Technological talespinning : new media and higher education in the USA : an examination of technological determinism

This thesis examines the theory of technological determinism, which espouses the view that technological change drives social change, through an analysis of the impact of new media on higher education models in the United States of America. In so doing, it explores the impacts of new media technologies on higher education, in particular, and society in general. The thesis reviews the theoretical shape of the discourse surrounding new media technologies before narrowing in on utopian claims about the impact of new media technologies on education. It tests these claims through a specific case study of higher education in the USA. The study investigates whether 'new' media technologies (eg the Internet) are resulting in new forms of higher education in the USA and whether the blurring of information and entertainment technologies has caused a similar blurring in education and entertainment providers. It uses primary data gathered by the author in a series of interviews with key education, industry and media representatives in North America in 1997. Chapter 2 looks at the literature and history surrounding several topics central to the thesis - the discourses of technological determinism, the history of technology use and adoption in education, and impacts of new media technologies on education. Chapter 3 presents the findings of the American case study on the relationship between media and higher education and Chapter 4 concludes and synthesises the investigation.

A determinism and desire: Some neurological processes in perceiving the design object

The environment moderates behaviour using a subtle language of ‘affordances’ and ‘behaviour-settings’. Affordances are environmental offerings. They are objects that demand action; a cliff demands a leap and binoculars demand a peek. Behaviour-settings are ‘places;’ spaces encoded with expectations and meanings. Behaviour-settings work the opposite way to affordances; they demand inhibition; an introspective demeanour in a church or when under surveillance. Most affordances and behaviour-settings are designed, and as such, designers are effectively predicting brain reactions. • Affordances are nested within, and moderated by behaviour-settings. Both trigger automatic neural responses (excitation and inhibition). These, for the best part cancel each other out. This balancing enables object recognition and allows choice about what action should be taken (if any). But when excitation exceeds inhibition, instinctive action will automatically commence. In positive circumstances this may mean laughter or a smile. In negative circumstances, fleeing, screaming or other panic responses are likely. People with poor frontal function, due to immaturity (childhood or developmental disorders) or due to hypofrontality (schizophrenia, brain damage or dementia) have a reduced capacity to balance excitatory and inhibitory impulses. For these people, environmental behavioural demands increase with the decline of frontal brain function. • The world around us is not only encoded with symbols and sensory information. Opportunities and restrictions work on a much more primal level. Person/space interactions constantly take place at a molecular scale. Every space we enter has its own special dynamic, where individualism vies for supremacy between the opposing forces of affordance-related excitation and the inhibition intrinsic to behaviour-settings. And in this context, even a small change–the installation of a CCTV camera can turn a circus to a prison. • This paper draws on cutting-edge neurological theory to understand the psychological determinates of the everyday experience of the designed environment.

Exploring processes of indeterminate determinism in music composition, programming and improvisation

This portfolio consists of 15 original musical works. Taking the form of electronic and acousmatic music, multimedia, and scores, these chamber works serve as a result of experimentation and improvisation with individually built computer interfaces. The accompanying commentary provides discourse on the conceptual practice of these interfaces becoming a compositional entity that present a multi-interpretative opportunity to explore, engage, and personalise. Following this, the commentary examines the path of creative decisions and musical choices that formed both these interfaces and the resulting musical and visual works. This portfolio is accompanied by interfaces used, transcoded interfacing behavioural information, and documented improvisational findings.

Changing Climate, Human Evolution, and the Revival of Environmental Determinism

The role of climatic change in determining the shape of human evolution,
a theme that came to prominence during the early years of the twentieth
century, has resurfaced with renewed vigor. The author examines the rise and
resurgence of the modern history of the idea that hominid evolutionary pathways
have been triggered by climatic causes to illustrate the continuing vitality of environmental determinism and to highlight some continuities between early-twentieth century and contemporary archaeoanthropology.

Does Chance hide Necessity? : a reevaluation of the debate ‘determinism - indeterminism’ in the light of quantum mechanics and probability theory

Dans cette thèse l’ancienne question philosophique “tout événement a-t-il une cause ?” sera examinée à la lumière de la mécanique quantique et de la théorie des probabilités. Aussi bien en physique qu’en philosophie des sciences la position orthodoxe maintient que le monde physique est indéterministe. Au niveau fondamental de la réalité physique – au niveau quantique – les événements se passeraient sans causes, mais par chance, par hasard ‘irréductible’. Le théorème physique le plus précis qui mène à cette conclusion est le théorème de Bell. Ici les prémisses de ce théorème seront réexaminées. Il sera rappelé que d’autres solutions au théorème que l’indéterminisme sont envisageables, dont certaines sont connues mais négligées, comme le ‘superdéterminisme’. Mais il sera argué que d’autres solutions compatibles avec le déterminisme existent, notamment en étudiant des systèmes physiques modèles. Une des conclusions générales de cette thèse est que l’interprétation du théorème de Bell et de la mécanique quantique dépend crucialement des prémisses philosophiques desquelles on part. Par exemple, au sein de la vision d’un Spinoza, le monde quantique peut bien être compris comme étant déterministe. Mais il est argué qu’aussi un déterminisme nettement moins radical que celui de Spinoza n’est pas éliminé par les expériences physiques. Si cela est vrai, le débat ‘déterminisme – indéterminisme’ n’est pas décidé au laboratoire : il reste philosophique et ouvert – contrairement à ce que l’on pense souvent. Dans la deuxième partie de cette thèse un modèle pour l’interprétation de la probabilité sera proposé. Une étude conceptuelle de la notion de probabilité indique que l’hypothèse du déterminisme aide à mieux comprendre ce que c’est qu’un ‘système probabiliste’. Il semble que le déterminisme peut répondre à certaines questions pour lesquelles l’indéterminisme n’a pas de réponses. Pour cette raison nous conclurons que la conjecture de Laplace – à savoir que la théorie des probabilités présuppose une réalité déterministe sous-jacente – garde toute sa légitimité. Dans cette thèse aussi bien les méthodes de la philosophie que de la physique seront utilisées. Il apparaît que les deux domaines sont ici solidement reliés, et qu’ils offrent un vaste potentiel de fertilisation croisée – donc bidirectionnelle.

Climate determinism revisited: multiple equilibria in a complex climate model

Multiple equilibria in a coupled ocean–atmosphere–sea ice general circulation model (GCM) of an aquaplanet with many degrees of freedom are studied. Three different stable states are found for exactly the same set of parameters and external forcings: a cold state in which a polar sea ice cap extends into the midlatitudes; a warm state, which is ice free; and a completely sea ice–covered “snowball” state. Although low-order energy balance models of the climate are known to exhibit intransitivity (i.e., more than one climate state for a given set of governing equations), the results reported here are the first to demonstrate that this is a property of a complex coupled climate model with a consistent set of equations representing the 3D dynamics of the ocean and atmosphere. The coupled model notably includes atmospheric synoptic systems, large-scale circulation of the ocean, a fully active hydrological cycle, sea ice, and a seasonal cycle. There are no flux adjustments, with the system being solely forced by incoming solar radiation at the top of the atmosphere. It is demonstrated that the multiple equilibria owe their existence to the presence of meridional structure in ocean heat transport: namely, a large heat transport out of the tropics and a relatively weak high-latitude transport. The associated large midlatitude convergence of ocean heat transport leads to a preferred latitude at which the sea ice edge can rest. The mechanism operates in two very different ocean circulation regimes, suggesting that the stabilization of the large ice cap could be a robust feature of the climate system. Finally, the role of ocean heat convergence in permitting multiple equilibria is further explored in simpler models: an atmospheric GCM coupled to a slab mixed layer ocean and an energy balance model

Rerum cognoscere causas: part I - How do the ideas of system dynamics relate to traditional social theories and the voluntarism/determinism debate?

This is the first half of a two-part paper which deals with the social theoretic assumptions underlying system dynamics. The motivation is that clarification in this area can help mainstream social scientists to understand how our field relates to their literature, methods and concerns. Part I has two main sections. The aim of the first is to answer the question: How do the ideas of system dynamics relate to traditional social theories? The theoretic assumptions of the field are seldom explicit but rather are implicit in its practice. The range of system dynamics practice is therefore considered and related to a framework - widely used in both operational research (OR) and systems science - that organises the assumptions behind traditional social theoretic paradigms. Distinct and surprisingly varied groupings of practice are identified, making it difficult to place system dynamics in any one paradigm with any certainty. The difficulties of establishing a social theoretic home for system dynamics are exemplified in the second main section. This is done by considering the question: Is system dynamics deterministic? An analysis shows that attempts to relate system dynamics to strict notions of voluntarism or determinism quickly indicate that the field does not fit with either pole of this dichotomous, and strictly paradigmatic, view. Part I therefore concludes that definitively placing system dynamics with respect to traditional social theories is highly problematic. The scene is therefore set for Part II of the paper, which proposes an innovative and potentially fruitful resolution to this problem.

Does hard determinism render the problem of evil even harder?

Hard determinism, in theological dress, holds that there is no human free will since God is the sufficient active cause of everything that happens in creation. It is surprising that, in the ever-growing literature on the problem of evil, very little attention has been paid to theodicies that adopt a hard determinist outlook. It is commonly assumed that without free will the theodical project is a non-starter. I challenge this long-held assumption by, firstly, developing a cumulative-style theodicy from within a hard determinist framework, and secondly, comparing the merits of such a theodicy with two libertarian rivals, specifically, Molinism and open theism. The hard determinist model of divine providence is, I argue, in no worse shape than the principal models developed by libertarians.

Environmental planning determinism : the Aldinga scrub study of Greenways in South Australia

Ecological planning, as advocated by environmental planner Ian McHarg, has recently seen the rejuvenation in Australia linked to natural resource management planning and community debates about greenways, sustainability and climate change resilience. South Australia has historically argued strongly for Agenda 21 demonstrating its commitment by renovating its planning and land management legislation and agencies to introduce and facilitate these agendas. This paper demonstrates the application of ecological planning to the formulation of a greenway in South Australia, highlighting the importance of the new innovative natural resource management regime, and using the Aldinga Scrub landscape as a case study.

One tweet does not a revolution make : technological determinism, media and social change

This paper discusses the problematic influence of technological determinism in popular news media coverage and analysis of the Arab Spring events of 2010-11.

The purpose is to develop insights into how and why elements of a ‘soft’ technological determinism inflect both journalistic practice and news discourse in relation to the Arab Spring. In particular it discusses how the ‘bias of convenience’ and a journalistic obsession with the ‘continuous present’ connect with this determinist inflection to create a potential distortion in the journalists’ ‘first rough draft’ of history in relation to significant and complex events such as social revolution.

Ecological determinism in Australia : tracing the legacy of McHarg downunder and its key precedents

Ecological planning, as advocated by Ian McHarg, filtered extensively through North America following the publication of Design with Nature (1965). The integrated design and planning approach was also advanced by numerous graduates of McHarg's studios at the University of Pennsylvania where this approach was extensively trialled and proven. While a clear synthesis and theoretical framework was articulated and reinforced through a plethora of projects, monographs, and articles, the majority of these perspectives were North American, lacked clarity about the translation of the approach into legal strategic and statutory planning instruments, nor shed light upon what transpired in Australia. This paper reviews the development of the Conservation Plan created for the southern Mornington peninsula in Victoria, Australia, as well as its intent, structure and internal workings as a successful model of ecological statutory planning, in the context of the wider WPRPA activities that draws directly from the McHarg theory. Known as the Conservation Plan for the southern Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, a revolutionary planning structure devised in the early 1970s by several Australian proponents. The Conservation Plan continues in operation today curating a high scenic valued landscape protecting it from intrusion from the growing metropolitan city of Melbourne thus fulfilling its objectives of landscape quality conservation whilst still permitting sympathetic building and land use growth. Contextually, the Conservation Plan appears to be only statutory equivalent translation of the approach internationally other than the Pinelands Commission planning processes in New Jersey.

Race, genetic determinism and the media: an exploratory study of media coverage of genetics and Indigenous Australians

Social scientists and Indigenous people have voiced concerns that media messages about genetics and race may increase the public's belief in genetic determinism and even increase levels of racism. The degree of genetic determinism in media messages has been examined as a determining factor. This study is the first to consider the implications of this area of scholarship for the indigenous minority in Australia. A search of the last two decades of major Australian newspapers was undertaken for articles that discussed Indigenous Australians and genetics. The review found 212 articles, of which 58 concerned traits or conditions that were presented in a genetically deterministic or antideterministic fashion. These 58 articles were analysed by topic, slant, and time period. Overall, 23 articles were anti-deterministic, 18 were deterministic, 14 presented both sides and three were ambiguous. There was a spike in anti-deterministic articles in the years after the Human Genome Diversity Project, and a parallel increase in deterministic articles since the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2000. Potential implications of the nature of media coverage of genetics for Indigenous Australians is discussed. Further research is required to test directly the impact of these messages on Australians.