and the requirement of the elimination of the peasantry for the creation of a capitalist democracy.

This chapter argues that the drone is by no means the culmination of policy; if anything, it sets the stage, a plateau, for continued development, to normalize violence. In fact, it may be the tip of the iceberg, whether nuclear war or a fascist form of government and society.

This chapter analyzes major topics of conflict in regard to American policy: if drone assassination symbolizes and confirms American foreign policy, the gun, and the disposition to violence it creates, symbolizes and confirms American domestic policy. The author hypothesizes that violence, its readiness for use or its potential, firms up confidence on the national and individual levels, conveying a sense of moral rightness in the exercise of, or capacity for, strength.

This chapter analyzes the morality of President Obama’s policies of rendition, military commissions, and indefinite detention in regard to the Guantanamo Bay detainees. It also examines the effects of intervention and resulting blowback, looking specifically at the case of Yemen and the Saleh government.

Clinicians, operating within complex systems, make mistakes, as people do in every human endeavor, and when they do, patients are sometimes harmed. One important question is how we as clinicians can find resolution in the wake of an error. The published literature has divided errors into those caused by “systems” and by “individuals.” But whereas both “systems” and “individual” approaches are important in understanding the cause of an error, neither alone can fully lead to resolution once an error has occurred. (...) Instead, both are necessary to understand, resolve, and prevent errors. (shrink)

Proceedings from the ninth International Conference on Artificial Life; papers by scientists of many disciplines focusing on the principles of organization and applications of complex, life-like systems. Artificial Life is an interdisciplinary effort to investigate the fundamental properties of living systems through the simulation and synthesis of life-like processes. The young field brings a powerful set of tools to the study of how high-level behavior can arise in systems governed by simple rules of interaction. Some of the fundamental questions include: (...) What are the principles of evolution, learning, and growth that can be understood well enough to simulate as an information process? Can robots be built faster and more cheaply by mimicking biology than by the product design process used for automobiles and airplanes? How can we unify theories from dynamical systems, game theory, evolution, computing, geophysics, and cognition? The field has contributed fundamentally to our understanding of life itself through computer models, and has led to novel solutions to complex real-world problems across high technology and human society. This elite biennial meeting has grown from a small workshop in Santa Fe to a major international conference. This ninth volume of the proceedings of the international A-life conference reflects the growing quality and impact of this interdisciplinary scientific community. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Das Mittelalter Jahrgang: 20 Heft: 2 Seiten: 395-408.

This book offers a critical analysis of the rise of the US to global hegemony against a background of increased erosion of democracy and rule of law, and a rising linear pattern of near-absolute capitalist development. The author argues that the significant shrinkage of the ideological spectrum globally, as a result of worrisome levels of business and government interpenetration, has created a dangerous 'prefascist configuration' whereby unthinkable levels of violence have been normalized through the use of technologies such as drones, (...) increasingly condoned even by 'liberal' groups and the so-called political left. Using the example of the Obama administration and its increased reliance on drone assassinations, the volume makes a case for the dangers that lie in today's unique convergence of lack of transparency in government, business-government interpenetration, informal social regimentation, and militarization of capitalism. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Frühmittelalterliche Studien Jahrgang: 47 Heft: 1 Seiten: 273-306.