Pub Date : 2022-12-30DOI: 10.26754/ojs_jos/jos.202216442
Nicolopoulos Philippos
The mass conventional tourism, mainly appeared in coastal areas of southern countries with mild weather and warm summer in the last 50-60 years, had negative impacts on the natural environment and on local cultures. This kind of tourism gave priority to the increase of economic profit of local societies “selling” natural advantages to people who liked summer vacation “relax”. On the contrary in the last years, exactly because of the aforementioned negative impacts, there exists a tendency for a sustainable touristic development, connected with the so-called alternative and qualitative tourism. This is another kind of tourism which intends to combine the meeting of the desires of tourists, the reinforcement of local and national economy of countries and the non-degradation of natural and cultural capital of the touristic areas. That’s why it began to turn to other activities which are more “qualitative” and to consider the protection of natural environment as an issue of first priority. From this point of view the rural areas, exactly, because many times are more “virgin” and “exciting” compared with the crowded coastal zones are preferable. In the present article I propose how systems theory and sociocybernetics can contribute to the sustainable development of this kind, based on an “intelligent” control system which applies their principles and their perspective.
{"title":"Sustainable Touristic Development in Rural Areas","authors":"Nicolopoulos Philippos","doi":"10.26754/ojs_jos/jos.202216442","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.26754/ojs_jos/jos.202216442","url":null,"abstract":"The mass conventional tourism, mainly appeared in coastal areas of southern countries with mild weather and warm summer in the last 50-60 years, had negative impacts on the natural environment and on local cultures. This kind of tourism gave priority to the increase of economic profit of local societies “selling” natural advantages to people who liked summer vacation “relax”. On the contrary in the last years, exactly because of the aforementioned negative impacts, there exists a tendency for a sustainable touristic development, connected with the so-called alternative and qualitative tourism. This is another kind of tourism which intends to combine the meeting of the desires of tourists, the reinforcement of local and national economy of countries and the non-degradation of natural and cultural capital of the touristic areas. That’s why it began to turn to other activities which are more “qualitative” and to consider the protection of natural environment as an issue of first priority. From this point of view the rural areas, exactly, because many times are more “virgin” and “exciting” compared with the crowded coastal zones are preferable. In the present article I propose how systems theory and sociocybernetics can contribute to the sustainable development of this kind, based on an “intelligent” control system which applies their principles and their perspective.","PeriodicalId":130009,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sociocybernetics","volume":"11 4","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131544599","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-10-04DOI: 10.26754/ojs_jos/jos.202216225
Jesper Taekke
The aim of this article is to put forward Luhmann's theory of social differentiation as the way society as a social system has organized itself internally after it has differentiated itself out from its external environment. The question discussed is if we are facing a new form of differentiation triggered by digital media. To answer the question, the article puts forward Luhmann´s theory and the historical forms of differentiation he described. After that the article shows how the triggering factor, in a non-deterministic way, for Luhmann is communication media. A new differentiation form emerges when the dynamic and complexity of society has increased to such an extent, i.e., other forms of differentiation have grown in latency, that a new form can take over. After the introduction to the theory and the interpretations of it, it is discussed if and how a new form of differentiation is under development. The discussion circles around how to interpret contemporary developments as signs of how the new differentiation form works. The article concludes that functional differentiation is surpassed by a new basic form of differentiation which is the algorithmic differentiation of society.
{"title":"Algorithmic Differentiation of Society – a Luhmann Perspective on the Societal Impact of Digital Media","authors":"Jesper Taekke","doi":"10.26754/ojs_jos/jos.202216225","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.26754/ojs_jos/jos.202216225","url":null,"abstract":"The aim of this article is to put forward Luhmann's theory of social differentiation as the way society as a social system has organized itself internally after it has differentiated itself out from its external environment. The question discussed is if we are facing a new form of differentiation triggered by digital media. To answer the question, the article puts forward Luhmann´s theory and the historical forms of differentiation he described. After that the article shows how the triggering factor, in a non-deterministic way, for Luhmann is communication media. A new differentiation form emerges when the dynamic and complexity of society has increased to such an extent, i.e., other forms of differentiation have grown in latency, that a new form can take over. After the introduction to the theory and the interpretations of it, it is discussed if and how a new form of differentiation is under development. The discussion circles around how to interpret contemporary developments as signs of how the new differentiation form works. The article concludes that functional differentiation is surpassed by a new basic form of differentiation which is the algorithmic differentiation of society.","PeriodicalId":130009,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sociocybernetics","volume":"7 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-10-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133260312","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-01-20DOI: 10.26754/OJS_JOS/JOS.202013929
Lorenza Parisi, Giovanni Andrea Parente
In the platform society algorithms are perceived as ‘black boxes’ (Pasquale, 2015) and users have only a vague understanding of the criteria they adopt to select information. Location-based platforms algorithms influence the visibility of different points of interest (POI), thus shaping the user interaction with venues and places. The paper adapts the Diakopoulos and Koliska model (2017) and presents a new framework for analyzing the algorithmic transparency of location-based platforms. Research questions are the following: RQ1) How location-based platforms communicate algorithmic transparency?; RQ2) Which are the most relevant dimensions they take into consideration (data, model, inference, interface)?; RQ3) How platforms communicate transparency toward different targets (i.e. consumers and suppliers)? Following Rader, Cotter and Cho (2018) we expect location-based platforms are less transparent about the data they manage and about their model they use and more transparent about the inferences. Moreover, we expect location-based platforms are more transparent toward suppliers rather than consumers. The paper analyzes how 3 very popular location-based platforms (Google Maps, Tripadvisor and Instagram) disclose algorithmic transparency as it emerges from the analysis of ‘extant’ online data officially released (policies, guidelines, and tutorials) and from the analysis of the platforms’ mobile interface. The analysis revealed platforms are less transparent about the data they manage and model they use, and more transparent, only toward suppliers, about the inferences they propose. Moreover, location-based platforms are more transparent toward suppliers rather than consumers; indeed, commercial interests favours the algorithmic transparency and visibility of location-based content.
{"title":"Questioning the algorithmic transparency of location-based platforms","authors":"Lorenza Parisi, Giovanni Andrea Parente","doi":"10.26754/OJS_JOS/JOS.202013929","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.26754/OJS_JOS/JOS.202013929","url":null,"abstract":"In the platform society algorithms are perceived as ‘black boxes’ (Pasquale, 2015) and users have only a vague understanding of the criteria they adopt to select information. Location-based platforms algorithms influence the visibility of different points of interest (POI), thus shaping the user interaction with venues and places. \u0000 \u0000The paper adapts the Diakopoulos and Koliska model (2017) and presents a new framework for analyzing the algorithmic transparency of location-based platforms. Research questions are the following: RQ1) How location-based platforms communicate algorithmic transparency?; RQ2) Which are the most relevant dimensions they take into consideration (data, model, inference, interface)?; RQ3) How platforms communicate transparency toward different targets (i.e. consumers and suppliers)? Following Rader, Cotter and Cho (2018) we expect location-based platforms are less transparent about the data they manage and about their model they use and more transparent about the inferences. Moreover, we expect location-based platforms are more transparent toward suppliers rather than consumers. \u0000 \u0000The paper analyzes how 3 very popular location-based platforms (Google Maps, Tripadvisor and Instagram) disclose algorithmic transparency as it emerges from the analysis of ‘extant’ online data officially released (policies, guidelines, and tutorials) and from the analysis of the platforms’ mobile interface. \u0000The analysis revealed platforms are less transparent about the data they manage and model they use, and more transparent, only toward suppliers, about the inferences they propose. Moreover, location-based platforms are more transparent toward suppliers rather than consumers; indeed, commercial interests favours the algorithmic transparency and visibility of location-based content.","PeriodicalId":130009,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sociocybernetics","volume":"32 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125086650","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-12-15DOI: 10.26754/OJS_JOS/JOS.202014246
Davide Beraldo
This paper engages with the loosely bounded, ill-defined Anonymous movement, in order to develop a theoretical reflection on the process of self-reference within contemporary collectives. It is grounded on a socio-cybernetic framework and builds on a computationallly-assisted interpretative analysis of a huge dataset of Facebook posts related to Anonymous’ self-descriptions. As selected examples show, Anonymous results inherently contradictory. Its boundaries are radically contingent and performative, to the extent that it is impossible to distinguish the authentic from the inauthentic. The collective defines itself as ontologically multiple and radically anti-essentialist. Moreover, whereas Anonymous’ actions are systematically contradictory, Anonymous self-descriptions, relying on arguments mirroring poststructuralist theories, can only be tautologically or paradoxically expressed. Building on Luhmann’s claim that the reproduction of modern societies depends on concealing their self-referential foundations, the conclusion argues that Anonymous, by embracing its own constitutive paradox, pushes the process of autopoiesis to a new, radically recursive logic, departing in this even from recent theorizations on reflexivity.
{"title":"Dividing by Zero. Tautology and Paradox in the Self-Descriptions of Anonymous","authors":"Davide Beraldo","doi":"10.26754/OJS_JOS/JOS.202014246","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.26754/OJS_JOS/JOS.202014246","url":null,"abstract":"This paper engages with the loosely bounded, ill-defined Anonymous movement, in order to develop a theoretical reflection on the process of self-reference within contemporary collectives. It is grounded on a socio-cybernetic framework and builds on a computationallly-assisted interpretative analysis of a huge dataset of Facebook posts related to Anonymous’ self-descriptions. As selected examples show, Anonymous results inherently contradictory. Its boundaries are radically contingent and performative, to the extent that it is impossible to distinguish the authentic from the inauthentic. The collective defines itself as ontologically multiple and radically anti-essentialist. Moreover, whereas Anonymous’ actions are systematically contradictory, Anonymous self-descriptions, relying on arguments mirroring poststructuralist theories, can only be tautologically or paradoxically expressed. Building on Luhmann’s claim that the reproduction of modern societies depends on concealing their self-referential foundations, the conclusion argues that Anonymous, by embracing its own constitutive paradox, pushes the process of autopoiesis to a new, radically recursive logic, departing in this even from recent theorizations on reflexivity.","PeriodicalId":130009,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sociocybernetics","volume":"59 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126145472","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-12-15DOI: 10.26754/OJS_JOS/JOS.202013866
R. Carradore, Matteo Tonoli, Andrea Cerroni
The aim of this contribution is to consider Italy during the Sixties in order to model contemporary innovation dynamics. The purpose is not only for collective memory retrieval but mainly for de-constructing the innovation circuit and re-constructing it by means of a more sophisticated and detailed frame. A glossary of eigenvalues will be suggested through the concepts of garbo, cenacolo and pollinator; moreover, this glossary will be tested in two case studies: Olivetti and Bialetti. Starting from a simpler and circumscribed innovation regime, the final objective is to supply theoretical tools and support policy design in the actual “dark age”, where the message is drawn in a sea of noise and people start to confuse hoaxes with signals, thus polluting the communication and forcing a causal interpretation of casual relationships.
{"title":"Second-Order Innovation","authors":"R. Carradore, Matteo Tonoli, Andrea Cerroni","doi":"10.26754/OJS_JOS/JOS.202013866","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.26754/OJS_JOS/JOS.202013866","url":null,"abstract":"The aim of this contribution is to consider Italy during the Sixties in order to model contemporary innovation dynamics. The purpose is not only for collective memory retrieval but mainly for de-constructing the innovation circuit and re-constructing it by means of a more sophisticated and detailed frame. A glossary of eigenvalues will be suggested through the concepts of garbo, cenacolo and pollinator; moreover, this glossary will be tested in two case studies: Olivetti and Bialetti. Starting from a simpler and circumscribed innovation regime, the final objective is to supply theoretical tools and support policy design in the actual “dark age”, where the message is drawn in a sea of noise and people start to confuse hoaxes with signals, thus polluting the communication and forcing a causal interpretation of casual relationships.","PeriodicalId":130009,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sociocybernetics","volume":"2 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128344848","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-12-26DOI: 10.26754/OJS_JOS/JOS.201822631
L. Welbers
This paper questions how investment clubs – as small groups of retail investors that pool their money – cope with issues of hyper-complexity and truth while deciding together where to invest their money. This may be challenging because investment-decisions are characterised by informational complexity, an unknown future and double contingency. By employing ethnographic data, this paper traces how investment clubs reach a collective decision despite hyper-complexity. It will be shown how the members of the group struggle to make sense of and to find a shared definition of a situation. During this process they try to reduce complexity by evaluating and deciding collectively. The ways the different groups achieve this is influenced by the group composition, their organisational structure and the interaction order. In some groups negotiations are an essential part of their meetings whereby complexity is initially cultivated. Negotiations are used to develop a shared definition of the situation. These groups question if the truth can be uncovered in financial markets. Other groups reduce complexity by using certain techniques to uncover the true value of a stock. These ways of coping with complexity are bound to certain ways of organising and types of members. Accordingly, successful evaluating and deciding, which means that decisions are made, is bound to several exclusions that are made legitimate by the inclusion in the financial market. In summary, the paper adds new insights to processes of decision making in situations that are characterised by complexity.
{"title":"How do collectives of amateurs handle complexity on financial markets while deciding?","authors":"L. Welbers","doi":"10.26754/OJS_JOS/JOS.201822631","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.26754/OJS_JOS/JOS.201822631","url":null,"abstract":"This paper questions how investment clubs – as small groups of retail investors that pool their money – cope with issues of hyper-complexity and truth while deciding together where to invest their money. This may be challenging because investment-decisions are characterised by informational complexity, an unknown future and double contingency. \u0000By employing ethnographic data, this paper traces how investment clubs reach a collective decision despite hyper-complexity. It will be shown how the members of the group struggle to make sense of and to find a shared definition of a situation. During this process they try to reduce complexity by evaluating and deciding collectively. The ways the different groups achieve this is influenced by the group composition, their organisational structure and the interaction order. In some groups negotiations are an essential part of their meetings whereby complexity is initially cultivated. Negotiations are used to develop a shared definition of the situation. These groups question if the truth can be uncovered in financial markets. Other groups reduce complexity by using certain techniques to uncover the true value of a stock. These ways of coping with complexity are bound to certain ways of organising and types of members. Accordingly, successful evaluating and deciding, which means that decisions are made, is bound to several exclusions that are made legitimate by the inclusion in the financial market. In summary, the paper adds new insights to processes of decision making in situations that are characterised by complexity.","PeriodicalId":130009,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sociocybernetics","volume":"2 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116002036","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-12-26DOI: 10.26754/ojs_jos/jos.201822656
Volker Daniel, R. Peters
We study the extent to which events transmitted by the media affect Greek bond interest rates by analyzing qualitatively articles in global newspapers during the Greek debt crisis. We focus on dates with strong changes in the yield to maturity of Greek government bonds in order to test whether news coverage matters for financial markets. We relate our results to a quantitative measure of media coverage using the novel method of topic models and examine days with a high level of a quantitative topic series. News coverage seems to matter on the majority of dates. However, we also find dates without crucial events and media coverage but that have strong changes in the bond yield and that seem affected by sources other than the media. The quantitative news measure regularly reveals relevant news articles on the days we analyzed.
{"title":"Greece and the media – A qualitative assessment of the news impact on credit conditions in the Greek debt crisis","authors":"Volker Daniel, R. Peters","doi":"10.26754/ojs_jos/jos.201822656","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.26754/ojs_jos/jos.201822656","url":null,"abstract":"We study the extent to which events transmitted by the media affect Greek bond interest rates by analyzing qualitatively articles in global newspapers during the Greek debt crisis. We focus on dates with strong changes in the yield to maturity of Greek government bonds in order to test whether news coverage matters for financial markets. We relate our results to a quantitative measure of media coverage using the novel method of topic models and examine days with a high level of a quantitative topic series. News coverage seems to matter on the majority of dates. However, we also find dates without crucial events and media coverage but that have strong changes in the bond yield and that seem affected by sources other than the media. The quantitative news measure regularly reveals relevant news articles on the days we analyzed.","PeriodicalId":130009,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sociocybernetics","volume":"65 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122704087","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-12-26DOI: 10.26754/OJS_JOS/JOS.201822618
J. Blanco
Starting from the improbability of the evolution of truth as a symbolic generalization, out of which a communication medium developed that built the conditions of possibility of a functional system for science, I intend to underline the contingency of such an evolutionary pathway by studying the Moche culture. The Moche represent a fit case study because of their elaborated and narrative-loaded pottery, which played the role of diffusion medium along the Peruvian North Coast. The study of Andean iconographic media and its potential for information production might bring to the foreground the Graphocentrism underlying in Luhmann`s theory of sociocultural evolution, thereby correcting his theoretical model. In addition, a complex ancient culture would serve to illustrate the preconditions that sociocultural evolution had to fulfill in order to set forth a science functional system. My hypothesis is that sociocultural evolution is guided by the dynamic interactions between success and diffusion media, which by conditioning each other sometimes favor differentiation and gain complexity, and some others impede those possibilities leading to evolutionary blind alleys.
{"title":"The evolution of communication media in Moche culture","authors":"J. Blanco","doi":"10.26754/OJS_JOS/JOS.201822618","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.26754/OJS_JOS/JOS.201822618","url":null,"abstract":"Starting from the improbability of the evolution of truth as a symbolic generalization, out of which a communication medium developed that built the conditions of possibility of a functional system for science, I intend to underline the contingency of such an evolutionary pathway by studying the Moche culture. The Moche represent a fit case study because of their elaborated and narrative-loaded pottery, which played the role of diffusion medium along the Peruvian North Coast. The study of Andean iconographic media and its potential for information production might bring to the foreground the Graphocentrism underlying in Luhmann`s theory of sociocultural evolution, thereby correcting his theoretical model. In addition, a complex ancient culture would serve to illustrate the preconditions that sociocultural evolution had to fulfill in order to set forth a science functional system. My hypothesis is that sociocultural evolution is guided by the dynamic interactions between success and diffusion media, which by conditioning each other sometimes favor differentiation and gain complexity, and some others impede those possibilities leading to evolutionary blind alleys.","PeriodicalId":130009,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sociocybernetics","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129415465","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-12-26DOI: 10.26754/OJS_JOS/JOS.201822630
M. Roßmann
The concept of narrative self-reference incorporates selected aspects of literary theory into the theory of self-referential systems. Since cybernetics and systems theory focus mainly on computer-aided metaphors and information, the narrative approach provides a better insight into meaning. Narrative self-reference is the simplified narrative self-image that reflects the system-environment relationship and thereby stabilizes the system. Because the narrative is continuously re-written, continued and entangled in different practices, it provides the flexibility against new and disappointed expectations, and the stability for accountability and planning. Theoretical examples of further institutional, technical, authoritarian and pragmatic dependencies for the constitution of psychic and social systems with means of narrative self-reference are discussed. In summary, this article reflects the negotiating power of narratives by creating system boundaries for collaboration and a common ground for the assessment of knowledge. From this perspective, “post-truth” is not a lack of scientific authority, but more a lack of the virtue of an adequate dealing with narratives.
{"title":"Narrative Self-Reference and the Assessment of Knowledge","authors":"M. Roßmann","doi":"10.26754/OJS_JOS/JOS.201822630","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.26754/OJS_JOS/JOS.201822630","url":null,"abstract":"The concept of narrative self-reference incorporates selected aspects of literary theory into the theory of self-referential systems. Since cybernetics and systems theory focus mainly on computer-aided metaphors and information, the narrative approach provides a better insight into meaning. Narrative self-reference is the simplified narrative self-image that reflects the system-environment relationship and thereby stabilizes the system. Because the narrative is continuously re-written, continued and entangled in different practices, it provides the flexibility against new and disappointed expectations, and the stability for accountability and planning. Theoretical examples of further institutional, technical, authoritarian and pragmatic dependencies for the constitution of psychic and social systems with means of narrative self-reference are discussed. In summary, this article reflects the negotiating power of narratives by creating system boundaries for collaboration and a common ground for the assessment of knowledge. From this perspective, “post-truth” is not a lack of scientific authority, but more a lack of the virtue of an adequate dealing with narratives.","PeriodicalId":130009,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sociocybernetics","volume":"52 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116632693","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-12-26DOI: 10.26754/OJS_JOS/JOS.201822619
Eyal Bar-Haim
For the general audience, Wikipedia is considered the source of “truth,” especially for scientific knowledge. While studies of Wikipedia usually focus around the accuracy of the knowledge within it, few studies have explored its hierarchy and categorization. This study aims to describe how scientific information is organized into disciplines in Wikipedia. I take as a case study the Hebrew Wikipedia () and examine the representation and interrelations of five social sciences: sociology, anthropology, economics, political science, and psychology. I gather data from Wikipedia entries categorized under each of these disciplines and create a network that contains categories and subcategories derived from these entries. Using network analysis techniques, I estimate the strength of the relations between the disciplines. I find that while sociology, anthropology, and political science are strongly linked to each other, psychology and economics are relatively isolated. An interesting case is the distance between economics and sociology, since under the subcategory “Inequality,” the entries are uniquely categorized under sociology or economics but rarely under both categories. I claim this is an example of a fractal walk in the distinction between the two disciplines. As there is a hierarchical difference between these disciplines, the end result is a hierarchical value of the scientific knowledge presented in these Wikipedia entries.
{"title":"DISCIPLINES AND THE CATEGORIZATION OF SCIENTIFIC TRUTH","authors":"Eyal Bar-Haim","doi":"10.26754/OJS_JOS/JOS.201822619","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.26754/OJS_JOS/JOS.201822619","url":null,"abstract":"For the general audience, Wikipedia is considered the source of “truth,” especially for scientific knowledge. While studies of Wikipedia usually focus around the accuracy of the knowledge within it, few studies have explored its hierarchy and categorization. This study aims to describe how scientific information is organized into disciplines in Wikipedia. I take as a case study the Hebrew Wikipedia () and examine the representation and interrelations of five social sciences: sociology, anthropology, economics, political science, and psychology. I gather data from Wikipedia entries categorized under each of these disciplines and create a network that contains categories and subcategories derived from these entries. Using network analysis techniques, I estimate the strength of the relations between the disciplines. I find that while sociology, anthropology, and political science are strongly linked to each other, psychology and economics are relatively isolated. An interesting case is the distance between economics and sociology, since under the subcategory “Inequality,” the entries are uniquely categorized under sociology or economics but rarely under both categories. I claim this is an example of a fractal walk in the distinction between the two disciplines. As there is a hierarchical difference between these disciplines, the end result is a hierarchical value of the scientific knowledge presented in these Wikipedia entries.","PeriodicalId":130009,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sociocybernetics","volume":"70 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122054075","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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