by GABRIELLA EICHINGER FERRO-LUZZI via Mario Fascetti, 67, 00136 Rome, Italy. 24 ix 81 Cohen (CA 22:201-18) and all his commentators take it for granted that we know the mechanism of biological evolution. For him \"the basic mechanism, change resulting from reproductive success, is clear\" (p. 204), and commentator Swartz does not even want to speak of the theory of evolution because the \"facts are empirically established\" (p. 214). I think we have to distinguish between biological evolution and the explanation thereof. Biological evolution is a fact; general directional change towards greater complexity of organisms and, above all, towards greater complexity of the brain cannot be denied. Theory as to the mechanism of evolution, however, leaves much to be desired. Breeding success might at most be adduced to explain the survival of the species; it can never explain directional change unless we simultaneously assume that species become progressively fitter and hence survive longer, which is not borne out by paleontology. We have as a species little hope of matching the longevity of the scorpion, and the tortoise beats us in the longevity of the individual and the species. If reproductive success and the survival of the species were selected for, we would do well to return at least to the level of the rat, but unfortunately the general direction of evolution seems to be set once and for all, even if it means producing less and less viable species. Within the general direction of evolution, transient \"fashions\" are discernible, and these too cannot be explained in terms of fitness. After a long period in which the \"nude look\" was \"in,\" fur coats became fashionable, eventually to give way to another wave of nudism. At present ancient nudists, fur-clad beauties, and modern nudists may be found inhabiting the same environment, and therefore the appearance of the outermost layer of the body obviously cannot be said to possess survival or reproductive value. Also, Homo sapiens is evolving. We are getting taller, and our eyes and teeth are getting weaker. None of these changes has any influence on reproduction, and the latter two, at least, do not make us fitter. What could be better proof of the theory of selection through reproductive success than evolution towards a longer period of fertility? This is happening now, but the extra years the Western woman has gained at the beginning and end of her fertile period are not used for reproduction. I have recently pointed out (1980:247-56) the utter implausibility of all attempts to explain continued lactase activity throughout life by reference to survival and reproductive advantages. If, for instance, the Danes, who are among the best lactose absorbers in the world, had acquired this trait through selection for fitness, they would have to have lived for thousands of years in such precarious nutritional conditions that drinking or not drinking fresh milk made a difference to their survival and reproduction, which is obviously absurd; In my view, the Darwinian paradigm has lulled us into the false security of having found the answer to the evolutionary problem and thus prevented us from searching for internal mechanisms setting the evolutionary switches. One such switch seems to indicate the overall direction, others lead to temporary fashions, and still others, possibly, determine the life-spans of species. Change toward a drier climate may have been fatal for the Brontosaurus but was hardly so for the Ichthyosaurus, which probably died of old age after an enviably long lifetime as a species. If, as I hold, biological evolution is a fact but its mechanism totally unknown, the application of the evolutionary model to culture naturally becomes problematic. On this point, however, several reservations have been voiced by the commentators, and Cohen himself rightly insists that \"prediction of the future is impossible for human events\"; therefore I can limit myself to a few points. I suggest that we speak not of the evolution of culture as an omnibus category but of that of particular aspects of culture. Evolution in the direction of greater complexity and efficiency is clearly at work in technology. Number also imposes some constraints, and the state could develop only after the tribal band. This is about all, however, that can be said with certainty of cultural evolution; speculations about the evolution of family types, systems of reckoning descent, ways of thinking, and so forth I hold to be vain. Small autonomous villages in Africa may well have developed into a kingdom according to the sequence Cohen describes, but the postulate of \"selective factors\" implies that there was some kind of necessity at work, which, being concluded post hoc, can never be proven. Cohen cites a few options, it is true, but the very concept of \"pressure on the leaders to specialize\" so that they eventually transformed themselves into monarchs is questionable. If disputes had really been crucial, these could just as well have been settled by councils of elders or the like. In India, for instance, disputes have been very effectively settled by village and caste councils with or without the existence of monarchy, and Westerners have long been accustomed to consult lawyers. It is true that there have been \"attempts to create a basis for world order,\" but I would not conclude from these that there is an evolutionary trend in that direction. Attempts at world order (in the form of world domination) have repeatedly been made in the past; it is only that the known world, or the world that counted, was smaller then. Even if the existing states could be brought to abdicate voluntarily, a world government replacing them would be 'rather impracticable. Our minds have an innate tendency (only a tendency, not a necessity) to prefer unity to plurality, and attempts to create bigger states and international organizations participate in this tendency, which has little to do with the rational evaluation of advantages and disadvantages. Since smaller entities, however, are easier to administer, it is quite conceivable that some of the bigger existing states will shrink, judging from the diffusion of separatist movements all over the world. A parallel to this situation may be drawn in the economic field. There has been a tendency to create bigger and bigger industrial complexes, but it is unlikely that this tendency will continue. In Italy the big firms are in trouble, while family enterprises flourish. Similarly, the supermarket, which according to some prophets should long since have ousted the small shops, has not been able to do so, at least in Europe. I am glad that Cohen does not simplistically extend \"biological theory into sociocultural realms\" as some of his commentators are prone to, but the postulate that similar abstract principles govern \"the evolution of all things-inorganic, organic, and sociocultural\"-seems to be inspired more by the above-mentioned monistic tendency of our minds than by the observation of facts.

On Evolutionary Epistemology

In creative collaboration

In this research, we investigated whether a learning process has unique information searching characteristics. The results of this research show that information searching is a learning process with unique searching characteristics specific to particular learning levels. In a laboratory experiment, we studied the searching characteristics of 72 participants engaged in 426 searching tasks. We classified the searching tasks according to Anderson and Krathwohl's taxonomy of the cognitive learning domain. Research results indicate that applying and analyzing, the middle two of the six categories, generally take the most searching effort in terms of queries per session, topics searched per session, and total time searching. Interestingly, the lowest two learning categories, remembering and understanding, exhibit searching characteristics similar to the highest order learning categories of evaluating and creating. Our results suggest the view of Web searchers having simple information needs may be incorrect. Instead, we discovered that users applied simple searching expressions to support their higher-level information needs. It appears that searchers rely primarily on their internal knowledge for evaluating and creating information needs, using search primarily for fact checking and verification. Overall, results indicate that a learning theory may better describe the information searching process than more commonly used paradigms of decision making or problem solving. The learning style of the searcher does have some moderating effect on exhibited searching characteristics. The implication of this research is that rather than solely addressing a searcher's expressed information need, searching systems can also address the underlying learning need of the user.

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Using the taxonomy of cognitive learning to model online searching

Environmentally-friendly thermal and acoustic insulation materials from recycled textiles.

The consumption of polypropylene and polyester makes up over 50% by weight in the nonwoven industry and consequently the waste generated from them increases gradually every year. In this study, the polyester and polypropylene nonwoven selvages were recycled to produce functional composites. First, the two kinds of selvages were shredded and mixed in the proportion1:1, and then stirred well. The functional sound absorption composites were produced by a compress molding technique with proper parameters. Sawdust was also added in the composites to investigate the influence of processing parameters and materials on the sound absorption efficiency of the composites. The sound absorption coefficients were measured according to ASTM E 1050 by an impedance tube. The results revealed that the average of the sound absorption coefficients increased with the thickness of the composites, but decreased with the density. The effect of adding sawdust to the sound absorption efficiency of the composites was not obvious fr...

Recycling Polyester and Polypropylene Nonwoven Selvages to Produce Functional Sound Absorption Composites

Numerical assessment of maximal absorption coefficients for nonwoven fiberwebs

Nonwovens can be used as noise control elements for a wide range of applications. This paper suggests a numerical method for calculating their acoustic performance using the theory of Zwikker and Kosten on sound propagation through porous media. The results for nonwovens made from acrylic fibers, cotton, and polyester are in fair agreement with experimental findings. The model yields the noise absorption coefficients of fiber webs as a function of their thickness and porosity. This relationship might serve as a guideline for the optimal design of passive control components made of nonwovens.

A Model for Calculating the Noise Absorption Capacity of Nonwoven Fiber Webs

Noise absorption by woven fabrics

Using an impedance tube interferometer as a measuring device, we found that between 250 to 1000Hz, the noise absorption coefficients of tufted carpets backed by several layers of stitch-bonded nonwovens were significantly higher than those of un backed carpets. The increase in the noise absorption capacity of the backed carpets depended primarily on the thickness of the backing, the effect of fiber content being only marginal.

Effect of Nonwoven Backings on the Noise Absorption Capacity of Tufted Carpets

This paper examines the effect of pile characteristics on the noise absorption capacity of tufted carpets in the audible frequency range (125 < f < 4000 Hz) The parameters considered are fiber content and fiber denier, pile density, and average pile height The noise absorption coefficients of sample carpets differing from each other in only one pile parameter were measured using the impedance tube technique Results of the experiments are displayed and evaluated in terms of a heuristic physical picture based on the theory of sound transfer through porous media One of the interesting results is that when there is an air gap behind tufted carpet used as a wall covering, noise absorption capacity increases significantly in the low and medium frequency range, 250 < f < 1000 Hz

Yakir Shoshani

Papers

Numerical assessment of maximal absorption coefficients for nonwoven fiberwebs

A Model for Calculating the Noise Absorption Capacity of Nonwoven Fiber Webs

Noise absorption by woven fabrics

Effect of Nonwoven Backings on the Noise Absorption Capacity of Tufted Carpets

Effect of Pile Parameters on the Noise Absorption Capacity of Tufted Carpets