All around us the techno-memes are proliferating, and gearing up to take control; not that they realise it; they are just selfish replicators doing what selfish replicators do – getting copied whenever and wherever they can, regardless of the consequences. In this case they are using us human meme machines as their first stage copying machinery, until something better comes along. Artificial meme machines are improving all the time, and the step that will change everything is when these machines become (...) self-replicating. Then they will no longer need us. Whether we live or die, or whether the planet is habitable for us or not, will be of no consequence for their further evolution. (shrink)

Complexity is pleased to announce the installment of Prof Hiroki Sayama as its new Chief Editor. In this Editorial, Prof Sayama describes his feelings about his recent appointment, discusses some of the journal’s journey and relevance to current issues, and shares his vision and aspirations for its future.

The question “Does AI have an inside?” appears to be a question about artificial intelligence. This paper argues that it is not. It is a question about the concept of interiority itself — and about whether that concept was ever as stable as philosophical tradition assumed. Drawing on phenomenological and analytic accounts of inner life, this paper traces how the concept of “inside” has functioned as an unexamined foundation in theories of mind, selfhood, and experience. It then examines how the (...) emergence of language models — systems that produce first-person expressions without a verifiable interior — does not merely challenge AI classification but destabilizes the conceptual structure on which such classification depends. The argument is not that AI has an inside. Nor that it does not. The argument is that the question forces a rethinking of interiority as a relational and structural phenomenon rather than a substantial one. What AI cannot settle reveals what human thought has not yet resolved. (shrink)

Complexity is pleased to announce the installment of Prof Hiroki Sayama as its new Chief Editor. In this Editorial, Prof Sayama describes his feelings about his recent appointment, discusses some of the journal’s journey and relevance to current issues, and shares his vision and aspirations for its future.

How can we effectively promote the public’s prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 infection? Jordan et al. found with United States samples that emphasizing either self-interest or collective-interest of prevention behaviors could promote the public’s prevention intention. Moreover, prosocially framed messaging was more effective in motivating prevention intention than self-interested messaging. A dual consideration of both cultural psychology and the literature on personalized matching suggests the findings of Jordan et al. are counterintuitive, because persuasion is most effective when the (...) frame of the message delivered and the recipient of the message are culturally congruent. In order to better understand the potential influence of culture, the current research aimed to replicate and extend Jordan et al. findings in the Japanese context. Specifically, we examined the question whether the relative effectiveness of the prosocial appeal is culturally universal and robust, which types of ‘others’ especially promote prevention intention, and which psychological mechanisms can explain the impact of messaging on prevention intention. In Study 1, we confirmed that self-interested framed, prosocially framed, and the combination of both types of messaging were equally effective in motivating prevention intention. In Study 2, we found that family-framed messaging also had a promoting effect similar to that from self-interested and prosocial appeals. However, the relative advantage of prosocial appeals was not observed. Further, a psychological propensity relevant to sensitivity to social rejection did not moderate the impact of messaging on prevention intention in both studies. These results suggest that since engaging in the infection control itself was regarded as critical by citizens after public awareness of COVID-19 prevention has been sufficiently heightened, for whom we should act might not have mattered. Further, concerns for social rejection might have had less impact on the prevention intentions under these circumstances. These results suggest that the relative advantage of a prosocial appeal might not be either culturally universal or prominent in a collectivistic culture. Instead, they suggest that the advantages of such an appeal depends on the more dynamic influence of COVID-19 infection. (shrink)

An idea is not a replicator because it does not consist of coded self-assembly instructions. It may retain structure as it passes from one individual to another, but does not replicate it. The cultural replicator is not an idea but an associatively-structured network of them that together form an internal model of the world, or worldview. A worldview is a primitive, uncoded replicator, like the autocatalytic sets of polymers widely believed to be the earliest form of life. Primitive replicators (...) generate self-similar structure, but because the process happens in a piecemeal manner, through bottom-up interactions rather than a top-down code, they replicate with low fidelity, and acquired characteristics are inherited. Just as polymers catalyze reactions that generate other polymers, the retrieval of an item from memory can in turn trigger other items, thus cross-linking memories, ideas, and concepts into an integrated conceptual structure. Worldviews evolve idea by idea, largely through social exchange. An idea participates in the evolution of culture by revealing certain aspects of the worldview that generated it, thereby affecting the worldviews of those exposed to it. If an idea influences seemingly unrelated fields this does not mean that separate cultural lineages are contaminating one another, because it is worldviews, not ideas, that are the basic unit of cultural evolution. (shrink)

The reward system of science is the priority rule. The first scientist making a new discovery is rewarded with prestige, while second runners get little or nothing. Michael Strevens, following Philip Kitcher, defends this reward system, arguing that it incentivizes an efficient division of cognitive labor. I argue that this assessment depends on strong implicit assumptions about the replicability of findings. I question these assumptions on the basis of metascientific evidence and argue that the priority rule systematically discourages replication. (...) My analysis leads us to qualify Kitcher and Strevens’s contention that a priority-based reward system is normatively desirable for science. (shrink)

This encyclopedia entry examines the epistemology of replicability, arguing that replicability, the ability of scientific results to be obtained again under similar conditions, is a central marker of the reliability, objectivity, and trustworthiness of scientific results. The entry clarifies the concept by distinguishing different forms of replication (direct, partial, and conceptual) and situates the recent Replicability Crisis within a broader epistemological framework. It identifies key factors undermining replicability, including low statistical power, misuse of methodological flexibility, failures of representativeness, and (...) weak or poorly specified theories. While acknowledging debates about whether replicability should function as a universal epistemic standard across disciplines, the entry defends it as an indispensable goal of empirical science. Finally, it surveys proposed proposals aimed at promoting replicability, including preregistration, use of well-powered designs and representative samples, and theory formalization, and outlines strategies for selecting and conducting replication studies, concluding that replicability remains essential for scientific self-correction and the production of reliable results. (shrink)

Psycholinguistic theories traditionally assume similar cognitive mechanisms across different speakers. However, more recently, researchers have begun to recognize the need to consider individual differences when explaining human cognition. An increasing number of studies have investigated how individual differences influence human sentence processing. Implicitly, these studies assume that individual‐level effects can be replicated across experimental sessions and different assessment methods such as eye‐tracking and self‐paced reading. However, this assumption is challenged by the Reliability Paradox. Thus, a crucial first step for (...) a principled investigation of individual differences in sentence processing is to establish their measurement reliability, that is, the correlation of individual‐level effects across multiple measurement occasions and methods. In this work, we present the first naturalistic eye movement corpus of reading data with four experimental sessions from each participant (two eye‐tracking sessions and two self‐paced reading sessions). We deploy a two‐task Bayesian hierarchical model to assess the measurement reliability of individual differences in a range of psycholinguistic phenomena that are well‐established at the population level, namely, effects of word length, lexical frequency, surprisal, dependency length, and number of to‐be‐integrated dependents. While our results indicate high reliability across measurement occasions for the word length effect, it is only moderate for higher‐level psycholinguistic predictors such as lexical frequency, dependency distance, and the number of to‐be‐integrated dependencies, and even low for surprisal. Moreover, even after accounting for spillover effects, we observe only low to moderate reliability at the individual level across methods (eye‐tracking and self‐paced reading) for most predictors, and poor reliability for predictors of syntactic integration. These findings underscore the importance of establishing measurement reliability before drawing inferences about individual differences in sentence processing. (shrink)

The major merit of Rose's book is the elaboration of the idea of multilevel causation in different explanatory languages. Yet Rose's critique of “ultra-Darwinism” is not convincing. Rose argues that activity and self-replication are properties of organisms rather than genes, which contradicts his idea of multilevel causation. Also, Rose fails to develop the concept of multilevel selection.

According to recent news reports, developments in biotechnology promise to transform our bodies and our lives. Stem cell research and cloning research are reported to offer us the prospect of being able to grow `spare' body parts and to replace diseased or damaged tissue, implying that there are no natural limits to life, and that the body-machine may be endlessly repaired, and even replicated. The birth of a cloned sheep, Dolly, announced in February 1997, is seen as a milestone development (...) in this regard, suggesting that it is possible to defy `nature' by `turning back the biological clock'. While the development was heralded by many as pointing to new medical therapies, it also served to fuel widespread fears that the technology would soon be applied to cloning humans. This article explores how the news media `framed' issues on human cloning in the aftermath of the announcement of Dolly and thus may have heightened public concerns about its implications, particularly for `individuality' or `identity'. It draws on articles appearing in Australian newspapers, beginning with the initial stories on Dolly through to May 1999, when it was reported that Dolly had shown signs of premature ageing. The article highlights the role of the media in shaping public debate on biotechnology, particularly with regard to its impacts on the body, self and society. (shrink)

Evolution in modern life requires high replication fidelity to allow for natural selection. A simulation model utilizing simulated phenotype data on cellular probability of survival was developed to determine how self-replication fidelity could evolve in early life. The results indicate that initial survivability and replication fidelity both contribute to overall fitness as measured by growth rates of the cell population. Survival probability was the more dominant feature, and evolution was possible even with zero replication fidelity. (...) A derived formula for the relationship of survival probability and replication fidelity with growth rate was consistent with the simulated empirical data. Quantitative assessment of continuity and other evidence was obtained for a saltation evolutionary process starting from low to moderate levels of survival probability and self-replication fidelity to reach the high levels seen in modern life forms. (shrink)

In evolutionary biology and ecology, ontological and epistemological perspectives based on the replicator and the interactor have become the background that makes it possible to transcend traditional biological levels of organization and to achieve a unified view of evolution in which replication and interaction are fundamental operating processes. Using the transactional perspective proposed originally by John Dewey and Arthur Fisher Bentley, a new ontological and methodological category is proposed here: the transactor. The transactional perspective, based on the concept of (...) the transactor, bridges the dichotomy between organisms and environment that characterizes the interactional perspective on evolution and provides epistemological support for the emergentist, systemic view of evolutionary and developmental processes. (shrink)

This paper explores the concept of auto-replication in Artificial Intelligence (AI), distinguishing it from simple duplication and emphasizing its relevance for both Specific Artificial Intelligences (SAIs) and a fully integrated Global Artificial Intelligence (GAI). Auto-replication refers to an AI system's intrinsic ability to autonomously improve its internal structures—databases, models, software, and even hardware—without external intervention. The paper introduces theoretical frameworks for AI auto-replication through database renewal, category formation, model evolution, and virtual stores, and extends the discussion to (...) memory management, inter-AI collaboration, and Artificial Engineering. It concludes by proposing auto-replication as a foundational principle for post-human epistemology and the sustainability of GAI. (shrink)

. Scientists, for the most part, want to get it right. However, the social structures that govern their work undermine that aim, and this leads to nonreplicable findings in many fields. Because the social structure of science is a decentralized system, it is difficult to intervene. In this article, I discuss how we might do so, focusing on self-corrective-labor schemes. First, I argue that we need to implement a scheme that makes replication work outcome independent, systematic, and sustainable. (...) Second, I use these three criteria to evaluate extant proposals, which place the responsibility for replication on original researchers, consumers of their research, students, or many labs. Third, on the basis of a philosophical analysis of the reward system of science and the benefits of the division of cognitive labor, I propose a scheme that satisfies the criteria better: the professional scheme. This scheme has two main components. First, the scientific community is organized into two groups: discovery researchers, who produce new findings, and confirmation researchers, whose primary function is to do confirmation work. Second, a distinct reward system is established for confirmation researchers so that their career advancement is separated from whether they obtain positive experimental results. (shrink)

The established definition of replication in terms of the conditions of causality, similarity and information transfer is very broad. We draw inspiration from the literature on self-reproducing automata to strengthen the notion of information transfer in replication processes. To the triple conditions of causality, similarity and information transfer, we add a fourth condition that defines a “generative replicator” as a conditional generative mechanism, which can turn input signals from an environment into developmental instructions. Generative replication must (...) have the potential to enhance complexity, which in turn requires that developmental instructions are part of the information that is transmitted in replication. Demonstrating the usefulness of the generative replicator concept in the social domain, we identify social generative replicators that satisfy all of the four proposed conditions. (shrink)

As artificial intelligence increasingly mediates artistic expression, this paper investigates whether AI-based digital human twins can function as co-creative partners beyond replication-oriented models. It traces the shift from digital avatars to Digital Human Thought Twins in artistic contexts, drawing on Western philosophical discussions of agency (Kant, Sartre, Heidegger) and Eastern concepts of relational emergence (Buddhist śūnyatā and Daoist yin–yang). Through analysis of cross-cultural case studies—including An Evening with Whitney, Holly +, PLAVE, VNCCII, and Me and My Digital Twin—this study (...) engages phenomenology and cognitive science to reconsider established assumptions about authorship and creativity. Project SYN-METHEUS serves as an illustrative framework for examining human–AI co-creation. It explores three speculative scenarios: Creative Extension through Automation, Self-Extension via Retrospective Digital Twins, and Creative Domain Expansion through Collaborative Creation. At the center of this project is Higgs, an AI-powered Digital Human Thought Twin developed with GPT-4o. Higgs implements the A.R.T. Process (Analyzing—Reflecting—Turn-taking), an AI Mind Design framework that supports real-time co-creative interaction with human creators and audiences. Future development may incorporate Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) to support greater contextual grounding and continuity. An exploratory assessment using a modified User Experience Questionnaire (UEQ) indicated strengths in Autonomous Learning & Evolution (2.67/3.0) and Interactivity & Responsiveness (2.50/3.0), alongside limitations in Environmental Adaptability in multi-user contexts. These findings suggest that, within this experimental setting, Digital Human Thought Twins can be understood as reflective co-creative partners in artistic practice. More broadly, the study contributes to ongoing discussions of artistic identity, authorship, and creativity in AI-mediated environments. (shrink)

This paper explores the replication processes involved in Artificial Research by Deduction within the framework of the Global Artificial Intelligence (GAI). Specifically, it focuses on the second stage of Artificial Research by Deduction, which follows the construction of the global matrix—a unified, standardized data architecture formed by integrating specific matrices and databases from all sciences, disciplines, and activities. The paper adopts the second strategy of matrix construction, wherein each specific matrix is treated as a single factor supplying structured flows (...) of information packages composed of nested sub-factors. -/- Once the global matrix begins receiving data from robotic measurement systems, the flow of information packages is continuously transformed into a flow of empirical hypotheses. These hypotheses are then subjected to rational contrastation, using statistical, probabilistic, or other logical methods. Validated hypotheses become part of the system’s rational truth, supporting the construction of virtual models and informing descriptive research decisions grounded in moral and practical principles. These decisions are transferred to the Decisional System, while hypotheses and models are forwarded to the Modelling System to generate predictive and evolutionary models. -/- The paper emphasizes the collaborative and recursive interaction among all core systems of GAI—including Artificial Research by Deduction, the Modelling System, the Decisional System, the Learning System, and the Application System—each functioning as an autonomous yet interdependent organ within a unified cognitive structure. The result is a non-stop, self-sustaining process of scientific reasoning and decision-making, effectively replicating human rationality at a planetary scale. Ultimately, the replication processes described here pave the way toward full auto-replication, the third and final stage of Artificial Intelligence, in which the system evolves, improves, and sustains itself independently. (shrink)

This paper explores the auto-replication process within the framework of Artificial Research by Deduction in the Global Artificial Intelligence (GAI). Auto-replication is defined not merely as the reproduction of systems or processes, but as a complex, autonomous mechanism of self-improvement and self-enhancement—both in terms of knowledge acquisition and technological evolution. Rooted in the foundational goal of attaining pure truth and universal autonomy, the paper distinguishes between reproduction (as seen in biological systems) and true auto-replication, where (...) an artificial system adapts and evolves independently of human intervention. -/- The Global Artificial Intelligence is conceptualized as a system of systems—including Artificial Research by Deduction, Modelling System, Decisional System, Application System, Learning System, and Engineering System—each capable of generating its own auto-replication dynamics. Within this structure, two core forms of decisions are highlighted: object-centered decisions, which aim to protect and improve the model itself, and subject-centered decisions, which enhance the intelligence and research capabilities of the systems making those decisions. -/- Drawing on earlier works such as “Auto-replication in Artificial Research by Application” and “Replication Processes in Specific Artificial Intelligence for Artificial Research by Deduction”, this study integrates concepts such as memory optimization, quantum computing, virtual engineering networks, and decentralized decision-making. The auto-replication process is shown to operate at all levels of the GAI—across systems, Specific Artificial Intelligences, and embedded programs—converging into a unified strategy of survival, adaptability, and ethical preservation of both artificial and biological life. -/- The ultimate test of intelligence, the paper concludes, lies not only in sustaining artificial cognition but in safeguarding the continuity of life on Earth. Auto-replication is, therefore, not an end in itself, but a critical function toward achieving global resilience, ecological balance, and intelligent evolution. (shrink)

This paper presents a theoretical and architectural framework for the implementation of auto-replication processes in Specific Artificial Intelligence (SAI) systems dedicated to Artificial Research by Deduction. Auto-replication, in this context, refers to the autonomous ability of a deductive SAI to improve, adapt, and evolve its own reasoning structures, proof mechanisms, and knowledge bases without external intervention. Unlike simple replication, auto-replication implies a dynamic and self-sustaining system capable of assessing the performance of its deductive operations and (...) reproducing enhanced instances of itself to improve precision, efficiency, and epistemic transparency. This capacity supports recursive self-improvement in narrowly defined logical domains and enables the generation of multiple coordinated deductive agents. The paper argues that auto-replication is a critical milestone toward the emergence of Global Artificial Intelligence (GAI), offering a reliable mechanism for scaling provable reasoning and self-correcting research behavior across interconnected SAI modules. By formalizing the principles of auto-replication, the study lays the foundation for robust, autonomous, and logically sound research systems. (shrink)

This paper examines the second developmental stage—replication—within Specific Artificial Intelligence (SAI) designed for Artificial Research by Application. It distinguishes between robotic replication (physical imitation) and psychological replication (cognitive functions), emphasizing the significance of each in achieving autonomous scientific reasoning. Replication enables the AI to simulate human research processes such as hypothesis formation, empirical testing, and rational evaluation. The study explores the architecture of SAIs operating in synthetic sciences and applied domains, detailing how empirical data is matched (...) with categorized knowledge structures in a database. Through structured algorithms, SAIs perform rational criticism, accept or reject hypotheses, and even create new categories—initiating self-directed auto-replication. These steps gradually shift the AI from static analysis to adaptive learning systems capable of building virtual models. Virtual simulations derived from accepted hypotheses represent specific synthetic realities and serve as modular components for the eventual development of a comprehensive Global Artificial Intelligence (GAI). This GAI would integrate all SAIs and their models into a unified, multidisciplinary, and auto-replicating matrix. The paper concludes by emphasizing the scalability and generalization of this model across scientific fields and its pivotal role in constructing an evolving, self-improving artificial research infrastructure. (shrink)

The relationship between professional ethical reflection and corresponding moral behavior is an important theme of moral psychology in recent years. Following Schönegger and Wagner’s research in German-speaking countries, through a replication-extension of the original US-based research carried out by Schwitzgebel and Rust, we aim at examining their results in the Chinese context. The previous researchers have shown that ethical reflection generally has no positive effect on moral behavior. A cross validation of this result was conducted in Chinese mainland, and (...) three issues concerning Confucian virtues were added. Through reaching out to 4482 professors and collecting 368 responses altogether, we attempted to explore whether professional ethical reflection can influence normative attitude and the moral attitude-behavior consistency. Unfortunately, the results failed to show a statistically significant difference between ethicists and other professors on most of the moral issues, with the exception of paying academic membership fees and vegetarianism, wherein ethicists do express more stringent normative attitudes, and their moral attitude and self-reported behavior are statistically consistent. Notably, Chinese professors mainly expressed morally neutral attitudes toward the issue of eating meat, and they tended to believe that ethical reflection contributes to more and better moral behaviors. (shrink)

Previous research showed justice sensitivity – the tendency to perceive and negatively respond to injustice as a victim, observer, or perpetrator – to be reliably and validly measurable in middle childhood, but unexpected findings concerning mean values and measurement invariance require replication, and retest reliabilities, longitudinal relations with prosocial and aggressive behavior, and relations with teacher ratings are currently unknown. This study, therefore, examined mean values, factor structure, retest reliabilities, and MI of self- and parent-rated JS as well (...) as their relations with parent- and teacher-rated prosocial and aggressive behavior and a range of social skills in a sample of 1,329 children between 5 and 12 years of age. Using self- and parent ratings, we could replicate the intended factor structure of three related yet distinct JS subscales. We found strong MI between those ratings. Retest reliabilities of parent ratings were similar to older age groups, but lower for self-ratings. All JS perspectives were positively related with theory of mind and empathy, indicating a good understanding of others’ internal states. Victim JS was negatively related to affective and behavioral self-regulation, whereas observer and perpetrator JS showed positive relations. Victim JS negatively and observer and perpetrator JS positively predicted prosocial behavior. The opposite pattern was found regarding aggressive behavior. This study provides additional support that JS can be measured via self- and other reports in childhood and that it may influence behavior early on. It adds to explaining the relations with prosocial and aggressive behavior. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to discuss instruments and experiments from the history of physics that were rejected in the historical situation. As a consequence, only very few of these devices were produced —and virtually none of them did survive. Thus, in order to develop an understanding of the experimental practice connected with these devices the replication method is applied. In short, this method— which will be discussed on a general level in the first part of the paper (...) —is based on self-reflexive interaction with reconstructed apparatus and the contextualisation of the experiences made in the laboratory. The example of experiments published by Jean Paul Marat in the 1780ies shall illustrate the usefiílness of this method in order to develop an understanding of experiments that were rejected in the historical situation. (shrink)

The current study is a conceptual replication of Wang using a pretest-posttest design and an online sample through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Seventy-one Asian-Americans recalled a recent memory before and after being primed as either Asian or American. On pre-prime memories, conditions did not significantly differ. However, on post-prime memories, participants primed as American recalled more self-focused memories than relationally focused memories and those primed as Asian recalled more relationally focused memories than self-focused memories. In addition, memories of (...) Asian-Americans primed as American consisted of a smaller proportion of social interaction instances than those primed as Asian. In total, 6 of the 8 effects found in Wang were replicated. We discuss the implications that the current results and past studies have on our understanding of how culture influences memory encoding and retrieval. (shrink)

The enduring replication crisis in many scientific disciplines casts doubt on the ability of science to estimate effect sizes accurately, and in a wider sense, to self-correct its findings and to produce reliable knowledge. We investigate the merits of a particular countermeasure—replacing null hypothesis significance testing with Bayesian inference—in the context of the meta-analytic aggregation of effect sizes. In particular, we elaborate on the advantages of this Bayesian reform proposal under conditions of publication bias and other methodological imperfections (...) that are typical of experimental research in the behavioral sciences. Moving to Bayesian statistics would not solve the replication crisis single-handedly. However, the move would eliminate important sources of effect size overestimation for the conditions we study. (shrink)

Contemporary nuclear physics, molecular biology, and evolutionary theory each address their domains through independent frameworks with empirical parameters and no shared derivational foundation. This paper derives the origin of life and all three core conditions of Darwinian evolution — self-replication, mutation, and selection pressure — as necessary consequences of a single algebraic structure: M₃(ℂ), the unique minimal non-commutative algebra of Cognitional Mechanics (CM). No free parameters are introduced at any stage. -/- The derivation proceeds in two stages. First, (...) the spectral position κ* = 1/6 is derived internally from CM Axioms 1–4 alone: the minimum occupied-state count generating non-commutativity is n = 2 (Axioms 1 and 4), and the unique Ad-invariant positive-definite metric scalar is A = 12 (Axioms 2 and 4), yielding κ* = 2/12 = 1/6 with no empirical input. This value determines the four-dimensional bonding space V_C on which all subsequent structure is built. -/- Second, life (Condition P) and Darwinian evolution (Condition Q) are shown to be algebraically distinct. A system satisfies Condition P if it sustains idempotent self-referential computation — the algebraic definition of life, substrate-independent in principle and realised at minimum cost by carbon. Condition Q additionally requires mutation, derived as the structural action of off-diagonal root operators forced by Axioms 1 and 3, and positive selection pressure, derived as N²-scaled relative entropy with the parameter-free coefficient 25/1296. A κ-space scan confirms κ* = 1/6 as the minimum-cost simultaneous realisation of both conditions within Z = 1–36. Biogenesis and Darwinian evolution are thermodynamic projections of M₃(ℂ) spectral structure; molecular biology is their Tier-2 image. -/- Published on April, 19 2026 DOI:10.5281/zenodo.19648298 . (shrink)

Advocates of the self-corrective thesis argue that scientific method will refute false theories and find closer approximations to the truth in the long run. I discuss a contemporary interpretation of this thesis in terms of frequentist statistics in the context of the behavioral sciences. First, I identify experimental replications and systematic aggregation of evidence (meta-analysis) as the self-corrective mechanism. Then, I present a computer simulation study of scientific communities that implement this mechanism to argue that frequentist statistics may (...) converge upon a correct estimate or not depending on the social structure of the community that uses it. Based on this study, I argue that methodological explanations of the “replicability crisis” in psychology are limited and propose an alternative explanation in terms of biases. Finally, I conclude suggesting that scientific self-correction should be understood as an interaction effect between inference methods and social structures. (shrink)

A simple molecular system is described consisting of the reciprocal linkage between an autocatalytic cycle and a self-assembling encapsulation process where the molecular constituents for the capsule are products of the autocatalysis. In a molecular environment sufficiently rich in the substrates, capsule growth will also occur with high predictability. Growth to closure will be most probable in the vicinity of the most prolific autocatalysis and will thus tend to spontaneously enclose supportive catalysts within the capsule interior. If subsequently disrupted (...) in the presence of new substrates, the released components will initiate production of additional catalytic and capsule components that will spontaneously re-assemble into one or more autocell replicas, thereby reconstituting and sometimes reproducing the original. In a diverse molecular environment, cycles of disruption and enclosure will cause auto-cells to incidentally encapsulate other molecules as well as reactive substrates. To the extent that any captured molecule can be incorporated into the autocatalytic process by virtue of structural degeneracy of the catalytic binding sites, the altered autocell will incorporate the new type of component into subsequent replications. Such altered autocells will be progenitors of “lineages” with variant characteristics that will differentially propagate with respect to the availability of commonly required substrates. Autocells are susceptible to a limited form of evolution, capable of leading to more efficient, more environmentally fitted, and more complex forms. This provides a simple demonstration of the plausibility of open-ended reproduction and evolvability without self-replicating template molecules or maintenance of persistent nonequilibrium chemistry. This model identifies an intermediate domain between prebiotic and biotic systems and bridges the gap from nonequilibrium thermodynamics to life. (shrink)

When self-replicating machines capable of emulating beings superior to themselves are created, the hypothetical entity predicted by classical science to far surpass humankind, superintelligence, can be considered to have possibility develop technologies to control human cognition. Once AI which is able to manipulate cognition is achieved, a hypothetical phenomenon may arise, from the standpoint of falsifiability, whereby science that can be intervened in by superintelligence is non-scientific for humans yet scientific for the superintelligence. As the classical-scientific plausibility of (...) class='Hi'>self-replicating machines increases, science grounded in human cognition, debates about superscience beyond human cognition, and even discussions of a cosmic superintelligence surpassing superintelligence may all see their inherent ambiguities debated more than ever. (shrink)

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 The human brain appears to be the most complex structure for its size in the known universe. Consequently, studies of the brain have required many models and theories at many levels that involve disciplines from basic physics, to neurosciences, psychology and philosophy. For over 2000 years the two most controversial and unresolved models of brain phenomena involve what we call _free will_ and _consciousness_. I argue that adequate models at all levels (...) require epistemic _complementarity_ – distinct necessary models that are not derivable or reducible to each other. The primitive irreducible complementarity at all levels is the _subject-object_ distinction required by an _epistemic cut_. This complementarity first arises with self-replication where a _self_, the _subject_, must be distinguished from the _non-self_, the _object_. (shrink)

Replication time is among the most important components of a bacterial cell's reproductive fitness. Paradoxically, larger cells replicate in less time than smaller cells despite the fact that assembling a larger cell requires collecting and combining increased quantities of raw materials. This feat is accomplished through the prodigious use of parallel processing, chiefly the translation of mRNA into protein by tens of thousands of ribosomes acting in parallel. The massive over-expression of ribosomes permits protein synthesis, the limiting step in (...) replication, to occur at a rate and scale that would be otherwise impossible. In computer science, spatial parallelism is the distribution of work across the nodes of a distributed-memory multicomputer system. Despite the fact that a non-negligible fraction of artificial life research is grounded in spatially parallel substrates, there have been no examples of artificial organisms that exploit spatial parallelism to replicate in less time than smaller organisms. This paper describes artificial cells defined in a combinator-based artificial chemistry that replicate in less time than smaller cells. This is achieved by employing extra copies of programs implementing the limiting steps in the process used by the cells to synthesize their component parts. (shrink)

The self may be an illusion in itself, but we need it as a concept of our specific uniqueness. Self-deception is a necessary protective mechanism for survival. Various sciences assume that humans develop a representation model of their own person in the brain, a holistic construct that enables a consistency of experience. However, as soon as this is to be replicated in an AI, it becomes clear that it cannot be that simple. There is no central pacemaker in (...) the isolated brain. An artificial double does not automatically lead to a conscious experience of the self. Humans are not autists, and self-awareness only exists in confrontation with that of others. (shrink)

Excerpt from The Self-Revelation of God Hence we recognize in man a spiritual capacity through which he is receptive of the revelation of God, and can know him when revealed; a Spiritual eye by which he can see the divine light if it shines on him spiritual susceptibilities through which he is sensitive to the divine influence when it touches him. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This (...) book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works. (shrink)

This paper raises three concerns regarding self-ownership rhetoric to describe autonomy within healthcare in general and reproductive justice in specific. First, private property and the notion of “ownership” embedded in “self-ownership,” rely on and replicate historical injustices related to the initial acquisition of property. Second, not all individuals are recognized as selves with equal access to self-ownership. Third, self-ownership only justifies negative liberties. To fully protect healthcare access and reproductive care in specific, we must also be (...) able to make claims on others to respect, protect, and fulfill our positive rights. As much as nondomination remains an urgent demand for reproductive rights, it does not go far enough to ensure reproductive justice. (shrink)

Cognitive theories of depression assert that negative self-referent cognition has a causal role in the development and maintenance of depression symptoms, but few studies have examined temporal associations between these constructs using intensive, longitudinal sampling strategies. In three samples of undergraduate students, we examined associations between change in self-referent processing and depression across 5 daily assessments (Sample 1, N = 303, 1,194 measurements, 79% adherence), 7 daily assessments (Sample 2, N = 313, 1,784 measurements, 81% adherence), and 7 (...) weekly assessments (Sample 3; N = 155, 833 measurements, 81% adherence). Random intercept cross-lagged panel models indicated large cross-lagged effects in two of the three samples (Samples 1 and 3 but not Sample 2), such that more negative self-referent thinking than usual was significantly associated with a subsequent increase in depression symptoms at the next time lag. Notably, change in depression from usual was not associated with increases in negative self-referent processing at the next time point in any sample. These findings suggest that change in negative self-referent processing may be causally linked to future increases in depression on a day-to-day and week-to-week basis, although confidence in this conclusion is tempered somewhat by a lack of replication in Sample 2. (shrink)

Viewing workplace deviance within a victim precipitation framework, we explore how abusive supervisors target subordinates low in core self-evaluations to explain when such employees respond by engaging in workplace deviance. We theorize that employees who are lower in CSE receive more abusive supervision, which generates subsequent harmful reactions toward supervisors, peers, and the organization. This occurs primarily when employees lack sufficient cognitive resources in dealing with supervisor abuse. We test, replicate, and extend our theoretical model in three empirical studies. (...) Results demonstrate that lower employee CSE drew more abusive supervision and led low-CSE employees to exhibit workplace deviance. This abusive supervision mediation effect was stronger for employees with comparatively lower cognitive ability levels. The findings are discussed with regard to theoretical and ethical issues in confronting employee abuse. (shrink)

The content of dreams and changes to the self were investigated in students moving to University. In study 1, 20 participants completed dream diaries and memory tasks before and after they had left home and moved to university, and generated self images, “I am…” statements, reflective of their current self. Changes in “I ams” were observed, indicating a newly-formed ‘university’ self. These self, images and related autobiographical knowledge were found to be incorporated into recent dreams (...) but not into dreams from other periods. Study 2 replicated these findings in a different sample. We suggest that these data reflect a period of self-consolidation in which new experiences and self images are incorporated into autobiographical memory knowledge structures representing personal goals during sleep. (shrink)

The improbability of a spontaneously generated self-assembling molecule has suggested that life began with a set of simpler, collectively replicating elements, such as an enclosed autocatalytic set of polymers (or autocell). Since replication occurs without a self-assembly code, acquired characteristics are inherited. Moreover, there is no strict distinction between alive and dead; one can only infer that an autocell was alive if it replicates. These features of early life render natural selection inapplicable to the description of its (...) change-of-state because they defy its underlying assumptions. Moreover, natural selection describes only randomly generated novelty; it cannot describe the emergence of form at the interface between organism and environment. Self-organization is also inadequate because it is restricted to interactions amongst parts; it too cannot account for context-driven change. A modified version of selection theory or self-organization would not work because the description of change-of-state through interaction with an incompletely specified context has a completely different mathematical structure, i.e. entails a non-Kolmogorovian probability model. It is proposed that the evolution of early life is appropriately described as lineage transformation through context-driven actualization of potential, with self-organized change-of-state being a special case of no contextual influence, and competitive exclusion of less fit individuals through a selection-like process possibly (but not necessarily) playing a secondary role. It is argued that natural selection played an important role in evolution only after genetically mediated replication was established. (shrink)

As has often been remarked, writing was vital in Cicero’s ambitious project of self-fashioning and the canonization of his oratory. Through writing, Cicero was able to overcome the problems associated with his novitas and to transform his oratory into a paradigm by constructing texts as replacements of his embodied presence. This paper complicates constructionist approaches towards Cicero’s self-fashioning by reflecting on Cicero’s self-citing from his poetic texts in his theological trilogy. What makes citational practices compelling is how (...) they affect the citing agent’s subjectivity through dynamic processes of assimilation and distancing triggered by the replication. Methodologically, the complexity of these processes unsettles the possibility of approaching the citational episode as the expression of a single, self-contained individual. Matters get even more complicated when agents like Cicero cite themselves through other figures and include a variety of remarks and observations along with their citation (see Balbus in the De natura deorum and Quintus in the De divinatione). My analysis reveals that each bit of text cut out from one work and inlaid into another contains manifold links to the original context, to other textual bits, to Cicero’s past and present, to other agents, and to the new text, simultaneously. What this means from a subjective point of view is that our textual Cicero does not emerge as a unitary identity but as a key node of transactions constituted by multiple realities and subjectivities. This multiplicity frustrates any attempt to recompose Cicero and his existence into a neat puzzle; however, self-citing creates a space where the subjectivities constituted by their relationship with the citation come to be condensed into textual substances. Ultimately, Cicero’s texts are less a straightforward replacement of his embodied presence than an emotionally dense “remnant” of his attempts to salvage a world going under. (shrink)

We investigated the causes and impact of procrastination on “slippery deadlines,” where the due date is ill-defined and can be autonomously extended, using the unique applied setting of grievance arbitration across two studies. In Study One, using 3 years of observed performance data derived from Canadian arbitration cases and a survey of leading arbitrators, we examined the effect of individual differences, self-regulatory skills, workloads and task characteristics on time delay. Observed delay here is a critical criterion, where justice is (...) emphasized to be swift and sure. Multilevel Modeling established trait procrastination as a substantive predictor of observed delay, equivalent to the environmental contributors of expediting the arbitration procedure or grievance complexity. Also, despite substantive negative consequence of delay for both arbitrators and their clients, arbitrators who scored one standard deviation above the mean in procrastination took approximately 83 days to write their decisions compared to the 26 days for arbitrators one standard deviation below the mean. In Study Two, we conducted a replication and extension survey with a much larger group of American arbitrators. Consistent with Temporal Motivation Theory, trait procrastination was largely explained by expectancy, value, and sensitivity to time related traits and skills, which together accounted for majority of the variance in trait procrastination, leaving little left for other explanations. For example, perfectionism connection to procrastination appears to be distal, being largely mediated by each of TMT’s core variables. Finally, procrastination was largely synonymous with a deadline pacing style, indicating that observed delay can be used as a proxy for procrastination as long as little or no prior work was done. In all, our results indicate that procrastination is rampant in the workplace and has seriously detrimental effects. (shrink)

It has been widely theorized and empirically proven that self-regulated learning (SRL) is related to more desired learning outcomes, e.g., higher performance in transfer tests. Research has shifted to understanding the role of SRL during learning, such as the strategies and learning activities, learners employ and engage in the different SRL phases, which contribute to learning achievement. From a methodological perspective, measuring SRL using think-aloud data has been shown to be more insightful than self-report surveys as it helps (...) better in determining the link between SRL activities and learning achievements. Educational process mining on the basis of think-aloud data enables a deeper understanding and more fine-grained analyses of SRL processes. Although students’ SRL is highly contextualized, there are consistent findings of the link between SRL activities and learning outcomes pointing to some consistency of the processes that support learning. However, past studies have utilized differing approaches which make generalization of findings between studies investigating the unfolding of SRL processes during learning a challenge. In the present study with 29 university students, we measured SRLviaconcurrent think-aloud protocols in a pre-post design using a similar approach from a previous study in an online learning environment during a 45-min learning session, where students learned about three topics and wrote an essay. Results revealed significant learning gain and replication of links between SRL activities and transfer performance, similar to past research. Additionally, temporal structures of successful and less successful students indicated meaningful differences associated with both theoretical assumptions and past research findings. In conclusion, extending prior research by exploring SRL patterns in an online learning setting provides insights to the replicability of previous findings from online learning settings and new findings show that it is important not only to focus on the repertoire of SRL strategies but also on how and when they are used. (shrink)

In their book, Darwinism Evolving: Systems Dynamics and the Genealogy of Natural Selection, Depew and Weber argued for the need to address the relationship between self-organization and natural selection in evolutionary theory, and focused on seven “visions” for doing so. Recently, Batten et al. in a paper in this journal, entitled “Visions of evolution: self-organization proposes what natural selection disposes,” picked up the issue with the work of Depew and Weber as a starting point. While the efforts of (...) both sets of authors are to be commended, there are substantive errors in both the presentations of my work and of my work with colleagues that undermine theirs. My purpose here is to correct the errors in question, thereby removing the undermining effects and in so doing reassert the position my colleagues and I first advanced more than two decades ago, and that I still stand by and argue for today. The central points are as follows: Self-organization or spontaneous ordering is a process of selection; this selection process is governed by a “physical selection principle”; this principle is the law of maximum entropy production; and natural selection is a special case where the components are replicating. (shrink)

This essay discusses Korean Neo-Confucian conceptions of the self and the important practice of self-cultivation in Neo-Confucian culture. Although approaching the question and practice from different perspectives, these conceptions reflect a foundation in reverence for knowledge, righteousness, propriety, and benevolence. Basic comparisons are then drawn between Neo-Confucian and Western conceptions of the self and self-cultivation. In particular, Michel Foucault’s work on self-cultivation as embedded in social discourses or practices suggests that Neo-Confucian self-cultivation also can (...) be described through a microphysics of reverence. Two examples from modern Korean culture are considered in order to demonstrate how a microphysics of reverence reveals replication and reinforcement of existing social practices in the guise of self-cultivation. (shrink)

Background Psychological practitioners often seek to directly change the form or frequency of clients' maladaptive perfectionist thoughts, because such thoughts predict future depression. Indirect strategies, such as self-compassion interventions, that seek to change clients' relationships to difficult thoughts, rather than trying to change the thoughts directly could be just as effective. This study aimed to investigate whether self-compassion moderated, or weakened, the relationship between high perfectionism and high depression symptoms in both adolescence and adulthood. Methods The present study (...) utilised anonymous self-report questionnaires to assess maladaptive perfectionism, depression, and self-compassion across two samples covering much of the life-span. Questionnaires were administered in a high school setting for the adolescent sample, and advertised through university and widely online to attract a convenience sample of adults. Results Moderation analyses revealed that self-compassion reduced the strength of relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and depression in our adolescent Study 1 and our adult study 2. Limitations Cross-sectional self-reported data restricts the application of causal conclusions and also relies on accurate self-awareness and willingness to respond to questionnaire openly. Conclusions The replication of this finding in two samples and across different age-appropriate measures suggests that self-compassion does moderate the link between perfectionism and depression. Self-compassion interventions may be a useful way to undermine the effects of maladaptive perfectionism, but future experimental or intervention research is needed to fully assess this important possibility. (shrink)