Big History and Evolutionary Culturology

In the sense of SETI (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), how visible is Big History? For how long have we been visible to sensitive instruments looking from afar? Our radio emissions over the last century or so could have been detected with human-class radio telescopes across light years. Perhaps advanced exoplanet telescopes could see present-day industrial products in the atmosphere, and maybe observed earlier perturbations such as caused by farming, or even forest clearances in the deeper past. If so, we may have been visible for thousands of years, and therefore potentially witnessed by external observers across thousands of light years. In a cosmic context our Big History may already be big in space as well as time. It is striking, however, that we ourselves have failed so far to detect traces of intelligence beyond the Earth. This may betray a fundamental misunderstanding on our part of the nature and distribution of life and mind on the universe—indeed of our own future—and so a misunderstanding of our own place in the Biggest History of all.

The concept of complexity is one of the most fundamental of big history fundamentals. The concept of complexity has great potential for understanding the shared qualities of otherwise disparate systems, explaining large-scale change, and comparing different types of complex systems, including human societies. Given this potential, it seems extraordinary that the concept has not penetrated the academic zeitgeist more thoroughly. I argue that four key roadblocks are holding the concept of complexity, and by extension, big history, from broader acceptance in the academy: first, the term “complexity” in its technical usage is not intuitive to people outside the fields of big history and complexity science; second, there is a lack of consensus even among big history scholars on the definition of complexity; third, measuring large-scale change over thousands, millions, or billions of years may lead to imprecision and oversimplification; and fourth, complexity, while an objective indicator of change, is closely tied to contested, subjective, culturally-specific notions of human progress. This paper argues that the concept of complexity, despite these roadblocks, has significant utility in fields that consider large-scale change. Ultimately, this paper aims to provide more clarity and precision around the concept of complexity to strengthen one of the key foundations of big history.

This study investigates the effects of using scientific approach-based learning tools on students' scientific creativity (SC) and cognitive learning outcomes (CLO). This study employed a one-group pretest-posttest design that involved 70 students of Maduran Junior High School Lamongan. Students' SC and CLO were collected by using fifteen essay tests and analyzed descriptively and statistically. The result shows that (1) the proportion of lesson plan (RPP) implementation was highly excellent, (2) students’ responses were quite strong to the learning activities, and (3) students' SC and CLO improved moderately. Statistically, students’ SC and CLO stated significantly different after treatment (p < 0.05) and positively correlate (Sig. > 0.7). Based on the study findings and discussion, it can be concluded that the scientific approach significantly affects students’ SC and CLO.

The article analyzes the role of educational system in reproduction of the intellectual life of a modern society, which, according to certain scientists, is striving for a state referred to by them as the Knowledge Society. It is pointed out that among various interpretations of this concept the authors are closest to understanding it as the social ideal, since it is too early to talk about any noticeable and even more so final transition to a fundamentally new type of the social reality. Another interpretation is also proposed, which means that any knowledge society as a social attractor appears to be a possible and desirable new quasi-stable state of the society based on systematic production of the rational knowledge in the course of widely held theoretical (aimed at finding propositional truth), moral and practical (aimed at finding normative correctness) discussions. The simulated attractor will make it possible to avoid catastrophic scenarios for the development of Civilization associated with unpreparedness of the human mind to cope with the growing instrumental power and other challenges of the history. Relevance of the problem under discussion is due to unprecedented acceleration of the evolutionary processes in the 21st century noted by many researchers of the Universal History (Big History). An original procedural concept of rational knowledge is presented, which basic component is the widely understood principle of sufficient reason serving as the universal mechanism for accumulating the cultural capital. It is noted that the introduced principle is not any law of logic, but is represented by a five-step scheme for formation and selection of knowledge and could be substantiated by the transcendental-pragmatic method proposed by Karl-Otto Apel and Jürgen Habermas. To analyze the functions of education, fundamental theory of the intellectual networks by R. Collins is introduced, which includes theory of interactive rituals, social concept of creativity and model of the intellectual attention space dynamics.

Purpose. The aim of the article is to substantiate the theoretical and methodological basis for the formation of cluster associations in the healthcare system of territorial communities, against the background of various forms of organization and set of relations that arise within the cluster association in the context of decentralization of powers. Methodology of research. The methodological basis of the study is the systemic and institutional approaches, according to which all processes of management of the health care system of the local community comply with current legislation. The following methods were used: structural and functional research – to analyse the main trends of the social and economic situation of development; statistical comparisons – to assess the impact of the medical industry on regional development. The generalization of methodological approaches of developed countries to the formation of a cluster management system has shown that the regional healthcare system is able to function effectively considering management decisions and the results obtained from their implementation, which is reflected in assessing its condition at the appropriate stages of development. Findings. It is substantiated that the effectiveness of healthcare regulation in modern conditions largely depends on ensuring access of all participants in social and economic relations in the field of healthcare to the necessary resources. Regulation needs to focus on realizing the potential of the health sector through the most efficient use of its resources. It is found that one of the most optimal tools for integrating the interests of government, business and the population in this area is the so-called “cluster approach” given its universal mechanisms, high efficiency, and simplicity of organization. Territorial clusters are an active force in economic development and a powerful tool for networking between participants in regional innovation systems in different countries of the world. It is proved that the cluster provides important synergetic effects, without which modern life is impossible, it is a way to mobilize stakeholders (state, business, scientific community) and a tool for science, technology, and innovation policy to achieve the goal of innovative development and technological modernization of the economy in medicine, pharmaceuticals and related industries. It is revealed that the corporation of communal non-profit enterprises of the health care system acts as an active communicator and integrator for the participants of the future medical cluster and health care organizations. In the future, such an association will become an international center of communication and exchange of competencies, and the launch of a portal on medical technology and innovation in healthcare – will broadcast this positive experience to the masses, talk about advances in medicine. The features of business associations (corporations) are systematized. It is established that this is a complex organization, which is created based on a combination of material interests of the participating enterprises, operates on the basis of the memorandum or articles of association as a legal entity. The advantages of merging enterprises in the field of healthcare are formed, namely: merging of communal non-profit enterprises. The main ones are the effective use of human resources, material and technical base, improvement of medical services for patients. Originality. It is proposed to create a corporation of public non-profit enterprises in the healthcare system of the local community, which, unlike the existing one, will allow optimal and efficient use of available resources, generate innovative solutions, and create preconditions for interaction of all medical sector participants. For the first time, after the implementation of the project to create a corporation that will unite non-profit medical enterprises into a horizontally integrated structure, it is proposed to create a full-fledged medical cluster of the territorial community on its platform. The corporation is being transformed into a management company of the regional medical cluster, the main functions of which will be reduced to the general coordination of the cluster’s work and project management. Practical value. Specific recommendations have been developed for the establishment of a corporation – the association of communal non-profit enterprises, with a clear strategy, comprehensive methodology and a formed road map, as part of a full-fledged medical cluster of the territorial community. Key words: healthcare; cluster; territorial community; corporation; municipal enterprise; non-profitenterprise.

Machine learning interatomic potentials have become an indispensable tool for materials science, enabling the study of larger systems and longer timescales. State-of-the-art models are generally graph neural networks that employ message passing to iteratively update atomic embeddings that are ultimately used for predicting properties. In this work we extend the message passing formalism with the inclusion of a continuous variable that accounts for fractional atomic existence. This allows us to calculate the gradient of the Gibbs free energy with respect to both the Cartesian coordinates of atoms and their existence. Using this we propose a gradient-based grand canonical optimization method and document its capabilities for a Cu(110) surface oxide.

Particle accelerators are an increasingly important tool for frontier science. Growing initial and operating costs are a significant barrier for upgrades and for new machines. While everything matters, the major cost contributor is the SRF cavities and their ancillary facilities (e.g., cryoplant). Accordingly, the accelerator science community devotes much R&D effort to improving their energy efficiency (increased Q_o) and gradient (E_acc). While improved gradient is at the forefront for certain machines (ILC), improved quality factor has broader impact, benefitting all SRF applications. An important opportunity for accelerator science and technology to move forward arose in the course of building the LCLS-II, the second generation Linac Coherent Light Source at SLAC. At more or less the same time, researchers at Fermilab discovered that introducing a small amount of nitrogen to the niobium surface could improve the mid-range quality factor as much as three-fold. A firm resolution of how nitrogen confers its benefit attracts much current research interest. The key elements of the “nitrogen doping” process were vacuum bake at 800 °C, brief exposure to mTorr of nitrogen at several hundred degrees followed by electropolish (EP) to remove several microns from the surface to eliminate unwanted nitrides: While the process as a whole was novel, the comprising unit operations are familiar to the accelerator community. It was judged reasonable to adopt it as a cost-reduction technology for LCLS-II. Researchers carried out a program of varying process parameters and measuring performance in single-cell cavities, leading to a consensus stable protocol for the project. The transition to vendor fabrication and multiple niobium sources has presented unforeseen challenges of performance variation evidently not connected to anything that could be incorporated in a purchase specification. Moving beyond the high temperature N-doping process above, researchers reported a simplified process consisting entirely of tens of hours anneal in a N atmosphere at low temperatures (~120°C – 160°C) after 800 °C UHV bake. These processes typically yield a few-nm doped layer while the high temperature process yields at least a few to many micron doped layer. Even more recently, oxygen has been used to dope instead of nitrogen which leaves a few-µm O-alloyed layer upon vacuum annealing for 300 °C for ~3 hours. The investigation of these materials is just beginning, but the process simplification they may offer is surely attractive. The very low quantity of material that appears to be significant in the “infusion” process indicates the need for very careful control of gas species available for diffusion into the surface during low temperature treatment, both for process control and research to characterize the underlying dynamics. Oxygen alloying offers the further opportunity to utilize the decomposition of the surface native oxide as the dopant source. It is necessary to understand and (thus) manage this process. We have been supported by the Department of Energy Offices of High Energy Physics and Nuclear Physics to pursue this goal.

As a political scientist, Gustafson was interested in how the sciences opened up questions about the origins and development of polity. Religion and politics have been historically intertwined, so he wanted to explore the ways in which they could be understood from the perspective of science and deep time. On the eve of the Scientific Revolution, French philosopher Michel de Montaigne observed that: “Human eyes cannot perceive things but in the shape they know them by.” This is a core problem for Big History when it comes to the “religion question.” Theologian John F. Haught critiques the idea that ultimate purpose or meaning, found at the highest level of the traditional hierarchy, is nothing more than a fiction projected by humans onto the apparent indifference of the cosmos. To apprehend religion scientifically, people look through a variety of lenses simultaneously to promote discourse and critical thinking.

The article analyzes the problems and periodization of the formation of social policy in Russia in the 1990s. After the collapse of the USSR, the abandonment of the socialist path of development and a sharp turn towards the capitalist path, expressed in radical market reforms, the Russian state, which began to copy and transfer the experience of developed Western countries to Russian realities, faced a dual task – to form an economic policy based on market principles and, again based on the experience of Western countries, a new social policy. Western states are not unanimous on social issues, but social policies are formed and implemented by all. There are three basic models of it, in which the participation of the state in the implementation of social tasks is outlined in different ways. However, the Russian authorities are faced not so much with the problem of choosing an appropriate model, but with the problem of adapting the state’s social obligations to the consequences of market transformations. The term “transformational model of social policy” even appeared in the scientific literature, indicating a state of transition, but it was not possible to unambiguously describe this term, since approaches to social transformation in different countries did not repeat each other. Moreover, the practice of transition to a market in Russia and other countries with a socialist background has shown different reactions to universal market laws and mechanisms. The Russian scenario turned out to be painful for the economy and social sphere. It was established that the social sphere was transformed in three stages, but none of them had a systematic and complete form. On this basis, we concluded that in Russia in the 1990s, social transformation laid some of the foundations for social policy. But it did not lead to the formation of social policy itself, which is incorrect to interpret as a certain sum of social measures, because any policy, including social policy, is usually understood as a mechanism developed by the state for regulating social relations, aimed at their harmonization.

The objective of this study was to understand behavioral characteristics of creative physicists during their growth period, and we want to use any insight gained to help teachers and parents encourage students’ creativity in their everyday life. To do this, the critical incident technique was utilized to extract behavioral traits from six physicists through the study of literature. As a result, 210 cases were extracted and summarized in the form of a list consisting of eight categories and 30 statements. A high degree of validity was obtained through a survey of experts and science teachers who had experiences in gifted education. By applying the developed list to eighteen science high school students, high reliability was obtained through the analysis of Cronbach alpha, Cohens’ kappa, and correlations between two evaluators. Results of this study revealed that students showed various aspects of the extracted behavioral characteristics evenly. However, evaluation scores differed between individuals; thus, it might be possible to use the list as a scientific creativity test tool. Finally, this study discussed various potential applications of the list along with its limitations.

UndiscoveredSection:ChooseTop of pageUndiscovered <<Breakfast with Einstein: ...Scientifically Thinking: ...The Formula: The Universa...The Tectonic Plates Are M... Undiscovered, Elah Feder and Annie Minoff, Science Friday, 2018 (2nd season) Producers Elah Feder and Annie Minoff host this lively and informative podcast that explores the human side of scientific research, including priority disputes, unexpected results, and public clashes over scientific findings. The pair investigates everything from a psychology experiment about empathy for robots to the ethics of artificial hearts to controversies over dinosaur extinction. The hosts of Undiscovered have a sharp eye for fascinating stories and don’t shy away from the complexities and contradictions that emerge in reporting them. The second season is now available for download on iTunes, Google Play, and other podcast platforms. —mb Breakfast with Einstein: The Exotic Physics of Everyday ObjectsSection:ChooseTop of pageUndiscoveredBreakfast with Einstein: ... <<Scientifically Thinking: ...The Formula: The Universa...The Tectonic Plates Are M... Breakfast with Einstein: The Exotic Physics of Everyday Objects, Chad Orzel, BenBella Books, 2018, $16.95 (paper) To many people, quantum physics is strange and intimidating and evokes such mysterious and mind-boggling phenomena as spinning electrons, particles passing through multiple slits at once, and “spooky action at a distance.” To counter that preconception, physicist Chad Orzel uses his mundane morning routine to show how quantum principles are integral to everyday life, from the force required to hoist himself out of bed, to the red glow when he turns on his electric stove, to the savory aroma of his morning tea. Each activity or observation launches an extensive discussion of the physics involved and the history and scientists behind it. Orzel’s goal, he says, is to showcase the wonder to be found in the world around us. —cc Scientifically Thinking: How to Liberate Your Mind, Solve the World’s Problems, and Embrace the Beauty of ScienceSection:ChooseTop of pageUndiscoveredBreakfast with Einstein: ...Scientifically Thinking: ... <<The Formula: The Universa...The Tectonic Plates Are M... Scientifically Thinking: How to Liberate Your Mind, Solve the World’s Problems, and Embrace the Beauty of Science, Stanley A. Rice, Prometheus Books, 2018, $25.00 Believing fake news, denying climate change, and trying out fad diets are just a few examples of the ways humans fall victim to illusions and bias. It is human nature to mistake correlation for causation and to rationalize rather than to reason. However, people can use the scientific method to overcome those tendencies, writes biology professor Stanley Rice in his new book, Scientifically Thinking. Rice addresses common human biases and argues that the scientific method—forming hypotheses and putting them to the test—is really just organized common sense. Most important of all, he points out that one doesn’t need to be a scientist to use it. —cc The Formula: The Universal Laws of SuccessSection:ChooseTop of pageUndiscoveredBreakfast with Einstein: ...Scientifically Thinking: ...The Formula: The Universa... <<The Tectonic Plates Are M... The Formula: The Universal Laws of Success, Albert-László Barabási, Little, Brown and Co, 2018, $29.00 What is the link between performance and success? In his new book, physicist and network theorist Albert-László Barabási uses scientific tools to explore what success means and to identify some of the variables involved, such as hard work, talent, timing, and persistence. With stories of people who achieved real-world success—golfer Tiger Woods, ice cream moguls Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, and musical-theater duo Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, to name a few—Barabási lays out the principles that underlie their personal achievements and discusses how to implement those principles. —cc The Tectonic Plates Are Moving!Section:ChooseTop of pageUndiscoveredBreakfast with Einstein: ...Scientifically Thinking: ...The Formula: The Universa...The Tectonic Plates Are M... << The Tectonic Plates Are Moving!, Roy Livermore, Oxford U. Press, 2018, $33.95 Based on a remark made by a politician, the title The Tectonic Plates Are Moving! serves as a reminder of how little the general public understands about the revolutionary theory of plate tectonics. Author Roy Livermore, a retired marine geophysicist, has written a nontechnical discussion of the history and science of plate tectonics and the many researchers whose work contributed to the theory. Livermore attempts to lighten his rather weighty subject by including such playful chapter headings as “Plate Tectonics by Jerks,” “Scum of the Earth,” and “Chilling Out.” —cc © 2018 American Institute of Physics.