Book•
Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge
01 Jan 1998-
TL;DR: One of the world's greatest living scientists argues for the fundamental unity of all knowledge and the need to search for consilience, the composition of the principles governing every branch of learning.
Abstract: In this groundbreaking new book, one of the world's greatest living scientists argues for the fundamental unity of all knowledge and the need to search for what he calls consilience, the composition of the principles governing every branch of learning Edward O Wilson, the pioneer of sociobiology and biodiversity, once again breaks out of the conventions of current thinking He shows how our explosive rise in intellectual mastery of the truths of our universe has its roots in the ancient Greek concept of an intrinsic orderliness that governs our cosmos It is a vision that found its apogee in the Age of Enlightenment, then gradually was lost in the increasing fragmentation and specialisation of knowledge in the last two centuries Professor Wilson shows why the goals of the original Enlightenment are surging back to life, why they are reappearing on the very frontiers of science and human scholarship, and how they are beginning to sketch themselves as the blueprint of our world
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TL;DR: The author gives 4 reasons for considering the hypothesis that moral reasoning does not cause moral judgment; rather, moral reasoning is usually a post hoc construction, generated after a judgment has been reached.
Abstract: Research on moral judgment has been dominated by rationalist models, in which moral judgment is thought to be caused by moral reasoning. The author gives 4 reasons for considering the hypothesis that moral reasoning does not cause moral judgment; rather, moral reasoning is usually a post hoc construction, generated after a judgment has been reached. The social intuitionist model is presented as an alternative to rationalist models. The model is a social model in that it deemphasizes the private reasoning done by individuals and emphasizes instead the importance of social and cultural influences. The model is an intuitionist model in that it states that moral judgment is generally the result of quick, automatic evaluations (intuitions). The model is more consistent than rationalist models with recent findings in social, cultural, evolutionary, and biological psychology, as well as in anthropology and primatology.
6,080 citations
Cites background from "Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge..."
...Edward O. Wilson (1998) resurrected the term “consilience” to refer to the degree to which facts and theories link up across disciplines to create a common groundwork of explanation....
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TL;DR: It is argued and present evidence that great apes understand the basics of intentional action, but they still do not participate in activities involving joint intentions and attention (shared intentionality), and children's skills of shared intentionality develop gradually during the first 14 months of life.
Abstract: We propose that the crucial difference between human cognition and that of other species is the ability to participate with others in collaborative activities with shared goals and intentions: shared intentionality. Participation in such activities requires not only especially powerful forms of intention reading and cultural learning, but also a unique motivation to share psychological states with oth- ers and unique forms of cognitive representation for doing so. The result of participating in these activities is species-unique forms of cultural cognition and evolution, enabling everything from the creation and use of linguistic symbols to the construction of social norms and individual beliefs to the establishment of social institutions. In support of this proposal we argue and present evidence that great apes (and some children with autism) understand the basics of intentional action, but they still do not participate in activities involving joint intentions and attention (shared intentionality). Human children's skills of shared intentionality develop gradually during the first 14 months of life as two ontogenetic pathways intertwine: (1) the general ape line of understanding others as animate, goal-directed, and intentional agents; and (2) a species-unique motivation to share emotions, experience, and activities with other persons. The develop- mental outcome is children's ability to construct dialogic cognitive representations, which enable them to participate in earnest in the collectivity that is human cognition.
3,660 citations
Cites background from "Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge..."
...…possible that some kind of group-level selection played an important role in the evolution of these collaborative activities, as some change in the ecology of Homo made it more likely that entire groups with many collaborators outcompeted other groups with fewer collaborators (Sober & Wilson 1998)....
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...Or there may also have been, in addition, some form of group-level selection (Sober & Wilson 1998) or cultural group selection (Boyd et al. 2002), relying on social norms of strong reciprocity and cultural conformity....
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Book•
01 Mar 1999
TL;DR: This book discusses the ways in which knowledge of economic change has changed over the past century and discusses the role of language, culture, and psychology in this change.
Abstract: Preface vii CHAPTER ONE: An Outline of the Process of Economic Change 1 PART I: THE ISSUES INVOLVED IN UNDERSTANDING ECONOMIC CHANGE 9 INTRODUCTION 11 CHAPTER TWO: Uncertainty in a Non-ergodic World 13 CHAPTER THREE: Belief Systems, Culture, and Cognitive Science 23 CHAPTER FOUR: Consciousness and Human Intentionality 38 CHAPTER FIVE: The Scaffolds Humans Erect 48 CHAPTER SIX: Taking Stock 65 PART II: THE ROAD AHEAD 81 INTRODUCTION 83 CHAPTER SEVEN: The Evolving Human Environment 87 CHAPTER EIGHT: The Sources of Order and Disorder 103 CHAPTER NINE: Getting It Right and Getting It Wrong 116 CHAPTER TEN: The Rise of the Western World 127 CHAPTER ELEVEN: The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union 146 CHAPTER TWELVE: Improving Economic Performance 155 CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Where Are We Going? 166 Bibliography 171 Index 183
3,550 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a motivational science perspective on student motivation in learning and teaching contexts is developed that highlights three general themes for motivational research: the importance of a general scientific approach for research on student motivations, the utility of multidisciplinary perspectives, and importance of use-inspired basic research on motivation.
Abstract: A motivational science perspective on student motivation in learning and teaching contexts is developed that highlights 3 general themes for motivational research. The 3 themes include the importance of a general scientific approach for research on student motivation, the utility of multidisciplinary perspectives, and the importance of use-inspired basic research on motivation. Seven substantive questions are then suggested as important directions for current and future motivational science research efforts. They include (1) What do students want? (2) What motivates students in classrooms? (3) How do students get what they want? (4) Do students know what they want or what motivates them? (5) How does motivation lead to cognition and cognition to motivation? (6) How does motivation change and develop? and (7) What is the role of context and culture? Each of the questions is addressed in terms of current knowledge claims and future directions for research in motivational science.
2,526 citations
TL;DR: The core properties of human agency are discussed, including its different forms it takes, its ontological and epistemological status, its development and role in causal structures, its growing primacy in the coevolution process, and its influential exercise at individual and collective levels across diverse spheres of life and cultural systems.
Abstract: This article presents an agentic theory of human development, adaptation, and change. The evolutionary emergence of advanced symbolizing capacity enabled humans to transcend the dictates of their immediate environment and made them unique in their power to shape their life circumstances and the courses their lives take. In this conception, people are contributors to their life circumstances, not just products of them. Social cognitive theory rejects a duality between human agency and social structure. People create social systems, and these systems, in turn, organize and influence people's lives. This article discusses the core properties of human agency, the different forms it takes, its ontological and epistemological status, its development and role in causal structures, its growing primacy in the coevolution process, and its influential exercise at individual and collective levels across diverse spheres of life and cultural systems.
2,402 citations
Cites background from "Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge..."
...Rather, the issue in contention is whether nature operates as a determinist that has culture on a ‘‘tight leash,’’ as Wilson (1998) contended, or as a potentialist that has culture on a ‘‘loose leash,’’ as Gould (1987) maintained....
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