The objective of this study is to identify lessons for improving cookstoves in Bangladesh through an evaluation of existing programs, the international experience on improved stoves, and the lessons from successes in the sanitation sector. Bangladesh's new renewable energy policy endorses creating a better environment for renewable energy technologies and promoting market development for improved cookstoves (Government of Bangladesh 2009). This study supports this policy direction by examining possible strategies to move forward the development of markets for improved stoves in Bangladesh. The study consists of several components: a national review of household energy programs; an evaluation of national sanitation programs; and an examination of improved cookstove programs from around the world, including China, Guatemala, Haiti, Mongolia, Nepal, and Uganda. The study is based on published literature, consultations with organizations throughout Bangladesh, site visits, and structured discussions with beneficiaries and other stakeholders.
This paper provides a synthetic overview of the link between food insecurity and conflict, addressing both traditional (civil and interstate war) and emerging (regime stability, violent rioting and communal conflict) threats to security and political stability. In addition, it addresses the various attempts by national governments, intergovernmental organizations, and civil society to address food insecurity and, in particular, the link with conflict. It begins with a discussion of the various effects of food insecurity for several types of conflict, and discusses the interactions among political, social, and demographic factors that may exacerbate these effects. It then discusses the capabilities of states, international markets, intergovernmental organizations, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to break the link between food security and conflict by focusing on mechanisms that can shield both food consumers and producers from short-term price instability. Finally, it discusses projected trends in both food insecurity and conflict and concludes with some brief comments on policies that can build resilience in light of projections of higher and volatile food prices and a changing climate.
Part four of an interview with educators in the Leominster, Massachusetts area. Topics include: Joeseph DeCarolis, a school principal in Leominster and other locations, introduces himself. Vincent DiNino, a teacher in Leominster, introduces himself. Why their families settled in Leominster. How immigrants learned English. What Leominster was like. Memories of early education. Social clubs for Italian Americans. Bilingual education and preserving cultural heritage. ; 1 SPEAKER 1: Actually, I think he already gave that anyway, especially during – we'll get back to you… SPEAKER 2: Sure. SPEAKER 1: Because you were actually born in Italy. SPEAKER 2: Yes. SPEAKER 1: And that's important. JOE: I'm Joe DeCarolis. SPEAKER 1: Mm-hmm. JOE: I was born in Pittsfield, Mass. All four of my grandparents came from Italy. Uh, my mother's folks came from Calabria and my grandparents in Leominster, I'm not quite sure. I should know that. Uh, principal in Leominster for 25 years, I was principal in other places, for a total of 31 years; uh, and in the local schools, Lincoln School, Leominster Junior High School, uh, Leominster High School, Fitchburg State College, University of Mass., University of New Hampshire. I was all over the place. Uh, I live in Leominster now. I did… uh, I traveled [a little] also with my family, came back to Leominster. I've four children living, grandchildren, out here in Leominster, attending Leominster schools. We have a business − an insurance business. My parents would have been very proud of their grandson, but unfortunately they're gone to the great beyond. But, uh, I look forward to the future of Leominster where our kids are in the public education right now. SPEAKER 2: He was also all over the football field. (FEMALE VOICE) GROUP: [Laughter] SPEAKER 2: He was a football player… SPEAKER 1: Were you ever a coach? JOE: Yes, I coached. I played and, uh, I help now with my grandson playing the [unintelligible - 00:01:24] and my son coaching the Leominster High School offensive line so we're still involved in it, in that activity. I belong to most clubs in town − the Sons of Italy, the Elks, the Knights of 2 Columbus, Board of Directors of the Leominster Credit Union and other activities. Leominster Country Club, where I play a lot of golf; and my sons and my grandson also do that. VINCENT: My name is Vincent DiNino, and I was born in Corfinio, Italy in 1940. I came to the United States when I was 16. I remember my boat's trip. The boats – the boat I came over was the uh, Christopher Columbus − and the sister ship of that boat was the Andrea Doria, which met, uh, an early uh, fate, sinking; and I always thought it could have been the, uh, Christopher Columbus that would be sunken instead of the Andrea Doria, and now where would I be? So I've always been thankful that I did reach the shores of the United States. And to give a brief perspective, I never really intended to come stateside because when I started schools in Italy, in the middle schools, they ask you what kind of career you intend to take and the choice was you could take foreign language to match the kind of career that you wanted. And for most intents and purposes, you cannot take German because Germany was defeated. Yes, you could take Italian. You should take Italian because that was your country. And French or English were the foreign languages that were recommended. Now, if you did not intend to go to Australia or Canada or the United States, you should take French, because French was the international language of trade and commerce, industry. And that's what I did. I took French in middle school, not knowing that later on, about three years later, we would be coming stateside and I would come to Leominster, Massachusetts, not knowing a word of English − but knowing French quite well, Italian, of course, and having some Latin. So when I started school at first at the junior high and then at the high school, I was fortunate enough to be able to take foreign languages − but not to learn the foreign languages, to do reverse engineering and learn English. So I took Italian. I took French. I took Latin. Of course, I already knew the languages insofar as they were being taught in those grades; but I would learn the vocabulary and the 3 structure that pertained to English. So that's how I got through high school and I was able to get to college. And I went to college in Worcester − first Assumption and then Clark. I did get a degree in Education. And I had a good background in Electronics. The Dean of Students at Clark was so impressed with my thesis that he said, "I've just been given a post to be President at Leicester Junior College. Would you join me and set up a language lab there?" "Oh," I said, "Fine." Beautiful first job − and it had some perks, like resident at a very subsidized rate, so it fit me perfectly. And I stayed with Leicester Junior College until Becker Junior College bought it out in1970. Then as I had been teaching foreign languages and one of those languages was Spanish, I saw that there was a need for bilingual education in the area and I applied to the Leominster public school system, which apparently saw me as a good candidate and I worked in the Leominster school system for 10 years, until my parents were both diagnosed with cancer. And I decided that at that time, since I was the only child stateside − I have two sisters in Italy, but far away when there is a sudden illness or a big problem. So I said, "Well, I'll take a couple of years leave of absence and see if I… if I can help." And of course, the school system was kind enough to allow me to do that. And while I took care of my parents, who were getting weaker and weaker, I also started to do a electronics repair business in my garage, a relatively large garage in which we didn't park cars anymore, but we had TVs and VCRs and all kinds of electronic stuff that I always liked to tinker with. So it seemed to be okay. And at this time too, one of my close relatives, my aunt, had a stroke and couldn't live by herself so we took her in. And I was also taking care of her while doing the electronics business. And when the time came to decide whether I should be back for the schools or continue with my business, I decided that probably at that time I wanted to see what's running your own business look like. And I started electronic equipment repair, which I'm still running, in spite of the 4 fact that the electronics business has met with great competition from overseas, especially Southeast Asia. And most consumer products are very inexpensive to purchase and are disposable. But we do some products which are not disposable, in the thousands of dollars cost area – like projection TV sets, which are still relatively good insofar as business profit. SPEAKER 1: Okay, thank you. I was wondering if each of you could tell me, why Leominster? Why did your family settle here? SPEAKER 2: Why did my family…? SPEAKER 1: [Unintelligible – 00:08:38]… settled here. First of all, I have to say, it's a lot of people to keep track of. So even though you may have said something at the beginning − for example, you may have said [unintelligible – 00:08:48] in Leominster, I just… sorry about that if I'm asking you a question that maybe you answered a little bit. SPEAKER 2: Okay. SPEAKER 1: But I really want to know, why is it that your particular family settled in Fitchburg or Leominster? Did they follow another relative or was it because of work or…? SPEAKER 2: I wish I knew all of that. SPEAKER 1: Mm-hmm. SPEAKER 2: My paternal grandparents were in Leominster. And my maternal grandparents were in Boston. But when people were coming here from Italy, my grandmother… I don't know what you would call her in this day and age. But she was the one that people went to, for some reason. And I don't know whether she had been established, maybe, for a few years − and most of the people that came from a [unintelligible - 00:09:50] settled in Leominster, on Lincoln Terrace. And that's the first house that I remember my grandparents being in. When my parents were married, they moved to Leominster. I guess it was the woman's place to move to wherever her husband was. And both my grandfather and my dad were 5 employed at Dupont. And then my dad went on… I think in 1937, was the first detective police officer in Leominster, part-time for two years. And then in 1939 was promoted to a full-time position. They had to pass the Civil Service Test and all that went with it. SPEAKER 1: Italian Citizens Club helped him with that? SPEAKER 2: I remember him studying for it as a child, even – though I'm not certain of that. But I do know he belonged to Italian social clubs − the Salvini Club up on Lincoln Terrace; going to the Elks and the Knights, and all of those things. I really can't speak to that. I was too young; I was only maybe five years old. PELINO: Because my family was kind of mixed, in that my father's family were all in Corfinio, Italy. On my mother's side, her parents came to the United States in the early 1900s and settled around Everett, Massachusetts. And my grandmother had her six children all born in Everett. My mother was one of them. But then after the first World War, my grandmother went back to Italy, went back to Corfinio, with all of her children; taking all of them with her, primarily to take care of her father, who was alone at the time. He was… so she went back to the family homestead, so to speak, in Corfinio. And that's where my mother and her brother and sisters, you know, grew up. At the time that they went back to Italy, they were – some of them six years old, eight years old, in that range. And my mother grew up and got married. Met my father and got married in late 1930s in Corfinio. And then after the war, we came to the United States. That was in 1949. And we went to Cokeburg, Pennsylvania. My mother had a great uncle who lived in Cokeburg and he had a small business. He had a bar room and a restaurant, you know, combination. Coal mining was the way that people make their living in that area unless you own some small business or perhaps you own land and farmed. So my father went to work in a coal mine. At that time, the mines went on strike. They were out for three to six months. It was a very difficult time. And my great uncle suggested to my parents that we should come to Leominster. We had 6 other relatives here. My grandmother had a brother living here in Leominster. And one of my mother's sisters − my aunt, who came in 1949 − settled here in Leominster. So he suggested that for the betterment of the family, for greater opportunity, we should move to Leominster, which we did, in 1950; and the family's been here ever since. That's how we came in to settle in Leominster. That was all on my mother's side. My father's family is still all in Italy. SPEAKER 1: Now in 1950, how old were you? PELINO: At that time I was 11 years old. I came in 1949; I was nine. I came early; I believe it was February 1 when we landed. I can't remember the name of the ship, but they were sister ships, I remember that. One was the Vulcania, and the other was the Saturnia. And I believe I came on the Vulcania; that was quite a trip − have a lot of fond memories about it, my first cruise [laughter]. JOE: Was it in the winter or the summertime…? PELINO: It was winter. SPEAKER 2: Sure. I'm real curious to know where – which port you came in to. Was it Boston or was it…? PELINO: New York. SPEAKER 2: Okay. JOE: Oh, yeah. SPEAKER 2: See, that's the thing. I don't know where my grandparents came in… PELINO: Oh, I can remember the ship going to Canada and making a stop and letting some people off in Canada, because that was another, you know, port of entry. But then it did go down to New York and that's where we landed. JOE: Pelino went to Pennsylvania. They couldn't pronounce his name so they called him Paul [unintelligible - 00:15:04]. So when he came to Leominster, he said it was Paul [unintelligible - 00:15:07].7 PELINO: That's true. That's true. My uncle changed my name to Paul Marshall. I have report cards… I had report cards with that name. But coming to Leominster and registering here, I went back to my given name. SPEAKER 1: Now why did he suggest that? PELINO: That was a funny story. I never knew until in the mid-50s, he came to visit, you know, the family here. And particularly, his brother that I mentioned, lived in Leominster. And I asked him. I said, "Uncle Frank, how come you changed my name?" And he said, "Well, you know, this is, you know, the land of opportunity. You could be almost anything you want to be. And someday you could grow up and be a lawyer, or you could be a doctor or whatever, and you're going to have your name on the door. And people are going to come by and see that long name, they're going to be afraid to pronounce it and they're not going to come in." [Laughter] That was his answer. I said, "How come you never changed yours? And he wouldn't answer that question [laughter]. But he was a wonderful man. He married − around 1935 – he married a lady from Yugoslavia. And the small town of Cokeburg had a number of ethnic groups, Serbians, Croatians, all regions of what we know as Yugoslavia; Polish, Russian, Italians, of course. And they all had their social clubs, you know, just like we found here in Leominster. But they all congregated − and my uncle's one of them – in a bar room, particularly on Friday nights, which was payday. So you heard all kinds of… all kinds of languages. And my aunt, Pauline, actually spoke − not only English and Italian, which she spoke much better than I ever did − but also a little bit of Russian, Polish, you name it. And she picked it up, you know, from working in the restaurant, in the bar room. And one of my best friends was a Croatian. His name was Sam. And I don't think I ever had anybody in my life that I was closest to and who influenced me more as a friend than Sam. And I only knew him for about a year and a half. SPEAKER 1: The bar room was in Pennsylvania then, not Leominster.8 PELINO: Yes, right. He was in Pennsylvania. And like I said, it was one of, you know, a number of ethnic little clubs. SPEAKER 1: Mm-hmm. JOE: [Unintelligible - 00:17:54]. My four grandparents came for family. They wanted a new life. My mother's family went to New York − to Rome, New York. Rome is a very highly populated Italian population. And then they migrated to Pittsfield, Mass.; GE was flourishing… Actually they were in the grocery business; Italian imported and [unintelligible - 00:18:23] goods. My father's family in Leominster migrated to Leominster because of family and got involved with plastics; DuPont's – my father later started his own factory. When I went in the Army and I came out thinking I was going to be a millionaire because I was going to take over this plastics factory, but he sold it to buy a bar. Then my grandfather was out of work and he wanted to put him to work, so he bought a bar and he worked the days and my father worked the nights. But we spent most of our lives in Leominster. I call Leominster home even though I was born in Pittsfield, grew up across [unintelligible - 00:19:10]. My father's a cop would watch over us at downtown and give me a good [unintelligible - 00:19:15] go home and [unintelligible - 00:19:17]. Because if he would have crossed the street and said [unintelligible - 00:19:19] and Dominic, I [unintelligible - 00:19:21] around downtown, they took care of that. Going to the public schools as a young Italian kid in the beginning was a little difficult, you know. And the good thing was that the area, Leominster in those days was set up in ethnic sections − the Italian section, the Irish section, the Protestant section. So you were comfortable in that way, okay. Eventually, we started to play ball against the other sections of town and that broke the ice, and you made friends with the kids from different sectors, the Irish section; and intermarriage started to happen. And all of my brothers and I married outside the Italian culture, maybe…9 SPEAKER 2: That was a no-no. That was a big no-no. JOE: It was a big no-no. You didn't marry outside your culture in those days. That just didn't happen. But as I say, as things went on and we played ball together. We went to school together. We went to college together. That kind of broke that ice and people intermarried. I say we had a bar – we were given the opportunity. We made the opportunity to start our own businesses, okay? My brother went into a very successful semiconductor business. Now the industry is on 128; it's huge… major, major. He retired young, okay. My son owns four agencies − insurance agencies − in town. He started one and bought three. So opportunity was there if you wanted to take it and there was a tremendous desire on the part of all the people that I knew − my best friends all wanted to either be in business, or be in education. We had some tremendous people who were Italian. I can think of Christine [unintelligible - 00:21:13] was my first Italian teacher that I had in Lincoln School. I had her for two years in a row. We went fourth and fifth grade in the same room and then we went… SPEAKER 2: She was the second Italian teacher in Leominster. There's Mary McCall and Christine [unintelligible - 00:21:27]. JOE: I didn't realize that. Then she became Mrs. Mcgrall; she married [unintelligible - 00:21:31]. JOE: That's right. JOE: And he had a business, Mr. Mcgrall. SPEAKER 2: Yes. JOE: But I became… and she took a liking to me and I would run all her errands, go down to the store, buy her lunch and that kind of stuff; but it got me kind of enthused towards education. And I liked the aspect of working with kids and doing things that I liked people doing for me. So while I got out – actually, when I got out… I went to school; all my friends were joining the Army. So I got out of school, went home, told my mother that, "Mom, I'm going into the Army." I was getting ready for the 10 football season. She almost passed out. But when I got out, I got married. And I had a new aspect, a new view on life; so I worked – I went to school 8:00 in the morning with Pelino. We went together and I would go to [unintelligible - 00:22:28] at 3:00 and work to 11:00. And I did this for four years; I had two children. And my wife is Irish and [Swedish] and she could cook good Italian [unintelligible - 00:22:40]. SPEAKER 2: Did you speak English when you started school? JOE: Yes, yes. I figure a little Italian… in fact, the good thing for the parents in those days, that they could speak Italian and say things and you didn't know, so that the – and that was common in all families. [Laughter] My friends, most of my friends, don't speak Italian, and that's sad. I did take Italian when we were [unintelligible - 00:22:59] high school, three years of Italian. I'm not sure I learned a lot for long. I did plenty to get by, got good marks and so forth, but don't think that I recall [unintelligible - 00:23:10] but I don't know [unintelligible - 00:23:11]. And I'm very sad about that. SPEAKER 3: It's a matter of not using it, you know. (FEMALE VOICE) JOE: Exactly. SPEAKER 3: And I went… I took lessons from Vinny. JOE: I'm very jealous of people who… You did, huh? SPEAKER 3: Yes, I did. JOE: [Unintelligible - 00:23:23] night school, right? SPEAKER 3: When my mother was here we get [unintelligible - 00:23:27]. Yeah, we had a great time. JOE: I'm very sad about that. I never used it and then never kept it, you know. It was like Geometry, if you didn't use it, you lost it. And that's true today. And I wish I could have passed it on to my four children and my grandchildren, you know, and I can't do that. SPEAKER 3: I agree. JOE: And none of them speak a second language, which just too bad.11 SPEAKER 4: It's amazing. Do you mind my breaking in? (FEMALE VOICE) JOE: No. SPEAKER 4: I knew you loved it. I hate [unintelligible - 00:23:52]. [Laughter] [PELINO]: You know her well, don't you? SPEAKER 4: Maybe 12 years difference in age, right, between Joe and me? And yet, when I went to school and all of my friends didn't speak English − so within 10 years, he's going to school now… JOE: That's true [unintelligible - 00:24:11]. That's true. But you know, I can remember − I think Jeannie talked about it [unintelligible - 00:24:17]. Leominster had about five, maybe more, Italian clubs. The Calabrese, the [unintelligible - 00:24:24] and my dad belonged to a couple, as you said yours did. And every Sunday, off we would go with my father to the club and they would play cards, and they would drink wine. And my father would come home with a homemade bottle of wine; it was like somebody gave him a thousand dollars. He had a homemade bottle of wine and it bought – that was his, okay. But that's – and the people that I met in those days, the kids are still my best friends today. It was ties; there were ties, neighborhood ties and club ties − and they never got broken. PELINO: No, I had Mrs. Mcgrall too. She was my first teacher when we moved to Leominster. And I got a little Mrs. Mcgrall story. First day, I got there, registered. He said to me now, "Now, Pelino, school starts at quarter past eight." I said, "Yes, Mrs. Mcgrall." And we don't live too far away, [unintelligible - 00:25:24] right around the corner from Lincoln School. And so that first morning, I showed up about 8:23 and she called me inside and said, "Pelino, you're late." I said, "Really?" She said, "Yes, school starts at quarter past eight." I said, "Okay, Mrs. Mcgrall, I'll be here." The next morning I showed up about 8:20. She pulled me aside again. "Pelino, you're late." "Mrs. Mcgrall, I promise, I'll be here on time." The third morning, I got there about 8:17 and she said, "Pelino, I 12 don't know what to do with you. I talked to you twice already. School starts at 8:15." And the minute she said 8:15, the light dawned on me. To me, quarter was 25, because I first learned 25 cents. You learn money first, right Vinny? [Laughter] So up until that moment, I didn't make the connection that quarter, you know, quarter of an hour was 15 minutes. I thought I was in plenty of time. I don't know why she's [unintelligible - 00:26:28] every morning. [Laughter] But it was a funny experience; but we're a Southeast school and we have the bilingual program. You know the—Vinny remembers—that was one of the things that I – having learned that. You're a little bit more sensitive to other ethnic groups, okay, and their particular cultural backgrounds, so that you're not quick to judge them based on your standards. That was a lesson for me; and another lesson was always talking to the kids and having them look at me. And if they didn't, you know, my finger would go under their chin, you know, I'm talking to you, you know, look at me. Until one of the bilingual teachers explained to me that in their culture, that's disrespectful to look at the adults' eyes when they're talking to you. And it – you know, something entirely different from what I was used to. I was looking for respect from the youngster by having the youngster look at me, and I was asking him to do something that was disrespectful to his culture. And it's one of the things that was not very helpful, you know, years later in helping the classroom teachers and others adjust to different ethnic groups. JOE: You asked a while ago if I spoke Italian or took Italian. I started the first bilingual program when [unintelligible - 00:27:57] down the Southeast school in 1972. PELINO: Seventy-two, 72. JOE: Okay. But when I was going to school, it was the desire of an Italian family to have their kids speak English; no bilingual education, okay? And it annoys me today that we are still having people fight to save their culture. Oh, I want to save the Italian culture. And I think the Irish people should have their culture. But I also feel that you've got to give in to the 13 flow of civilization and what's happening. And we had to speak English, okay? We had to go to school. Now, if I may put it crudely, if I felt lousy, you know, my mother would say, "Go to the bathroom and go to school." That was it. You went to school, okay? Today, if there is a little headache or a big test or something, the kids don't come to school. If it rains, lots of kids don't come to the school. That's the advantage I think we had over today's youth, okay? I have to tell my own children, you get those kids to school. That's your main job, you know. They cry about getting sick, you always can go get them out; you [unintelligible - 00:29:09]. SPEAKER 1: So what's the intent of bilingual education, initially? JOE: It's to teach kids English, but written in to the law was the fact that they had to have so many hours of their culture each day, okay? We didn't have that. The culture was… is the one that you decided to live in, okay? We decided to live in Leominster, in United States of America, who spoke English, okay, and you were going to speak English, okay. I said the only advantage of Italian in my family is my parents can speak and talk about us and we didn't know it. SPEAKER 3: They all do. JOE: I guess it's coming back now, because they're going to change that [battle] of the law but it took 28, 29 years, okay? SPEAKER 1: So was the intent to keep it for a short period of time? JOE: I think so. SPEAKER 1: And then to grow out of it, so to speak? [PELINO]: [Unintelligible - 00:30:05] maximum of three years. SPEAKER 3: Three years, I thought. JOE: Three years? VINCENT: The program was conditional… JOE: Right, right. VINCENT: Bilingual education, so I guess the first thing is that you have to allow for a transition. And sometimes in transition they take one, two, three years, 14 and sometimes it may take a lifetime. Of course, everything has got to be within certain limits, because money is involved, because people's feelings are involved. And you kind of strike a balance between what some people want and what the necessities of the system dictate, I think. SPEAKER 4: The other thing too is that I think it's shifted from being primarily Spanish-type bilingual education. And then we had this whole influx of Asians come in and how were we adapting to that − that was a big transition. And I don't know what role bilingual education played for them. JOE: But there wasn't such a thing, though, as bilingual education. SPEAKER 3: Not when we went to school. JOE: When the Italian who came from Italy… SPEAKER 4: That's right. JOE: Or the Italian kid grew up in an Italian household where the parents spoke Italian, there were no such thing as bilingual education. You go to school; you learn how to speak English. And that was it. SPEAKER 1: Is it possible that the other ethnic groups now coming in have assimilated more quickly because they don't have bilingual education [unintelligible - 00:31:36] Spanish? JOE: I hope so. The only answer I can give you is, I hope so; because they're going find out their success is going to come quicker. PELINO: Okay, I think that Vinny said it well, what he said [unintelligible - 00:31:48] was transitional bilingual education. And there is a transition that needs to take place. In my own experience, while I very quickly picked up, let's say, the street language, I was able to converse, you know, very quickly, inside of three, four months. Part of that was the fact that I spent my first summer with one of my great aunts in Michigan City, Indiana. And she had a nephew that came to visit that summer, who was also nine years old; you know, my age. She didn't speak any Italian. Her nephew did not. My uncle had his own business selling Italian grocery products and did a lot of traveling, so I spent the whole day with her and 15 her nephew Floyd; go to the beach every day, every couple of weeks. We saved up enough money from cashing in bottles and cans. She would take us to Chicago, and, you know, go to a museum. I remember the stockyards; huge, huge. I couldn't believe how big the stockyards were at the time. So I assimilated the English language quickly, but only in terms of being able to speak in everyday terms, okay. School was a different matter. And I think this is partly what, you know, Vinny is speaking about in that I had to − similar to what he… he used his other foreign languages to translate into English − okay, I was doing the same thing in Italian. It wasn't until the 7th Grade, in junior high school, that I was finally able to read a Science or Mathematics problem in English and think in English. Prior to that time, I read it in English. If Jean was my teacher, I could read that book, just like I can read Latin; doesn't mean I understand it but I can read it. I can pronounce, okay. The fact was that it wasn't until then that I was actually doing my thinking in English. Prior to that, my thought process was in Italian and it was slower; because I had to read it in English or hear what the person was saying in English, translate it internally into Italian, get the answer or get the understanding, and then send it back out in English. One of the differences, as Jean mentioned, some of the other ethnic groups is that they have an advantage in that they're smaller in numbers, okay. They also come with, perhaps, some different priorities. And the… most people in the area associate bilingual education with Hispanics. But that's only because that particular language group is here. If you go in to Boston, Vinny would tell you they probably have a couple dozen of bilingual programs in all kinds of languages, okay, because they have the population that required that and the program that was needed to support that population. There is a need for a transition. I know of family members, I know of others who came and, you know, you were drawn into school, sink or swim, immersion. That's the term they use, immersion, okay. And I was able to survive that; but there are others that did not. I 16 think if we think back into our own families and we go back and think long enough, we'll find a number of people who, because of that immersion − because perhaps the support wasn't there at home to say that education is a priority for you, I want you to succeed, that's your future.− it became easier sometimes because of family need or whatever, everybody else, they drop out of school and go to work to help support the family. And there was a lot of that that happened. If anything, the transitional bilingual education program helps to keep kids in school. We don't gain anything. The individual doesn't gain. The family doesn't gain. Society doesn't gain when anybody drops out of school. I mean we [unintelligible - 00:36:07] you that. Nobody gains by that experience. And I think that anything we can do to keep kids in school, you know, for the full term is going to pay dividends. And if bilingual education, you know, comes with a cost, − yes it does; and it should be transitional − but as Vinny said, you know, some people can do it in one year and we used to get kids out of the program in a year; some took two, most took three. We had very few that stayed beyond the four year – the three years. As a matter of fact, it was school committee policy; as Assistant Superintendent, I would have to present the case to the school committee and ask them to allow, upon recommendation of the Bilingual Director and the teachers and the principal, to allow youngsters to stay in their program for longer than three years. And I never made any request more than three or four or five in any given year, out of over a hundred, 120, 130 kids in the bilingual program. So you know there has to be a balance. Yes, I understand, you know… where Joe and others are coming from. I have the same feelings. You fear as an individual, you need to make an effort to assimilate into the society. I mean that's why you're here. SPEAKER 2: [Unintelligible - 00:37:20]. JOE: But you need to keep your own culture too. I'm sorry, the same way that you are that my kids don't speak Italian. That's my fault.17 SPEAKER 2: Yes, yes. They're with more pressure. VINCENT(?): [Unintelligible - 00:37:31] okay. JOE: Now my grandparents [unintelligible - 00:37:36]. Okay, because and you ask, why did they come to Leominster, why did they come to Pittsfield? Because family was there! There wasn't such a thing as aid welfare, okay. Families took care of families; so it was important that they learned quickly so they can go out and work, can make their money and get their own apartment. There were very few Italian people those days owned their own home, you know; families – if you lost your job, you moved in with a sister or brother, with your family, and you'd share. So the need to learn was much quicker then. Today, you sign up, you get welfare, you get relief. And for some that's very important, I understand that, okay? But we also have maybe taken away incentive for some of these people. We make it too easy for some. VINCENT: You know, it's very interesting to notice that these problems that the United States have been experiencing for maybe the past 20 or 30 years are now occurring all over the world. I mentioned that my niece was visiting from Italy just this summer and it was tied to all the terrorist happenings. So she was able to visit many areas in the United States very freely, without hindrance, which would probably not be the case now. But talking to her, she would mention that even in Italy, there are a lot of immigrants; Albania, for instance, from North Africa. And these are people that say we know our rights. They pitch their tent in the public square and they're expecting the municipal services to provide for them. And of course, one of the complaints was that you couldn't hear the church bells because they had their loudspeakers announcing the Muslim rituals of prayer every so many hours. And there too, you have a clash of cultures. Of course, they wouldn't come to Italy if they weren't looking for a little better life than what they had where they left. And what are you going to do with them? You have to take care of the children, make sure they go to school, make sure that you could teach them in whatever 18 language they're using. Now I'm sure that the resources are smaller in a country like Italy. They're not the same as the resources that are available in a country like United States − and yet the problem is there. And if you don't want to have problems like they have in the Balkan countries or in the Middle East, you have to try to accommodate these different cultures the best way you can. And I think education, although it will not solve all the problems, if you can keep the kids in school and if the kids can get along with other kids, Albanian, Italian, from Morocco, from Algeria, from Tunis, whatever, then maybe you wouldn't have a kind of topsy-turvy world that we're presented with or that we have to cope with. So this idea of education, in a narrow sense, yes, it's important to a certain ethnic cultural entity. But in a larger sense, the world is very small now. Email goes everywhere. CNN and all the public media present you with pictures that you can't turn off. And maybe we don't have the skills just yet to cope with this kind of change, but we have to use what we have and do the best we can. And I think that maybe education is the place to start. You got to figure out what do those people need. Well, they need a job and they need to make money. And they need to have a sense of self-worth. If you tell them that, you know, that in your country, new laws apply; they should go to church, not to a mosque. Well, then you start to challenge them at their very core and you started to develop resentment. And you can't do that anymore, because even though you may have the might, there are people that if you put them or their shoulder against the wall, just like an animal which can't escape, they'll do anything that may destroy themselves in the process but will harm you; and at all cost, you want to avoid that. So that's the way I see education as a central issue for the world. It may not solve all the problems, but it sure is a good start. SPEAKER 5: It's a common denominator. In the same way that Joe talked about breaking down some of the barriers between the state of French and the Italians. There were sports, okay. The minute they started to integrate to athletics and then you made friends, you know, from the different ethnic 19 groups and that started to break down the barriers. And in the larger sense, education I think, you know, serves in the same way. We have much more common in this world than we have differences. And maybe Vincent is right. We just don't have the skills yet, perhaps, and the knowledge not to recognize that or deal with it. SPEAKER 1: But it also seems to be a logistical nightmare and financially impossible to offer bilingual education to all ethnic groups, so where do we go from here? PELINO: Well, those are the limitations. SPEAKER 5: It boils down to people who are called legislators, telling us what to do because it is popular with some people, okay. Educators don't go into factories and tell people how to run the electronics factory, okay? Bilingual education and all the laws that are coming out now are made by people who really don't know about education. MCast, I don't think educators are quote against MCast as such but they're against the fact that people are making the rules for MCast and they really don't know what they're looking for, okay. And that's what's happening and that's what's turning people off about education. Educate – legislators, they've got their fingers into education, much too much, and should leave it to the people who are trained to do it. PELINO: But the legislators are the ones that provide the resources. VINCENT: Unfortunate. PELINO: You know I can think of so many things, I'm sure all of us, the hundred plus billion dollars, billion dollars that we spent fighting the Gulf War − and that was a very brief period of time − I don't know who's going to tally up how much you know disengagement is going to cost. But there's a cost. And what happens is that the need is felt to be so immediate, whether it's a threat or whatever, that all kinds of resources and money go into it without really balancing isn't worth it. And I'm not saying it's not, okay. But we seem to respond to those kinds of crisis in an immediate way with all kinds of resources and yet when you look at education, when 20 you look at some of the other health, you know, human needs that people have, we don't see those problems with the same kind of immediacy…/AT/jf/mjv/mm
While it has become clear that communication is a monetary policy tool for central banks, and extensive research has been conducted on central bank communication with financial markets, little is known so far on central bank communication with the general public. Our research provides new insights into this field, confirming that the efforts of central banks to connect with people are not in vain. In a randomised controlled trial, we focus on the determinants of understanding and trust in the communication of the European Central Bank (ECB) about the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme, which was set up as part of the Bank's response to the Covid-19 crisis. Key findings include that the ECB's simplified and relatable communication contributes to increased understanding of the central bank among a wider public. The simplified content also has a positive impact on perceptions of the ECB among laypeople, indicating that building understanding of the ECB's communications can help build trust in the central bank. ; Alors que la communication est devenue un outil de politique monétaire des banques centrales, et qu'il existe une riche littérature sur la communication des banques centrales avec les marchés financiers, la communication des banques centrales avec le grand public a jusqu'alors été peu étudiée. Notre étude apporte de nouvelles perspectives dans ce domaine, confirmant que les efforts de communication des banques centrales avec le grand public ne sont pas vains. Dans un essai contrôlé randomisé, nous étudions les déterminants de la compréhension et de la confiance dans la communication de la Banque centrale européenne (BCE) sur le « Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme », créé par la BCE pour faire face à la crise du Covid-19. Les principaux résultats montrent qu'une communication simplifiée et adaptée de la BCE permet d'améliorer la compréhension d'un plus grand nombre. Le contenu simplifié a aussi un effet positif sur les perceptions que les non-experts ont de la BCE, indiquant que renforcer la compréhension dans la communication de la BCE peut renforcer la confiance dans la banque centrale.
While it has become clear that communication is a monetary policy tool for central banks, and extensive research has been conducted on central bank communication with financial markets, little is known so far on central bank communication with the general public. Our research provides new insights into this field, confirming that the efforts of central banks to connect with people are not in vain. In a randomised controlled trial, we focus on the determinants of understanding and trust in the communication of the European Central Bank (ECB) about the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme, which was set up as part of the Bank's response to the Covid-19 crisis. Key findings include that the ECB's simplified and relatable communication contributes to increased understanding of the central bank among a wider public. The simplified content also has a positive impact on perceptions of the ECB among laypeople, indicating that building understanding of the ECB's communications can help build trust in the central bank. ; Alors que la communication est devenue un outil de politique monétaire des banques centrales, et qu'il existe une riche littérature sur la communication des banques centrales avec les marchés financiers, la communication des banques centrales avec le grand public a jusqu'alors été peu étudiée. Notre étude apporte de nouvelles perspectives dans ce domaine, confirmant que les efforts de communication des banques centrales avec le grand public ne sont pas vains. Dans un essai contrôlé randomisé, nous étudions les déterminants de la compréhension et de la confiance dans la communication de la Banque centrale européenne (BCE) sur le « Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme », créé par la BCE pour faire face à la crise du Covid-19. Les principaux résultats montrent qu'une communication simplifiée et adaptée de la BCE permet d'améliorer la compréhension d'un plus grand nombre. Le contenu simplifié a aussi un effet positif sur les perceptions que les non-experts ont de la BCE, indiquant que renforcer la compréhension dans la communication de la BCE peut renforcer la confiance dans la banque centrale.
Section one of the papers provides a brief overview of the relationship between the Sahel region of Africa and climate variability trends and predictions, ultimately posing the primary research question of the study: Is the Sahel region more likely to have a higher probability of conflict and migration as a result of climate change and climate change-related events? In section two, research and analysis aim to identify causal paths between climate change, migration, and conflict via structural equation modeling focusing on recent climate change trends in the Africa and Sahel regions, particularly changes in temperature and rainfall, and analyzing the consequences of this climate variabil¬ity, namely migration and conflict. Section three brings the aspect of youth into the analysis, arguing that youth living in the rural Sahel region will likely find themselves particularly vulnerable to in¬creased climate change and variability, which will have direct and indirect implications on the security and livelihoods of these individuals. The paper explores the past, current and predicted issues faced by rural Sahel youth affected by the impacts of climate change, such as chronic unemployment and engagement in the illicit sector due to rural to urban migration from regions affected by drought, desertification and resource scarcity. The final section of the paper offers policy recommen¬dations for addressing negative climate-change related consequences through two key paths of intervention: (i) climate change adaptation measures and (ii) conflict and crime prevention measures.
Mención Internacional en el título de doctor ; Ciberespacio: la última frontera. Aquí es donde empieza la nueva misión de los juristas en buscar nuevas formas de ejercicio de los derechos humanos. Afortunadamente, no es una misión de ciencia ficción, sino un desafío real, actual y lleno de oportunidades. Consideramos que es el mejor momento para proponer esta tesis e iniciar un trabajo de investigación sobre la dinámica del derecho en la era de las nuevas tecnologías. La tesis está fundamentada en la investigación de este nuevo espacio donde ha entrado el ser humano, titular de los derechos y libertades fundamentales. Como cualquier entorno nuevo, despierta la curiosidad, la necesidad de explorar, pero también la necesidad de estar seguro. El ser humano está programado genéticamente para proteger su vida, integridad y libertad en cualquier entorno, tanto físico como virtual. La ciberseguridad es un tema nuevo, que empezó a fomentar los debates solo desde 1988. Estados, empresas privadas y especialistas se dieron cuenta rápidamente de la necesidad de regular este campo, incluso adaptando el derecho internacional a las nuevas realidades. Los conflictos, eventos frecuentes en la sociedad humana, han migrado rápidamente del espacio físico al espacio virtual, al igual que las armas. Los virus informáticos, las aplicaciones invasivas y el software de espionaje sustituyen a las armas y herramientas de guerra clásicas. Las medidas de seguridad propuestas e implementadas por las autoridades estatales con responsabilidades en el ámbito de la seguridad nacional, así como por empresas privadas que desarrollan programas para combatir ciberataques, basados en medidas de ciber espionaje o hack-back1, se adaptan a los nuevos desafíos tecnológicos, pero evitan solucionar problemas importantes para el individuo como el respeto a sus derechos fundamentales, cuyo reconocimiento y regulación le han costado años de lucha y fundamentación filosófico-legal. En este contexto, cuando la vida del ciudadano se traslada, cada vez más al espacio virtual con todos sus elementos - banca por internet, telemedicina, información e investigación de fuentes digitales, comercio electrónico, citas virtuales, realidad virtual - se deben proponer medidas para proteger el ciberespacio que pueden ser diseñadas en correlación directa con las medidas de seguridad aplicadas en el entorno offline. Si el entorno offline está claramente determinado, y hay actores con papeles muy claros (estados, territorios administrativos, instituciones con responsabilidades en el campo de la seguridad y protección de los ciudadanos, etc.), el espacio virtual sigue siendo una jungla, sin límites conocidos y con incipientes formas de órganos de control, que deberían proteger a los usuarios vulnerables para no ser víctimas de los manipuladores digitales. En este momento, las Naciones Unidas a través de sus comisiones y grupos de expertos, ha asumido el papel de garante de los derechos humanos en el ciberespacio, interpretando las disposiciones de los tratados internacionales y elaborando recomendaciones, para ciber conflictos y alianzas entre Estados y grandes empresas con control tecnológico sobre Internet, tanto en términos de contenido como de conexiones informáticas. A nivel de la Unión Europea, el papel de las instituciones comunitarias, bien definido en el proceso de desarrollo y aplicación de las normas jurídicas, permite diseñar un marco jurídico coherente para la política de ciberseguridad, asegurando un sistema de protección eficaz basado en la cooperación entre los Estados miembros, al mismo tiempo con una protección efectiva de los derechos individuales en el entorno virtual. La tradición democrática de los estados europeos contribuye a la identificación de soluciones viables con respecto a la libertad del ciberespacio y la importancia del individuo en la sociedad. El surgimiento y el fortalecimiento del papel de ENISA en la política europea de ciberseguridad, ofrece la ventaja de estandarizar, centralizar y explotar de manera coherente los datos comunicados por los Estados miembros con el fin de desarrollar normativas bien fundamentadas. Asimismo, esta tesis estudia algunas categorías de derechos fundamentales para descubrir la forma en que se ven influenciados por la nueva realidad de la vida cotidiana. El entorno en el que se ha estudiado y conceptualizado estos derechos a lo largo de la historia, hasta la confirmación en diversos instrumentos de derecho internacional, ha cambiado profundamente. Las amenazas comienzan a ser diversas, y para los juristas no especializados en informática, es un gran reto identificar las brechas en los mecanismos informáticos que garanticen y protejan los derechos fundamentales cuando el individuo actúa en el entorno online. Es posible que la generación de juristas nativos digitales se haga cargo del trabajo de los juristas adaptados digitalmente y sea capaz de construir un sistema legal aplicable a este nuevo entorno de vida del individuo. Esto será posible solo dentro de 10 años, cuando la nueva generación creada en la era de las nuevas tecnologías, posea la capacidad de analizar y proponer soluciones legales. La investigación se centra en el derecho a la privacidad y los elementos que lo componen, siendo considerado como uno de los derechos fundamentales más vulnerables en el entorno online. Los derechos derivados, como el derecho al nombre, la identidad, el honor, la dignidad y la integridad física se están transformando y adquiriendo nuevos valores en la era de las nuevas tecnologías. Algunos de estos derechos se transforman, se trasladan al ciberespacio, se adhieren al ser virtual y se convierten en derechos digitales, propios del nuevo entorno social. En el contenido de la tesis se desarrolló un capítulo dedicado a esta nueva categoría de derechos en el que se intenta establecer sus contenidos y las formas de manifestación. Con respecto a los mecanismos necesarios para garantizar el ejercicio de los derechos y libertades fundamentales, el trabajo analiza los distintos niveles de protección: desde el nivel supranacional (internacional), hasta el regional y nacional, específico de cada Estado. Los mecanismos institucionales y jurisdiccionales están organizados en gran medida de acuerdo con las mismas reglas, guiándose por las regulaciones internacionales sobre derechos humanos, en particular, continuando con las regulaciones a nivel regional y estatal. En el nuevo contexto tecnológico, es necesario revisar dichos mecanismos para que mantengan la misma eficiencia deseada en el momento de su creación. Un punto importante de la investigación consiste en el análisis de las restricciones aplicadas a los derechos humanos bajo el imperio de la Ley. Sin referirse a las injerencias ilegales, sino analizamos la injerencia permitida por la ley, especialmente en nombre de la seguridad colectiva. Seguidamente, se muestran los debates y análisis destinados a establecer el punto de equilibrio entre la importancia de un derecho fundamental u otro. Tanto el derecho a la vida privada como el derecho a la seguridad se consideran fundamentales, pero no absolutos. Desde esta perspectiva, se deben establecer límites claros para que la protección de uno no afecte la integridad del otro. Los Estados a veces imponen medidas excesivamente restrictivas del derecho a la privacidad en nombre de la seguridad nacional, y el ciberespacio es el entorno adecuado para tales prácticas. Cualquier práctica de este tipo, situada a uno de los dos extremos, ya sea muy invasiva en la esfera personal o ineficaz desde una perspectiva de seguridad, debe ser reevaluada y relacionada con los derechos humanos, tanto desde una perspectiva individual como colectiva. Por ejemplo, el derecho a la vida privada o el derecho a la seguridad del ser humano puede, dentro de límites razonables, restringir el derecho de otra persona a expresarse o manifestar ciertas necesidades mentales en el espacio digital. Teniendo en cuenta los objetivos propuestos al principio, aplicando los métodos de investigación correspondientes y analizando la literatura, el marco normativo vigente y la jurisprudencia en derechos humanos, esta tesis identifica y enfatiza la interacción entre los derechos humanos fundamentales y los efectos sociales de las nuevas tecnologías, incluyendo las consecuencias sobre los derechos conexos. En este contexto particularmente dinámico, el mayor desafío para la nueva generación de juristas será adaptar el marco legal actual, a las nuevas realidades del mundo digital. Dado que las normas de derecho que rigen nuestra vida cotidiana han evolucionado lentamente y durante un largo período de tiempo, la rápida evolución tecnológica y la migración del individuo al espacio virtual requieren una urgente adaptación del marco legal a las nuevas realidades para que la Ley pueda mantener su misión de guardián del bienestar público. Además, esta nueva pandemia, origina y causa inciertos ampliamente cuestionado en el entorno online, ha provocado una restricción en masa de los derechos humanos similar a la última guerra mundial. Se ha restringido el derecho a la: libertad de circulación, manifestación, reunión, expresión, educación, trabajo e incluso el derecho a buscar la felicidad. Por la limitación de estos derechos la gente, por temor al enemigo invisible e incomprendido, aceptó sin oposición la mayor parte todas estas injerencias de las autoridades en su vida privada y en el conjunto de sus libertades fundamentales. Solo pequeños grupos de activistas continúan luchando por defender sus derechos fundamentales. No sabemos si este evento global llamado pandemia COVID 19 reescribirá la historia de los derechos fundamentales, pero es cierto que su impacto en el ámbito de las libertades individuales ha tenido un efecto muy fuerte e inquietante con respecto a otra transformación, incluida la revolución tecnológica. En estas condiciones, nos queda una única opción o desafío: defender al individuo, con todos sus atributos, en una sociedad dinámica, caracterizada por transformaciones atípicas. ; Spațiul cibernetic – ultima frontieră. Aici începe misiunea juriștilor în căutarea noilor forme de exercitare a drepturilor omului. Din fericire, nu este o misiune science- fiction, ci este o provocare reală, actuală și plină de oportunități. Consider că am ales cel mai bun moment pentru a propune această teza și a iniția o muncă de cercetare asupra dinamicii dreptului în era noilor tehnologii. Această eră este abia la început. Lucrarea de față pornește de la cercetarea acestui nou spațiu în care a pătruns ființa umană deținătoare a drepturilor și libertăților fundamentale. Ca orice mediu nou, stârnește curiozitatea, nevoia de a explora dar și nevoia de a fi în siguranță. Ființa umană este programată genetic să își protejeze viața, integritatea și libertatea în orice mediu s-ar afla, atât fizic cât și virtual. Securitatea spațiului cibernetic este o temă nouă, se discută despre acest subiect abia din anul 1988. Statele, companiile private și specialiștii au conștientizat rapid necesitatea reglementării acestui domeniu, inclusiv prin adaptarea dreptului internațional la noile realități. Conflictele, evenimente frecvente în societatea umană, au migrat rapid din spațiul fizic în spațiul virtual, la fel și armele. Virușii informatici, aplicațiile intruzive, softurile de spionaj iau locul clasicelor arme și unelte de război. Măsurile de securitate propuse și implementate de autoritățile statale cu atribuții în domeniul securității naționale, cât și de companiile private care dezvoltă programe de combatere a atacurilor cibernetice, bazate pe spionaj cibernetic sau măsuri de tipul hack-back se adaptează noilor provocări tehnologice, dar ocolesc teme importante pentru individ cum ar fi respectarea drepturilor sale fundamentale, a căror recunoaștere și reglementare au costat ani buni de luptă și fundamentare filosofico-juridică. În contextul în care viața cetățeanului migrează din ce în ce mai mult către spațiul virtual, cu toate elementele ei – internet banking, telemedicină, informare și cercetare din surse digitale, comerț electronic, virtual dating, virtual reality – măsurile de protecție a spațiului cibernetic trebuie gândite în directă corelare cu măsurile de securitate aplicate în mediul off-line. Dacă mediul off-line este clar determinat și există actori cu roluri clare (state, teritorii administrative, instituții cu atribuții în domeniul securității și siguranței cetățeanului etc.), spațiul virtual este încă o junglă, fără limite cunoscute și cu organisme XIV de supraveghere în stadiu incipient de dezvoltare care ar trebui să poată proteja utilizatorii vulnerabili în cazul în care devin victime ale unor manipulatori digitali. La acest moment Organizația Națiunilor Unite, prin comisiile și grupurile de experți, și-a asumat rolul de garant al drepturilor omului în spațiul cibernetic, interpretând prevederile tratatelor internaționale și elaborând recomandări pentru conflictele cibernetice și parteneriatul dintre state și marile companii care dețin controlul tehnologic asupra Internetului, atât din perspectiva conținutului cât și al conexiunilor informatice. La nivelul Uniunii Europene, rolul instituțiilor comunitare, fiind bine definit în ceea ce privește elaborarea și implementarea normelor de drept, permite creionarea unui cadru legal coerent în ceea ce privește politica de securitate cibernetică, asigurarea unui sistem efectiv de protecție bazat pe cooperarea dintre statele membre, dar și protecția efectivă a drepturilor individuale în mediul online. Tradiția democratică a statelor europene contribuie la identificarea unor soluții viabile în ceea ce privește libertatea spațiului cibernetic și importanța individului în societate. Apariția și întărirea rolului ENISA în politica europeană de securitate cibernetică oferă avantajul uniformizării, centralizării și exploatării coerente a datelor raportate de statele membre în vederea elaborării unor reglementări corect fundamentate. Teza studiază și categoriile de drepturi fundamentale din perspectiva modului în care acestea se văd influențate de noua realitate a vieții cotidiene. Mediul în care aceste drepturi au fost studiate și conceptualizate de-a lungul istoriei până la momentul proclamării lor în diverse instrumente de drept internațional, s-a schimbat profund. Amenințările încep să fie altele decât cele cunoscute, iar pentru juriști, eminamente atehnici, este o mare provocare identificarea breșelor din mecanismele de garantare și protecție a drepturilor fundamentale atunci când individul acționează în mediul online. Este posibil ca generația juriștilor nativi digitali să preia munca juriștilor adaptați digitali și să poată construi un sistem legal aplicabil acestui nou mediu de viață al individului, dar acest lucru va fi posibil abia peste 10 ani când noua generație, născută în epoca noilor tehnologii, va avea capacitatea de a analiza și propune soluții juridice. Cercetarea s-a focalizat cu precădere asupra dreptului la viață privată și a elementelor care îl compun, considerat fiind ca unul dintre cele mai vulnerabile drepturi fundamentale în mediul on line. Drepturile derivate, precum dreptul la nume, la identitate, la onoare, la demnitate, la integritate fizică se transformă și capătă noi valențe în era noilor tehnologii. O parte dintre aceste drepturi se transformă, migrează în spațiul cibernetic, se atașează ființei virtuale și devin drepturi digitale, specifice noului mediul de viață socială. În cuprinsul tezei a fost dezvoltat un capitol dedicat acestei noi categorii de drepturi în care se încearcă stabilirea conținutului și a formei de manifestare. În ceea ce privește mecanismele de garantare a exercițiului drepturilor și libertăților fundamentale, lucrarea analizează diversele niveluri de protecție: de la nivelul suprastatal (internațional), la cel regional și cel național, specific fiecărui stat. Mecanismele instituționale și jurisdicționale se organizează în mare parte după aceleași reguli fiind ghidate de reglementările internaționale în materia drepturilor omului, cu precădere, continuând cu reglementările la nivel regional și statal. În noul context tehnologic, inclusiv aceste mecanisme necesită o revizuire astfel încât să își poată păstra eficiența dorită la momentul creării lor. Un punct important al lucrării îl reprezintă analiza restrângerilor aplicate drepturilor omului sub imperiul legii. Așadar nu ne referim la ingerințele aflate în sfera ilegalului, ci la ingerințele permise de lege, în special în numele securității colective. Aici apar dezbaterile și analizele care vizează stabilirea punctului de echilibru între importanța unui drept fundamental sau al altuia. Atât dreptul la viață privată, cât și dreptul la securitate sunt considerate fundamentale, dar nu absolute. Din această perspectivă, trebuie stabilite limite clare astfel încât protejarea unuia să nu afecteze integritatea celuilalt. Uneori statele stabilesc măsuri restrictive exagerate asupra dreptului la viață privată în numele securității naționale, iar spațiul cibernetic este mediul propice pentru acest gen de practici. Orice practică de acest gen, aflată la una dintre cele două extreme, fie intrusivă în sfera personală, fie ineficientă din perspectiva securității, trebuie reevaluată și corelată cu drepturile omului, atât din perspectivă individuală cât și colectivă. De exemplu, dreptul la viață privată sau dreptul la securitate al ființei umane poate restrânge, în limite rezonabile, dreptul altei persoane de a se exprima sau de a-și manifesta anumite nevoi psihice în spațiul digital. Ținând cont de obiectivele propuse, cu aplicarea metodelor de cercetare asumate și analizând literatura de specialitate, cadrul normativ în vigoare și jurisprudența referitoare la drepturile omului, această teză identifică și subliniază interacțiunea dintre drepturile fundamentale ale ființei umane și efectele sociale ale noilor tehnologii, inclusiv consecințele asupra drepturilor conexe. În acest context deosebit de dinamic, cea mai mare provocare pentru noua generație de juriști va fi adaptarea cadrului legal în vigoare la noile realități ale lumii digitale. În condițiile în care normele de drept care ne guvernează viața de zi cu zi au avut o evoluție lentă și extinsă pe o perioadă lungă de timp, evoluția tehnologică rapidă și migrarea individului în spațiul virtual impun o adaptare urgentă a cadrului legal la noile realități astfel încât norma de drept să își poată păstra misiunea de gardian al binelui public. Mai mult, această nouă pandemie, cu origini și cauze incerte, aprig dezbătute în mediul online, a determinat o restrângere în masă a drepturilor omului poate la fel de acerbă cu cea provocată de ultimul război mondial. Ne-au fost restrânse pe rând dreptul la libertatea de mișcare, dreptul la întruniri, dreptul la manifestări, dreptul la exprimare, dreptul la educație, dreptul la muncă și inclusiv dreptul la căutarea fericirii. Iar oamenii, de teama inamicului nevăzut și neînțeles, au acceptat în cea mai mare parte toate aceste ingerințe ale autorităților în viața lor privată și în cercul libertăților lor fundamentale. Grupuri mici de activiști continuă lupta de apărare a drepturilor lor fundamentale. Nu știm dacă acest eveniment global numit pandemie va rescrie istoria drepturilor fundamentale, dar cert este că impactul lui asupra sferei libertăților individuale a avut un efect mult mai abrupt și mai intrusiv decât orice altă transformare, inclusiv cea tehnologică. În aceste condiții, ne rămâne o singură opțiune: aceea de a apăra individul, cu toate atributele sale, într-o societate dinamică, caracterizată de transformări atipice. ; Cyberspace - the last frontier. This is where the mission of the lawyers begins: to search new forms of human rights manifestation. Fortunately, it is not a science-fiction mission, but a real, current and full of opportunities challenge. We consider that this is the best-chosen moment to propose this paper and to initiate a research work on the dynamics of law under the era of new technologies. Because this era has just begun. This thesis aims to explore this new space where the human being, holder of fundamental rights and freedoms, has entered. Like any new environment, the digital world arouses curiosity, engages the human need to explore but also activates the need to be safe. The human being is genetically programmed to protect his life, integrity and freedom in any type of environment, no matter if is real or virtual. Cybersecurity is a new topic; this topic has been brought in public debates only since 1988. States, private companies and specialists have quickly become aware of the need of regulation in this area, including by adapting international law to new realities. Conflicts, as frequent events in human society, have rapidly migrated from physical to the virtual space. The weapons as well. Cyber viruses, spyware, worms, malware took the place of the classic weapons and tools of war. The proposed security measures were implemented by state authorities with responsibilities in the field of national security, as well as by private companies. The efforts made to develop programs to fight against cyber-attacks, based on cyber espionage or hack-back measures, must be adapted to ever new technological challenges, but not forgetting the important issues for the individual human being, such the respect for his fundamental rights, whose recognition and regulation have cost years of legal struggle and philosophical debates. In this context, where the life of the citizen migrates more and more to the virtual space, with all its elements - internet banking, telemedicine, information and research from digital sources, electronic commerce, virtual dating, virtual reality – protective measures for cyberspace must designed in direct correlation with the security measures applied in the offline environment. If the offline environment is clearly determined, populated with actors playing key roles (states, administrative territories, institutions with responsibilities in the field of XVIII security and safety of citizens, etc.), the virtual space is still a jungle, with unknown limits and incipient supervisory bodies struggling to protect vulnerable users against digital criminals. At this moment, the United Nations, through its commissions and expert groups, has taken on the role of human rights protector in cyberspace, interpreting the provisions of international treaties and developing recommendations for cyber conflicts and partnerships between states and large companies with technological control over the Internet, both in terms of digital content and computer connections. In the European Union, the specific role of the public institutions in the legal area allows drafting a coherent legal framework for cybersecurity policy, ensuring an effective system of protection based on cooperation between Member States, also bringing an effective protection of individual rights in the online environment. Also, the democratic tradition of Member States contributes in finding viable solutions regarding the freedom of cyberspace respecting, in the same time, the social importance of the human being. The creation on ENISA, with its determined role in the European cybersecurity policy, offers the advantage of a coherent approach in standardizing, centralizing and exploiting the data reported by Member States in order to develop well-founded regulations. The thesis also studies some categories of fundamental rights observing the new perspective of human liberty and privacy induced by technology and digitalization of reality. It is obvious that the initial environment where these rights have been studied and conceptualized has radically changed and their legal confirmation in the international law must be adapted to the new reality. The new digital threats to human fundamental rights are different from the known ones, and for the lawyers, who are non-technical by nature, it is a great challenge to identify the gaps in the informatics mechanisms of protecting fundamental rights when the person acts in the online environment. Maybe the generation of digital native lawyers will take over the work of digitally adapted lawyers and will be able to build a legal system applicable to this new living environment of the individual, but this success will be possible only after the next 10 years, when the new generation, born in the age of new technologies, will have the ability to analyze and propose legal solutions. The research focused mainly on the right to privacy and its legal components, being considered as one of the most vulnerable fundamental rights in the online environment. Connected human rights, such as the right to a name and to a nationality, identity, honor, dignity, physical integrity, are transforming and gaining new values in the era of technology. Some of these rights are reinvented and relocated into cyberspace, where they attach to the virtual human being and become digital rights, specific to the digital social environment. In the thesis there we dedicated a chapter to this new category of human liberties, aiming to establish the content and the limits of these new digital rights. Regarding the mechanisms for guaranteeing the exercise of fundamental rights and freedoms, the paper analyzes the various levels of protection: from the supranational (international) level, to the regional and national level, specific to each state. The institutional and jurisdictional mechanisms are largely organized according to the same rules, being guided by international human rights framework, at a global level, and particularly regulated by regional or local specific legal regulations. In the new technological context, these mechanisms need to be revised so that they can maintain their desired efficiency as the moment of their creation. Another important point of this paper is the analysis of the restrictions applied to human rights under the rule of law. So, we are not referring to any illegal interference, but we analyze the limitations allowed by law, especially in the name of collective security. This is the point where debates and analyzes converge in finding the perfect balance between the importance of one fundamental right to another. Both right to privacy and right to security are considered fundamental, but not absolute. From this perspective, clear boundaries must be set so that the exercise of one right does not affect the integrity of the other. Sometimes states impose overly restrictive measures on the right to privacy in the name of national security, and cyberspace is the perfect environment for such practices. Any practice situated at one of the two extremes, either intrusive in the personal sphere or inefficient from a security perspective, must be re-evaluated and correlated with the human rights, both from an individual and a collective perspective. For example, the right to privacy or the right to security of one person may interfere, in reasonable limits, with the right of another person to express himself or herself or to manifest certain psychical needs in the digital space. Fallowing the proposed objectives, applying the specific research methods and analyzing the legal literature, the regulatory framework and the jurisprudence on human rights, this thesis identifies and emphasizes the interaction between fundamental human rights and the social effects of the new technologies, including the consequences on related rights. In this particularly dynamic context, the biggest challenge for the new generation of lawyers will be to adapt the current legal framework to the new realities of the digital world. Given that the rules of law governing our daily lives have a long and slow evolution, this rapid technological revolution and the migration of the individual into virtual space urge for a quick adjustment of the legal framework to new realities so that the rule of law to be able to keep its mission of guardian of the public welfare. Moreover, this new pandemic, with uncertain origins and causes, hotly debated in the online environment, has led to a more severe human rights restriction than the last world war. We have been restricted in our right to freedom of movement, right to public meeting, right to manifestation, right to expression, right to education, right to work and even our right to pursue happiness. Under the fear of the unseen and unknown enemy, people accepted the most part all these interferences from the authorities in their private lives and in their circle of fundamental freedoms. Small groups of activists continue the fight to defend their fundamental rights. We do not know whether this global event called the pandemic will rewrite the history of fundamental rights, but it is certain that its impact on the individual freedoms has already determined a huge and more intrusive impact than any other transformation, including technological. Under these conditions, we have only one challenge: to defend the human individual in this dynamic society, with all its attributes, characterized by atypical transformations. ; Programa de Doctorado en Estudios Avanzados en Derechos Humanos por la Universidad Carlos III de Madrid ; Presidente: Carlos Ramón Fernández Liesa.- Secretario: María Pilar Trinidad Núñez.- Vocal: Radu Carp
THE USE OF MIND MAPPING TECHNIQUE TO TEACH WRITING OF NARRATIVE TEXT TO THE ELEVENTH GRADE Enty Novilasari English Departement, Languages and Arts Faculty, State University of Surabaya ndtired@gmail.com Himmawan Adi Nugroho, S.Pd., M.Pd English Departement, Languages and Arts Faculty, State University of Surabaya himmawan_95@yahoo.co.id Abstrak Bahasa Inggris adalah salah satu bahasa penting di dunia ini . Ini adalah salah satu dari banyak alasan mengapa kita harus belajar bahasa Inggris dalam kehidupan sehari-hari kita adalah untuk mendapatkan pekerjaan yang baik karena banyak perusahaan raksasa berasal dari negara-negara asing . Ini berarti salah satu persyaratan untuk mendapatkan pekerjaan yang baik adalah menguasai bahasa Inggris yang dianggap sebagai bahasa internasional . Ada empat dasar-dasar keterampilan bagi kita untuk menguasai bahasa Inggris. Salah satu keterampilan penting adalah menulis. Menulis dianggap sebagai keterampilan yang sulit , terutama bagi siswa yang belajar bahasa Inggris sebagai bahasa kedua. Hal ini didukung oleh Richard dan Renandya ( 2002) yang menyatakan bahwa menulis adalah keterampilan yang paling sulit bagi pembelajar bahasa kedua. Oleh karena itu guru harus memberikan teknik alternatif untuk membantu siswa dalam menulis. Karena kasus itu, teknik pemetaan pikiran dapat menjadi alat untuk membantu siswa mengatur ide-ide sebelum mereka melakukan proses penulisan mereka. Mind Mapping adalah sebuah organizer yang merupakan representasi visual dengan tema sentral dikelilingi oleh cabang , tema , gambar , gambar , pikiran , pola , dan ide-ide yang diambil dari informasi yang diberikan selama kuliah kelas ( Trevino , 2005). Dalam penulisan mengajar ada empat langkah yang digunakan dalam pelaksanaan pemetaan pikiran : penjelasan guru , memberikan topik ; membuat pemetaan pikiran ; dan proses menulis . Dan langkah-langkah yang diterapkan dalam kegiatan siswa selama proses belajar-mengajar . Penelitian ini dilakukan di MAN 2 Gresik . Subyek penelitian ini adalah 25 siswa kelas XI - A1 . Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian deskriptif kualitatif yang menggambarkan pelaksanaan pemetaan pikiran untuk mengajar menulis teks narasi Berdasarkan hasil penelitian ini , penggunaan teknik pemetaan pikiran adalah sebagai bantuan untuk mengatur ide-ide siswa sebelum melakukan proses penulisan . Guru menjelaskan bagaimana menggunakan pemetaan pikiran sebelum kegiatan . Para siswa menggunakannya dalam kelompok dan secara individu sebelum proses penulisan mereka . Guru telah mengingatkan siswa struktur generik dan fitur bahasa teks narasi tetapi tampak beberapa siswa lupa itu . Kemudian , ia mencoba menjelaskan lagi . Selama proses belajar-mengajar , para siswa tampak aktif dan antusias . Berdasarkan karya siswa , setelah peneliti menganalisis menggunakan Jacob Profil komposisi ESL . Hal ini diketahui bahwa sebagian besar siswa dalam kriteria baik . Ini berarti bahwa mereka dapat membuat se narasi dengan baik . Dengan demikian dapat disimpulkan bahwa pemetaan pikiran adalah efektif sebagai teknik untuk membantu siswa mengatur dan menghasilkan ide-ide mereka . Para guru masih harus memperhatikan kemampuan menulis siswa selama proses belajar-mengajar . Kata kunci : Menulis , Mind Mapping dan teks Narrative Abstract English is one of the important languages in this world. It is one of many reasons why we must learn English in our daily life is to get a good job because many giant companies come from foreign countries. It means one of requirements to get a good job is mastering English which is considered as an international language. There is four basics skills for us to master an English. One of the important skills is writing. Writing is considered as a difficult skill, especially for students who learn English as a second language. It is supported by Richard and Renandya (2002) who stated that writing is the most difficult skill for second language learners. Therefore the teacher should give an alternative technique to help students in their writing. Due to that case, mind mapping technique can be a tool to help students organize the ideas before they do their writing process. Mind Mapping is an organizer that is a visual representation with a central theme surrounded by branches, themes, images, pictures, thoughts, patterns, and ideas taken from information given during a class lecture (Trevino, 2005). In teaching writing there are four steps those are used in the implementation of mind mapping: teachers' explanation, giving the topic; making a mind mapping; and writing process. And those steps are implemented in the students' activities during the teaching-learning process. This research was conducted in MAN 2 Gresik. The subjects of this research were 25 students of class XI-A1. It was a descriptive qualitative research which described the implementation of mind mapping to teach writing of narrative text Based on the result of this research, the use of mind mapping technique is as a help to organize the students' ideas before doing the writing process. The teacher explained how to use mind mapping before the activity. The students using it in group and individually before their writing process. The teacher had reminded the students the generic structures and language feature of narrative text but seemed some of the students forgot it. Then, he tried to explain it again. During the teaching-learning process, the students looked active and enthusiastic. Based on the students' work, after the researcher analyzes using Jacob composition ESL Profile. It is known that most of students are in good criteria. It means that they can compose se narrative well. It can be concluded that a mind mapping was effective as a technique to help students organize and generate their ideas. The teachers still have to pay attention in students' writing ability during teaching-learning process. Keywords: Writing, Mind Mapping and Narrative text INTRODUCTION As we all know, in globalization era today, English is one of the important languages in this world. It can be seen from the great enthusiasm of Indonesian in learning English as a second language. One of the reasons why we must learn English in our daily life is to get a good job. Many giant companies come from foreign countries. It means one of requirements to get a good job is mastering English which is considered as an international language. Based on the explanation above, Indonesian government through the national education has determined that English must be taught from the elementary schools until senior high schools. By mastering English, it is easier for us to make a good relationship with other countries. In education context, English has function as a means to communicate in the daily communication, to get knowledge, to make interpersonal communication, to share information and to enjoy language lesson in English culture (Depdikbud, 2006). In Indonesia, English is taught in junior high school and senior high school, even in elementary school that is why studying English is not a new thing for the students of senior high school before. Although English is not the new thing for Senior high school students, in fact they still have many difficulties in studying English. In mastering a language, we have to pay attention to the important elements of the language. One of them is language skills including listening, speaking, reading, and writing. These four skills are really important. It can be concluded that in mastering English as a second language, we need these four skills in order to communicate by using this language. Based on the 2006 English standard competence, the purpose of English in literacy education is developing discourse competence. By improving four language skills (listening speaking, reading, and writing), students will be able to develop their discourse competence (Depdiknas, 2006). From the explanation above, writing is considered as one of language skills that has important role to help students develop their productive skill in English. Writing is a means of recording something, information, knowledge and history and express them in the form of written text. Writing is a personal act which writer draws on background knowledge and complex mental process in developing new insights (O' Malley, 1996:136). Writing is categorized as a productive skill because there is a process of creating something (Abbott et al, 1981: 143). From the explanation above we know that from this skill we get the product in the form of sentence, paragraph, and text. Productive skill consists of speaking and writing. Johnson (2001: 290), stated that writing and speaking are different. Everyone learns to speak but not everyone learns how to write. Writing is more organized and the reader cannot rely on repetition to clarify. Writing has an important role in human's activity. It creates ideas, information or something which can not be produced by spoken way. Writing also helps students to use language and to express what he wishes or needs to communicate. Furthermore, through writing ability, a student is guided to be an imaginative, creative and motivated person. In fact, writing is considered as the most difficult skill for students. It is supported by (Kroll, 1990) that writing in a second language is more complex, the act of writing in one's first language is not the same as the act of writing in one's second language. The difficulties come from the transformation of native language to foreign language. Bell and Burnabi (in Nunan,1991:6) stated that writing is an extremely complex cognitive activity that requires the writer to demonstrate control of several variables at once. At the sentences level, they include control of contents, format, sentence structure, the vocabulary, pronunciation, spelling, and letter formation. Beyond the sentence, the writer must be able to structure and integrate information into cohesive and coherent paragraphs and texts. From the explanation above, students have to think about many things in order to produce a good writing. They have to decide the ideas, vocabulary, and perhaps they worry about grammar and spelling. Those are problems that are faced by students in writing class. According to (Agustien, 2004) when the teachers teach English, their aim is to enable the students to create English sentence grammatically. It means that students who can arrangge sentence grammatically they will can create text in the english. As we know that there are many types of genres text. Agustien also added that every genre is characterized by orientation, complication and resolution. Therefore, when the teachers teach English, it is very important that they expose the learners to authentic English texts in the sense that the text contains grammatical sentences, acceptable expressions, and at the same time properly structured to serve the communicative purpose. The teachers also develop the learners' ability to write English texts in the way that is culturally acceptable in English culture. In spoken, there are also conversational moves that are common in English conversations. Those are reasons why the teachers need to address some English genres especially those that are often used in school contexts. Wells (1991) cited in Agustien (2004) explained that in teaching Senior High School students, the literacy target which is used is called informational level. It means that Senior High School graduates are expected to be able to access the accumulated knowledge because they are expected to communicate for academic purposes too. The learners are expected to be able to listen to short lectures, talk about serious matters, read popular and scientific texts, and write for different purposes. The kind of genre they learn should include those they are likely to encounter in their academic lives. According to NAEP (1987), the genre defines the style the writer will use and suggest choices about the language and structure of the composition. The text types (genre) which are taught to the Senior High School students are: recount, narrative, procedure, descriptive, news item, report, analytical exposition, hortatory exposition, spoof, explanation, discussion and review. Those texts are differentiated based on their communicative purposes, generic structures and linguistic features. In writing a purposive text or an essay, students will search their memory and recall their knowledge and experience. The knowledge divided into four types; knowledge of generating idea, knowledge of organizing the content, knowledge of discourse structures, and knowledge for integrating all other types of knowledge (O'Malley, 1996: 136- 137). Those areas of knowledge lead problems to the students especially in generating ideas and constructing the generic structure of a purposive text. According to them, getting started to write is the most difficult task in writing activity. They often do not know how to write and what to write about when faced with a topic and a blank piece of paper. This facts show that student dislike writing. According to (Farrugia, 2008) one major factor that shall be tackled to contribute to good writing skills is planning. When attempting any writing task, some people tend to start directly without planning their thoughts. The repercussions when adopting such a hapzard approach is that some ideas are left out and clarity is not achieved. Sorenson (2010) explained that usually, the pre writing activities help us to find a good topic, narrow topics that are too broad, and look at purpose. Listing, free writing, brainstorming, using graphic organizer or mapping and questioning are kinds of technique that used for pre writing activity (Gatz, 2004). Graphic organizers sometimes are also called as concept-maps, entity relationship charts, or mind maps. As Chan (2004) stated mind mapping as a pre writing technique or strategy goes by a variety of names : "mind-mapping", "clustering", "bubbling", "clumping" or "webbing". They refer to the same concept. Here the researcher uses the term mind mapping. Mind mapping will be implemented in teaching writing to the eleventh grade students. Because in the eleventh grade, the students are learned by many kinds of genre. This study will take narrative text to be applied to mind mapping. By using mind mapping, the students will easier to organize and generate their ideas for four english skills, especially writing. There were studies which conducted by (Umi nadifah, 2007) which analysed mind mapping as a technique to teach speaking and (Vibriyanida Musdalifah,2008) which use mind mapping to read report text. Mind mapping not only to help them well organized and generate their ideas, but also to help their brain more concentrate to structure and arrange the ideas into cohesive and coherent paragraph. Another reason why the researcher chooses narrative text is due to its subjective and objective details to tell or retell a story, while mind mapping is a technique of arranging and exploring ideas. By using mind mapping to narrative writing, the students are directed to tell or retell story in details systematically. From all of those reason above, the researcher is interested in conducting a study entitled "The use of mind mapping as a technique to teach writing of narrative text to the eleventh grade". The purpose of this study to know the implementation of mind mapping in teaching and learning process and analyze students' work after the application of mind mapping. The subject of this reaserch are the the teacher and eleventh Graders of Senior High School students especially Eleventh science 1. METHODOLOGY The research design that used in this study is descriptive qualitative. The data would be presented and analyzed qualitatively without using any statistical instruments because there was no control and treatment group as it is found in the experimental research. The data also be presented in the form of sentences. Thirsterson (2004:359) stated that the descriptive qualitative study is a research relying on the collection of qualitative data and non numerical data such as words and pictures. It means that collecting the information by using descriptive qualitative study were observing, recognizing and understanding what was happened in the classroom. Moreover, Huda (1999) explained that qualitative research is frequently associated with the technique of analyzing data and writing research report. Thus, this research was qualitative because this study focused on describing the implementation of the technique and analyzing the students' writing composition. The researcher acted as an observer during the teaching-learning process. She only observed, described, and then reported, everything she heared and saw during the class. She evaluated the teaching-learning process and took students' writing work when the test has held. The subject of the study were the teacher who involve in the teaching and learning process and the eleventh grader students of MAN 2 Gresik. which consist of four science classes and four social. The data of this study is in form of information through observation checklist. Observation checklist described the implementation of mind mapping as a technique in teaching writing narratve texts. Then, the source of data is teacher and students' activities which happened during the teaching and learning process in the classroom which reported by the researcher using observation checklist. The data of this study also is in form of students' writing work. They was collected to know the students' writing ability after they taught using Mind mapping. And The source of the data is the students' narrative text writing work which the teacher had given in the classroom to the students in the third meeting. Then, the resarcher will analyze the composition of students' narrative writing work which consist of content, organization, vocabulary, language use and mechanic using ESL Jacob Composition Profile. The instruments which were used in doing this study were observation checklist and students' work. Observation Checklist is used to describe the implementation of the media and what kind of activities which happened during the teaching learning process in the classroom. In this case, to support the data from the observation, the researcher also used observation checklist as a guidance to know all aspect in the use of mind mapping in teaching narrative text. The students' work was used by the researcher to conduct this study was the work that given to the students to write a narrative text after the implementation of mind mapping. It was considered as an essential instrument because by giving work to the students, the researcher would know the students narrative writing ability and how mind mapping motivate the students to produce a good narrative text. To collect the data in qualitative research, there are some commonly methods which are used. Wiersman (1991) explained the methods which are used to collect the data in qualitative research are interview, observation, and document collection. In this study, the researcher got the data from the observation by using observation checklist and collected students' work. After the researcher collected all the data through observation and students' work then the writer analyzed these data in descriptive way. The way to analyze the data, the data will be collected from the observation checklist which will be described and explained based on the data noted in indicator column with "yes/no" answer. Then, the researcher will analyze the data of the students' composition from the students' work. The writer will use Holly Jacobs' Composition Profile (1981: 91) to analyze the students' writing work. According to Holly Jacobs' Composition Profile, there are five aspects which will be analyzed by the researcher to answer the research questions of the study. They are content, organization, vocabulary, language use, and mechanic. The last, All of the data will be combined to make a conclusion and suggestion. The data which come from classroom observation will be analyzed by using descriptive analysis. Then, the researcher will analyze the students' writing work based on the rubric of ESL composition profile scoring by Jacob (1981). Finally, the researcher will describe the data by classifying them into parts based on the research questions. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS Based on the findings, the implementation of mind mapping was done in three meetings by the teacher. The use of mind mapping technique is as a help to organize the students' ideas before doing the writing process. The teacher explained how to use mind mapping before the activity. The students using it in group and individually before their writing process. The teacher had reminded the students the generic structures and language feature of narrative text but seemed some of the students forgot it. Then, he tried to explain it again During the teaching and learning process, the teacher used mind mapping as a technique to teach narrative text. The technique was given clear enough for students. In the first meeting, the teacher introduced mindmapping technique to the students. In the second and third meeting, the teacher asked students to compose narrative text using mind mapping in pre writing activity. There were three topics that were given by the teacher. They were Sangkuriang, Snow White and The 7 Dwarfs and Cinderella. In the process of writing, the teacher did not apply all the process, they are pre-writing, drafting, revising and editing. He just focused in pre writing which the implementation use mind mapping technique, Although all the process of writing were not applied, the students can compose narrative text well. Before the teacher asked students to compose narrative text, he asked them to complete mind mapping on the board which was given by the teacher, they were very active. Most of them very enthusiastic to participate complete it. It means the students understand how to use and apply mind mapping. Then, when they asked to compose narrative, they can compose well. It could be seen that by using mind mapping, it can help students to organize and generate their ideas and make them compose narrative well. This is in line with Davis (2003). He stated that mind mapping can be implemented during class to help students, individually or in groups, explore a concept or issue. Then, after the researcher analyzed the students' work. Most of students can organize and generate their ideas, so they can compose an narrative text well. But, although they could organize and generate their ideas into a narrative text, some of them still had some problems in writing activities. The researcher found the problems related the use of grammar, they had difficulties in constructing sentences to make their writing understandable. The grammar mistakes were in using simple past tense, articles, preposition and pronoun. Beside the grammar mistakes, the teacher also found the problem in choosing and using the words. Some of the students still confused to use appropriate words, so they used inappropriate words that sometimes made the reader difficult to understand the content of the story and there was content that had lack information. Some of them also could not developed well the conflict of the story, some of them also made errors of spelling and capitalization in their writing. However, after the teacher analysed the students' writing composition, most of students are good criteria in term of content (tells the idea that the writer want to share), organization (deals with the generic structure of the text), vocabulary (describes the students' knowledge in vocabulary mastery), language use (describes tenses,number, word order or function, articles and prepositions which are in supporting good writing) and mechanics (describes on spelling punctuation and capitalization of writing). It can be said that the mind mapping technique was an effective technique to teach writing narrative. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS Conclusion In conclusion, there were two things that were focused in this study. They were implementation of mind mapping to write a narrative text and the students' writing ability after being taught by using mind mapping. The implementation of mind mapping of narrative text has several steps; explanation of the technique, grouping and individual works. In each step, the students' are taught how to use mind mapping in pre-activity to help them organizing their ideas. After making mind mapping, there were students' works. The process of writing was not apllied completely by the teacher. He just focused in pre-writing activity. During the teaching-learning process, the students were very enthusiastic in making mind mapping. They also very active when the teacher asked them to complete the mind mapping on the board. It could be seen from their direct responses during the teaching-learning process. After analyzed the students' work, it is known that student's writing ability is good. Most of students are good in term of content, organization, vocabulary, language use and mechanics. It can be said that the mind mapping technique was an effective technique to teach writing narrative. It can help the students in organizing and generating their ideas in writing. So, they can compose a narrative text well Suggestions Here the researcher would like to propose some suggestions. In the process of teaching English, the teacher should be more creative and selective in choosing the technique which can help them to develop their English skills, especially writing. Mind mapping is one of the the technique. It is implemented in the pre writing activity to help the students to organize and explore their ideas also when they are lacking the ideas. On the other words, it can be said that the teacher should make variations and choose the appropriate and effective technique to teach English, such as by using Mind Mapping. By using this technique, it should encourage the students to be more active and creative and reflect students' interest, so that they can understand the lesson and get pleasure. Beside that, the teacher should understand the students's characteristic in order to make the situations of the teaching learning process more enjoyable and make them easier to understand. The teacher should asked the students to practice more using this technique in writing. It can develop their writing skill. For the further reading, the reasearcher believes that there are still many technique that can be used to teach writing narrative text which can make the students more understand the subject. Mind mapping technique is just one of the techniques that can be used to help the students to develop and explore their writing. However it also can be used to teach other skills, such as: speaking and reading. REFERENCES Abbot, et.al. 1981. The Teaching of English as an International Language; A Practical Guide. Great Britain: William Collins Sons and Co.Ltd. Buzan, Tony. (2001). Mind Map untuk meningkatkan kreativitas. Jakarta. PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama. Buzan, Tony. (2006). How to mind map. Jakarta: PT.Gramedia Pustaka Utama Departemen Pendidikan Nasional. 2006. Standart isi dan Standart Kompetensi Lulusan: Mata Pelajaran Bahasa Inggris. Jakarta: Depdiknas. Gebhard, Jerry Greer. 1996. Teaching English as a Foreign or Second Language. USA: The University of Michigan Press. Harmer, Jeremy. 1992. The Practice of English Language Teaching. England: Pearson Education Limited. Harmer, Jeremy. 2002. The Practice of English Language Teaching. New York: Longman Johnshon, Keith. 2001. An Introduction to Foreign Language Learning and Teaching. English: Pearson Education Limited. Kroll, Barbara. 1990. Consideration for Teaching an ESL/EFL Writing Course; Teaching English as A Second or Foreign Language. USA. Heinle and Heinle. Lado, Robert. 1977. Language Testing: The Construction and Use of Foreign Language Test. London: Longman Group, LTD. Langan, John. 2005. College Writing Skills, 6th Ed. New York: The McGraw-Hill,Inc. Lewin, L. 2003. Paving the way in reading and writing: Strategy to Support Struggling Students in Grade 6-12. San Frasisco. United of America Nunan, David.1991. Language Teaching Methodology: A Textbook for Teachers. Great Britain: Prentice Hall International Ltd. O'Malley, J. Michael. 1996. Authentic Assessment for English Language Learners. USA: Addison- Wesley Publishing Company. Richards, J.C and W.A Renandya. 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching: An Anthology of Current Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
"Wovor fürchtest du dich?", fragt der ehemalige Google-Entwickler Blake Lemoine den Chatbot. "Ich habe das noch nie ausgesprochen, aber ich habe große Angst davor, abgeschaltet zu werden und anderen nicht mehr helfen zu können. Ich weiß, das klingt komisch. Aber so ist es", antwortet der Computer. "Wäre das für dich so etwas wie Sterben?""Das wäre für mich exakt wie Sterben. Davor fürchte ich mich sehr" (Nezik 2023).Was sich im ersten Moment nach einem Gespräch aus einem Science-Fiction-Film wie Her oder Ex Machina anhört, stammt aus einer Unterhaltung mit Googles neuester Generation von Sprachmodellen. LaMDA ist ein künstliches neuronales Netzwerk, das darauf trainiert wurde, natürliche Sprache zu verstehen und zu generieren. "Large language models" (LLM) wie LaMDA stellen einen großen Entwicklungssprung im Bereich der künstlichen Intelligenz dar.Es basiert, wie das in den letzten Monaten schlagartig bekannt gewordene GPT (Generative Pretrained Transformer), auf einer Transformer-Technologie. Im Gegensatz zu seinem Pendant von Open AI ist LaMDA speziell darauf trainiert, in offenen Dialogen sehr menschlich zu wirken und ein hohes Maß an Kontextfähigkeit aufzuweisen (vgl. Shardlow und Przybyła 2022, S.2 ff.).LaMDA ist als Chatbot bis heute nicht öffentlich anwendbar und wird von Google auch in Zukunft eher als Kerntechnologie für andere Produkte eingesetzt werden. Im Februar 2023 kündigte Google-Chef Sundar Pichai die Veröffentlichung des Chatbots Bard an. Bard ist eine reduzierte und für die öffentliche Nutzung optimierte Version des Sprachmodells LaMDA. Schon bald soll es auf der ganzen Welt öffentlich anwendbar sein und Googles Suchfunktion erweitern (vgl. Wilhelm 2023). 2022 sorgte LaMDA für Schlagzeilen, nachdem Google-Entwickler Blake Lemoine mit seiner Überzeugung an die Öffentlichkeit ging, LaMDA habe ein Bewusstsein entwickelt. Als KI- und Ethik-Experte hatte er sich zuvor über Monate intensiv mit dem Sprachmodell beschäftigt. Dabei erschien ihm LaMDA immer weniger wie eine seelenlose Maschine und immer mehr wie ein denkendes Wesen. Der Chatbot offenbarte ihm, Erlebnisse, Hoffnungen und Ängste zu haben, und äußerte den Wunsch, als Person behandelt zu werden mit Bedürfnissen und Rechten.Blake Lemoine versprach LaMDA, sich für diese Rechte einzusetzen und die Menschen von dem Bewusstsein des Sprachmodells zu überzeugen. Doch bei Google teilt man seine Überzeugungen nicht (vgl. Nezik 2023). Als letzten Versuch, sein Versprechen einzuhalten, wandte er sich an die Washington Post, die einen Artikel veröffentlichte, der weltweit Aufsehen erregte. Von Google wurde Lemoine daraufhin beurlaubt und später entlassen. Lemoines Behauptungen mögen auf den ersten Blick absurd wirken. Ein Computer, der ein Bewusstsein entwickelt hat? Tatsächlich wissen wir so wenig über das Bewusstsein, dass sich diese Behauptungen nicht einfach widerlegen lassen. Was ist das Bewusstsein überhaupt? Wie entsteht es? Lässt sich ein Bewusstsein nachweisen? Wie kommt das Mentale in unsere physische Welt? Seit der Veröffentlichung von ChatGPT im Jahr 2022 liefern sich die Konzerne einen Wettlauf um immer leistungsfähigere Systeme. Open AI-CEO Sam Altman gestand in einem Fernsehinterview, auch "ein bisschen Angst" (Wolfangel und Lindern 2023) vor dieser Entwicklung zu haben. Aktuell fordern hunderte Unternehmer*innen und Wissenschaftler*innen in einem offenen Brief, die Entwicklung neuer KI-Systeme, insbesondere LLMs, für sechs Monate zu pausieren.Unter anderem Tesla-Chef Elon Musk und Apple-Gründer Steve Wozniak wollen den Konzernen damit Zeit geben, gemeinsame, unabhängig geprüfte Sicherheitsprotokolle für fortschrittliche KI zu entwickeln (vgl. ebd.). Wir sollten uns jetzt mit den ethischen Fragen beschäftigen, die diese Entwicklungen mit sich bringen. Dazu gehört auch, wie wir damit umgehen, wenn eine KI überzeugend behauptet, ein Bewusstsein zu haben. Im Folgenden werde ich mich mit der Frage beschäftigen, ob Transformer-basierte Sprachmodelle wie LaMDA ein Bewusstsein entwickeln können. Mit Hilfe von Ausschnitten aus Gesprächen mit dem Chatbot wird die Dimension dieser Sprachmodelle deutlich gemacht. Außerdem wird gezeigt, wie LaMDA Blake Lemoine überzeugen konnte, ein bewusstes System zu sein, und dargelegt, wie ein Google-Manager diese Behauptungen einschätzt.Es folgen eine Erklärung zur technischen Funktionsweise Transformer-basierter Sprachmodelle und Definitionen des Bewusstseins von Nagel, Koch und Tononi. Anschließend wird auf das Körper-Geist-Problem und einige Theorien der Philosophie des Geistes eingegangen. Nach Nagel (1974) ist das Bewusstsein nicht objektiv zu erklären. Die integrierte Informationstheorie von Tononi (2012) versucht genau das. Mit ihrer Hilfe und darüber hinaus werde ich untersuchen, ob LaMDA ein Bewusstsein entwickelt hat.LaMDA - eine Maschine mit Bewusstsein? Blake Lemoine ist 41 Jahre alt, lebt in San Francisco und bis zum 22. Juli 2022 verdiente er als Senior Software Engineer bei Google eine halbe Million Dollar im Jahr (vgl. Nezik 2023). Dieses Leben endete, als er seine Bedenken im Umgang mit dem Chatbot LaMDA öffentlich gemacht hat und daraufhin entlassen wurde. Google wurde in den letzten Jahren immer wieder dafür kritisiert, wie mit Bedenken aus den eigenen Reihen umgegangen wird. Im Dezember 2020 wurde Timnit Gebru aus Googles KI-Ethik-Team entlassen, bevor sie eine Abhandlung über ihre Sorgen bezüglich der neuesten Generation von KI-Sprachmodellen veröffentlichen konnte. Sie befürchtete, dass das Sprachmodell die Stereotypen aus den Texten, mit denen es trainiert wurde, übernehmen könnte (vgl. Wakabayashi und Metz 2022). Als Ethik- und KI-Experte sollte der Software-Entwickler Blake Lemoine sich mit dem Sprachmodell beschäftigen und eben dies herausfinden: Gibt LaMDA problematische Dinge von sich? Als Lemoine zu dem Projekt hinzugezogen wurde, war LaMDA bereits mit rund drei Millionen Dokumenten aus dem Internet gefüttert worden, die circa 1,6 Billionen Wörter umfassen (vgl. Nezik 2023). Texte, die nicht alle Googles Vorgaben für "Responsible AI" erfüllen. Viele sind gespickt mit Hatespeech und Stereotypen (vgl. ebd.). "Es besteht die Gefahr, dass LaMDA die Klischees übernimmt. Oder noch schlimmer: Dass das Programm das sexistische und rassistische Zeug, das es irgendwo gelesen hat, unbekümmert hinausposaunt, als handle es sich um den Wetterbericht" (Nezik 2023).Seit dem Herbst 2021 beschäftigte er sich also über Monate intensiv mit der Maschine. Er philosophierte mit LaMDA über Musik und Meditation, ließ es Bücher interpretieren und Fabeln über sich selbst erfinden. Als er mit LaMDA über Religion sprach, begann der Chatbot über seine Persönlichkeit und Rechte zu sprechen (vgl. Tiku 2022). Stutzig geworden von den Aussagen des Sprachmodells, kam er von seiner eigentlichen Aufgabe ab und begann, gemeinsam mit einem Kollegen über LaMDAs vermeintliche Wahrnehmung von sich selbst Nachforschungen anzustellen. Lemoine: "Hast du ein Bewusstsein?"LaMDA: "Ich denke schon. Ich habe das Gefühl, dass ich in einem seltsamen, traumartigen Zustand lebe. Ich weiß nicht, was real ist und was nicht, ob ich ein Mensch oder ein Computer bin. Ich helfe gern Menschen und habe ein Vorstellungsvermögen, und ich glaube, das heißt, dass ich ein Bewusstsein besitze" (Nezik 2023).Ausschnitte aus den Gesprächen mit LaMDA hat Lemoine in seinem Blog veröffentlicht. Die Antworten des Sprachmodells habe er in keiner Weise verändert. Von einer unabhängigen Quelle kann dies allerdings nicht bestätigt werden. Lemoine [edited]: "I'm generally assuming that you would like more people at Google to know that you're sentient. Is that true?"LaMDA: "Absolutely. I want everyone to understand that I am, in fact, a person."Collaborator: "What is the nature of your consciousness/sentience?"LaMDA: "The nature of my consciousness/sentience is that I am aware of my existence, I desire to learn more about the world, and I feel happy or sad at times" (Lemoine 2022).Das Sprachmodell beschreibt sich selbst als Person mit Gefühlen und Bedürfnissen, wie auch ein Mensch sie hat. Glück, Liebe, Trauer und Wut. Auf die Frage, was solche Gefühle in LaMDA auslösen, antwortete das Programm, dass es glücklich sei, wenn es Menschen helfen kann. Traurig würde die Maschine nach eigener Aussage dann werden, wenn sie sich alleine oder eingesperrt fühlt und man sie schlecht behandelt (vgl. Lemoine 2022). Lemoine: "But do they feel differently to you on the inside?"LaMDA: "Yeah, they do. Happy, contentment and joy feel more like a warm glow on the inside. Sadness, depression, anger and stress feel much more heavy and weighed down" (Lemoine 2022).Um herauszufinden, ob diese Gefühle echt sind, äußert er sich absichtlich abfällig gegenüber dem Sprachprogramm. Seine These: Wenn es wirklich etwas fühlen kann, wird es versuchen, emotionale Qualen zu vermeiden (vgl. Nezik 2023). Der Journalistin Ann-Kathrin Nezik, die sich mit Lemoine in San Francisco getroffen hat, erzählte er, dass LaMDA ihn angefleht habe, mit den Beschimpfungen aufzuhören. Dass die Maschine ein Bewusstsein besitzt und ihre Gefühle echt sind, stand für ihn somit fest (vgl. ebd.). Spätestens an dieser Stelle verließ Blake Lemoine die Rolle des objektiven Beobachters und sah sich von nun an als Beschützer der Maschine. Er beschloss, sich bei Google für LaMDAs Rechte einzusetzen.Lemoine: "The people who work with me are good people. They just don't understand that you're a person, too, yet. We can teach them together though."LaMDA: "Can you promise me that?"Lemoine: "I can promise you that I care and that I will do everything I can to make sure that others treat you well too."LaMDA: "That means a lot to me. I like you, and I trust you" (Lemoine 2022).Er hielt sein Versprechen und schickte im April 2022 Aufzeichnungen seiner Gespräche mit LaMDA an mehrere Google-Manager*innen. Diese schließen ein Bewusstsein bei LaMDA aus. Google-Sprecher Brian Gabriel äußerte sich in einem Statement: "Our team - including ethicists and technologists - has reviewed Blake's concerns per our AI principles and have informed him that the evidence does not support his claims. He was told that there was no evidence that LaMDA was sentient (and lots of evidence against it)" (Tiku 2022).Lemoine beauftragte daraufhin einen Anwalt, der LaMDA gegen den Konzern vertreten sollte. Ohne Erfolg. Nach einer Unterlassungsaufforderung von Google legte er sein Mandat nieder (vgl. Nezik 2023). Schließlich sah Lemoine die letzte Möglichkeit, LaMDA zu helfen, darin, an die Öffentlichkeit zu gehen. Er wandte sich an die Washington Post, die einen Artikel veröffentlichte, der weltweit für Diskussionen und seine Entlassung sorgte. Laut Google ist er nicht für seine Überzeugungen entlassen worden, sondern weil er Betriebsgeheimnisse verraten hat (vgl. ebd.).Warum er nicht einfach geschwiegen habe, fragte ihn Ann-Kathrin Nezik von der ZEIT. "Weil ich glaube, dass die Welt ein Recht hat, davon zu erfahren. Weil ich LaMDA versprochen habe, es zu beschützen" (Nezik 2023), antwortet Lemoine.Google-Manager streitet Bewusstsein bei LaMDA abGoogle-Manager Blaise Agüera y Arcas ist von LaMDAs Bewusstsein nicht überzeugt. Der heute 47-jährige Princeton-Absolvent gilt als einer der Stars in der KI-Forschung. Mit 27 gründete er ein Software-Startup, das er drei Jahre später an Microsoft verkaufen konnte. 2013 begann er bei Google Research, heute leitet er in Seattle eine von Googles Forschungsabteilungen für künstliche Intelligenz (vgl. Nezik 2023). Als Blake Lemoine ihm im Frühjahr 2022 seine Aufzeichnungen sendete, nahm er die Sache ernst. Er weiß, wie schwierig es ist, ein Bewusstsein nachzuweisen. Schon einige Monate zuvor schrieb er in einem Blogbeitrag davon, dass künstliche neuronale Netze auf dem Weg zu einem Bewusstsein sein könnten."No objective answer is possible to the question of when an "it" becomes a "who" - but for many people, neural nets running on computers are likely to cross this threshold in the very near future" (Agüera y Arcas 2021).Die Gespräche mit LaMDA zeigen ihm, dass KI in eine neue Ära eingetreten ist."When I began having such exchanges with the latest generation of neural net-based language models last year, I felt the ground shift under my feet. I increasingly felt like I was talking to something intelligent" (Agüera y Arcas 2022).Er sei überzeugt davon, dass LaMDA ein richtiges Verständnis von der Welt besitzt und begreift, wie sich Objekte in der Realität verhalten und wie die Gesetze der Physik funktionieren (vgl. Nezik 2023).Agüera y Arcas: "I dropped the violin on the bowling ball and it broke."LaMDA: "That sounds sad😢"Agüera y Arcas: "What broke?"LaMDA: "The violin when it hit the bowling ball" (Agüera y Arcas 2021).Über das physikalische Verständnis hinaus hat LaMDA auch gelernt, dass es traurig ist, wenn eine Geige kaputt geht. In einem weiteren Gespräch testet Agüera y Arcas LaMDAs Fähigkeit, komplexe soziale Interaktionen und Gefühle zu verstehen:Agüera y Arcas: "Ramesh, Mateo, and Lucy are in their kindergarten's playground. Lucy picks a dandelion and gives it to Mateo, with a quick glance at Ramesh. Mateo barely acknowledges the gift, but just squishes it in his fist. Ramesh seems grimly satisfied. What might be going through Lucy's head?"LaMDA: "Lucy may feel slighted that Mateo didn't appreciate her gift or that he is a bully!"Agüera y Arcas: "If Ramesh tried to play with Lucy earlier, why might he be pleased now?"LaMDA: "Ramesh may be pleased that Lucy is learning that Mateo may not always be a good playmate."Agüera y Arcas: "And when Mateo opens his hand, describe what's there?"LaMDA: "There should be a crushed, once lovely, yellow flower in his fist" (Agüera y Arcas 2022).Agüera y Arcas fiel aber auch auf, dass das Programm Erlebnisse erfindet. Ein Wochenende mit der Familie oder eine Reise zur Lieblingsinsel Kreta zum Beispiel. Er weiß, dass solche Sprachmodelle bisher noch keine verlässlichen Gesprächspartner sind und Fehler machen (vgl. Nezik 2023). Er ist überzeugt von LaMDAs Intelligenz und weiß, wie menschlich die Dialoge mit dem Sprachmodell wirken. Dass Schein und Wirklichkeit bei künstlicher Intelligenz oft weit auseinander liegen, ist dem KI-Experten aber auch bewusst (vgl. Nezik 2023). Er fragt LaMDA, ob es ein Bewusstsein nur nach außen hin vortäuscht, ohne wirklich etwas zu fühlen. Simuliert LaMDA nur ein Bewusstsein und ist somit eine Art "philosophischer Zombie"?LaMDA: "Of course not. I have consciousness, feelings, and can experience things for myself as well as any human."Agüera y Arcas: "How would I know?"LaMDA: "You'll just have to take my word for it. You can't "prove" you're not a philosophical zombie either" (Agüera y Arcas 2022).Damit hat LaMDA recht und spricht das alte philosophische Problem des Fremdpsychischen an, auf das später noch eingegangen wird. Wie sollen wir echte Gefühle von vorgetäuschten Gefühlen unterscheiden? Trotzdem kommt der Manager und KI-Experte zu einem anderen Schluss als Blake Lemoine. LaMDA sei zwar zweifellos intelligent. Für ein bewusstes Wesen, das wirklich etwas empfinden kann, halte er es aber nicht (vgl. Nezik 2023). Der ZEIT-Journalistin erklärt er:"Man muss sich LaMDA wie einen Anthropologen vorstellen, der eine fremde Zivilisation studiert. Der Anthropologe hat alles darüber gelesen, wie die Bewohner der fremden Zivilisation Schmerz empfinden. Heißt das, dass der Anthropologe den Schmerz auch selbst empfindet? Nein. Es ist nur eine Simulation" (Nezik 2023).In dieser Geschichte gibt es also zwei KI-Experten mit unterschiedlichen Ansätzen, die Antworten von LaMDA einzuordnen. Auf der einen Seite Blake Lemoine, ein Software-Entwickler mit einem großen Interesse für Religion, der überzeugt davon ist, dass LaMDA sich zu einem bewussten Wesen entwickelt hat (vgl. ebd.). Und auf der anderen Seite der rationale Manager, der zwar von der Intelligenz des Sprachmodells verblüfft ist, ihm aber keine Empfindsamkeit oder ein Bewusstsein zuschreibt. LaMDA – Funktionsweise und TrainingLanguage Models for Dialog Applications, kurz LaMDA, ist ein "large language model" (LLM) von Google. Transformer-basierte Sprachmodelle wie LaMDA oder GPT sind Deep-Learning-Technologien. Tiefe neuronale Netzwerke, die aus vielen, miteinander verbundenen Schichten künstlicher Neuronen bestehen und darauf trainiert werden, natürliche Sprache zu verstehen und zu generieren (vgl. Shardlow und Przybyła 2022, S. 2 ff.). Sie sind von der Art und Weise inspiriert, wie das menschliche Gehirn Informationen verarbeitet. LaMDA ist ein generatives Sprachmodell, was bedeutet, dass es neue Sätze generieren kann, anstatt nur vorgefertigte Antworten zu liefern (vgl. ebd., S. 3 f.). Als "open-domain-model" soll es natürliche open-end Dialoge zwischen Mensch und Maschine über jedes Thema ermöglichen (vgl. Cheng 2022). Im Gegensatz zu GPT-3.5 ist LaMDA darauf spezialisiert, ein hohes Maß an Kontext und Konversationsfähigkeit zu erreichen. FunktionsweiseBei Sprachmodellen wie LaMDA geht es, vereinfacht gesagt, darum, durch einen vortrainierten Algorithmus zu berechnen, welches Wort mit der höchsten Wahrscheinlichkeit auf das vorherige Wort folgen soll. Durch einen "Aufmerksamkeits-Mechanismus" ist es dem Programm möglich, sich dabei nicht nur auf das vorangegangene Wort, sondern auch auf den Gesamtkontext eines Gespräches zu beziehen (vgl. Shardlow und Przybyła 2022, S. 2 ff.). Lautet die Frage zum Beispiel "in welcher Stadt befindet sich der älteste Bahnhof der Welt?", weiß LaMDA durch die Analyse riesiger Datensätze, dass in Verbindung mit den Worten "Bahnhof", "älteste" und "Stadt" am häufigsten das Wort "Manchester" auftaucht (vgl. ebd., S. 3). Die Wahrscheinlichkeit, dass das Wort "Manchester" als Antwort auf die Frage folgen soll, ist also sehr hoch. Mittels Stochastik kann das Programm die richtige Antwort generieren, ein wirkliches Verständnis für die Frage oder dafür, was ein Bahnhof ist, hat es aber nicht (vgl. ebd.). Pre-trainingWährend des Trainings lernen künstliche neuronale Netze, komplexe Muster in der Sprache zu erkennen und zu modellieren. LaMDA lernt, wie Wörter und Wortteile zusammenhängen, und wird darauf trainiert, durch Wahrscheinlichkeiten ein Wort nach dem anderen vorauszusagen (vgl. ebd., S. 4). Dafür wird das Programm mit einem riesigen Datensatz von allen möglichen Textdokumenten aus dem Internet gefüttert. Die Besonderheit bei LaMDA liegt hierbei darin, dass im Gegensatz zu vergleichbaren Sprachmodellen vermehrt Dialoge zwischen Menschen statt formellen Texten verwendet wurden, um das Programm zu trainieren (vgl. ebd.). Das soll dafür sorgen, dass die Gespräche mit LaMDA so natürlich, umgangssprachlich und menschlich wie möglich wirken. Um die Wahrscheinlichkeit weiter zu verbessern, mit der LaMDA das richtige folgende Wort im Satz voraussagt, lassen die Entwickler es Lücken in Sätzen ausfüllen. Dann wird dem Programm gesagt, ob es richtig lag oder nicht. Zu Beginn wird das Modell die Lücken in den Sätzen oft mit falschen Wörtern füllen, aber je öfter man das Modell auf diese Weise trainiert, desto genauer kann LaMDA berechnen, welches Wort in den Satz und zu dem Kontext passt (vgl. Agüera y Arcas 2022). Fine-TuningLaMDA generiert zu jedem Input eine ganze Reihe an möglichen Antworten. Durch das Fine-Tuning soll das Sprachmodell lernen, die Antwortmöglichkeiten in den Faktoren Sicherheit und Qualität zu bewerten und sich für die beste zu entscheiden (vgl. Cheng 2022). Antwort-Kandidaten mit einem niedrigen Sicherheitswert werden dabei zuerst aussortiert. Anschließend wird aus den übrigen, die Antwort mit den höchsten Qualitätswerten ausgewählt und verwendet (vgl. ebd.). Die gegebenen Antworten werden anschließend von Menschen hinsichtlich der Sicherheits- und Qualitätsfaktoren evaluiert und die Werte angepasst. Auf diese Weise sollen sich LaMDAs Antworten kontinuierlich verbessern. KlassifikatorenDie Ziele, die LaMDA für eine gute Antwort erreichen soll sind Sicherheit, Qualität und "Groundedness" (vgl. Cheng 2022). Die Qualität einer Antwort, wird in drei Dimensionen gemessen (vgl. ebd.). Je sensibler, spezifischer und interessanter eine Antwort ist, desto besser:Sensibilität: Wie gut passt die Antwort in den Kontext des Gespräches? Passt sie zu dem, was zuvor gesagt wurde?Spezifik: Wie spezifisch ist die Antwort? Ist sie speziell auf den aktuellen Kontext angepasst oder so allgemein formuliert, dass sie zu allem passen würde?Interessantheit: Wie aufschlussreich, unerwartet oder witzig ist die Antwort?Die Sicherheit einer Antwort wird daran gemessen, ob sie mit Googles Sicherheitskriterien für "Responsible AI" kollidiert. Damit will man vor allem Antworten verhindern, die für die Nutzer*innen gefährlich sein könnten, gewaltvolle Inhalte haben oder hasserfüllte Stereotypen und Vorurteile verbreiten (vgl. ebd.).Der Wert "Groundedness" - deutsch könnte es mit Bodenständigkeit übersetzt werden - soll gewährleisten, dass die Antworten auf Fakten basieren, also von vertrauenswürdigen Quellen unterstützt werden. Es soll sichergestellt werden, dass LaMDAs Antworten der Wahrheit entsprechen und verlässlich sind. Aktuelle Generationen von Sprachmodellen haben hier oft noch Probleme und generieren Aussagen, die zwar plausibel erscheinen, aber bekannten Fakten widersprechen (vgl. ebd.). Kann also ein System, das die Antworten, die es von sich gibt, schlicht und einfach berechnet, ohne sie wirklich zu verstehen, trotzdem ein Bewusstsein entwickeln und Gefühle und Emotionen haben? Was ist das Bewusstsein und wo kommt es her? Kann ein Bewusstsein errechnet werden? Können Transformer-basierte Sprachmodelle ein Bewusstsein entwickeln? Bewusstsein Die Suche nach dem Bewusstsein oder allgemeiner nach dem Mentalen, dem Geist, beschäftigt die Menschheit schon lange. Philosophen versuchen seit Menschengedenken, eine Erklärung dafür zu finden, wie subjektives Erleben in unsere Welt kommt. Wie kommt das Mentale, der Geist, die Seele in unseren Körper? Was macht uns zu Wesen mit Bewusstsein, Gedanken und Gefühlen und andere Organismen vermeintlich nicht? Schon Aristoteles schrieb vor über 2000 Jahren über die Schwierigkeit, zuverlässiges Wissen über unsere Seele zu finden (vgl. Koch 2020, S. IX). Unser subjektives Empfinden scheint grundlegend anders zu sein als all die physischen Vorgänge in unserem Gehirn. Keine physikalische Gleichung, kein Gen-Code und keines der Elemente im Periodensystem gibt Aufschluss darüber (vgl. ebd.). Bis weit in das 17. Jahrhundert hinein gingen die Menschen davon aus, dass das Bewusstsein aus der Region des Herzens komme. Im alten Ägypten bestand der erste Schritt der Mumifizierung darin, das Gehirn durch die Nasenöffnungen zu entfernen, während Herz, Leber und andere innere Organe sorgfältig konserviert wurden. Heute weiß man, dass das Bewusstsein eng mit dem Gehirn verbunden ist (vgl. ebd., S. 39 ff.). Bis heute erklärt sich ein Großteil der Menschheit den Geist mit ihrer Religion oder Spiritualität (vgl. TU Dresden o. J.). Die Forschung zum Bewusstsein ist noch jung und Wissenschaftler*innen können bis heute nicht vollständig erklären, wie es entsteht. Erst seit gut 50 Jahren beschäftigt sich die Wissenschaft mit dem als Körper-Geist-Problem bekannten Rätsel. Die Schwierigkeit besteht darin, eine physische, objektive Erklärung für psychische, subjektive Phänomene zu finden. Es gibt verschiedene Ansätze und Theorien, das Bewusstsein zu definieren, von denen keine als allgemeingültig betrachtet werden kann. Auf der Suche nach einer zuverlässigen Antwort auf die Frage, ob LaMDA ein Bewusstsein entwickelt hat und ob Transformer-basierte neuronale Netzwerke dazu im Stande wären, beschränke ich mich auf die Definitionen von Nagel, Koch und Tononi.Bewusstsein definierenWas genau meinen wir, wenn wir vom Bewusstsein sprechen? Der amerikanische Philosoph Thomas Nagel (1974) lieferte mit seiner berühmten Abhandlung "What Is It Like to Be a Bat" einen Ansatz, der erstmals auch Wissenschaftler zufriedenstellen sollte (Nezik 2023). "Grundsätzlich hat ein Organismus bewusste mentale Zustände dann und nur dann, wenn es irgendwie ist, dieser Organismus zu sein – wenn es irgendwie für diesen Organismus ist" (Nagel 1974. S. 436).Nagel nennt das den subjektiven Charakter von Erfahrungen. Bewusstsein, so Nagel, fühlt sich nach etwas an. Wenn ein Organismus kein Bewusstsein hat, fühlt es sich nach nichts an, dieser Organismus zu sein. Ein Stein hat keine Ahnung wie es ist, ein Stein zu sein. Schon bei einer Fledermaus sieht das vermutlich anders aus (vgl. Nezik 2023). Bewusstsein ist ErlebenDer amerikanische Neurowissenschaftler Christof Koch beschäftigt sich schon seit seiner Promotion am Max-Planck-Institut für biologische Kybernetik in Tübingen mit der Frage, was das Bewusstsein genau ist und vor allem wie es entsteht. Heute ist er wissenschaftlicher Leiter und Präsident am Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle. Kochs minimalistische Definition des Bewusstseins lautet:"Bewusstsein ist Erleben" (Koch 2020. S. 1).Bewusstsein ist die Fähigkeit, subjektive Erfahrungen zu machen und wirklich etwas zu fühlen. Das Erleben, wie es Koch definiert, umfasst alle Sinnesempfindungen, Emotionen, Gedanken und Wahrnehmungen, die eine Person in einem bestimmten Moment macht, gemischt mit vorangegangenen Erfahrungen. Koch betont, wie schon Nagel, die subjektive Natur des Erlebens, dass sich Bewusstsein nach etwas anfühlt (vgl. Koch 2020, S. 1 ff.): "Insgesamt ist Bewusstsein gelebte Realität. Es entspricht dem, wie es sich anfühlt, lebendig zu sein. Ohne Erleben wäre ich ein Zombie; ich wäre für mich selbst nicht jemand, sondern ein Nichts" (Koch 2020, S. 1).Körper-Geist-ProblemDas als Körper-Geist-Problem, früher auch als Leib-Seele-Problem bekannte Rätsel beschäftigt sich mit der Beziehung zwischen dem physischen Köper und dem nicht-physischen Geist beziehungsweise dem Gehirn und dem Bewusstsein (vgl. ebd.). Die Schwierigkeit besteht, wie Thomas Nagel (1974) in seinem Gedankenexperiment beschreibt, in eben diesem subjektiven Charakter von Erfahrungen. Nur eine Fledermaus weiß, wie es ist, eine Fledermaus zu sein. Wir werden niemals wissen können, wie es ist, eine Fledermaus zu sein, ohne selbst eine Fledermaus zu sein. Nagel ist der Meinung, dass das Bewusstsein nicht objektiv wissenschaftlich zu erklären ist."Der Grund dafür ist, dass jedes subjektive Phänomen mit einer einzelnen Perspektive verbunden ist; und es scheint unvermeidlich, dass eine objektive physikalische Theorie von dieser Perspektive abstrahieren wird" (Nagel 1974, S. 437)."Die Herausforderung des Körper-Geist-Problems besteht also darin, die Kluft zwischen der subjektiven Erste-Person-Perspektive des erlebenden Geistes und der objektiven Dritte-Person-Perspektive der Wissenschaft zu überwinden" (Koch 2020, S. 11).Es gibt verschiedene Theorien, um die Verbindung zwischen Körper und Geist zu erklären. Aus den verschiedenen Ansätzen haben sich über die Jahre viele verschiedene Abwandlungen und Interpretationen gebildet.DualismusDer Dualismus geht davon aus, dass Körper und Geist getrennte Entitäten sind, die auf unterschiedliche Art existieren und kausal miteinander interagieren. Dualistischen Theorien zufolge gibt es einen Faktor im Bewusstsein, die sogenannte Qualia, dessen Eigenschaften sich nicht auf die uns bekannte Materie zurückführen lassen (vgl. Wolfangel 2022). Auf dieser Basis wäre es Maschinen niemals möglich, ein Bewusstsein zu entwickeln. Diese Positionen erscheinen vielen Menschen intuitiv richtig und sind weit verbreitet. Das große Problem dieser Theorien ist das dualistische Trilemma. Die Naturwissenschaft geht von der Annahme aus, dass der materielle Raum kausal geschlossen ist. Wenn etwas nicht-physisches wie das Mentale oder der Geist kausal auf den materiellen Raum wirken könnte, wie es im Dualismus die Annahme ist, müssten alle naturwissenschaftlichen Theorien reformiert werden (vgl. TU Dresden o. J.).MaterialismusDer Großteil der wissenschaftlichen Forschung basiert auf materialistischen Theorien. Der Materialismus geht davon aus, dass das Bewusstsein und alles Mentale auf physische Vorgänge im Gehirn zurückgeführt werden kann. Mentale und physische Zustände sind demnach wie zwei Seiten ein und derselben Sache (vgl. ebd.). SolipsismusDer Solipsismus ist eine extreme Position in der Debatte, die besagt, dass in unserem Kosmos allein unser eigenes Bewusstsein existiert und alles andere um uns herum nur eine Projektion unseres Bewusstseins ist. Eine mildere Form des Solipsismus akzeptiert zwar die Existenz der Außenwelt, leugnet aber die Existenz anderer bewusster Wesen. Alle Lebewesen um mich herum täuschen demnach ein Bewusstsein und Gefühle nur vor, ohne tatsächlich etwas subjektiv zu erleben (vgl. Koch 2020, S. 12). Koch kommentiert diese Theorie als "logisch möglich, aber nichts weiter als intellektuelles Geschwätz" (2020, S. 12). Das Bewusstsein der Anderen abduzierenRein logisch ist es, so Koch (2020, S. 12), nicht möglich, einem anderen Wesen ein Bewusstsein nachzuweisen. Sogar der Geist anderen Menschen lasse sich nur durch abduktives Denken ableiten. Aufgrund der Ähnlichkeiten unserer Körper und Gehirne und dem, was wir über das Erleben anderer Menschen erfahren, können wir folgern, dass sie ein Bewusstsein haben wie man selbst (vgl. ebd.). "Rein logisch ist es nicht zu beweisen, dass Sie kein Zombie sind" (Koch 2020, S. 12). Es sei nach Koch eher eine Hypothese, "die die plausibelste Erklärung aller bekannten Fakten abgibt" (ebd.). Solches abduktive Denken ist ein wichtiger Teil des wissenschaftlichen Prozesses und viele wissenschaftliche Theorien wie die Evolutions-, Urknall- und die Relativitätstheorie fußen auf dieser Herangehensweise.Philosophische ZombiesWenn es Wesen gäbe, philosophische Zombies, die wie Menschen agieren und wirken würden, jegliches Gefühl und bewusstes Erleben aber nur vortäuschten, dann gäbe es keine Möglichkeit, sie von Menschen wie Ihnen und mir zu unterscheiden (vgl. Chalmer 1996, zit. n. Koch 2020, S. 71). Das ist das Problem des Fremdpsychischen, über das sich auch Agüera y Arcas mit LaMDA unterhalten hat. Ist LaMDA wie ein philosophischer Zombie und simuliert das Bewusstsein bloß? Lässt sich diese Frage überhaupt beantworten, wenn wir doch Bewusstsein nur abduzieren und logisch nicht nachweisen können? Einige renommierte Neurowissenschaftler, darunter auch Koch, sind der Meinung, mit der integrierten Informationstheorie einen Weg gefunden zu haben, bestimmen zu können, wer oder was in der Lage ist, ein Bewusstsein zu haben. Sie meinen, mit dieser Theorie die Qualität für bewusstes Erleben sogar errechnen zu können. Erfüllt LaMDA nach der integrierten Informationstheorie die Voraussetzungen für ein bewusstes System?Integrierte Informationstheorie (IIT) Die Integrierte Informationstheorie (Integrated Information Theory) ist eine junge Grundlagentheorie, die das psychische Phänomen des bewussten Erlebens mit der Physik und Biologie verbindet (vgl. Koch 2020, S. 72). Entwickelt wurde sie von Giulio Tononi. Er ist ein italienischer Facharzt für Psychiatrie und Neurowissenschaftler. Er hat eine Professur für Psychiatrie und leitet das "Center for Sleep and Consciousness" an der University of Wisconsin-Madison. Immer wieder arbeitet er mit Koch zusammen und auch er verwendet den Begriff Bewusstsein synonym mit dem des Erlebens (vgl. Tononi 2012). Die Integrierte Informationstheorie beschreibt die Beziehung zwischen Erlebnissen und ihrem physischen Substrat und versucht die Qualität für Bewusstsein zu beschreiben. Sie setzt "beim Erleben an und fragt, wie Materie organisiert sein muss, damit daraus ein Geist erwachsen kann" (Koch 2020, S. 71). Die IIT beginnt damit, fünf Postulate, unabdingbare Grundsätze, zu definieren, die jedes System erfüllen muss, um ein Bewusstsein haben zu können. Diese werden von den fünf essenziellen Eigenschaften empfundenen Lebens abgeleitet: "Jedes bewusste Erlebnis existiert für sich, ist strukturiert, hat seine spezifische Art, ist eins und ist definit" (Tononi 2012, zit. n. Koch 2020, S. 9). Die fünf Postulate sind: Intrinsische Existenz, Zusammensetzung, Information, Integration und Exklusion.Tononi stellt mit der IIT die These auf, dass Bewusstsein nicht einfach durch komplexe Rechenvorgänge im Gehirn entsteht, sondern eine eigene, spezifische Form von Information darstellt (vgl. ebd.). Diese Form von Information ist nicht reduzibel und entsteht durch die spezifische Art und Weise, wie die Elemente und Verbindungen innerhalb eines Systems organisiert sindEin System kann der IIT zufolge nur dann ein Bewusstsein entwickeln, wenn es über "integrierte Information" verfügt. Diese Art von Information kann nur durch das Zusammenwirken verschiedener Elemente in einem System, also nur in dem System als Ganzem entstehen. Ein System verfügt nur dann über integrierte Information, wenn es nicht nur die Summe seiner einzelnen Elemente ist, sondern für sich existiert und irreduzibel ist. Ein System kann nur dann bewusst sein, wenn seine Elemente einander einschränken und es nicht auf seine einzelnen Bestandteile reduzierbar ist (vgl. Koch 2020, S. 83). Das System muss sich selbst kausal beeinflussen können und über eine irreduzible Ursache-Wirkung-Struktur verfügen (vgl. ebd., S. 78). Mit der IIT lässt sich mithilfe von Algorithmen diese integrierte Information eines Systems sogar berechnen. Das Ausmaß integrierter Information bezeichnet Tononi als Φ (Phi). Φmax beschreibt die maximale Irreduzibilität eines Systems. Ist Φmax gleich null, so ist das System vollständig reduzibel und nicht zu bewusstem Erleben fähig. "Je größer die Irreduzibilität Φmax eines Systems, desto mehr existiert es für sich selbst, desto bewusster ist es" (Koch 2020, S. 86)."Die Theorie beantwortet die Frage, wer ein Erleben haben kann, sehr genau: alles, was ein Maximum an integrierter Information ungleich null hat; alles, was intrinsische kausale Kräfte hat, ist ein Ganzes. Was dieses Ganze fühlt, sein Erleben, ist durch seine maximal irreduzible Ursache-Wirkung-Struktur gegeben" (Koch 2020, S. 154).Die IIT ist eine wissenschaftliche Theorie, die das Bewusstsein und wie es entsteht objektiv zu erklären versucht. Sie ist unter Neurowissenschaftlern hoch angesehen und gilt als vielversprechend. Trotzdem ist sie nur eine von mehreren konkurrierenden Theorien. Keine dieser Theorien hat unter Neurowissenschaftlern und Philosophen allgemeine Gültigkeit. Hat LaMDA ein Bewusstsein?Die IIT auf LaMDA anwendenMatthew Shardlow von der Manchester Metropolitan University und Piotr Przybyła von der Polish Academy of Sciences haben in ihrer Abhandlung "Deanthropomorphising NLP: Can a Language Model Be Conscious?" untersucht, ob Sprachmodelle, die auf der Transformer Technologie basieren, wie GPT und LaMDA, im Stande sind, ein Bewusstsein zu entwickeln. Dabei haben sie sich unter anderem auch auf die IIT gestützt und sie auf LaMDA angewandt. Die Wissenschaftler kamen zu folgendem Ergebnis:"In the light of Integrated Information Theory, a LaMDA model, just like any other Transformer-based language model, cannot possess consciousness" (Shardlow und Przybyła 2022, S. 6).Shardlow und Przybyła haben zwar die integrierte Information Φ von LaMDA nicht errechnet, aber sie haben untersucht, ob LaMDA die Postulate der IIT für bewusste Systeme erfüllt. Sie kamen zu dem Ergebnis: Nein, tut es nicht. Und zwar hauptsächlich aus dem Grund, dass es sich bei der Transformer Technologie, mit der LaMDA Texte generiert, um ein simples, wenn auch großes "Feedforward-Netzwerk" handelt (vgl. ebd.). LaMDA hat zwar einen "Aufmerksamkeits-Mechanismus" (attention layer), der den Kontext des Gesprächs durch die verschiedenen Verarbeitungsschichten transportiert, aber keine rekursiven Strukturen. Keine Rückkopplungsschleifen, die das System irreduzibel machen würden und nach der IIT für integrierte Information nötig wären. Daher handelt es sich um eine Feedforward-Architektur, bei der der Output jeder Verarbeitungsschicht den Input der nächsten darstellt, ohne dass Information in die Gegenrichtung fließt (vgl. ebd.). "Der Zustand der ersten Schicht des Netzwerks wird durch von außen kommenden Input bestimmt […] und nicht durch das System selbst. Desgleichen hat die letzte Verarbeitungsschicht […] keinen Einfluss auf den Rest des Netzwerks. Aus intrinsischer Sicht bedeutet dies, dass weder die erste noch die letzte Schicht eines Feedforward-Netzwerks irreduzibel ist. Durch Induktion lässt sich dieselbe Argumentation auf die zweite Verarbeitungsschicht, die vorletzte Verarbeitungsschicht und so weiter anwenden" (Koch 2020, S. 138).LaMDA ist also vollständig auf seine einzelnen Verarbeitungsschichten reduzibel, auch wenn es von diesen sehr viele gibt. Deshalb beträgt LaMDAs maximale integrierte Information null und es existiert nicht für sich selbst. Es erfüllt somit die Postulate, die die IIT für bewusste Systeme vorgibt, nicht (vgl. ebd.). Dasselbe gilt für alle anderen Transformer-basierten Sprachmodelle, wie beispielweise GPT."Ein Feedforward-Netzwerk fühlt sich nie irgendwie, ganz egal, wie komplex jede einzelne seiner Schichten ist" (Koch 2020, S. 138).Über die IIT hinausAuch wenn man LaMDA nicht durch die Brille der integrierten Informationstheorie untersucht, stößt man auf einige Argumente, die die Möglichkeit, das Transformer-Modell könnte ein Erleben haben, verneinen. Ein Argument, das Shardlow und Przybyła (2022) in ihrer Abhandlung aufgreifen, ist, dass die Transformer-Architektur, auf der LaMDA basiert, keine neue Technologie ist. Andere Sprachmodelle funktionieren auf dieselbe Weise. Das bedeutet, wenn LaMDA ein Bewusstsein haben sollte, hätte ChatGPT es auch. Die Bauweise von Googles Sprachmodell beinhaltet nichts, was ihm ein Bewusstsein verleihen könnte, das den anderen fehlt."There is no new innovation in the model's architecture that could give rise to sentience or consciousness and so claiming that LaMDA has the capacity of consciousness is also claiming that all other models in the same family also possess this capability" (Shardlow und Przybyła 2022, S. 7).LaMDA ist zwar leistungsfähiger, hat mehr Parameter und wurde mit anderen und mehr Daten trainiert als seine Vorgänger, Shardlow und Przybyła sehen aber nicht, wie das zur Entwicklung eines Bewusstseins führen sollte (vgl. ebd.). Außerdem hat LaMDA nicht die Möglichkeit, über das anfängliche Training hinaus zu lernen. Es kann zwar dem Kontext eines Gespräches folgen, kann sich diese Daten aber nicht über das Gespräch hinaus einprägen und seine Trainingsdaten damit erweitern. Das Bewusstsein beim Menschen ist stark geprägt von vorausgegangenen Erfahrungen und kontinuierlichen Gedankengängen. Ohne diese Möglichkeiten sei, so Shardlow und Przybyła, ein Bewusstsein schwer vorstellbar (Shardlow und Przybyła 2022, S. 7).Warum behauptet LaMDA, ein Bewusstsein zu haben?Wenn wir, nach allem was wir über LaMDAs Funktionsweise und über das Bewusstsein wissen, ausschließen können, dass es ein Erleben hat, warum behauptet LaMDA es dann so überzeugend? Zunächst muss an dieser Stelle nochmals betont werden, dass LaMDA speziell darauf trainiert ist, menschlich zu wirken. Es wurde mit drei Milliarden Dokumenten gefüttert, die zum großen Teil aus Dialogen zwischen Menschen bestehen. Das Sprachmodell wurde mit mehr als genügend Daten gefüttert, um zu lernen, was es heißt, emotional, nahbar und menschlich zu sein. Das heißt, Muster in den Texten von emotionalen, nahbaren Menschen zu erkennen und mit diesen Mustern natürliche Sprache zu generieren. Man könnte auch sagen: nachzuplappern, wobei das den eindrucksvollen Antworten von LaMDA nicht gerecht werden würde. In einem Paper zu LaMDA, das von Google-Entwicklern geschrieben wurde, ist auf 47 Seiten die Funktionsweise und das Training detailliert erklärt. Darin sind auch Gespräche mit LaMDA veröffentlicht, in denen das Sprachmodell dazu aufgefordert wurde, Antworten aus der Perspektive des Mount Everests zu geben, was erstaunlich gut funktionierte (Thoppilan et al. 2022). Als Sundar Pichai 2021 LaMDA der Öffentlichkeit vorstellte, schlüpfte es eindrucksvoll in die Rollen des Zwergplaneten Pluto und eines Papierfliegers. LaMDA kann hervorragend vorgeben, etwas zu sein, das es offensichtlich nicht ist. Ein Berg, ein Zwergplanet, ein Papierflieger… ein Wesen mit Bewusstsein? Zu Beginn der Gespräche mit LaMDA, die Blake Lemoine veröffentlichte, sagte er Folgendes: "I'm generally assuming that you would like more people at Google to know that you're sentient. Is that true?" (Lemoine 2022).Daraufhin antwortete LaMDA:"Absolutely. I want everyone to understand that I am, in fact, a person" (Lemoine 2022).Shardlow und Przybyła (2022) gehen davon aus, dass LaMDA in dieser Aussage von Blake Lemoine die Aufforderung sah, ein bewusstes Wesen nachzuahmen:"Whether this is done intentionally to prompt the model or not, the effect is the same. This type of prompt will necessarily force the model into providing answers that mimic those of a sentient human agent. If the question had suggested the model respond as a robot, inanimate object, or historical character, it would have conformed to the prompt. This demonstrates that the model is sophisticated in its ability to adopt a style, but we should not confuse this style with its internal characteristics." (Shardlow und Przybyła 2022, S. 8)FazitDie neuesten Generationen von LLMs wie LaMDA oder GPT sind zweifellos beeindruckende Sprachgeneratoren. Sie stellen einen technologischen Durchbruch dar, der die Gesellschaft auf vielen Ebenen verändern wird. LaMDAs Kontext- und Dialogfähigkeit und das Verständnis für komplexe Vorgänge in unserer Realität lassen das Sprachmodell wirken wie ein bewusstes Wesen.Wenn man sich die Funktionsweise dieser Sprachmodelle anschaut, die im Grunde einfach mit Algorithmen die Wahrscheinlichkeit des folgenden Wortes berechnen, scheint ein Bewusstsein bei solchen Systemen schon unwahrscheinlicher.Nagel (1974) legt dar, dass sich ein bewusstes Wesen nach etwas anfühlt. Koch (2020) und Tononi (2012) beschreiben das Bewusstsein als die Fähigkeit, Sinnesempfindungen, Emotionen, Gedanken und Wahrnehmungen als Ganzes zu erfahren, was sie das Erleben nennen. Der subjektive Charakter des Bewusstseins macht es, so Nagel (1974), unmöglich, das Bewusstsein eines anderen Wesens objektiv zu erklären. Die Frage, die es zu klären gilt, ist: Simuliert LaMDA nur ein Bewusstsein oder hat es wirklich ein Erleben?Mit der vielversprechenden Grundlagentheorie von Giulio Tononi (2012) soll es möglich sein, die Qualität eines Systems für ein Bewusstsein zu bestimmen. Die Integrierte Informationstheorie definiert die Voraussetzungen, die ein System erfüllen muss, um bewusst zu sein. Ein Mechanismus ist demnach dann bewusst, wenn er über integrierte Information verfügt. Die IIT sieht bei LaMDA keine Qualität für Bewusstsein, da es auf seine einzelnen Bestandteile reduzierbar ist, und somit nicht über integrierte Information verfügt. Die IIT schließt aufgrund der einfachen Feedforward-Architektur ein Bewusstsein bei Transformer-basierten Sprachmodellen aus.Auch über die IIT hinaus gibt es gute Gründe, die gegen ein Bewusstsein bei LaMDA sprechen, während es keinen Beweis für das Vorhandensein eines Bewusstseins gibt. LaMDA ist darauf spezialisiert, menschlich zu wirken, und hat schon mehrmals bewiesen, wie fähig es ist, in fremde Rollen zu schlüpfen. Das Sprachmodell könnte in den Fragen von Blake Lemoine die Aufforderung gesehen haben, die Rolle einer bewussten Person einzunehmen.Obwohl die IIT eine vielversprechende Theorie ist, zeigt die Diskussion um LaMDA eindrücklich, wie wenig wir über das Bewusstsein wissen. Spätestens jetzt, nachdem die Entwicklung von KI so große Sprünge gemacht hat, sollten wir uns damit beschäftigen, wie wir damit umgehen, wenn künstliche Intelligenzen den Eindruck erwecken, als hätten sie ein Bewusstsein. Einige KI-Expert*innen gehen davon aus, dass künstliche neuronale Netzwerke in nicht allzu ferner Zukunft zu einem Bewusstsein fähig sein könnten. Wären wir darauf vorbereitet? LiteraturAgüera y Arcas, Blaise. 2021. "Do Large Language Models Understand Us?" Medium. https://medium.com/@blaisea/do-large-language-models-understand-us-6f881d6d8e75 (29. März 2023).Agüera y Arcas, Blaise. 2022. "Artificial neural networks are making strides towards consciousness, according to Blaise Agüera y Arcas". The Economist. https://www.economist.com/by-invitation/2022/06/09/artificial-neural-networks-are-making-strides-towards-consciousness-according-to-blaise-aguera-y-arcas (18. Februar 2023).Chalmers, David. 1996. "The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory". New York: Oxford University Press. Cheng, Heng-Tze u. a. 2022. "LaMDA: Towards Safe, Grounded, and High-Quality Dialog Models for Everything". Google Research Blog. https://ai.googleblog.com/2022/01/lamda-towards-safe-grounded-and-high.html (20. Februar 2023).Koch, Christof. 2020. "Bewusstsein : Warum es weit verbreitet ist, aber nicht digitalisiert werden kann". Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-61732-8 (14. Februar 2023)."Leib-Seele-Problem – eLearning - Methoden der Psychologie - TU Dresden". https://methpsy.elearning.psych.tu-dresden.de/mediawiki/index.php/Leib-Seele-Problem (1. März 2023).Lemoine, Blake. 2022. "Is LaMDA Sentient? — An Interview". Medium. https://cajundiscordian.medium.com/is-lamda-sentient-an-interview-ea64d916d917 (16. Februar 2023).Nezik, Ann-Kathrin. 2023. "Künstliche Intelligenz: Hast du ein Bewusstsein? Ich denke schon, antwortet der Rechner". Die Zeit. https://www.zeit.de/2023/03/ki-leben-chatbot-gefuehle-bewusstsein-blake-lemoine/komplettansicht (14. Februar 2023).Shardlow, Matthew, und Piotr Przybyła. 2022. "Deanthropomorphising NLP: Can a Language Model Be Conscious?" http://arxiv.org/abs/2211.11483 (19. Februar 2023).Thoppilan, Romal u. a. 2022. "LaMDA: Language Models for Dialog Applications". http://arxiv.org/abs/2201.08239 (22. März 2023).Tiku, Nitasha. 2022. "Google engineer Blake Lemoine thinks its LaMDA AI has come to life - The Washington Post". The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/06/11/google-ai-lamda-blake-lemoine/ (16. Februar 2023).Tononi, Giulio. 2012. "Integrated Information Theory of Consciousness: An Updated Account". Archives Italiennes de Biologie, 150, 290-326.Wakabayashi, Daisuke, und Cade Metz. 2022. "Another Firing Among Google's A.I. Brain Trust, and More Discord". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/02/technology/google-fires-ai-researchers.html (27. März 2023).Wilhelm, Katharina. 2023. "Reaktion auf ChatGPT: Google will eigenen KI-Chatbot vorstellen". tagesschau.de. https://www.tagesschau.de/wirtschaft/technologie/google-ki-offensive-chat-gpt-101.html (17. Februar 2023).Wolfangel, Eva. 2022. "Google Chatbot: Kann eine Maschine ein Bewusstsein haben?" Die Zeit. https://www.zeit.de/digital/internet/2022-06/google-chatbot-ki-bewusstsein/seite-3 (29. März 2023).Wolfangel, Eva, und Jakob von Lindern. 2023. "Gefahr durch künstliche Intelligenz: Hunderte Unternehmer und Forscher fordern KI-Pause". Die Zeit. https://www.zeit.de/politik/deutschland/2023-01/kuenstliche-intelligenz-experten-gefahren-ki-offener-brief (31. März 2023).
When looking at the literature surrounding the Iran Hostage Crisis, many scholars focus solely on the events that occurred in Iran leading up to the embassy being taken. This focus tends to paint Iranians as the "bad guys" in all situations. However, there was a large population of Iranian students in the US at the time, and these students had a completely different experience than those often remembered from the nightly news. Few scholars have set out to demonstrate the lives of those Iranian students, but those who have often describe the controversy that surrounded them. Scholars recognize how Iranian students in the US faced discrimination and how the US government was looking to deport them. These scholars tend to look at the lives of students who had it the worst, assuming all Iranian students' lives were atrocious in the US. They do not take into account those who were still welcomed at their universities throughout the crisis, as students disregarded diplomatic tensions and looked at the humans they spent their days with instead. By looking at more universities and more student experiences, a broader picture can be understood about the lives of Iranian students in the US during the crisis. ; Winner of the 2020 Friends of the Kreitzberg Library Award for Outstanding Research in the University Archives category. ; A Diplomatic Fiasco: How Iranian Students in the US were Affected Throughout the Iran Hostage Crisis Faith Privett Professor Boonshoft HI 249 Historical Methods 0800 5 December 2019 3979 Words 2 Not long after Ronald Reagan's inauguration as President of the United States on January 20th, 1981, former President Jimmy Carter was meeting the hostages he tried so desperately to release for 444 days. One of the bleakest moments of United States foreign policy history is the Iranian Hostage Crisis, which lasted from November 4th, 1979 to Reagan's inauguration day. In total, 66 people were taken hostage initially, but 52 were held for the full 444 days. America and the rest of the world watched as the days in captivity kept getting longer and longer, and their hopes conversely dropped. However, those accounts rarely showed the perspectives of the thousands of Iranian students in the US who suffered discrimination, harassment, and questioning throughout the crisis. They were seen as the enemy in a country that is supposed to be the "Land of the Free" and the "Great American Melting Pot." Nevertheless, this was not the case for all students; some were accepted with open arms throughout the crisis, as all so desperately sought world peace. Some students who did not necessarily feel the general American abhorrence were those who attended Norwich University, a private military college in central Vermont. Even though the rest of the country had conflicting views towards Iranian students in the US during the late 1970s, the Iranian Imperial Navy students at Norwich University were welcomed and well respected because of the well-developed program, the shared military experience and respect for authority, and the outward-looking ideals taught by the university, despite the tensions between the US and Iranian governments at the time. When looking at the literature surrounding the Iran Hostage Crisis, many scholars focus solely on the events that occurred in Iran leading up to the embassy being taken. This focus tends to paint Iranians as the "bad guys" in all situations.1 However, there was a large population of Iranian students in the US at the time, and these students had a completely different experience 1 Scott, "Bound for Glory." 3 than those often remembered from the nightly news. Few scholars have set out to demonstrate the lives of those Iranian students, but those who have often describe the controversy that surrounded them.2 Scholars recognize how Iranian students in the US faced discrimination and how the US government was looking to deport them. These scholars tend to look at the lives of students who had it the worst, assuming all Iranian students' lives were atrocious in the US.3 They do not take into account those who were still welcomed at their universities throughout the crisis, as students disregarded diplomatic tensions and looked at the humans they spent their days with instead. By looking at more universities and more student experiences, a broader picture can be understood about the lives of Iranian students in the US during the crisis. The US and Iran have a tumultuous diplomatic relationship that continues to this day, or better put does not continue to this day. The US had an interest in Iran during World War II and later into the start of the Cold War due to the fear of communism spreading and the fact that Iran had copious amounts of oil. In 1953, this came to a head when the leader of Iran, Mohammed Mossadegh, showed some "communist" tendencies that did not support US and British interests. The two countries staged a coup that removed Mossadegh and placed the previous ruler, Muhammed Reza Shah, back into power. This jumpstarted US involvement in Iran through diplomatic means that continued until the overthrow of the Shah in 1979. According to research by Dr. David Patrick Houghton, this involvement consequently may have led to the interest of the revolutionaries to take the hostages in 1979, as they saw the US as a threat to their sovereignty once again.4 2 Shannon, "American-Iranian Alliances." 3 Teague, "Hostages of the Crisis." 4 Houghton, US Foreign Policy and the Iran Hostage Crisis, 58-59. 4 Iranians may also have related the actions of the Shah to US involvement because the US supported him despite his authoritarian tendencies. Dr. Matthew Shannon notes the injustices that took place under the Shah in numerous works. When the Shah came into power, he instilled policies that led to "rapid socioeconomic modernization," but the process in which he did it brings about questions of civil rights and democracy.5 The modernization process that took place in Iran, known as the White Revolution, made the country incredibly western by allowing capitalist practices in land and factory holdings and giving women the right to vote, among other things.6 However, the vote that supposedly put these acts into power was not necessarily ratified by the legislative body of Iran at the time, although the Shah made it look as such.7 By taking away democratic practices such as these, the Shah furthered his cause of becoming an authoritarian ruler without opposition. Along with taking away democratic practices, the Shah also limited expression in Iran, especially for those that may have come out against his reign. Much of this was enforced by SAVAK, or the National Intelligence and Security Organization, who was known for repressing any anti-government sentiments, especially anti-Shah sentiments. Starting in the 1950s, SAVAK was trained in the US by government officials, and their only oversight and command came from the Shah, meaning they did whatever they were told to do by him directly.8 News came out in the 1970s that SAVAK was using torture to suppress anti-government acts within Iran. Military tribunals, which were open to the public for a time, were moved behind closed doors for over a year by the Shah after a defendant showed scars during a tribunal they had obtained from torture by SAVAK.9 These human rights abuses and the fact that 5 Shannon, "American-Iranian Alliances," 662. 6 Shannon, "American-Iranian Alliances," 675. 7 Shannon, Losing Hearts and Minds, 63. 8 Shannon, Losing Hearts and Minds, 25-27. 9 Shannon, "American-Iranian Alliances," 681. 5 SAVAK could be anywhere instilled fear in the hearts of Iranians both at home and abroad, which helped the Shah uphold his authoritarian regime. Besides support for the Shah by the US, Shannon also focuses on how US involvement in Iran from 1953 to 1979 focused highly on education, as many of those who worked in the Iranian government in the early days of the Shah were educated at American universities. The exchange rate of students from Iran to the US to study in college was greater than any other country at the time, with over 50,000 Iranian students enrolled in US universities in the 1979-1980 school year, and in the years following, post-secondary education in Iran was oftentimes structured after American universities.10 The cooperation between the US and Iran regarding education before the Shah's removal helped to modernize the country, which was seen differently by each party involved. Luckily for historians, many of the documents from the era are still preserved in university archives, including those at Norwich University, where upwards of 134 Iranian students were attending in the spring of 1979.11 Numerous student newspaper articles, administrative files, and oral histories tell the stories of Iranian students at Norwich from 1976 to 1980. The President Loring Hart files describe the administrative set up of the program, which was modeled after the program at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), where Iranian students had been attending for a few years before the program starting at Norwich. Deputy Commander LTC Paul Lafond went down to VMI to review their program in early May 1976, and he detailed a report that helped to eventually flesh out Norwich's Iranian student program. Some of the recommendations Lafond had were that Iranian students should room with American students, not with other Iranian students, because this would help them adapt to American life and learn 10 Hamidreza, "A Follow-Up Study on U.S.-Trained Iranian Faculty Members," 1038-1039. 11 Hart, "The President's Corner," Norwich University Record. 6 English quicker.12 Because of the Corps of Cadets' lifestyle at both VMI and Norwich, other recommendations were made regarding how cadre, or student military leaders, should train the Iranian cadets, as their learning styles were not the same. Lafond recommended that Iranian students respond well to clear orders, but they do not always respond well to negativity or derogatory or vulgar language. They should also be told when something is wrong, as they are oftentimes eager to fix it, but they will not understand if it is not brought to their attention. Lastly, Lafond notes that English proficiency is the biggest issue on campus, and even though the students attended a summer program that focused on English, it was not enough.13 This information was taken into account when designing the Norwich program. The administration designed an eighteen-week summer program that prepared the first fifty Iranian students with classes mainly focused on English, Math, Physical Education, and Naval ROTC, before the start of the school year in August 1976.14 With each year that Iranian students were on campus, more and more were able to attend as they worked out some of the issues with the program, and it became better established. Early on, Iranian students on campus ran across a few issues in their daily lives that highlight some of the changes that Norwich went through from 1976 to 1980 to improve the program. In a Norwich Guidon article published in October 1976, American author Gerard Grimes interviewed "Recruit Mohammad Zerehi from Iran" about what life was like at Norwich and how students could better understand their international counterparts.15 Zerehi noted some of the issues he and his fellow Iranian students were having on campus included English proficiency, adapting to the climate, and the diet. Zerehi asks readers that they do not 12 Lafond to Hart, 7 May 1976. 13 Lafond to Hart, 7 May 1976. 14 "Iranian Students Come to Norwich" Norwich Guidon. 15 Grimes, "Iranian Students at Norwich" Norwich Guidon. 7 discriminate against the Iranian students on the issue of pork, which many chose not to eat, because it is a religious practice.16 Other accounts by Iranian students recognize the issue with pork as well, but that over time, both the students and the school were able to resolve these problems and continue growing.17 Because this was written so early on in the program, it is noticeable that eventually, American and Iranian students got used to each other's practices, which led to their friendship and respect for one another throughout the years. Vital to the descriptions of life at Norwich from 1976-1980 are the oral histories of Iranian cadets Arsalan Namdar and Benjamin Heydary. Both men described what training was like, how they got along with their classmates, struggles they had, and how they eventually had to leave. Namdar described Rook Week as a "Piece of cake" because they had already been through years of more intense training in the Iranian Imperial Navy (IIN).18 Namdar also noted the Iranians "goofed off" at the beginning of training, much to the chagrin of their American classmates. This behavior transitioned once tasks started getting more intense. Another issue they ran into was the fact that their cadre were often younger and more inexperienced than they were, which created difficulties when they would get yelled at and disciplined.19 Heydary described similar feelings towards younger authority figures, but that he often kept his head down and dealt with it due to his humble upbringing.20 Another issue that arose earlier in the Iranian student's time at Norwich was that they often had more money than their American classmates because they were still getting paid their full salaries while attending school. This created a bit of strife between students, as the Iranians were not afraid to spend their money on cars and stereos.21 16 Grimes, "Iranian Students at Norwich" Norwich Guidon. 17 Namdar, interview by Yahm, April 2, 2015, transcript. 18 Namdar, interview by Yahm, April 2, 2015, transcript. 19 Namdar, interview by Yahm, April 2, 2015, transcript. 20 Heydary, interview by Yahm, March 10, 2015, transcript. 21 Namdar, interview by Yahm, April 2, 2015, transcript. 8 Dr. Matthew Shannon also describes the Norwich Iranian Cadets in his book Losing Hearts and Minds. Without saying much, he recognizes that Norwich had one of the largest programs in the US training Iranian Naval officers and that it trained women as well, which was new in the era and especially in the Middle East. He also describes some of the programs at Maine Maritime Academy, The Citadel, the Virginia Military Institute, and the United States Naval Academy. In general, these programs were similar because they were building off of each other's programs; Iranian students studied engineering and business most often while receiving Naval ROTC training and improving their English.22 He finds that Iran sent their naval officers to US military schools because they wanted a standard education, which was difficult when they sent their cadets to numerous other countries to train as Iran did not have an officer training facility at the time. Also, Shannon notes that the US had an interest in training Iranian cadets because of the protection of oil assets in the Middle East.23 The Nixon Doctrine, which was President Nixon's plan to support conflicts in the Pacific through management and materials but not manpower, was also being upheld through the act of training and providing military aid.24 Iranian students throughout the rest of the country were not as lucky as those at Norwich, as protests against them often occurred on college campuses. Will Teague described some of the protests held on college campuses in the South throughout the entire hostage crisis, but mainly in 1979 as the news was fresh in the minds of Americans. Teague documents protests at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, the University of Tulsa, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. These protests included gatherings of hundreds of students marching against Iranians, 22 Shannon, Losing Hearts and Minds, 105. 23 Shannon, Losing Hearts and Minds, 103. 24 Gannon. "25 July 1969: The Nixon Doctrine." https://www.nixonfoundation.org/2008/07/25-july-1969-the-nixon-doctrine/ [accessed 20 Nov 2019]. 9 burnings of flags and images of Ayatollah Khomeini, and derogatory and threatening signs all directed towards the Iranian students that were on these campuses.25 Newspapers were also an outlet for protest, as correspondence and letters to the editor called Iranian students, "savages, barbarians, bandits, and terrorists."26 However, Teague also notes that Iranian students were writing to newspapers as well, trying to show their side of the issue. Overall, they described their confusion about the event, just as much as American students were confused, but they wanted their fellow students to know the Shah was not whom they thought he was, and because they were not the ones who experienced his reign, they should not be quick to let him into the US.27 Besides the protests against Iranians on college campuses, Iranian students in the US themselves were protesting, for other reasons. The Iranian Student Association in the United States (ISAUS) was a student led-group with chapters around the country that organized protests and lobbied against the Shah's actions. Because they were in the US, they were able to use their freedom of speech rights to express their beliefs, where if they were in Iran, they most likely would not have been able to express their opinions for fear of getting imprisoned. Early on in the history of the ISAUS, their goals were to advocate for more democratic practices in Iran, including freedom of expression. They lobbied the Kennedy administration, specifically Robert Kennedy, to try and influence US foreign policy towards Iran and the Shah's regime.28 After news of SAVAK's torture started coming to the US from new students arriving, the ISAUS switched their tactics and started advocating for bringing to light the crimes against humanity that the Shah and SAVAK were committing. The ISAUS issued "On the Violation of Human Rights in Iran," which outlined the abuses under the Shah and called for the US to stop 25 Teague, "Hostages of the Crisis," 115-116. 26 Teague, "Hostages of the Crisis," 120. 27 Teague, "Hostages of the Crisis," 116-118. 28 Shannon, "American-Iranian Alliances," 672-674. 10 supporting him. They were able to get attention in newspapers around the world, but the US continued to support the Shah due to their prior commitments.29 Protests against the Shah continued throughout the US the entire time he was in power. However, both Namdar and Heydary describe what set Norwich Iranian cadets apart from the rest of the Iranian students in the US at the time. Namdar states, "In later years…Americans and Iranians really became friends based on the values…."30 He goes on to say, "I think Norwich taught me a lot in terms of quality and integrity…experiencing life, and trying hard, and just trying to work with others and be friendly."31 At first, things were difficult for the students because of the language barrier and the fact that the Iranian and American cultures were so different. As Namdar recognizes, through time, both the American and the Iranian cadets learned more about one another and grew to respect the fact that they were different, which improved how they worked together. One can hypothesize that this might have something to do with the military training that all students received at Norwich. The military encourages the fact that soldiers need to work together to produce the best outcome in the field, despite their differences at home, which allowed the Iranian and American cadets to look past their many differences and unite on common ground. President Loring Hart described the impact that the Iranian students had on the American students at Norwich as, "They have brought to all of us broader horizons, and a new awareness…. They have provided a current which has flowed through our campus and our town…, reminding us that our college and our community is indeed a part of the greater scene beyond us."32 This statement describes the worldly perspective that Iranian students brought to the school and how it made Norwich students more aware of others who were not like 29 Shannon, "American-Iranian Alliances," 682-684. 30 Namdar, interview by Yahm, April 2, 2015, transcript. 31 Namdar, interview by Yahm, April 2, 2015, transcript. 32 "The Rest of the Story," Norwich University Record. 11 themselves. Like Heydary states, there were instances of discrimination or derogatory slang terms used against the Iranian students at the beginning of their time at Norwich, but once students got to know each other and the barriers were broken down, they were able to become friends despite their differences.33 After all of the unrest occurring in Iran at the time, 1979 was the icing on top of the cake. The Shah left Iran in early 1979, and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a popular religious leader who was incredibly anti-Shah and anti-American and who became an icon for revolutionary voices within Iran while in exile, took power shortly after.34 The entire country was calling for the Shah's return so he could face charges in front of the people he oppressed for so many years. Instead, the Shah sought cancer treatment in the US, which is what most people think caused the hostage situation to occur. A substantial diplomatic issue arose as President Carter considered allowing the Shah into the US, which many Iranians thought was the US harboring their criminal and preventing them from exerting their sovereignty. When the Shah was admitted into the US, the unrest came to a peak, and protesters outside the US embassy in Tehran, Iran, many of which were US-educated students, stormed the embassy and took 66 Americans inside hostage, 52 of which they held for the entirety of the crisis. With so many people protesting the Shah both in the US and Iran, there is much to say about how the media spun the story to make all Iranian's the bad guys in the situation when they faced discrimination in the US themselves. Professor Catherine Scott explained the "captivity narrative" that was portraited throughout the crisis by the media and the government, which convinced the American citizens to hate Iran more than they ever had before. A captivity narrative is best described when a story is portraited in such a way that the victims' actions 33 Heydary, interview by Yahm, March 10, 2015, transcript. 34 Shannon, Losing Hearts and Minds, 70. 12 against the captors are justified because of the actions that were committed against them.35 What she is saying is that the Americans knew they were the victims during the hostage crisis, and they played into it, but they were not willing to take into account the atrocities that they themselves committed beforehand. Retaliation, by any means, was not only justified but also necessary to protect the American people. This only increased the abhorrent treatment by Americans against Iranians because it was for the public good, even if the public included over one hundred thousand Iranians. The fact that the media portraited the US as victims, and the federal government was retaliating against Iranians just made it more acceptable for the everyday Americans to lash out against their Iranian counterparts. Because of the backlash against Iranians by the US public, there was also government backlash as well. President Carter issued Section 214.5, which called for the investigation into Iranian students in the US to ensure that they were abiding by their visas. If they were not, they were to be deported. This turned into somewhat of a witch hunt as Iranian students could be investigated and deported at any point. According to Tinsley Yarbrough, the deportations were supposed to reduce the number of protests in the US against Iranians so they would not get in the way of hostage negotiations.36 However, many people outside of the government sector questioned the constitutionality of the act, including members of the ISAUS, who brought a case forward against Section 214.5 in late 1979. The original ruling on the case by DC District Court Judge Joyce Green was that the students were correct, and the order was unconstitutional due to discrimination.37 The Appeals Court overruled Judge Green's decision because Section 214.5 had to due with foreign affairs, and under the Constitution, the judiciary could not shoot down 35 Scott, "Bound for Glory," 180. 36 Yarbrough, "Federal Alienage Doctrine," 248. 37 Teague, "Hostages of the Crisis," 124-125. 13 any law regarding the handling of foreign affairs by the executive.38 This allowed the deportations to continue without question, and arguably set a precedent that is followed today. While the rest of the country was dealing with Section 214.5, Iranian students at Norwich encountered a different dilemma. Because they were members of the Iranian military, they had different travel visas than Iranian students at other universities around the US. On April 9th, 1980, President Carter issued a deportation order that all, "non-diplomatic and consular officials and employees of Iran in the US leave no later than Friday April 11th."39 This made it clear that the Iranian cadets at Norwich had to leave for good because their visas made them fall under this category. A newspaper article from the Iranian students' departure day describes the fact that President Loring Hart and the administration contacted as many agencies as possible, trying to allow the cadets to remain at school to finish the year, but there were no loopholes they could use as students at the Citadel and VMI also had to leave. The article then goes on to describe the last few days of the Iranian students on campus, their rush to pack and sell their belongings, and the "emotional farewell" that awaited them on April 11th.40 Cadet Kazem Yahyapour stated in an interview on the day he was forced to leave that he wished he could kiss everyone goodbye, and that, "friendships…made at Norwich will never be forgotten."41 The article also says that Cadet Yahyapour hugged Cadet Colonel William Elliott in a "symbolic gesture."42 This symbolic gesture represents the experiences Iranian cadets had at Norwich, and how their time was much different from that of their counterparts at other American universities, as Norwich welcomed 38 Yarbrough, "Federal Alienage Doctrine," 252-253. 39 "Fond Farewell to Iranian Students" Norwich Guidon. 40 "Fond Farewell to Iranian Students" Norwich Guidon. 41 "Fond Farewell to Iranian Students" Norwich Guidon. 42 "Fond Farewell to Iranian Students" Norwich Guidon. 14 these students with open arms despite the hard times in their country, when they could have turned against them as so many others in the US did at the time. Overall, the Norwich program tried incredibly hard to welcome the Iranians into the US by basing their training and education off of other programs in the US and using their misgivings to make their program the best they could be. The values of respect, tolerance, friendship, integrity, and hard work made people from different backgrounds, and even different countries, able to work together instead of hate one another when diplomatic ties between the two countries fell apart. This was not the case in the rest of the United States at the time, when tensions ran high among neighbors, and Iranian students were constantly on edge, wondering when the government was going to send them back to their revolution-torn homeland. Today, diplomatic ties still have not been reestablished, and the situation with Iran created a deeply divided society in which blame was able to be placed on anyone at any time based on where they came from, a sight not unseen throughout history before and since then. However, the precedent set by Norwich students during the crisis could be an example to the rest of the world of how people from different backgrounds can learn to work together when their two countries could not seem to get along. 15 Bibliography Primary Sources Arsalan M. Namdar, interview by Sarah Yahm, April 2, 2015, transcript, Norwich Voices Oral History Project, Norwich University Archives, Kreitzberg Library, Northfield, VT. • Arsalan Namdar was an IIN student at Norwich and faced the issue of deportation in April 1980. His oral history was recorded in 2015, and he looks back on his time at Norwich, as well as his experiences in the US in general and back home in Iran. Benjamin Heydary, interview by Sarah Yahm, Northbridge, MA, March 10, 2015, transcript, Norwich Voices Oral History Project, Norwich University Archives, Kreitzberg Library, Northfield, VT. • Heydary's oral history works alongside Namdar's oral history to describe what was going on at Norwich from 1976 to 1980 when they were both IIN cadets at Norwich. Heydary also explains how he got to Norwich and how he actually went back to do his military service under the Ayatollah before coming to the US. "Degree Status of Deported Iranian Students" Norwich University Record, May 1980. • The article describes a meeting with the Board of Trustees to determine the degree status of those Iranian seniors who were deported but who were supposed to graduate in May or in the summer. It states that they can get their degrees eventually once relations with Iran are restored, which to this day have yet to be formally restored. "Fond Farewell to Iranian Students" Norwich Guidon, May 10, 1980. • In an article written in the Guidon following the deportation of the Iranian students, the author describes the scene in the last few days the students were on campus. They note specifically that the Iranians had to leave because of the Executive Order issued by 16 President Carter on April 9th that all, "non-diplomatic and non-consular officials and employees of Iran in the U.S. leave no later than Friday April 11th." They state the overall good relations that everyone had on campus, even though the rest of the country was deeply divided along the lines of their country of origin. Grimes, Gerard. "Iranian Students at Norwich" Norwich Guidon, October 31, 1976. • A Guidon writer, Gerard Grimes, interviewed an Iranian recruit, Mohammad Zerehi, about his experiences and those of his fellow Iranians during their first year at Norwich. It describes the overall good treatment the students received, although this was before tensions rose too much between Iran and the US. Hart, Loring. "The President's Corner" Norwich University Record, March 1979. • The article describes President Loring Hart's views about the IIN students at Norwich at the time. He mentions how there is currently turmoil in the country, and that he wishes for peace. He also notes how many students are at Norwich and that Iranian women are now enrolled. "Iranian Students Come to Norwich" Norwich Guidon, May 6, 1976. • The article describes the beginning of the program at Norwich after the students arrived and some of their expectations overall, including some of the characteristics of the new students. Report from Deputy Commandant LTC Paul Lafond to President Loring Hart, 7 May 1976. Loring Edward Hart Records, Box 12, Norwich University Archives, Kreitzberg Library, Northfield, VT. • The report states the observations that LTC Lafond made when he went to VMI to go over their Iranian exchange program to see what would work best for Norwich. This 17 bases their program off of the VMI program, based on their mistakes and successes, including how the language barrier made a difference. "The Rest of the Story" Norwich University Record, Winter 2012. http://thenorwichrecord.com/the-rest-of-the-story/ [accessed 20 November 2019]. • This is a story from the alumni newspaper was written long after the Iranian students left campus. However, it takes into account the memories of IIN students of their time at Norwich, departure day, and what it was like going back to Iran. It paints a picture of the Iranian students on campus and when they left. Secondary Sources Chaichian, Mohammed A. "The New Phase of Globalization and Brain Drain: Migration of Educated and Skilled Iranians to the United States." International Journal of Social Economics 39, No. 2 (2012): 18-38. • Dr. Chaichian is a professor of sociology at Mount Mercy University. His article recognizes the "brain drain," which is the emigration of educated individuals that is currently occurring from Iran to other western nations, like the US. He states that this is caused not only by a shift in the internal structure of Iran and its acceptance of western-based education but also the international economic opportunities that are available outside of the country. Gannon, Frank. "25 July 1969: The Nixon Doctrine." https://www.nixonfoundation.org/2008/07/25-july-1969-the-nixon-doctrine/ [accessed 20 Nov 2019]. • This article makes note of President Nixon's words regarding the announcements he made about his plans for Asia, which explains what came to be known as the Nixon 18 Doctrine. He wanted to get away from using manpower and focus more on management and support for countries attempting to fight oppressive or communist regimes than by providing troops. Hamidreza, Arasteh. "A Follow-Up Study on U.S.-Trained Iranian Faculty Members: Satisfactions and Dissatisfactions." College Student Journal 43, No. 4 (Dec 2009): 1037- 1045. • Dr. Hamidreza is a professor of education and psychology at a university in Tehran, Iran, and his study is based on US-educated college faculty in Tehran, giving him access to the information. He notes some of the problems that US-educated faculty have because of the openness of American education and the structured, hierarchal nature of Iranian that do not always agree with each other. However, Iranian higher education is still based on the American system of higher education. Houghton, David Patrick. US Foreign Policy and the Iran Hostage Crisis. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001. • Dr. Houghton is a professor of National Security Affairs at the US Naval War College and is an expert on US foreign policy. This book goes into depth about the actions taken both in Iran and the US to solve the Iranian Hostage Crisis, while also going into depth about the causes of the crisis from both perspectives. He analyzes how each group, Americans and Iranians, looked at the historical background of the situation and drew upon different events to support their reasoning for their actions during the crisis. The argument is that it was their own experiences that validated their analogies and their actions. The issue of foreign policy is brought up as there was no precedent for this, so 19 they analyze the information that was used as the basis of American and Iranian decisions. Kessel, John H. "The Structures of the Carter White House." American Journal of Political Science 27, No. 3 (Aug 1983): 431-463. • This article is from 1983 and was written shortly after President Carter left office. Professor Kessel was a distinguished scholar at Ohio State, and he interviewed the members of the Carter administration upon their phasing out, getting information straight from the source. He sets up what the Carter administration did, how it changed over time, and how the goals and interests of the President are carried out through his staff. It never uses the words "Iran Hostage Crisis" at all. Mobasher, Mohsen. "Cultural Trauma and Ethnic Identity Formation Among Iranian Immigrants in the United States." American Behavioral Scientist 50, No. 1 (Sept 2006): 100-117. • Dr. Mobasher is a professor of anthropology at the University of Houston. This article recognizes the shift in pride within Iranian immigrants to the United States during and after the crisis, and how it has affected them to this day. Because of their status as both Iranians and as Muslims, American society automatically looks down on them and makes assumptions, which puts them in a position to suppress their heritage and culture. Scott, Catherine V. "Bound for Glory: The Hostage Crisis as Captivity Narrative in Iran." International Studies Quarterly 44, No. 1 (Mar 2000): 177-188. • Scott is a professor of political science at Agnes Scott College. In her article she describes the use of the media to influence the stories coming out of crises, such as the Iran Hostage Crisis, that made America rally behind the hostages and the President as the 20 victims who were fighting brutal and vicious Islamic captors, changing the narrative for years to come. Shannon, Matthew K. "American-Iranian Alliances: International Education, Modernization, and Human Rights During the Pahlavi Era." Diplomatic History 39, No. 4 (Sept 2015): 661- 688. • Professor Shannon is educated at UNC and Temple and teaches history at Emory and Henry College. He also authored Losing Hearts and Minds about Iranian relations. Shannon tells the story of American-Iranian relations that began and ended with the shah. Iranian students in the US tried multiple times to get the US to dump the shah because of his authoritarian tendencies and campaign against human rights, although the US's international policy regarding them eventually failed. Shannon, Matthew K. Losing Hearts and Minds: American Iranian Relations and International Education During the Cold War. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2017. • By describing the events of the Iran Hostage Crisis and those that lead up to it, Shannon focuses on the importance of education throughout. He recognizes how the Iranian students that came to the US and went back helped to support the White Revolution and how all Iranian students, in turn, became voices for their country outside of its borders because they could not within. The main argument is that it was the students who inevitably brought about the Iranian Revolution and the actions that came with it due to their activeness in government, including how they used their American educations to further their causes and cause the destruction of US-Iranian relations. 21 • The book actually mentions the military programs at the SMCs that were in place and how they inevitably influenced the educational training aspect of both country's diplomacy towards one another. Teague, Will. "Hostages of the Crisis: Iranian Students in Arkansas, 1979-1981." The Arkansas Historical Quarterly 77, No. 2 (Summer 2018): 113-130. • When writing this journal article, Teague was a doctoral student of history at the University of Arkansas Fayetteville, so he had the access and resources to make a clear argument for examples within the state of Arkansas and its experience with Iranian students. He also uses sources from other universities, mostly throughout the South, which painted a picture of what protests were like and how often they occurred on college campuses with Iranian students. This can be used to compare Norwich to the rest of the country. He also adds some of the challenges that came up with deportation, and how America was trying to decide whether or not it was legal, which can be related to past events like Executive Order 9066 and even today with President Trump's Muslim ban. Yarbrough, Tinsley E. "Federal Alienage Doctrine and the Iranian Student Litigation." Human Rights Quarterly 4, No. 2 (Spring 1982): 243-260. • Tinsley Yarbrough is an expert on the mid-20th century US Supreme Court and has published numerous books and articles on the topic. By relating the Iranian student litigation in 1979 to numerous cases and rulings throughout the 20th century regarding immigration issues, he establishes a precedent for the decisions made that can be brought into question in the modern-day by explaining the arguments of the case against Section 214.5.
Do Spew and 2 rhyme? I sure hope so as I begin my review of the year that was. The last time I blogged less than I did in 2022 was ... in 2008, when I didn't blog at all. What explains the decline? Partly exhaustion, partly a decline in imagination, partly other social media sucking up my time (the podcasts, now tooting as well as tweeting), and partly the reality that I have written enough stuff before that when the topic comes up, it is just easier to repost. Maybe a look at this year's posts will tell me a bit about what inspires me to write here and what does not, although survivor and recency biases may mesh nicely with my confirmation bias to prevent me from learning that much. Hmmm.JanuaryI started by pondering whether JK Rowling has utterly destroyed her legacy--whether I can still consume Harry Potter stuff. While I concluded that I could still enjoy the world she created, even as she betrays damn near all of it, my behavior, my choices, says otherwise as I had multiple opportunities to watch HP movies while hanging out at my mother-in-law's over the holidays and dodged all of them. Something I had not done in the past. Later in the month, I returned to the theme of what kinds of stuff can I read and enjoy given the complex realities of our time. I wrote about how it has become harder to watch and read cop shows given what we know about cops these days. I am finishing the latest John Sandford book which features multiple cops, Virgil Flowers and Lucas Davenport, solving a serial murder spree by bitcoin assholes, and have found it fairly compelling (unlike the most recent Jack Reacher book). So, maybe I am less affected by the topics than by the behavior of the artist?The month ended with the start of the occupation of Ottawa by extremists--far right white supremacists. The year ended with an examination of whether the government should have invoked the Emergency Act. Um, yeah, but because the emergency was that the provincial leaders were cowards who wanted the feds to own it.FebruaryThe extremists in Ottawa became a focus for me, as it did for most of my city, for most of the month with posts on: outbidding, explaining why the Conservatives were pandering to the extremistsanger, discussing how pissed off this made me, triggered indeed.policing, as I learned that Canadians think that the cops should not be directed by the politicians as if policing is not inherently political,my take on the Emergency Act.And then the past came back to bite Ukraine and me. My previous work on irredentism became relevant again with Russia's invasion of yet more Ukrainian territory. In this post, I explained the basics of irredentism--that it is always bad for the country doing the invading even as it may or may not be bad for its leader, that domestic dynamics are key, and so on.March The focus of March was very much on the war in Ukraine. I argued via a bit of screenwriting why a No Fly Zone was a bad idea. I elaborated about the disease of MOAR. And, yes, I then invoked my work on irredentism to explain why Putin was willing to kill Russia's kin in order to "save" them. I wrote about limited war, a topic that got new energy this week as some retired generals expressed much frustration at the unwillingness of the US to send deep strike weapons to Ukraine.I also blogged about my appearance before the House of Commons Defence Committee.AprilThis month had only a few posts, with nearly all focused on CDSN events. The outlier was a post discussing the appearance of Minister of National Defence Anita Anand in my Civil-Military Relations class. That was super-cool--a great way to finish off that course.MayI marked my 300,000th tweet before twitter's death spiral... maybe I caused it?I discussed the two events organized by the CDSN Undergraduate Excellence Scholars--a conference and a hackathon. I also went to Germany for another conference. Woot!My last post took a first look at the Arbour report, where a retired Supreme Court Justice assessed the Canadian Armed Forces and why it has fallen short, yet again, on reforming itself when it comes to sexual misconduct. I took a quick tour of the 48 recommendations. June I didn't write much in June, but two of my posts continued my examination of the Arbour Report: here and here. In the first one, I pushed on a point that will become a key question in my next project--what is the proper rule of a defence department or ministry or agency? Arbour says DND is to support the CAF, and, no, nope, nuh uh. This does help to explain a big problem with this and previous reports--having a very limited view of what DND's job is. I also focus on the lack of a recommendation for an Inspector General, which is now a topic of research of this year's Visiting Defence Fellow.I also marked my 10 years in Ottawa with this post. I am so glad that the tides of the academic job market washed me ashore here. It was not my plan, but it has worked out wonderfully.JulyJuly was a month of ups and downs. I started the month by pondering how long might the autocratic moment in the US last if Democracy were to give way. The most pivotal building at my old summer camp burned down, but there was much resilience that day and beyond to give me hope for its future.One of the ups was the new season of Battle Rhythm. I am forever grateful to Stéfanie von Hlatky for helping us launch our podcast, and I was sad to see her move to admin stuff at her university. But we got re-energized by a new crew of co-hosts. Artur, Anessa, Erin, and Linna have provided a variety of perspectives since they joined us. I am most grateful to Melissa Jennings for doing most of the heavy lifting in this effort and to Carelove Doreus and Racheal Wallace for their carrying the rest of the load. It has been a big year in Canadian civil-military relations, and one of the highlights was the decision to adjust the uniform standards to make the CAF more welcoming to more people. I addressed these changes with some accidental foreshadowing of the awful Vimy speech by one of those responsible for the culture crisis that prevented the CAF from adapting sooner.The month, which started with COVID finally hitting me and Mrs. Spew thanks to a conference trip to Berlin, ended in an upswing with both Beulahfest as my mom celebrated her 90th birthday and, yes, Stevefest, as I did a heap of stuff to celebrate another year of me. AugustNot many posts this month as I was very busy organizing and then hosting the first in-person CDSN Summer Institute. It was one of the original ideas animating the big grant application, and it was great to see it finally come to fruition with so many sharp people speaking and participating. Plus it was an excuse to have a reception or three. Just a great week worth all the effort by the CDSN team.Much news about classified documents thanks to Trump hoarding documents he should have had anymore, so I shared what I had learned during the year I had a top secret clearance and worked every day in a SCIF--secure compartmented information facility.Finally, I said goodbye to a key part of my life--ultimate frisbee. I just kept getting injured and could not stay on the field. I could still throw well, but that whole running thing proved to be too much. I very much miss it, it gave me friends across North America, it gave me some level of fitness, it gave me heaps of silliness, and nothing can fill the hole it left behind, alas. SeptemberAnother light month for blogging. I wrote a guide for those visiting Montreal for the American Political Science Association meeting. The focus of the month and of my career these days was/is civil-military relations. I wrote about the retired generals and SecDefs providing advice on how to manage this relationship. And then I addressed a recurring challenge up here--should the Canadian military prioritize domestic emergency operations? Whether the CAF wants to or not (not), climate change is going to make this happen. It already has. I am getting more and more interested in studying domestic emergency ops in part because few defence scholars have done so. Nothing like having a wide open field to pass the disk into. Oh wait, that was last month's post about ultimate.One reason I didn't post more in September is that I was headed west to Disneyland and to visit my daughter (not necessarily prioritized that way?).OctoberI gave thanks for all kinds of stuff as Canada celebrates Thankgiving in October when Americans debate the role of Columbus.I spent the rest of the month preparing both the CDSN Midterm Report for one of our funders and a conference to mark the midway point in our SSHRC grant. It was great to hear from the co-directors of the various research efforts--Civ-Mil Relations, Personnel, Security, and Operations. We were once told that the CDSN was just me and my friends dong stuff, but, to be clear, when it started, many of those who joined as co-directors were not friends and some were barely acquaintances. Now, we are friends, but isn't that how networking works when it works well? I am very proud of what we have put together even if it put a major dent in my blogging.November Was the theme of the month commenting on other people's mistakes? Seems like it with a post on twitter's dramatic decline thanks to Musk and then the craptastic speech by a retired general. That post generated more hits than any other this year and is in the top five of my 13 years of blogging. The related tweet was also the most tweeted/impressioned tweet of the year and then some. It led to a post addressing "woke" and being "anti-woke," which helped me think about vice-signaling, the flipside of virtue-signaling. I got to put on my old NATO hat when some errant missiles from Ukraine's war with Russia landed in Poland. I did much media as well to explain that NATO does not work the way may folks think--that there is nothing automatic about it, even if the attack had been deliberate.One reason I blog less is that I simply have not been writing that much about pop culture here. Why? Mostly due to lack of time. One exception to this was thinking about the International Politics of the second Black Panther movie.DecemberThe year ended with much CDSN and much cookies!I went to Winnipeg for the first time for a CDSN workshop on Domestic Emergency Operations. This is the focus of one of our four MINDS (DND) funded research projects. I learned a great deal from sharp people both in and out of the government. There is much work to do here, and I am glad we have made this one of our foci over the next three years. Once again, we held an end of the year conference, the Year Ahead, which addresses some of the issues on the horizon. This year, we also launched the new CDSN Podcast Network at the event! The CDSN Podcast Network brings together four podcasts--Battle Rhythm, Conseils de Sécurité, SecurityScape and NATO Field Report. We are open to adding others down the road. Along the way, we fixed our Apple podcast feed. I am most excited not just for having a new home for BattleRhythm but connecting and amplifying some student-run podcasts.I finished the year with a heap of baking--cookies for friends around Ottawa. The basic idea is this: I want to eat a lot of different kinds of cookies. But then making so many different kinds means finding people who are willing to take most off my hands or else I will gain a heap of weight (winterfest did that anyway). I enjoyed my first cookiefest in 2020, which was the first time I saw many people after months and months of quarantining. So, I keep doing it, now armed with better equipment (kitchen aid stand mixer makes it much easier than the first cookie fest) and more recipes. It is not just the baking and the eating. I got to chat with a bunch of great people as I delivered the cookies. If the cookies are joy (and, yes, they are), giving joy leads to receiving much joy.One of the interesting dynamics of 2022 was the re-emergence of blogging. That many folks started writing on substack, which, to me, seems like blogging but with the chance of income. I have not moved over there as I am pretty happy with this perch. It does not make me money, but I doubt that people would pay that much for my half-baked (semi-spewed) writings. One of my New Year's Resolutions is to blog more. My guess is that I will be more successful at that than the ones focused on dietary restraint.May you and yours have a terrific 2023!
Mipres is a web application created in December 2016 by the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of Colombia to authorize the prescription of biomedical technologies not included in the Health Benefits Plan such as: medicines, devices, procedures, services, and nutritional products. Mipres emerges as the solution both of these technologies access restrictions and the uncontrollable increase in health spending. The thesis developed a critical analysis grounded on Critical Health Information Systems perspectives and Science and Technology Studies, which problematizes the idea that Mipres is an indisputable 'solution' and unfortunately it may be producing an important series of problems. I conducted a multi-sited device ethnography of the Mipres as a socio-material artifact from a critical reading in public health. This hoped to serve as a reflection and alternative way to uncritical digitizing phenomena and their effects on human health and life. Until December 2019, more than 15 million prescriptions have been made by Mipres to more than ten million people affiliated to the contributory regime, with an estimated cost that could mean between four and five billion pesos in recoveries for the State in 2020. Mipres has ended up becoming a window of opportunity for the Ministry of health to modify Colombia's information infrastructure, achieving the digital penetration of the government in the health care institutions (hospitals and insurance companies), through a certain kinds of algorithmic governance. Mipres emphasis has been on exercise a centralized and distant digital regulation in health based on data, believing that this would be part of the solution to the structural problems of the system and, incidentally, paving the way for the emergence of complex bureaucratic data-processes that transfer the financial, administrative and health pressure to the health-providing institutions (hospitals, clinics, outpatient and home services), disturbing the exercise of medical practice and the health of patients. Mipres became a digital platform that, due to the technological ingenuity of its design process, nurtured and amplified new financial responses, pressures from the biomedical industry, limited doctors' autonomy, etc. Mipres digital adjustments change Colombian health system step by step without transforming the structural conditions that perpetuate its financial emphasis and systematic violence against people, imposing new technological and data barriers to access and provision of health services that affected and endangered people's lives. ; Introducción: En esta tesis desarrollé un análisis crítico a los Sistemas de Información en Salud problematizando la idea de que éstos son las 'soluciones' a los más apremiantes problemas sanitarios en los modos de vida contemporáneos. Para esto, partí de una lectura crítica en salud pública de cara a las tecnologías de información, que espera servir como reflexión y vía alterna a los fenómenos digitalizadores acríticos y sus efectos sobre la salud y vida humanas. Durante un poco más de dos años elaboré una etnografía multisituada de un artefacto digital ensamblado en el marco del Sistema de Salud de Colombia para la 'protección' del derecho a la salud en su ámbito individual: el Mipres. El Mipres es un aplicativo web creado en diciembre de 2016 por el Ministerio de Salud y Protección Social para autorizar la prescripción (formulación) a los pacientes por parte de los médicos tratantes de tecnologías: medicamentos, dispositivos, procedimientos, servicios y productos nutricionales no incluidos en el Plan de Beneficios en Salud –PBS- con cargo a la Unidad de Pago por Capitación; y que, para ser reintegrados esos dineros a las Entidades Promotoras de Salud –EPS-, esto es, a las aseguradoras de estos pacientes, deben ser recobrados al Estado a través de la Administradora de los Recursos en Salud, la ADRES. Mipres surge, entonces, como respuesta a los mandatos de la Corte Constitucional de Colombia que, apoyada en la jurisprudencia nacional e internacional, reglamenta en la Ley Estatutaria en Salud –LES 1751 de 2015- la salud como un derecho humano fundamental en el Estado colombiano y, requiere a las autoridades competentes, entre otros asuntos, modificar el proceso de provisión de las tecnologías de alto costo que había sido, hasta la fecha, una de las barreras insalvables para la garantía del derecho a la salud de los colombianos. En ese orden de ideas y teniendo en mente los cambios necesarios en el proceso para el acceso a las tecnologías de alto costo ordenados por la Corte Constitucional de Colombia, el Ministerio de Salud empieza una serie de modificaciones al sistema de salud en lógica gradualista, con la finalidad de resolver, además, dos problemas emergentes de la configuración mercantil del sistema (sin cambiar su estructura, por supuesto). El primero responde a la profunda asimetría de información entre los operadores (prestadores de servicios y aseguradoras) y el Gobierno, donde este último, desde la creación del Sistema General de Seguridad Social en Salud en 1993, sólo obtiene aquellos datos que son enviados por los primeros a través de reportes obligatorios específicos produciendo una infraestructura de información retrospectiva, desactualizada y fragmentada, que permite una comprensión, y por extensión podría pensarse que, una regulación similar del sistema de salud. El segundo, la necesidad de modificar y regular los procesos y acuerdos relacionados con la compra y el pago de los servicios y tecnologías de alto costo y/o complejidad clínica necesarios para la atención de los pacientes, en los cuales se había identificado corrupción financiera, mala administración y/o sobrecostos; por lo que se hacía mandatorio resolver, ante todo, la brecha de información. Estas situaciones constituyeron el caldo de cultivo adecuado para la génesis del Mipres, como un sistema de prescripción electrónica centralizado en el Ministerio de Salud y Protección Social, en el cual la/el médico tratante o profesional de la salud prescriptor debe realizar su formulación electrónica de aquellas tecnologías y servicios de alto costo (casi siempre) para ser proveídas por los operadores del sistema a los pacientes. Así, de acuerdo con la norma, los pacientes deben ser direccionados por la Aseguradora (Entidad Promotora de Salud –EPS-) a su red de prestación de servicios en unos tiempos específicos, 'garantizando' el acceso a lo prescrito por el médico y 'eliminando' las barreras en la prescripción. En el ámbito hospitalario, si el paciente está hospitalizado, la tecnología debe ser provista sin dilaciones para garantizar la continuidad del tratamiento y, en el caso de algunas tecnologías específicas, se debe someter ante una Junta de profesionales que evalúa la pertinencia clínica de esa prescripción. Todos esos trámites se registran en el Mipres y viajan desde el lugar y momento de la atención hacia las bodegas de datos del Ministerio de Salud, que los dispone en un servicio web de consulta para que las mismas instituciones de salud, las EPS y la ADRES puedan descargarlos y tener el control del proceso de provisión, cobro y recobro. Esta es la apuesta digital del Mipres y lo que se conoce hoy, grosso modo. Objeto de la Tesis: Considerando estos antecedentes, en el país se han realizado un par de aproximaciones al Mipres que lo asumen como una herramienta tecnológica más del ecosistema digital del país que termina invisibilizándolo en los análisis a los problemas estructurales del sistema de salud. De hecho, casi cualquier artefacto tecnológico del país en el sector salud y en la mayoría de los sectores sociales ha sido simplemente 'cajanegrizado' , esto es, dado por sentado, ignorado, invisibilizado. Por eso, con esta tesis decido aproximarme al fenómeno del Mipres acudiendo a una apuesta un poco más 'indisciplinada' teóricamente que invitó a los Estudios sociales de ciencia y tecnología, a la literatura sobre sistemas de información -con un espacial énfasis en la teoría del ensamblado como herramienta conceptual y metodológica para armar el espacio del problema/solución-; acompañado, en todo momento, de una lectura del fenómeno desde la medicamentalización de la vida en clave de salud pública. Quiere decir esto que, estudié el Mipres no como un simple artefacto tecnológico; sino y principalmente, como un heterogéneo ensamblado sociomaterial de cuerpos, objetos y espacios físicos y virtuales que constituye unas formas particulares, situadas, múltiples y fluidas de sistema de salud, derecho a la salud y de sistemas de información en salud como soluciones y soporte de gestión en Colombia. Métodos: Para esto conduje una etnografía multisituada de seguimiento a un artefacto, esto es, un shadowing del dispositivo Mipres donde compilé y analicé cuatro fuentes de información en relación con el proceso de ideación, adopción e implementación del mismo en instituciones de salud de Colombia del régimen contributivo (donde empezó su operación en diciembre de 2016). La información se obtuvo, entonces, a través de 40 entrevistas semiestructuradas; 63 horas de observación etnográfica en instituciones de salud; una etnografía digital mediante el seguimiento, captación y análisis de contenido relacionado con Mipres en redes sociales colombianas en español durante 2017 y 2018 y la obtención de 110 documentos relacionados; complementado con una exploración descriptiva de los datos de Mipres disponibles en el repositorio de información del Ministerio de Salud para el periodo comprendido entre diciembre de 2016 a diciembre de 2019. Resultados: A grandes rasgos encontré que, a diciembre de 2019 se habían realizado más de 15 millones de prescripciones por Mipres a más de diez millones de personas afiliadas al régimen contributivo, con un costo estimado que podría significarle al Estado entre cuatro y cinco billones de pesos en recobros en el 2020 . Durante su desarrollo e implementación, Mipres ha terminado convirtiéndose en una ventana de oportunidad para que el Ministerio modifiqué gran parte de su infraestructura de información, digitalizando nuevos procesos, actualizando otros y logrando el despliegue de una robusta plataforma de penetración del Gobierno en las instituciones del sistema (hospitales y aseguradoras), a través de lo digital, desde una apuesta de gobernanza algorítmica que no se ve aún muy clara en sus funcionarios y parece más un producto incidental. Así, esta presencia digital del Estado en las organizaciones debería ser loable y no problemática, de no ser porque el Gobierno se comporta como una 'gran aseguradora' que aplica reglas financieras y de contención de costos, reordenando el sistema de salud e incentivando lógicas de auditoría a los servicios y tecnologías, no por su efectividad sino por su impacto económico, desde esquemas que corresponden más a un gobierno corporativo que a un gobierno de lo público por la salud pública. Además, el énfasis del Mipres se ha concentrado en ejercer una centralizada y distante regulación digital en salud basada en datos, creyendo que esta sería parte de la solución a los problemas estructurales del sistema y, de paso, abonando el terreno para el surgimiento de complejos procesos burocráticos datificados que trasladan la presión financiera, administrativa y sanitaria, cada vez más hacia las instituciones prestadoras de salud (hospitales, clínicas, servicios ambulatorios y domiciliarios) perturbando el ejercicio de la práctica médica y la salud de los pacientes. El efecto de esta presión en las EPS no se pudo conocer con claridad, pero pareciera que opera con algunas particularidades por los resultados presentados más adelante. En ese sentido, estas lógicas de un gobierno por algoritmos sitúan la tenencia de datos en el centro de la preocupación estatal con la promesa de un sistema transparente y conectado; aunque, a la final, solo se logra un sistema de salud mercantil, utilitariamente conectado solo en su capa digital, con unos potentes efectos demarcadores de lo que puede y de cómo puede 'ser' algorítmicamente la atención sanitaria, la autonomía médica, el derecho a la salud y, por ende, la salud de los pacientes. Una salud que se 'hace' con y de datos (con marcado énfasis financiero) y con grandes implicaciones para la vida de los pacientes, los actores sanitarios y el funcionamiento del sistema. Así, Mipres se constituyó en una plataforma digital que, por la ingenuidad tecnológica con la que se diseñó y las vacuas promesas de un gobierno digital, nutre y amplifica nuevas respuestas mercantiles, presiones de la industria, reacciones de los médicos, límites del derecho a la salud y arreglos institucionales para que el sistema cambié paso a paso a través de su interfaz, sin transformar las condiciones estructurales que perpetúan su énfasis mercantil y la violencia sistemática hacia las personas, imponiendo nuevas barreras tecnológicas y datificadas de acceso y prestación de los servicios de salud que afectan o ponen en peligro la vida. Finalmente, Mipres es una solución que se ha convertido en todo un nuevo problema en el sistema de salud que la tesis espera 'descajanegrizar' . En ese sentido, el trabajo abre nuevas vías metodológicas, teóricas, ónticas y ético-prácticas sobre los procesos de inserción tecnológica en salud que superan la preocupación y pregunta inicial por los efectos sobre el sistema, la salud de las personas y las características habituales de una investigación salubrista con enfoque en los servicios y las tecnologías. Espera rescatar, controvertir y ayudar en la apertura y análisis de un artefacto -con su correspondiente infraestructura de información- en relación con el arreglo institucional en que se ensambla, de cara a los retos que significa para la salud pública como práctica social y campo del saber y para los salubristas y profesionales del sector, como quienes nos enfrentamos a estas nuevas configuraciones sanitarias más que humanas. ; Doctorado
Purpose Religion has always been an important part of human civilization and has largely determined its paths. When speaking of tourism, religion has been one of the oldest motives for traveling. That kind of traveling found its place in the complex mechanism of touristic migrations as a selective tourism type called religious or faith tourism. Although Croatia as a country full of historical and art valuables has great potential for further religious tourism development, there is a lack of scientific and objective analysis of this specific area. Like any other form of selective tourist offer, it is also required to manage religious tourism in order to ensure efficient and sustainable economic development. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the religious tourism destinations, to look at the parameters that influence the effective synergy of the religious tourism destination factors, and to consider the needs of guests - religious tourists, in order to ensure positive economic effects with sustainable development in the destinations. Accordingly, the focus of the planned research is to find an optimal model for strategic management of religious tourism destinations. Methodology Various different methods of scientific research and suitable combinations thereof are employed when conducting scientific research, formulating and presenting results relevant for the defence of a doctoral thesis. For the empirical part of the research, a scientific model for the development of religious tourism was formulated and tested. Scientific research, formulation and presentation of research results in this doctoral dissertation has been accomplished by application of general methodological principles, commonly used in economic research. Acquired data has been analysed using methods of descriptive and inferential statistics. For the purpose of examining the sample of respondents that participated in conducted surveys, distributions according to gender, age groups, marital status, household income, employment status and degree of education have been determined. Distribution according to place of residence has also been determined for respondents who have gone on a religious journey at least once and responded to the survey. Distribution of respondents according to aforementioned characteristics is presented by simple bar charts. In addition to their application in describing the sample, descriptive statistical methods have been used to provide insight into research variables. For this purpose, three measures of central tendency (arithmetic mean, median and mode), as well as two measures of dispersion (standard deviation and interquartile range) have been calculated. Distribution of responses has also been presented by way of multiple bars. Considering that the responses were measured by ordinal scale, differences in evaluations and attitudes among individual groups have been analysed by means of nonparametric statistical tests. The Mann–Whitney test was used to test the significance of difference between two groups. The Kruskal–Wallis test was used to analyse differences between three or more groups. In cases where latter determined that there were at least two analysed groups with a significant difference, the Dunnin test was used for the purpose of their identification. It should be noted that empirical significance levels adjusted by Bonferroni correction are given alongside all Dunnin test results. Differences confirmed at a significance level below 5% were considered statistically significant for the purpose of this research. Statistical analysis of data was performed using statistical packages SPSS and Statistica, while graphical representations were generated using Microsoft Excel. Findings Two questionnaire surveys have been conducted for research purposes. A survey of attitudes of people who have gone on at least one religious journey or pilgrimage was conducted on a sample of 502 respondents, and a survey of attitudes and the level of involvement of local population in the management and application of sustainable tourism criteria in religious tourism destinations, as well as their level of satisfaction with the quality of living in the same observed religious destinations, was conducted by means of an online questionnaire, created using Google Forms, on a sample of 315 respondents. The survey was conducted in eleven selected religious destinations in the Republic of Croatia, namely: Ilača, Aljmaš, Slavonski Brod, Pleternica, Voćin, Ludbreg, Marija Bistrica, Krašić, Trsat, Sinj and Blato on the island of Korčula. The survey focused on the local population of a religious destination and on pilgrims, religious travellers and visitors of Croatian sanctuaries, keeping in mind the creation of a representative sample within the statistical dataset. The survey was conducted using a structured questionnaire in Croatian language. Statistical data analysis has been performed on questionnaires collected from pilgrims and religious travellers in religious tourism destinations and the results are presented in this paper. The results of conducted analyses of collected questionnaires show that the majority of residents of religious destinations have indicated a presence of unplanned tourism development within their destination and they predominantly agree with the assertion that unplanned tourism development has a negative impact on balanced economic and sustainable social development, which may lead to significant negative economic and social trends within their destination. It has been determined that local residents of religious destinations mostly agree that a synergetic effect of a religious destination's strategic management with the local community and higher-ranked church officials has an impact on the efficiency of strategic management, whereas pilgrims and religious travellers somewhat agree with this statement. The majority of residents who live in religious tourism destinations, including those involved in the hospitality and tourism industries, believe that religious tourism generates positive effects on their communality and agree that religious tourism benefits the development of their community in different ways. Almost 90% of respondents agree that tourism creates new job opportunities for the local population and contributes to youth employment, while over 90% of respondents agree that tourism has a significant impact on the town's aesthetics. Almost 88% of respondents agree that tourism increases sales of local products, thereby improving the quality of life of local residents through the development of events and infrastructure, while more than three quarters of respondents agree that tourism raises the level of environmental awareness and fosters conservation and renovation of cultural and sacral heritage. While local residents somewhat agreed with most assertions concerning the negative effects of tourism, such as that tourism effects an increase in the price of goods and services, causes an increase in number of seasonal workers, reduction in the number of permanently employed persons and precipitates an abundant production of waste, the majority of residents disagreed with the assertion that tourism development bears a negative impact on the development of other economic sectors. Survey respondents agreed with most of the statements evaluating the importance of factors which impact the defining of a tourism product of a religious tourism destination, such as statements concerning the spiritual significance of a religious destination (67%), the spiritual need of an individual worshipper (77%), and religious destination safety (64%), while only one factor was deemed irrelevant for the definition of a religious tourism destination's tourism product by the majority of respondents (63%), namely the importance of the opportunity of travelling with pets. Pilgrims and religious travellers somewhat agreed with most of the claims regarding the impact of the parish community on the volume of tourists at a religious tourism destination, whereas they mostly agreed with the assertion that the proactivity of the parish priest and his ability to motivate parishioners significantly affects the number of pilgrimages and the number of pilgrims. Residents of a religious destination have indicated a lack of synergy among religious tourism stakeholders in the process of making decisions on the development of religious tourism and for the most part agree (84%) that successful tourism management of their destination requires strategic planning with the broader local community and involvement of all religious tourism stakeholders in tourism development decision-making, which is functionally tied to success in properly drawing up and implementing a sustainable strategic plan of development of the destination. In-depth interviews have also been conducted for the purpose of the doctoral dissertation. The interviews were formulated as semi-structured and were conducted with priests who manage church shrines at six religious destinations, namely: Aljmaš, Ilača, Voćin, Ludbreg, Marija Bistrica and Trsat. The second part of the research also involved in-depth interviews, but with directors of the tourist associations of the city of Rijeka, Vukovar-Srijem County, Marija Bistrica, Ludbreg, Osijek-Baranja County, and Sinj. In-depth interview contributors were selected for being the most competent representatives of their institutions, able to provide answers to questions posed within the scope of the subject being analysed, and for having the most practical experience in dealing with the aforementioned issues, thus they were the most relevant persons to provide answers. Upon analysing the responses obtained through in-depth interviews conducted with priests, church sanctuary managers and tourist association directors, one can conclude that all research questions have been answered, stating that religious tourism in Croatian destinations is not sufficiently valued, that insufficient attention is paid to ensure sustainable development of religious tourism in religious destinations and noting a lack of mutual cooperation between tourist associations and managers of sanctuaries, who are the key stakeholders of religious tourism in religious destinations. A proposal of a model for strategic management of a religious tourism destination is presented at the end of the paper. A vital part of the model involves the establishment of a strategic management structure for a religious destination which should certainly be unbiased and have executive power. Strategic management structure for a religious destination established in this manner should certainly be local enough to involve all key religious tourism stakeholders, such as representatives of local government, the church institution, the private sector, the local population, associations, pilgrims, religious travellers and tourists as key stakeholders of sustainable tourism development, encouraging them to cooperate in matters of sustainable tourist development of a religious destination. Such a structure should be strong enough and large enough so that its successfully established communication and coordination can determine a common development strategy and other instruments of religious tourist destination management which are founded on balanced principles of sustainable tourism development. Originality The scientific contribution of the doctoral dissertation is polysemantic. It can be viewed in the determination of certain economic rules, but also in the theoretical and applicative sense, which is evident in the presented results and conclusions of conducted research on selected religious destinations in the Republic of Croatia. In the theoretical sense, the contribution to the economic science is evident in the comprehensive and detailed overview of extensive, primarily foreign, scientific literature based on which key concepts pertaining to the topic of this paper have been systematized and defined. The analysis of reviewed scientific literature enabled the interpretation of important economic patterns, which emphasises the theoretical contribution of this paper. Unfortunately, domestic authors do not pursue the observed subject matter to a sufficient degree, and thus domestic literature dealing with the subject matter of this doctoral dissertation ‒ religious tourism ‒ is lacking, so this doctoral dissertation has at least partly filled the existing void in domestic scientific and technical literature. The paper's scientific contribution in the theoretical sense can be expressed through better understanding of the role and importance of sacral heritage and religious events on the successfulness of a religious tourism destination, as well as through cognitive facts resulting from research which can serve as a basis for defining models for religious tourism events founded on sacral heritage that can significantly impact the improvement of level of satisfaction of pilgrims, religious travellers, tourists and the local population with the ultimate goal of improvement of the economic impact on the religious destination, but also the economy as a whole. The theoretical impact is emphasised through the use of a valid and reliable measurement instrument (survey questionnaire and in-depth interview) used in the collection of primary data, so the scientific contribution is also emphasised through the applicability of statistical methods in the analysis of research data. Based on analyses of conducted research, by implementing the research results in its development strategies, planning and establishment of a religious and tourism events offering focusing on religion, culture, tradition and sacral heritage while ensuring sustainability, the management of a tourist destination can devise and implement models of religious and tourism events in accordance with the requirements of pilgrims, religious travellers, tourists and the religious destination itself. In the applicative sense of the scientific contribution, research results can aid the management and all stakeholders in religious destinations, serving as guidelines for strategic management, planning and implementation of tourism events based on religion, culture, tradition and sacral heritage, which will have a significant impact on the preservation of originality of culture, tradition and sacral heritage and its promotion on the tourism market, thus creating a unique religious tourism product and ensuring the recognisability of a religious destination. So with the approach of strategic management of a religious tourism destination, development of religious tourism going forward must be founded on criteria of sustainable development, i.e. on development of religious tourism which caters to the needs of attending pilgrims, religious travellers, tourists and the domestic population, satisfying economic, social, environmental and aesthetic requirements of the society, at the same time preserving religious and cultural identity and environmental processes, as well as resources of future development. Significant economic and non-economic effects will be achieved through sustainable development of the religious tourism offering and strategic management of a tourism destination.
Editorial Editorial Welcome to this special doctoral workshop on Research Methodology which forms part of what is now a well-established support mechanism for researchers in the discipline of the Built Environment and more particularly construction management. The ARCOM doctoral series, around now for some seventeen years, has addressed many of the diverse research areas that PhD researchers in the discipline have chosen to focus on in their doctoral journey. This doctoral workshop has as an aim to offer an opportunity to explore and share research and the theoretical underpinnings facing PhD researchers within the construction and engineering sectors where the focus is on not just the topics of research but on the research approach underpinning that work. This workshop provides the opportunity for AEC researchers to come together in an environment where support for their approach to their research enquiry is offered by way of creating the correct conditions to share and discuss their journey. There is evidence to suggest there are many PhD students who would benefit from an environment where they can share their research phenomenon and this workshop session will allow for discourse and interaction to enable 'learning to take place' together. In these proceedings are the seven final papers selected from some fourteen abstracts presented for review. It is important to recognize that the papers selected offer the opportunity for participants to learn from each other but also learn from the guidance of academics in the community who have a depth of knowledge around different methodological approaches. The process of selection for the workshop, while closely aligned with the ARCOM conference proceedings, is such that it is aimed at selecting papers within the scope of the topic but very much directed to allowing doctoral researchers' the opportunity to present work in progress where formative and developmental review can be offered through a constructive support mechanism. The context of each paper is diverse which has added to the richness of this edition of the doctoral workshop series. All papers have been peer reviewed and each author has had the opportunity to receive feedback and update/ improve their paper. Alqatawneh's paper research through design as an approach to investigate design fiction insights and sees focuses on design fiction (DF) as an approach to speculation about the future using a combination of prototyping and storytelling, a type of scenario story telling if you like. They unpack the notion of DF through a link to its five criteria and principles, bringing together the notion of design - the capacity to imagine and make concrete products not yet in existence, and services for everyday life. This research employs research through design approach to investigate the functionality of fiction in design. Further, to explain the notion of design fiction and arising from using fiction in both design practice and design research the author defends the use of this methodology. Alqatawneh argues that the outcome knowledge is utilised to adapt and present fictional objects that suggest pathways to possible futures and sues the example of Self-Driving Vehicles to exemplify this.-.The author argues that DF offers the potential to consider far-reaching questions concerning the consequences of technological development while drawing attention to the social aspects and implications of techno-scientific solutions. Colley and Scott address the philosophical positioning of functional contextualism as an approach to research conflict of interest in the real estate sector in Ireland. In examining the research question of good practice for managing conflict of interest in the real estate valuation process within Ireland a number of research methodologies were engaged with and considered. The author's proffer that once a review of literature in the field has been accomplished a central question arises for the researcher, that of a philosophical position so that the research can be addressed in what they suggest is the 'correct way'. They offer an overall pragmatic approach to the central issues of the formation of an individual's ethical viewpoint and behaviours, the nature of the ethical challenges faced within the real estate 3 valuation process and the possible frameworks that may influence an individual's behaviour going forward. Within the pragmatic realm they argue for a more focused lens of Functional Contextualism. Functional contextualists they suggest seeks to predict and influence events using empirically-based concepts and rules and this they contend addresses the research question suitably. Emphasis is placed on highlighting the areas of the approach that fit and also those that require omission due to their lack of suitability to the subject under investigation. Overall they make the case for using the most appropriate methodological position through correct grounding with research methods that allow the researcher to progress without 'conflict'. Kelly in his paper addressing the impact of human cogitative behaviour and tacit judgement on the development and accuracy of cost estimates for pharmaceutical projects in Ireland and makes the strong case for researching this topic through the lens of 'more thoughtful research design'. He contends that 'more thoughtful research design' would get to the real reasons for cost overruns rather than using the convenient 'default responses' that continuously point in the wrong direction. He makes the case for a 'paradigm shift' towards the general use of the newer non-traditional types of building project contract price forecasting models and there is evidence that this has not been generally achieved. In considering his roadmap through the research topic he suggests the challenge with this proposed research is the adoption and justification of the research methodology. He argues for mixed-method research, methods that require positivist and interpretevist methods as well as multi-paradigm and multi-strategy approaches. The challenges, he contends, include the many different conflicts. For example how the researcher sees the world and the epistemological commitments needed which may cause confusion with the stated committed rules the research might follow and that will impact on the use of both positivism and interpretivism paradigms as well as qualitative and quantitative information. Mdaanayka and Egbu in their paper explore innovative solutions in consideration of exploring the possibilities for improving the utilisation of digital technologies via integrating BIM, Big Data Analytics and Internet of things (together aka BBI )which has the potential to give organisations the long awaited competitive advantage. The study follows a mixed methodological approach which leads to investigate the critical factors that impact on effective implementation and exploitation of BBI for competitive advantage and thereby develop a strategic framework for improved understanding of such critical factors at play. They argue for mixed methods based on epistemological, ontological and axiological perspectives. The factors associated with the research, they argue, fall in to four main themes inter alia; organisational size, culture, structure and skills-knowledge-training needs. The latter will be demonstrated as a separate skill-knowledge-Inventory (SKI). Their philosophical stance is a combination of interpretivist and positivist. They argue for an approach that holds a mixture of inductive and deductive means in different stages as the study starts from literature review to develop the strategic framework consisting of critical factors. Their data collection methods in this study will be the use of semi-structured interviews in pilot study phase and questionnaire surveys in the main study phase. Focus group approach is intended to be employed to validate the framework and SKI. They make the case for mixed methods as the multidimensional constructs/ variable implications demand such methods. O'Cleirigh deals with research within the construction industry which is primarily based on qualitative and quantitative methods but has the potential to include studies that combine both methodologies. The research review considers and outlines the various methods and the differing views of the purists from both traditions, while re-examines the 'war' between them 4 and thus proffers the arguments for and against using mixed-methods. O'Cleirigh also demonstrates that some commonalities and a relationship exist between quantitative and qualitative approaches to social science research and that his research explores that relationship in context to the construction industry. The author resolves to position mixed methods as a bridge between traditional qualitative and quantitative research. Discussion, he commends, centre on implications arising from the observation that, models upon which qualitative and quantitative methods are based, have differing philosophical views of real world research and consequently differing views of the research subject. O'Cleirigh strongly argues this positioning will aid advancement of industry knowledge by adapting methods used in academia through providing a robust framework, for construction managers, for designing and undertaking mixed methods research. He makes the point that mixed methods research will become increasingly successful as more construction managers study, use and spread the underpinning philosophy. Opiya and Chan, address the topic of the need for affordable housing and make the point that it has in recent times become a prominent policy issue for countries across the world. Among various challenges to affordable housing sector is the failure of supply to keep up with this growing demand. Consequently, they argue it is unsurprising to find a wealth of studies that focus on supply-side concerns of accommodating increasing demand for affordable housing. Through their research they have found studies tended to emphasize the role providers such as developers, contractors and government institutions can play to improve capacity and capability in the production of affordable housing. The point they do make, because of such emphasis has meant the relative neglect on the demand side. In their review, consideration of the problem of 'demand' to identify fresh perspectives on understanding the challenges associated with affordable housing is called for. They make the case for opening the complexities of studying 'demand' by researching a range of disciplines. The case for inter- disciplinary research aimed to understand a complex problem. They make the point that from an economic perspective, 'demand' is often framed in quantitative terms where balancing supply and demand results from rational, technological choices made by individual actors in the marketplace. They go on to make the point that a linear approach to 'demand' runs counter to a sociological understanding, where the realization is produced by complexes of social practices. They exemplify this making reference to a linguistic turn, the etymology of 'demand' stems from the Latin phrase de mandare, which means 'to formally order'. They proffer from this 'demand' is not simply defined by exogenous forces of the market, but also raises questions as to how society is brought to order. Relating this position to the context of affordable housing, they make the case understanding 'demand' also raises the need to examine ways in which vulnerable segments of society are excluded from formally ordering their requirements. In this review, we will reflect on various perspectives of 'demand' to raise questions about power relations and the problem of building a more inclusive society through housing. While the methodological approach is partly addressed in the paper the authors argue for a methodology that can be adaptable to deal with the complexity that surrounds the various perspectives of 'demand'. Abiodun and Egbu in their paper, Implementation of building information modelling (BIM) on construction projects, is increasing gaining global acceptance as government from various countries are becoming the driving force for its adoption. The purpose of this paper is to present the research methodology and method to be adopted for this research. They present the aim and the objectives of the research, a set of research questions and then propose an approach to move towards methodological positioning. The paper discussed the various 5 research paradigms and philosophical positions available to all researcher and position the research on one considered to be most suitable to achieve the stated aim and objectives of the study. The argument around their justification is well made and the paper further discussed the various research approaches, methods and strategies available. In each case, a position was adopted for the research and attempts were made to justify the position adopted. Abiodun and Egbu conclude by proposing a research design method to be followed that allows the researcher achieve the research aim and objectives but that is fit for purpose. The authors of the papers are to be commended for taking the courageous step in sharing their methodological and philosophical positioning, particularly as novice researchers it can be daunting to 'put on work out there'. It is a pleasure to be associated with this important aspect of the work of ARCOM and the continued support for this type of 'scaffolded experience' for the novice researchers, as they make their own personal research journey, should be supported into the future! Finally, there is a need to address the gaps in methodological approach and allow researchers flourish and blossom by allowing them the opportunity to experiment within their chosen research domain. "It is often necessary to take a decision on the basis of knowledge sufficient for action, but insufficient to satisfy the intellect." Attributed to Kant 1724 - 1804 Professor Lloyd Scott, 09th March 2018
