Search results for: epic consciousness
300 Narratives of Self-Renewal: Looking for A Middle Earth In-Between Psychoanalysis and the Search for Consciousness
Authors: Marilena Fatigante
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Contemporary psychoanalysis is increasingly acknowledging the existential demands of clients in psychotherapy. A significant aspect of the personal crises that patients face today is often rooted in the difficulty to find meaning in their own existence, even after working through or resolving traumatic memories and experiences. Tracing back to the correspondence between Freud and Romain Rolland (1927), psychoanalysis could not ignore that investigation of the psyche also encompasses the encounter with deep, psycho-sensory experiences, which involve a sense of "being one with the external world as a whole", the well-known “oceanic feeling”, as Rolland posed it. Despite the recognition of Non-ordinary States of Consciousness (NSC) as catalysts for transformation in clinical practice, highlighted by neuroscience and results from psychedelic-assisted therapies, there is few research on how psychoanalytic knowledge can integrate with other treatment traditions. These traditions, commonly rooted in non -Western, unconventional, and non-formal psychological knowledge, emphasize the individual’s innate tendency toward existential integrity and transcendence of self-boundaries. Inspired by an autobiographical account, this paper examines narratives of 12 individuals, who engaged in psychoanalytic therapy and also underwent treatment involving a non-formal helping relationship with an expert guide in consciousness, which included experience of this nature. The guide relies on 35 yrs of experience in Psychological, multidisciplinary studies in Human Sciences and Art, and demonstrates knowledge of many wisdom traditions, ranging from Eastern to Western philosophy, including Psychoanalysis and its development in cultural perspective (e.g, Ethnopsychiatry). Analyses focused primarily on two dimensions that research has identified as central in assessing the degree of treatment “success” in the patients’ narrative accounts of their therapies: agency and coherence, defined respectively as the increase, expressed in language, of the client’s perceived ability to manage his/her own challenges and the capacity, inherent in “narrative” itself as a resource for meaning making (Bruner, 1990), to provide the subject with a sense of unity, endowing his /her life experience with temporal and logical sequentiality. The present study reports that, in all narratives from the participants, agency and coherence are described differently than in “common” psychotherapy narratives. Although the participants consistently identified themselves as responsible agentic subject, the sense of agency derived from the non-conventional guidance pathway is never reduced to a personal, individual accomplishment. Rather, the more a new, fuller sense of “Life” (more than “Self”) develops out of the guidance pathway they engage with the expert guide, the more they “surrender” their own sense of autonomy and self-containment. Something, which Safran (2016) identified as well talking about the sense of surrender and “grace” in psychoanalytic sessions. Secondly, narratives of individuals engaging with the expert guide describe coherence not as repairing or enforcing continuity but as enhancing their ability to navigate dramatic discontinuities, falls, abrupt leaps and passages marked by feelings of loss and bereavement. The paper ultimately explores whether valid criteria can be established to analyze experiences of non-conventional paths of self-evolution. These paths are not opposed or alternative to conventional ones, and should not be simplistically dismissed as exotic or magical.Keywords: oceanic feeling, non conventional guidance, consciousness, narratives, treatment outcomes
Procedia PDF Downloads 39299 A Site Unexplored: Recently Discovered In Bangladesh
Authors: Md. Rifat-Ur- Rahman
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Dhamairnagar, Sirajganj, Bangladesh, local villagers describe the peculiar mounds spotted scattered among the nearby villages as “Buruj”. Among these, a mound was explored in one of these mounds, in Khirtala village, in early 2019. Primary archaeological surveys and map making has been conducted in this site, where suspect lays the remains of an 8 square miles city, at least 1200 years old. In the government gazettes of Bangladesh from 1990, this place has been linked with a mythical kind from the Indian epic, Mahabharata. In the primary explorations, found bricks, mortars, different kinds of potteries and terracotta pieces. Assumable observation is that this city was a flourishing establishment during the early Pala dynasty of Bengal (800 AD to 1200 AD). At present there are four indigenous groups live around this site and they are known as Mahato, Teli, Oraon and Santals. These four indigenous groups are considered as the core four of Bengali ethnicity. In the folklore of these groups we find stories of ancient kingdoms which have not been documented through archaeological findings yet. So, a question rises about the population that was used to reside in this archaeological site. Were they the ancestors of these indigenous tribes that are dwelling in this area? With such primary information, the aim is to conduct a comparative study of the physiology; osteology and cultural practices of this civilization.Keywords: Archaeology, Heritage, Indigenous Peoples, Physiology
Procedia PDF Downloads 137298 Interlingual Melodious Constructions: Romanian Translation of References to Songs in James Joyce’s Ulysses
Authors: Andra-Iulia Ursa
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James Joyce employs several unconventional stylistic features in this landmark novel meant to experiment with language. The episode known as “Sirens” is entirely conceived around music and linguistic structures subordinated to sound. However, the aspiration to the condition of music is reflected throughout this entire literary work, as musical effects are echoed systematically. The numerous melodies scattered across the narrative play an important role in enhancing the thoughts and feelings that pass through the minds of the characters. Often the lyrics are distorted or interweaved with other words, preoccupations or memories, intensifying the stylistic effect. The Victorian song “Love’s old sweet song” is one of the most commonly referred to and meaningful musical allusions in Ulysses, becoming a leitmotif of infidelity. The lyrics of the song “M’appari”, from the opera “Martha”, are compared to an event from Molly and Bloom’s romantic history. Moreover, repeated phrases using words from “The bloom is on the rye” or “The croppy boy” serve as glances into the minds of the characters. Therefore, the central purpose of this study is to shed light on the way musical allusions flit through the episodes from the point of view of the stream of consciousness technique and to compare and analyse how these constructions are rendered into Romanian. Mircea Ivănescu, the single Romanian translator who succeeded in carrying out the translation of the entire ‘stylistic odyssey’, received both praises and disapprovals from the critics. This paper is not meant to call forth eventual flaws of the Romanian translation, but rather to elaborate the complexity of the task. Following an attentive examination and analysis of the two texts, from the point of view of form and meaning of the references to various songs, the conclusions of this study will be able to point out the intricacies of the process of translation.Keywords: Joyce, melodious constructions, stream of consciousness, style, translation
Procedia PDF Downloads 164297 A Crop Growth Subroutine for Watershed Resources Management (WRM) Model
Authors: Kingsley Nnaemeka Ogbu, Constantine Mbajiorgu
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Vegetation has a marked effect on runoff and has become an important component in hydrologic model. The watershed Resources Management (WRM) model, a process-based, continuous, distributed parameter simulation model developed for hydrologic and soil erosion studies at the watershed scale lack a crop growth component. As such, this model assumes a constant parameter values for vegetation and hydraulic parameters throughout the duration of hydrologic simulation. Our approach is to develop a crop growth algorithm based on the original plant growth model used in the Environmental Policy Integrated Climate Model (EPIC) model. This paper describes the development of a single crop growth model which has the capability of simulating all crops using unique parameter values for each crop. Simulated crop growth processes will reflect the vegetative seasonality of the natural watershed system. An existing model was employed for evaluating vegetative resistance by hydraulic and vegetative parameters incorporated into the WRM model. The improved WRM model will have the ability to evaluate the seasonal variation of the vegetative roughness coefficient with depth of flow and further enhance the hydrologic model’s capability for accurate hydrologic studiesKeywords: crop yield, roughness coefficient, PAR, WRM model
Procedia PDF Downloads 409296 A Profile of an Exercise Addict: The Relationship between Exercise Addiction and Personality
Authors: Klary Geisler, Dalit Lev-Arey, Yael Hacohen
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It is a well-known fact that exercise has favorable effects on people's physical health, as well as mental well-being. However, as for as excessive exercise, it may likely elevate negative consequences (e.g., physical injuries, negligence of everyday responsibilities such as work, family life). Lately, there is a growing interest in exercise addiction, sometimes referred to as exercise dependence, which is defined as a craving for physical activity that results in extreme work-out sessions and generates negative physiological and psychological symptoms (e.g., withdrawal symptoms, tolerance, social conflict). Exercise addiction is considered a behavioral addiction, yet it was not included in the latest editions of the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-IV), due to lack of significant research. Specifically, there is scarce research on the relationship between exercise addiction and personality dimensions. The purpose of the current research was to examine the relationship between primary exercise addiction symptoms and the big five dimensions, perfectionism (high performance expectations and self-critical performance evaluations) and subjective affect. participants were 152 trainees on a variety of aerobic sports activities (running, cycling, swimming) that were recruited through sports groups and trainers. 88% of participants trained for at least 5 hours per week, 24% of the participants trained above 10 hours per week. To test the predictive ability of the IVs a hierarchical linear regression with forced block entry was performed. It was found that Neuroticism significantly predicted exercise addiction symptoms (20% of the variance, p<0.001), while consciousness was negatively correlated with exercise addiction symptoms (14% of variance p<0.05); both had a unique contribution. Other dimensions of the big five (agreeableness, openness and extraversion) did not have any contribution to the dependent. Moreover, maladaptive perfectionism (self-critical performance evaluations) significantly predicted exercise addiction symptoms as well (10% of the variance P < 0.05). The overall regression model explained 54% of variance.Keywords: big five, consciousness, excessive exercise, exercise addiction, neuroticism, perfectionism, personality
Procedia PDF Downloads 229295 A Crop Growth Subroutine for Watershed Resources Management (WRM) Model 1: Description
Authors: Kingsley Nnaemeka Ogbu, Constantine Mbajiorgu
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Vegetation has a marked effect on runoff and has become an important component in hydrologic model. The watershed Resources Management (WRM) model, a process-based, continuous, distributed parameter simulation model developed for hydrologic and soil erosion studies at the watershed scale lack a crop growth component. As such, this model assumes a constant parameter values for vegetation and hydraulic parameters throughout the duration of hydrologic simulation. Our approach is to develop a crop growth algorithm based on the original plant growth model used in the Environmental Policy Integrated Climate Model (EPIC) model. This paper describes the development of a single crop growth model which has the capability of simulating all crops using unique parameter values for each crop. Simulated crop growth processes will reflect the vegetative seasonality of the natural watershed system. An existing model was employed for evaluating vegetative resistance by hydraulic and vegetative parameters incorporated into the WRM model. The improved WRM model will have the ability to evaluate the seasonal variation of the vegetative roughness coefficient with depth of flow and further enhance the hydrologic model’s capability for accurate hydrologic studies.Keywords: runoff, roughness coefficient, PAR, WRM model
Procedia PDF Downloads 378294 An Emergentist Defense of Incompatibility between Morally Significant Freedom and Causal Determinism
Authors: Lubos Rojka
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The common perception of morally responsible behavior is that it presupposes freedom of choice, and that free decisions and actions are not determined by natural events, but by a person. In other words, the moral agent has the ability and the possibility of doing otherwise when making morally responsible decisions, and natural causal determinism cannot fully account for morally significant freedom. The incompatibility between a person’s morally significant freedom and causal determinism appears to be a natural position. Nevertheless, some of the most influential philosophical theories on moral responsibility are compatibilist or semi-compatibilist, and they exclude the requirement of alternative possibilities, which contradicts the claims of classical incompatibilism. The compatibilists often employ Frankfurt-style thought experiments to prove their theory. The goal of this paper is to examine the role of imaginary Frankfurt-style examples in compatibilist accounts. More specifically, the compatibilist accounts defended by John Martin Fischer and Michael McKenna will be inserted into the broader understanding of a person elaborated by Harry Frankfurt, Robert Kane and Walter Glannon. Deeper analysis reveals that the exclusion of alternative possibilities based on Frankfurt-style examples is problematic and misleading. A more comprehensive account of moral responsibility and morally significant (source) freedom requires higher order complex theories of human will and consciousness, in which rational and self-creative abilities and a real possibility to choose otherwise, at least on some occasions during a lifetime, are necessary. Theoretical moral reasons and their logical relations seem to require a sort of higher-order agent-causal incompatibilism. The ability of theoretical or abstract moral reasoning requires complex (strongly emergent) mental and conscious properties, among which an effective free will, together with first and second-order desires. Such a hierarchical theoretical model unifies reasons-responsiveness, mesh theory and emergentism. It is incompatible with physical causal determinism, because such determinism only allows non-systematic processes that may be hard to predict, but not complex (strongly) emergent systems. An agent’s effective will and conscious reflectivity is the starting point of a morally responsible action, which explains why a decision is 'up to the subject'. A free decision does not always have a complete causal history. This kind of an emergentist source hyper-incompatibilism seems to be the best direction of the search for an adequate explanation of moral responsibility in the traditional (merit-based) sense. Physical causal determinism as a universal theory would exclude morally significant freedom and responsibility in the traditional sense because it would exclude the emergence of and supervenience by the essential complex properties of human consciousness.Keywords: consciousness, free will, determinism, emergence, moral responsibility
Procedia PDF Downloads 164293 Interpretations of Disaster: A Comparative Study on Disaster Film Cycles
Authors: Chi-Ying Yu
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In real life, the occurrence of disasters is always dreadful and heartbreaking, yet paradoxically, disaster film is a genre that has been popular at periodic intervals in motion picture history. This study attempts to compare the disaster film cycles of the 1970s, 1990s, and the early 21st century. Two research questions are addressed: First, how this genre has responded to the existing conditions of society in different periods in terms of the disaster proposition? Second, how this genre reflects a certain eternal substance of the human mind in light of its lasting appeal? Through cinematic textual analysis and literature review, this study finds that the emergence of disaster films in the 1970s reflected the turmoil in international relations and domestic politics situation in contemporary American society, and cinema screens showed such disaster stories as shipwrecks, air accidents, and skyscraper blazes due to human negligence. The 1990s saw the fervor of millennial apocalypse legends, and the awakening of environmental consciousness, which, together with the rapid advances in digital technology, once again gave rise to a frenzy of disaster films, with natural disasters and threats from aliens as the major themes of disasters. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the 911 Incident and natural disasters around the world have generated a consciousness of imminent crisis. Cinematic images simulated actual disasters, while aesthetic techniques focused on creating a kind of ‘empathetic’ experience in their exploration of the essence of the disaster experience. At the same time, post-apocalypse films that focus on post-disaster reconstruction have become an even more popular theme. Taking the approach of Jungian/post-Jungian film study, this study also reviews and interprets the commonly exhibited subliminal feelings in the disaster films of the three different periods. The imagination of disaster seems to serve as an underlying state of the human mind.Keywords: disaster film, Jungian/post-Jungian film studies, stimulation, sublime
Procedia PDF Downloads 263292 Implications of Stakeholder Theory as a Critical Theory
Authors: Louis Hickman
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Stakeholder theory is a powerful conception of the firm based on the notion that a primary focus on shareholders is inadequate and, in fact, detrimental to the long-term health of the firm. As such it represents a departure from prevalent business school teachings with their focus on accounting and cost controls. Herein, it is argued that stakeholder theory can be better conceptualized as a critical theory, or one which represents a fundamental change in business behavior and can transform the behavior of businesses if accepted. By arguing that financial interests underdetermine the success of the firm, stakeholder theory further democratizes business by endorsing an increased awareness of the importance of non-shareholder stakeholders. Stakeholder theory requires new, non-financial, measures of success that provide a new consciousness for management and businesses when conceiving their actions and place in society. Thereby, stakeholder theory can show individuals through self-reflection that the capitalist impulses to generate wealth cannot act as primary drivers of business behavior, but rather, that we would choose to support interests outside ourselves if we made the decision in free discussion. This is due to the false consciousness embedded in our capitalism that the firm’s finances are the foremost concern of modern organizations at the expense of other goals. A focus on non-shareholder stakeholders in addition to shareholders generates greater benefits for society by improving the state of customers, employees, suppliers, the community, and shareholders alike. These positive effects generate further positive gains in well-being for stakeholders and translate into increased health for the future firm. Additionally, shareholders are the only stakeholder group that does not provide long-term firm value since there are not always communities with qualified employees, suppliers capable of providing the quality of product needed, or persons with purchasing power for all conceivable products. Therefore, the firm’s long-term health is benefited most greatly by improving the greatest possible parts of the society in which it inhabits, rather than solely the shareholder.Keywords: capitalism, critical theory, self-reflection, stakeholder theory
Procedia PDF Downloads 346291 The Transformation of Beauty and Ugliness in Art Aesthetics
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Since the mid-eighteenth century, when philosophers began to talk about aesthetic consciousness, beauty gradually became an independent system, and ugliness was often considered the opposite of beauty and neglected. Yet, ugliness itself has its self-regulation and aesthetic value. This paper explores the relationship between beauty and ugliness and the three forms of transformation between beauty and ugliness in artworks, looking at the history of ugliness in the East and the West, and giving an insight into the role of the artist in the transformation between beauty and ugliness.Keywords: artistic aesthetics, arts theory, aesthetic of the ugly, beauty and ugliness, arts of east and west
Procedia PDF Downloads 85290 The Practical Application of Sensory Awareness in Developing Healthy Communication, Emotional Regulation, and Emotional Introspection
Authors: Node Smith
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Developmental psychology has long focused on modeling consciousness, often neglecting practical application and clinical utility. This paper aims to bridge this gap by exploring the practical application of physical and sensory tracking and awareness in fostering essential skills for conscious development. Higher conscious development requires practical skills such as self-agency, the ability to hold multiple perspectives, and genuine altruism. These are not personality characteristics but areas of skillfulness that address many cultural deficiencies impacting our world. They are intertwined with individual as well as collective conscious development. Physical, sensory tracking and awareness are crucial for developing these skills and offer the added benefit of cultivating healthy communication, emotional regulation, and introspection. Unlike skills such as throwing a baseball, which can be developed through practice or innate ability, the ability to introspect, track physical sensations, and observe oneself objectively is essential for advancing consciousness. Lacking these skills leads to cultural and individual anxiety, helplessness, and a lack of agency, manifesting as blame-shifting and irresponsibility. The inability to hold multiple perspectives stifles altruism, as genuine consideration for a global community requires accepting other perspectives without conditions. Physical and sensory tracking enhances self-awareness by grounding individuals in their bodily experiences. This grounding is critical for emotional regulation, allowing individuals to identify and process emotions in real-time, preventing overwhelm and fostering balance. Techniques like mindfulness meditation and body scan exercises attune individuals to their physical sensations, providing insights into their emotional states. Sensory awareness also facilitates healthy communication by fostering empathy and active listening. When individuals are in tune with their physical sensations, they become more present in interactions, picking up on subtle cues and responding thoughtfully. This presence reduces misunderstandings and conflicts, promoting more effective communication. The ability to introspect and observe oneself objectively is key to emotional introspection. This skill allows individuals to reflect on their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, identify patterns, recognize areas for growth, and make conscious choices aligned with their values and goals. In conclusion, physical and sensory tracking and awareness are vital for developing the skills necessary for higher consciousness development. By fostering self-agency, emotional regulation, and the ability to hold multiple perspectives, these practices contribute to healthier communication, deeper emotional introspection, and a more altruistic and connected global community. Integrating these practices into developmental psychology and therapeutic interventions holds significant promise for both individual and societal transformation.Keywords: conscious development, emotional introspection, emotional regulation, self-agency, stages of development
Procedia PDF Downloads 45289 Investigating the Concept of Joy in Modern English Fiction
Authors: Zarine Avetisyan
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The paradigm of Modern Linguistics incorporates disciplines which allow to analyze both language and discourse units and to demonstrate the multi-layeredness of lingo-cultural consciousness. By implementing lingo-cognitive approach to discourse and communication studies, the present paper tries to create the integral linguistic picture of the concept of joy and to analyze the lexico-semantic groups and relevant lexico-semantic variants of its realization in the context of Modern English fiction.Keywords: concept of joy, lexico-semantic variant, semantic sign, cognition
Procedia PDF Downloads 279288 The Impact of the Adittapariyaya Sutta in the Meaning-making of T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land: A critical Analysis
Authors: Ven Pothupitiye Thilakasiri
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The Ādittapariyāya Sutta, also known as the Fire Sermon is an important Buddhist text that addresses the nature of sensual pleasures and attachment through the metaphor of fire. Eliot makes use of this in his epic poem The Waste Land. Though scholars have studied Eliot‘s long poem for traces of eastern philosophy, no scholars have touched upon the idea of how the Adittapariyaya Sutta has enabled the meaning making endeavor of the poem. The present study attempts to address this research gap by undertaking a critical analysis of the Fire Sermon of The Waste Land by undertaking an interdisciplinary study of the poem using two methods—a literary and Buddhist reading methods, namely objective corelative and the three-pillared Buddhist ideas of Anicca (impermanence), Dukkha (suffering) and Anatha (No-self). Thus, the study explores the Ādittapariyāya Sutta’s thematic concerns of impermanence, suffering and no-self within the context of The Waste Land. The setting of the poem symbolizes spiritual desolation and existential crisis. By comparing Sutta‘s teachings with modern existential concerns, which is depicted in T.S. Eliot‘s The Waste Land, the analysis emphasizes the relevance of Buddhist insights to contemporary issues of meaning and disillusioKeywords: Adittapariyaya Sutta, Objective correlative, Eastern Philosophy, Sensual pleasures
Procedia PDF Downloads 27287 The Beat of 'Desolation Row', 50 Years on
Authors: May Ziade
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Postgraduate studies in English language and literature at the University of Sydney provided opportunity for research into one of the most significant singer/songwriters of our time, Bob Dylan, and his masterpiece from the mid-1960s, ‘Desolation Row’. With a title alluding to Jack Kerouac’s Desolation Angels as well as John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row, ‘Desolation Row’ is Bob Dylan’s magnum opus. Recorded on August 4 1965, it takes pride of place as the last track on the revolutionary 1965 album of rock poetics, Highway 61 Revisited. From its inception, its epic proportions (ten long verses) and rich and baffling imagery got our attention - it amused, fascinated and beguiled. The song’s surreal and dreamlike landscape and its cast of characters, drawn from history, fiction, mythology, theology, and popular culture, lured us in and begged interpretation. What were they doing there? Where is Desolation Row? Do they want to escape from or go to ‘Desolation Row’? What was Dylan writing about and what were his influences? Through literary analysis and historical research, this paper will examine the song’s lyrics, the mid-60s context and Dylan’s vast influences to make sense, offer explanations and make connections. In particular, research findings place the Beat poets and oeuvre as a significant literary influence but it is a rich, multilayered text that straddles traditions and emerges as a paradox – a paradox that has endured and endeared itself to many. As it turns 50 this year, what better way to acknowledge this momentous occasion than at an international English language conference.Keywords: analysis, Bob Dylan, beat context, desolation row
Procedia PDF Downloads 501286 The Fragility of Sense: The Twofold Temporality of Embodiment and Its Role for Depression
Authors: Laura Bickel
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This paper aims to investigate to what extent Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy of body memory serves as a viable resource for the enactive approach to cognitive science and its first-person experience-based research on ‘recurrent depressive disorder’ coded F33 in ICD-10. In pursuit of this goal, the analysis begins by revisiting the neuroreductive paradigm. This paradigm serves biological psychiatry to explain the condition of vital contact in terms of underlying neurophysiological mechanisms. It is demonstrated that the neuroreductive model cannot sufficiently account for the depressed person’s episodical withdrawal in causal terms. The analysis of the irregular loss of vital resonance requires integrating the body as the subject of experience and its phenomenological time. Then, it is shown that the enactive approach to depression as disordered sense-making is a promising alternative. The enactive model of perception implies that living beings do not register pre-existing meaning ‘out there’ but unfold ‘sense’ in their action-oriented response to the world. For the enactive approach, Husserl’s passive synthesis of inner time consciousness is fundamental for what becomes perceptually present for action. It seems intuitive to bring together the enactive approach to depression with the long-standing view in phenomenological psychopathology that explains the loss of vital contact by appealing to the disruption of the temporal structure of consciousness. However, this paper argues that the disruption of the temporal structure is not justified conceptually. Instead, one may integrate Merleau-Ponty’s concept of the past as the unconscious into the enactive approach to depression. From this perspective, the living being’s experiential and biological past inserts itself in the form of habit and bodily skills and ensures action-oriented responses to the environment. Finally, it is concluded that the depressed person’s withdrawal indicates the impairment of this application process. The person suffering from F33 cannot actualize sedimented meaning to respond to the valences and tasks of a given situation.Keywords: depression, enactivism, neuroreductionsim, phenomenology, temporality
Procedia PDF Downloads 132285 Links between Moral Distress of Registered Nurses and Factors Related to Patient Care at the End of Their Life: A Cross Sectional Survey
Authors: L. Laurs, A. Blazeviciene, D. Milonas
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Introduction: Nursing as a profession is grounded in moral obligation. Nursing practice is grounded in ethical standards: to not harm, to promote justice, to be accountable, and to provide safe and competent care. The nature of the nurse-patient therapeutic relationship requires acting on the patient's behalf. Moral distress consists of negative stress symptoms that occur in situations that involve ethical situations that the nurse perceives as discordant with their professional values. Aim of the Study: The purpose of this study was to assess links between moral distress of registered nurses and factors related to patient care at the end of their life. Methods and Sample: A descriptive, cross-sectional, correlational design was applied in this study. Registered nurses were recruited from seven municipal multi-profile hospitals providing both general and specialized healthcare services in Lithuania (N=1055). Research instruments included two questionnaires: Obstacles and Facilitating at the End of Life Care and Moral Distress Scale (revised). Results: Spearman’s correlation analysis was performed to assess the relationship between nurses' attitudes towards patient care at the end of life and the experienced moral distress. A statistically significant correlation between moral distress and the following factors related to patient end-of-life care has been identified: conversations with physicians on patient end-of-life problems have a positive impact on job satisfaction; some patients may be excluded from decisions about their treatment and nursing because they are questioned about their ability to assess the situation. These situations increased moral distress. Patient consciousness should not be permanently suppressed by calming medications, and the patient should be provided with all nursing care services and moral distress. Conclusions: The moral distress of nurses is significantly related to the end-of-life care of patients and their determinants: moral distress increased due to lack of discussion with doctors about problem-solving and exclusion of patients from decision-making. And it diminished by refusing calming medications to permanently suppress a patient's consciousness and providing good care for patients.Keywords: moral distress, registered nurses, end of life, care
Procedia PDF Downloads 112284 Comparison of Women’s Political Participation in Korea and China
Authors: Minjeoung Kim
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This paper deals with the comparison of women’s political participation in Korea and China. Korean women are participated more in higher education. As the economic development and the women's social participation can enhance the possibility of women's political participation in advanced democratic countries, in Asian countries such as Korea and China in which Confucianism prohibited women to participate in public life and the process of nation building is different from western countries, the political power takes an initiative to implement policies for women's participation in politics and for women's consciousness.Keywords: korea, china, women, political participation
Procedia PDF Downloads 400283 Automation of AAA Game Development using AI and Procedural Generation
Authors: Paul Toprac, Branden Heng, Harsheni Siddharthan, Allison Tseng, Sarah Abraham, Etienne Vouga
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The goal of this project was to evaluate and document the capabilities and limitations of AI tools for empowering small teams to create high budget, high profile (AAA) 3D games typically developed by large studios. Two teams of novice game developers attempted to create two different games using AI and Unreal Engine 5.3. First, the teams evaluated 60 AI art, design, sound, and programming tools by considering their capability, ease of use, cost, and license restrictions. Then, the teams used a shortlist of 13 AI tools for game development. During this process, the following tools were found to be the most productive: (1) ChatGPT 4.0 for both game and narrative concepting and documentation; (2) Dall-E 3 and OpenArt for concept art; (3) Beatoven for music drafting; (4) Epic PCG for level design; and (5) ChatGPT 4.0 and Github Copilot for generating simple code and to complement human-made tutorials as an additional learning resource. While current generative AI may appear impressive at first glance, the assets they produce fall short of AAA industry standards. Generative AI tools are helpful when brainstorming ideas such as concept art and basic storylines, but they still cannot replace human input or creativity at this time. Regarding programming, AI can only effectively generate simple code and act as an additional learning resource. Thus, generative AI tools are at best tools to enhance developer productivity rather than as a system to replace developers.Keywords: AAA games, AI, automation tools, game development
Procedia PDF Downloads 25282 Women's Religiosity as a Factor in the Persistence of Religious Traditions: Kazakhstan, the XX Century
Authors: G. Nadirova, B. Aktaulova
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The main question of the research is- how did the Kazakhs manage to keep their religious thinking in the period of active propaganda of Soviet atheism, for seventy years of struggle against religion with the involvement of the scientific worldview as the primary means of proving the absence of the divine nature and materiality of the world? Our hypothesis is that In case of Kazakhstan the conservative female religious consciousness seems to have been a factor that helped to preserve the “everyday” religiousness of Kazakhs, which was far from deep theological contents of Islam, but able to revive in a short time after the decennia of proclaimed atheism.Keywords: woman, religious thinking, Kazakhstan, soviet ideology, rituals, family
Procedia PDF Downloads 214281 An Empirical Investigation of the Challenges of Secure Edge Computing Adoption in Organizations
Authors: Hailye Tekleselassie
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Edge computing is a spread computing outline that transports initiative applications closer to data sources such as IoT devices or local edge servers, and possible happenstances would skull the action of new technologies. However, this investigation was attained to investigation the consciousness of technology and communications organization workers and computer users who support the service cloud. Surveys were used to achieve these objectives. Surveys were intended to attain these aims, and it is the functional using survey. Enquiries about confidence are also a key question. Problems like data privacy, integrity, and availability are the factors affecting the company’s acceptance of the service cloud.Keywords: IoT, data, security, edge computing
Procedia PDF Downloads 83280 Memory and Matrilineage: Is the Siri Mass Possession Tradition of Tulunadu a Death Ritual?
Authors: Yogitha Shetty
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Tulunadu, a Tulu-speaking ethno-linguistic minority region in the west coast of India is abundant with oral narratives and associated rituals very unique to this region. One such major worship tradition prevalent here is the mass possession cult of women called Siri Jatre. Deriving its referential script from the Siri epic or pāḍdana, Siri rituals are performed annually in many places of Tulunadu. During these rituals thousands of afflicted women gather at the temple premises and get possessed by the pantheon of seven Siri spirits. While mapping the existing corpus of literature on Siri Jatre – analyzing it as a mode of spirit possession, its psycho-therapeutic significance, its emancipatory potential, etc – this paper offers a paradigm shift by perceiving the entire Siri ritual as a death rite offered to Siri’s grandfather Berma Alva. It draws its arguments from the fieldworks conducted recently in some Siri shrines, interviews conducted among adept Siri women and by analyzing the death rites performed among Bunt caste of the region, and locating it within the historically matrilineal fabric. Thereby, it problematizes the existing analytical frames and raises the question of – if annual Siri ceremonies are a means to bemoan the end of a matrilineal family of Siri? It would delve on the gender configuration as manifested in the Siri cult, having its base in the Tuluva society’s matrilineage, and thereby add to the prevalent ethnographic investigative approaches.Keywords: death rite, matrilineage, possession, women
Procedia PDF Downloads 303279 Psychological Aspects of Quality of Life in Patients with Primary and Metastatic Bone Tumors
Authors: O. Yu Shchelkova, E. B. Usmanova
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Introduction: Last decades scientific research of quality of life (QoL) is developing fast worldwide. QoL concept pays attention to emotional experience of disease in patients, particularly to personal sense of possibility to satisfy actual needs and possibility of full social functioning in spite of disease limitations. QoL in oncological patients is studied intensively. Nevertheless, the issue of QoL in patients with bone tumors focused on psychological factors of QoL and relation to disease impact on QoL is not discussed. The aim of the study was to reveal the basic aspects and personality factors of QoL in patients with bone tumor. Results: Study participants were 139 patients with bone tumors. The diagnoses were osteosarcoma (n=42), giant cell tumor (n=32), chondrosarcoma (n=32), Ewing sarcoma (n=10) and bone metastases (n=23). The study revealed that patients with bone metastases assess their health significantly worse than other patients. Besides patients with osteosarcoma evaluate their general health higher than patients with giant cell tumors. Social functioning in patients with chondrosarcoma is higher than in patients with bone metastases and patients with giant cell tumor. Patients with chondrosarcoma have higher physical functioning and less restricted in daily activities than patients with bone metastases. Patients with bone metastases characterize their pain as more widespread than patients with primary bone tumors and have more functional restrictions due to bone incision. Moreover, the study revealed personality significant influence on QoL related to bone tumors. Such characteristics in structure of personality as high degree of self-consciousness, personal resources, cooperation and disposition to positive reappraisal in difficult situation correspond to higher QoL. Otherwise low personal resources and slight problem solving behaviour, low degree of self-consciousness and high social dependence correspond to decrease of QoL in patients with bone tumors. Conclusion: Patients with bone metastasis have lower QoL compared to patients with primary bone tumors. Patients with giant cell tumor have the worth quality of life among patients with primary bone tumors. Furthermore, the results revealed differences in QoL parameters associated with personality characteristics in patients with bone tumors. Such psychological factors as future goals, interest in life and emotional saturation, besides high degree of personal resources and cooperation influence on increasing QoL in patients with bone tumors.Keywords: quality of life, psychological factors, bone tumor, personality
Procedia PDF Downloads 140278 POP Music and Tai Chi – Movement and Stillness Intertwined in The Contemporary World
Authors: Patricia Portugal Marques de Carvalho Lourenço
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Pop Music embodies both the music that is popular with the audiences and the one that is widespread amongst the general public associated with a state of mind and rhythm. Tai Chi epitomises Yin and Yang, two interconnected opposite states of being. Undivided, they are one, a neutral state of consciousness that does not swing to either pole. It remains constant and even minded. Sound flows and vibrations cause movement, a physical response to the tempo. When an excessive movement is reached leads to stillness therefore, extreme Yang leads to Yin. Pop Music and Tai Chi are comparable to state of inner being versus a state of outer being, emotional control versus emotional expression, stillness, and movement; opposites that are independent of one another yet interdependent concepts in motion.Keywords: Pop music, C-Pop, Tai Chi, Ba Gua, communication, entertainment education
Procedia PDF Downloads 238277 Metaphysics of the Unified Field of the Universe
Authors: Santosh Kaware, Dnyandeo Patil, Moninder Modgil, Hemant Bhoir, Debendra Behera
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The Unified Field Theory has been an area of intensive research since many decades. This paper focuses on philosophy and metaphysics of unified field theory at Planck scale - and its relationship with super string theory and Quantum Vacuum Dynamic Physics. We examined the epistemology of questions such as - (1) what is the Unified Field of universe? (2) can it actually - (a) permeate the complete universe - or (b) be localized in bound regions of the universe - or, (c) extend into the extra dimensions? - -or (d) live only in extra dimensions? (3) What should be the emergent ontological properties of Unified field? (4) How the universe is manifesting through its Quantum Vacuum energies? (5) How is the space time metric coupled to the Unified field? We present a number of ansatz - which we outline below. It is proposed that the unified field possesses consciousness as well as a memory - a recording of past history - analogous to ‘Consistent Histories’ interpretation of quantum mechanics. We proposed Planck scale geometry of Unified Field with circle like topology and having 32 energy points on its periphery which are the connected to each other by 10 dimensional meta-strings which are sources for manifestation of different fundamentals forces and particles of universe through its Quantum Vacuum energies. It is also proposed that the sub energy levels of ‘Conscious Unified Field’ are used for the process of creation, preservation and rejuvenation of the universe over a period of time by means of negentropy. These epochs can be for the complete universe, or for localized regions such as galaxies or cluster of galaxies. It is proposed that Unified field operates through geometric patterns of its Quantum Vacuum energies - manifesting as various elementary particles by giving spins to zero point energy elements. Epistemological relationship between unified field theory and super-string theories is examined. Properties of ‘consciousness’ and 'memory' cascades from universe, into macroscopic objects - and further onto the elementary particles - via a fractal pattern. Other properties of fundamental particles - such as mass, charge, spin, iso-spin also spill out of such a cascade. The manifestations of the unified field can reach into the parallel universes or the ‘multi-verse’ and essentially have an existence independent of the space-time. It is proposed that mass, length, time scales of the unified theory are less than even the Planck scale - and can be called at a level which we call that of 'Super Quantum Gravity (SQG)'.Keywords: super string theory, Planck scale geometry, negentropy, super quantum gravity
Procedia PDF Downloads 274276 Environmental Awareness and Community Outreach: A Case Study of Speak Up World Foundation
Authors: Akshita Gaba, Ria P. Dey, Sanya Karotiya, Smrijanee Dash, Soni Gupta
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This research paper explores the significance of environmental awareness and community outreach initiatives undertaken by the Speak Up World Foundation; a non-profit organization founded in 2021. The study delves into the historical context of environmental issues, identifies the driving factors contributing to environmental degradation, and outlines tasks undertaken by the foundation to promote environmental consciousness. The paper also highlights the impact of these efforts on the community and emphasizes the need for continued dedication to ensure sustainable coexistence with our environment.Keywords: environment, social service, organization, degradation, survey
Procedia PDF Downloads 65275 The Various Bodies of a Person and How to Cleanse Them Spiritually
Authors: J. B. Athavale, Sean Clarke
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Introduction According to ancient Indian scriptures, a person’s consciousness includes the physical body, the vital energy sheath (Pranshakti), the mental body (which includes one’s feelings and emotions), the intellectual body (which refers to one’s decision-making ability), and the Soul (which is the God Principle that resides in every person). Apart from the physical body, all the other aspects are subtle in nature. In today’s world, much attention is given to one’s physical appearance and intellectual prowess. While there have been improvements in the attention given to mental health, its complete nature is not understood, and in many cultures, mental ill health is considered taboo and looked down upon. Regarding the spiritual well-being of a person, our spiritual research has shown that people’s understanding and efforts are mostly lacking and superficial as they do not conform to Universal Spiritual Principles. Also, true well-being occurs only when all the bodies are healthy. Methodology The spiritual research team at the University has found that the spiritual aspect of a person’s life affects all the physical, psychological, and intellectual bodies of a person resulting in ill health. Cleansing these bodies at a spiritual level is essential to regain well-being. Using Aura and Energy Scanners and advanced sixth sense, we studied what causes spiritual impurity in various bodies and how to cleanse them. We measured the spiritual vibrations of a person and how they get affected due to various daily activities. For example, we studied the difference in a person’s aura before and after applying chemical-based makeup vs. natural makeup. Key Findings From the various spiritual research experiments we conducted, we found that: • All our actions and our thoughts affect our various bodies and have the potential to change the aura for the better or worse. • When there is an increase in negative vibrations around a person, negative energies from the subtle dimension are more likely to affect a person. • As the person’s spiritual level increases, the positivity in their aura also increases, and it is much easier to cleanse the various bodies spiritually. • Spiritual practice is like a general spiritual tonic that increases the positivity in one’s aura. The benefits of this are that it leads to mental stability and intellectual clarity. • Spiritual healing remedies augment any spiritual practice to obtain a faster healing effect. Conclusion Taking care of oneself spiritually has a positive halo effect on all one’s bodies. Spiritual cleansing is required regularly if one wants to attain a state of well-being. Spiritual practice and spiritual healing lead to spiritual growth, stability of mind, and less stress and reactions. Spiritually purer people affect the environment positively, and there is less unrest and more harmony between man and nature.Keywords: body, spirituality, cleansing, consciousness
Procedia PDF Downloads 79274 Media Representations of Gender-Intersectional Analysis of Impact/Influence on Collective Consciousness and Perceptions of Feminism, Gender, and Gender Equality: Evidence from Cultural/Media Sources in Nigeria
Authors: Olatawura O. Ladipo-Ajayi
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The concept of gender equality is not new, nor are the efforts and movements toward achieving this concept. The idea of gender equality originates from the early feminist movements of the 1880s and its subsequent waves, all fighting to promote gender rights and equality focused on varying aspects and groups. Nonetheless, the progress and achievement of gender equality are not progressing at similar rates across the world and groups. This uneven progress is often due to varying social, cultural, political, and economic factors- some of which underpin intersectional identities and influence the perceptions of gender and associated gender roles that create gender inequality. In assessing perceptions of gender and assigned roles or expectations that cause inequalities, intersectionality provides a framework to interrogate how these perceptions are molded and reinforced to create marginalization. Intersectionality is increasingly becoming a lens and approach to understanding better inequalities and oppression, gender rights and equality, the challenges towards its achievement, and how best to move forward in the fight for gender rights, inclusion, and equality. In light of this, this paper looks at intersectional representations of gender in the media within cultural/social contexts -particularly entertainment media- and how this influences perceptions of gender and impacts progress toward achieving gender equality and advocacy. Furthermore, the paper explores how various identities and, to an extent, personal experiences play a role in the perceptions of and representations of gender, as well as influence the development of policies that promote gender equality in general. Finally, the paper applies qualitative and auto-ethnographic research methods building on intersectional and social construction frameworks to analyze gender representation in media using a literature review of scholarly works, news items, and cultural/social sources like Nigerian movies. It concludes that media influences ideas and perceptions of gender, gender equality, and rights; there isn’t enough being done in the media in the global south in general to challenge the hegemonic patriarchal and binary concepts of gender. As such, the growth of feminism and the attainment of gender equality is slow, and the concepts are often misunderstood. There is a need to leverage media outlets to influence perceptions and start informed conversations on gender equality and feminism; build collective consciousness locally to improve advocacy for equal gender rights. Changing the gender narrative in everyday media, including entertainment media, is one way to influence public perceptions of gender, promote the concept of gender equality, and advocate for policies that support equality.Keywords: gender equality, gender roles/socialization, intersectionality, representation of gender in media
Procedia PDF Downloads 105273 The Rural Q'eqchi' Maya Consciousness and the Agricultural Rituals: A Case of San Agustin Lanquin, Guatemala
Authors: Y.S. Lea
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This paper investigates the agricultural rituals in relation to the historical continuity of cultural ideology concerning the praxis of cultural sustenance of the indigenous Mayas. The praxis is delineated in two dimensions: 1) The ceremonial and quotidian rituals of the rural Q’eqchi’ Mayas in Lanquin, Guatemala; 2) The indigenous Maya resistance of 2014 against the legislation of the 'Law for the Protection of New Plant Varieties,' commonly known as 'the Monsanto Law' in Guatemala. Through the intersection of ideology in practice, the praxis of cultural sustenance is construed.Keywords: Q'eqchi' Mayas, San Agustin Lanquin, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, Maya animism, Q’eqchi' deities, Tzuultaq'as
Procedia PDF Downloads 249272 The Procedural Sedation Checklist Manifesto, Emergency Department, Jersey General Hospital
Authors: Jerome Dalphinis, Vishal Patel
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The Bailiwick of Jersey is an island British crown dependency situated off the coast of France. Jersey General Hospital’s emergency department sees approximately 40,000 patients a year. It’s outside the NHS, with secondary care being free at the point of care. Sedation is a continuum which extends from a normal conscious level to being fully unresponsive. Procedural sedation produces a minimally depressed level of consciousness in which the patient retains the ability to maintain an airway, and they respond appropriately to physical stimulation. The goals of it are to improve patient comfort and tolerance of the procedure and alleviate associated anxiety. Indications can be stratified by acuity, emergency (cardioversion for life-threatening dysrhythmia), and urgency (joint reduction). In the emergency department, this is most often achieved using a combination of opioids and benzodiazepines. Some departments also use ketamine to produce dissociative sedation, a cataleptic state of profound analgesia and amnesia. The response to pharmacological agents is highly individual, and the drugs used occasionally have unpredictable pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, which can always result in progression between levels of sedation irrespective of the intention. Therefore, practitioners must be able to ‘rescue’ patients from deeper sedation. These practitioners need to be senior clinicians with advanced airway skills (AAS) training. It can lead to adverse effects such as dangerous hypoxia and unintended loss of consciousness if incorrectly undertaken; studies by the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD) have reported avoidable deaths. The Royal College of Emergency Medicine, UK (RCEM) released an updated ‘Safe Sedation of Adults in the Emergency Department’ guidance in 2017 detailing a series of standards for staff competencies, and the required environment and equipment, which are required for each target sedation depth. The emergency department in Jersey undertook audit research in 2018 to assess their current practice. It showed gaps in clinical competency, the need for uniform care, and improved documentation. This spurred the development of a checklist incorporating the above RCEM standards, including contraindication for procedural sedation and difficult airway assessment. This was approved following discussion with the relevant heads of departments and the patient safety directorates. Following this, a second audit research was carried out in 2019 with 17 completed checklists (11 relocation of joints, 6 cardioversions). Data was obtained from looking at the controlled resuscitation drugs book containing documented use of ketamine, alfentanil, and fentanyl. TrakCare, which is the patient electronic record system, was then referenced to obtain further information. The results showed dramatic improvement compared to 2018, and they have been subdivided into six categories; pre-procedure assessment recording of significant medical history and ASA grade (2 fold increase), informed consent (100% documentation), pre-oxygenation (88%), staff (90% were AAS practitioners) and monitoring (92% use of non-invasive blood pressure, pulse oximetry, capnography, and cardiac rhythm monitoring) during procedure, and discharge instructions including the documented return of normal vitals and consciousness (82%). This procedural sedation checklist is a safe intervention that identifies pertinent information about the patient and provides a standardised checklist for the delivery of gold standard of care.Keywords: advanced airway skills, checklist, procedural sedation, resuscitation
Procedia PDF Downloads 117271 Nineteenth Century Colonial Discourse and Marxist Theory
Authors: Nikolaos Mavropoulos
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Imperialism and colonialism had and still have a predominantly negative nuisance. In many ways the two terms are synonyms of racist behavior, exploitation, and oppression, imposed by the supposedly civilized West at Africa’s and Asia’s expense. Paradoxically enough, imperialism was not thoroughly negative for some Marxist scholars. For them, in reality, it served a historical necessity as the only mean to liberate the backward societies from their millennial stagnation and to introduce them to industrialization and progress. To Marx as immoral and cruel the imposition of imperial rule and the eradication of traditional structures may have been, the process is still a progressive step towards the formation of class consciousness, global revolution and socialism in a world scale. Overlooking the fact that imperialism could actually delay and put an end to capitalist development, some Marxists proponents considered it as a positive development for the colonized peoples.Keywords: Colonialism, , Marxist theory, Modern history, , 19th century Imperialism,
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