Structure, growth, and power: three rationalist accounts

The Neglect of Reason A Plea for Rationalist Accounts of the Effects of Virtual Violence

The purpose of this paper is to discuss how experiencing virtual violence might lead to changes in our moral judgments through a process of rational deliberation. This perspective is proposed as a complementary alternative to the dominant tendency in current research to exclusively focus on how virtual violence affects our emotions as behavioural dispositions. I will propose and consider a rati...

Three-dimensional structure and growth of myelins.

After contact with water, surfactant lamellar phases (L(α)) can show spectacular interface instabilities: multibilayer tubules, so-called myelins, grow from the L(α)/water interface into the water. We have studied the shape, size, and growth of myelins in aqueous solutions of the nonionic surfactant C(12)E(3) (triethylene glycol monododecyl ether) during dissolution. We used a combination of di...

The Critical Rationalist

Extinction from a rationalist perspective.

The merging of the computational theory of mind and evolutionary thinking leads to a kind of rationalism, in which enduring truths about the world have become implicit in the computations that enable the brain to cope with the experienced world. The dead reckoning computation, for example, is implemented within the brains of animals as one of the mechanisms that enables them to learn where they...

Agency, Structure and the Power of Global Health Networks

Global health networks—webs of individuals and organizations linked by a shared concern for a particular condition—have proliferated over the past quarter century. In a recent editorial in this journal, I presented evidence that their effectiveness in addressing four challenges—problem definition, positioning, coalitionbuilding and governance—shapes their ability to influence policy. The editor...