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Author: Edward Berge

Storytelling as adaptive collective sensemaking

Storytelling as adaptive collective sensemaking

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Bietti et al. (2018), Topics in Cognitive Science. The abstract: “Storytelling represents a key element in the creation and propagation of culture. Three main accounts of the adaptive function of storytelling include (a) manipulating the behavior of the audience to enhance the fitness of the narrator, (b) transmitting survival‐relevant information while avoiding the costs involved in the first‐hand acquisition of that information, and (c) maintaining social bonds or group‐level cooperation. We assess the substantial evidence collected in experimental and ethnographic…

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Climate change and social transformations

Climate change and social transformations

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Article subtitled “Is it time for a quantum leap?” By Karen O’Brien (2016), Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 7(5), 618-626.  She is Professor of Sociology and Human Geography,  University of Oslo.  She has been heavily involved in the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Global Change Programmes and the transition to Future Earth, a 10-year global change research initiative. More bio here. The abstract: “Climate change is recognized as an urgent societal problem with widespread…

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New frontiers in heart rate variability and social coherence research

New frontiers in heart rate variability and social coherence research

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Article subtitled “Techniques, technologies, and implications for improving group dynamics and outcomes.” It’s part of this Frontiers in Science ebook. In the introductory chapter here’s what the ebook’s editors had to say about it: “In closing, McCraty is a well-known person throughout the HRV community, having been a proponent of HRV Biofeedback for decades. His experience in the field can be traced to the very roots of awareness of the power and plain excitement of HRV engagement. Among his many…

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Enactive Becoming

Enactive Becoming

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Article by Ezequiel Di Paolo in Phenomenology and Cognitive Sciences (2020). The abstract: “The enactive approach provides a perspective on human bodies in their organic, sensorimotor, social, and linguistic dimensions, but many fundamental issues still remain unaddressed. A crucial desideratum for a theory of human bodies is that it be able to account for concrete human becoming. In this article I show that enactive theory possesses resources to achieve this goal. Being an existential structure, human becoming is best approached by…

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Cracking the code of rapid social transformation

Cracking the code of rapid social transformation

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If interested sign up for this free one-hour presentation on Wednesday, January 15. The blurb: Terry Patten and other activist leaders facing the grim implications of climate chaos are seeing surprising glimpses of evolutionary emergence in culture around the world. Are we capable of making a huge, visible difference? How could each of us live differently to actually make it happen? Which cutting-edge communities and collectives are emerging to catalyze rapid social transformation? Questions Terry will address include: What is our…

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How cooperatives are driving the new economy

How cooperatives are driving the new economy

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See this Evonomics article on the topic based on Tomasello’s research in this article. You can also see his latest research in his 2019 book Becoming Human: A Theory of Ontogeny. You can find a free copy here. It supports that cooperatives are much more in line with our evolutionary heritage than the corporate structure, thus highlighting the different focuses in evolutionary theory itself. “New peer-reviewed research by Michael Tomasello, an American psychologist and co-director of the Max Planck Institute…

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The age of entanglement

The age of entanglement

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It is superseding the Age of Enlightenment as the dominant paradigm. It also applies to our models, many of which still retain the apparent logical necessities of Enlightenment hierarchical categorization. Entanglement is much more hier(an)archically synplex. Yes, we are still in transition, retaining elements from the Enlightenment. And when we do see evidence of entanglement we try to fit that round peg into the old square hole. But it’s time begin to frame our evidence within that new paradigm where…

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In the Age of AI

In the Age of AI

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A documentary exploring how artificial intelligence is changing life as we know it — from jobs to privacy to a growing rivalry between the U.S. and China. FRONTLINE investigates the promise and perils of AI and automation, tracing a new industrial revolution that will reshape and disrupt our world, and allow the emergence of a surveillance society.

Fantastic Fungi

Fantastic Fungi

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Ever since seeing the Spore Drive in Star Trek: Discovery, as well as the story on the Wood Wide Web, I’ve been fascinated by the possibilities for fungi. It’s playing at The Guild Theater Dec. 9 – 12. See the preview below. Here’s the blurb from Rotten Tomatoes on this new documentary: “Fantastic Fungi, directed by Louie Schwartzberg, is a consciousness-shifting film that takes us on an immersive journey through time and scale into the magical earth beneath our feet,…

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Cognitive aspects of interactive technology use: From computers to smart objects and autonomous agents

Cognitive aspects of interactive technology use: From computers to smart objects and autonomous agents

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That is the title of a recent Frontiers ebook located here. This would make an excellent discussion topic as it’s pretty much the sort of things we’ve been investigating.  We are Borg. The blurb from the link follows: Although several researchers have questioned the idea that human technology use is rooted in unique “superior” cognitive skills, it still appears that only humans are capable of producing and interacting with complex technologies. Different paradigms and cognitive models of “human-computer interaction” have…

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