Author: Alin CarsteanuPublisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
Book Description
Special Issue: Facets of Uncertainty
Author: Alin CarsteanuFacets of Uncertainties and Applications
Author: Mihir K. ChakrabortyPublisher: Springer
ISBN: 8132223012
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 340
Book Description
Since the emergence of the formal concept of probability theory in the seventeenth century, uncertainty has been perceived solely in terms of probability theory. However, this apparently unique link between uncertainty and probability theory has come under investigation a few decades back. Uncertainties are nowadays accepted to be of various kinds. Uncertainty in general could refer to different sense like not certainly known, questionable, problematic, vague, not definite or determined, ambiguous, liable to change, not reliable. In Indian languages, particularly in Sanskrit-based languages, there are other higher levels of uncertainties. It has been shown that several mathematical concepts such as the theory of fuzzy sets, theory of rough sets, evidence theory, possibility theory, theory of complex systems and complex network, theory of fuzzy measures and uncertainty theory can also successfully model uncertainty.
Facets of Uncertainty
Author: Alin CarsteanuThe Cunning of Uncertainty
Author: Helga NowotnyPublisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0745687652
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 161
Book Description
Uncertainty is interwoven into human existence. It is a powerful incentive in the search for knowledge and an inherent component of scientific research. We have developed many ways of coping with uncertainty. We make promises, manage risks and make predictions to try to clear the mists and predict ahead. But the future is inherently uncertain - and the mist that shrouds our path an inherent part of our journey. The burning question is whether our societies can face up to uncertainty, learn to embrace it and whether we can open up to a constantly evolving future. In this new book, Helga Nowotny shows how research can thrive at the cusp of uncertainty. Science, she argues, can eventually transform uncertainty into certainty, but into certainty which remains always provisional. Uncertainty is never completely static. It is constantly evolving. It encompasses geological time scales and, at the level of human experience, split-second changes as cells divide. Life and death decisions are taken in the blink of the eye, while human interactions with the natural environment may reveal their impact over millennia. Uncertainty is cunning. It appears at unexpected moments, it shuns the straight line, takes the oblique route and sometimes the unexpected short-cut. As we acknowledge the cunning of uncertainty, its threats retreat. We accept that any scientific inquiry must produce results that are provisional and uncertain. This message is vital for politicians and policy-makers: do not be tempted by small, short-term, controllable gains to the exclusion of uncertain, high-gain opportunities. Wide-ranging in its use of examples and enriched by the author’s experience as President of the European Research Council, one of the world’s leading funding organisations for fundamental research. The Cunning of Uncertainty is a must-read for students and scholars of all disciplines, politicians, policy-makers and anyone concerned with the fundamental role of knowledge and science in our societies today.
Possibility Theory
Author: Didier DuboisPublisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1468452878
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 274
Book Description
In the evolution of scientific theories, concern with uncertainty is almost invariably a concomitant of maturation. This is certainly true of the evolution· of physics, economics, operations research, communication sciences, and a host of other fields. And it is true of what has been happening more recently in the area of artificial intelligence, most notably in the development of theories relating to the management of uncertainty in knowledge-based systems. In science, it is traditional to deal with uncertainty through the use of probability theory. In recent years, however, it has become increasingly clear that there are some important facets of uncertainty which do not lend themselves to analysis by classical probability-based methods. One such facet is that of lexical elasticity, which relates to the fuzziness of words in natural languages. As a case in point, even a simple relation X, Y, and Z, expressed as if X is small and Y is very large then between Z is not very small, does not lend itself to a simple interpretation within the framework of probability theory by reason of the lexical elasticity of the predicates small and large.
Uncertainty: A Catalyst for Creativity, Learning and Development
Author: Ronald A. BeghettoPublisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030987299
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 356
Book Description
This edited volume brings together a group of international researchers and theorists from various intellectual and analytic traditions to explore the role uncertainty plays in creativity, learning, and development. Contributors to this volume draw on existing programs of research as well as introduce new and even speculative directions for research, theory and practice. Learning and life are filled with uncertainty. Although the experience of uncertainty can cause emotional discomfort or cognitive rigidity, uncertainty serves as a catalyst and condition for change. In this way, uncertainty represents a core facet in the interrelationship among creativity, learning, and development. Considerations for both the benefits and potential costs of uncertainty will be addressed in this volume with an aim of understanding how uncertainty can be better understood in light of creativity, learning, and development. Taken together this volume stands to contribute to our collective understanding of the role that uncertainty plays in learning and life and highlights how conceptualizing and studying uncertainty in new ways can promote positive and lasting change.
Extremism and the Psychology of Uncertainty
Author: Michael A. HoggPublisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1444331280
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 324
Book Description
Extremism and the Psychology of Uncertainty showcases cutting-edge scientific research on the extent to which uncertainty may lead to extremism. Contributions come from leading international scholars who focus on a wide variety of forms, facets and manifestations of extremist behavior. Systematically integrates and explores the growing diversity of social psychological perspectives on the uncertainty extremism relationship Showcases contemporary cutting edge scientific research from leading international scholars Offers a broad perspective on extremism and focuses on a wide variety of different forms, facets and manifestations Accessible to social and behavioral scientists, policy makers and those with a genuine interest in understanding the psychology of extremism
Representing Uncertain Knowledge
Author: Paul KrausePublisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9401120846
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 287
Book Description
The representation of uncertainty is a central issue in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and is being addressed in many different ways. Each approach has its proponents, and each has had its detractors. However, there is now an in creasing move towards the belief that an eclectic approach is required to represent and reason under the many facets of uncertainty. We believe that the time is ripe for a wide ranging, yet accessible, survey of the main for malisms. In this book, we offer a broad perspective on uncertainty and approach es to managing uncertainty. Rather than provide a daunting mass of techni cal detail, we have focused on the foundations and intuitions behind the various schools. The aim has been to present in one volume an overview of the major issues and decisions to be made in representing uncertain knowl edge. We identify the central role of managing uncertainty to AI and Expert Systems, and provide a comprehensive introduction to the different aspects of uncertainty. We then describe the rationales, advantages and limitations of the major approaches that have been taken, using illustrative examples. The book ends with a review of the lessons learned and current research di rections in the field. The intended readership will include researchers and practitioners in volved in the design and implementation of Decision Support Systems, Ex pert Systems, other Knowledge-Based Systems and in Cognitive Science.
Mereologies, Ontologies, and Facets
Author: Paul M. W. HackettPublisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 1498524982
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 283
Book Description
The assignment events, objects, state of beings, etc., to an experiential category is a fundamental activity carried out by human (and by other animals). So rudimentary are the processes involved in categorizing that it is indeed impossible to imagine conscious awareness to exist without the presence of categories. A considerable body of writing exists on categories dating from the times of Classical philosophy. Plato developed a categorical ontology and Aristotle produced one of the earliest examples of a complex understanding of basic ontologies. A number of other categorially structured ontologies have been proposed including those by Lowe, Westerhoff, Chisholm, etc. The book is an edited collection of up to the moment essays that address critical aspects on the understanding of categories and categorial systems. The perspectives included in the book are drawn from philosophy, psychology, theology, divinity, comparative cognition and facet theory. The authors are all renowned experts in the area of their writing. Topics addressed include both contemporary advances in the understanding of perennial debates and latest thinking upon how categories are employed to structure our experiences of the world we live in. The book is distinct as being written by philosophers and psychologists. The book is a collection of writings from selected academics at the fore of debates and understandings of categories in contemporary thought. The text provides a single source for contemporary scholarship in categories. No single text that brings together expositions of categorial experiences for students and academics within the above listed disciplines.
Handbook of the Uncertain Self
Author: Robert M. ArkinPublisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 1136950567
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 759
Book Description
This Handbook explores the cognitive, motivational, interpersonal, clinical, and applied aspects of personal uncertainty. It showcases both the diversity and the unity that defines contemporary perspectives on uncertainty in self within social and personality psychology. The contributions to the volume are all written by distinguished scholars in personality, social psychology, and clinical psychology united by their common focus on the causes and consequences of self-uncertainty. Chapters explore the similarities and differences between personal uncertainty and other psychological experiences in terms of their nature and relationship with human thought, emotion, motivation, and behavior. Specific challenges posed by personal uncertainty and the coping strategies people develop in their daily life are identified. There is an assessment of the potential negative and positive repercussions of coping with the specific experience of self-uncertainty, including academic, health, and relationship outcomes. Throughout, strategies specifically designed to assist others in confronting the unique challenges posed by self-uncertainty in ways that emphasize healthy psychological functioning and growth are promoted. In addition, the contributions to the Handbook touch on the psychological, social, and cultural context of the new millennium, including concepts such as Friedman’s "flat world," confidence, the absence of doubt in world leaders, the threat of terrorism since 9/11, the arts, doubt and religious belief, and views of doubt as the universal condition of humankind. The Handbook is an invaluable resource for researchers, practitioners, and senior undergraduate and graduate students in social and personality psychology, clinical and counseling psychology, educational psychology, and developmental psychology.