Minds and Machines; November 1995, Vol. 5 Issue: 4 p597-607, 11p
Abstract
There have been suggestions that the unity of consciousness may be related to the kind of holism depicted only in quantum physics. This argument will be clarified and strengthened. It requires the brain to contain a quantum system with the right properties — a “Bose-Einstein condensate”. It probably does contain one such system, as both theory and experiment have indicated. In fact, we cannot pay full attention to a quantum whole and its parts simultaneously, though we may oscillate between the two. In a quantum theory of consciousness, emergent meanings arise as an inevitable consequence of Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle.
Conference Papers -- American Sociological Association; 2004 Annual Meeting, San Francisco, pN.PAG, 0p
Subjects
SOCIAL networks, NETWORK analysis (Communication), SOCIAL groups, ETHNOLOGY, WEBSITES, SOCIAL theory, and INTERNET
Abstract
Social networking is a fundamental feature of all social software. From blogrolls to Buddylists, people have learned to negotiate implicit networks in everyday digital interaction. Social networking is now achieving popular and technological prominence via the Internet. Dozens of sites have emerged to address how social networks can help people connect to have sex, find jobs, sell cars, and waste inordinate amounts of time. Yet, people are also using these sites to negotiate identity and play. Embedded in the culture of social networks is an increasing tension between the creators and the users as each are unaware of the expectations and motivations of the other. In what ways are these sites intended to model offline behavior? How do the technological shifts create a shift in social behavior? Does current social theory properly explain the emerging behaviors or must new theories be developed that challenge the current? Drawing from ethnographic research on Friendster and other social networking sites, I discuss the tensions that have emerged between creators and users as both work to understand the emerging social and technological boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Kai Tiaki Nursing New Zealand; Mar2006, Vol. 12 Issue 2, p29-29, 1/3p
Abstract
Information about the topics discussed at the conference held on November 2005 in Auckland is presented. It was organized by the newly-organized New Zealand Nurses' Organization Women's Health Section with 170 delegates who were welcomed by chair Margaret Thomson. During the meeting, speakers discusses topics such as female genital mutilation, cosmetic enhancement, family violence intervention, HIV in heterosexual women and the effectiveness of alternative hormone replacement therapies.
FRIENDSHIP, SOCIAL groups, SOCIAL networks, SOCIAL conflict, and SOCIAL control
Abstract
‘Are you my friend? Yes or no?’ This question, while fundamentally odd, is a key component of social network sites. Participants must select who on the system they deem to be ‘Friends.’ Their choice is publicly displayed for all to see and becomes the backbone for networked participation. By examining what different participants groups do on social network sites, this paper investigates what Friendship means and how Friendship affects the culture of the sites. I will argue that Friendship helps people write community into being in social network sites. Through these imagined egocentric communities, participants are able to express who they are and locate themselves culturally. In turn, this provides individuals with a contextual frame through which they can properly socialize with other participants. Friending is deeply affected by both social processes and technological affordances. I will argue that the established Friending norms evolved out of a need to resolve the social tensions that emerged due to technological limitations. At the same time, I will argue that Friending supports pre-existing social norms yet because the architecture of social network sites is fundamentally different than the architecture of unmediated social spaces, these sites introduce an environment that is quite unlike that with which we are accustomed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
