Dilemma

About: Dilemma is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 16202 publications have been published within this topic receiving 250251 citations. The topic is also known as: Dilemna.

Jews and the new American scene

Abstract: Introduction - America's tribal dilemma an old people in a new land the promise of double freedom the downside of exceptionalism the riddle of the defensive Jew Israel, the X-factor still on the left the fragile remnants.

the horns of the Mediterraneanist dilemma

Abstract: Recent studies of moral and symbolic systems have taken for granted the concept of a “Mediterranean culture area.” Consequently, readings of the ethnographic and ethnohistorical record have increasingly demonstrated a disturbing tendency to circularity, particularly in studies of the symbolism associated with sexuality and envy. This circularity has extended to the uses of archaeological evidence: similarities between ancient and modern symbols have virtually been created in support of the Mediterraneanist thesis. These generalizations, moreover, often rely selectively on materials from only a restricted part of the circum-Mediterranean region. As a result, Mediterranean and other stereotypes are reinforced, whereas they should instead be critically examined as part of the symbolic universe inhabited by informants and anthropologists alike.

The dilemma of transparency: Seeing and seeing through talk in the mathematics classroom

Abstract: In this article talk is understood to be a resource for mathematical learning in school. As a resource it needs to be both seen (be visible) to be used and seen through (be invisible) to provide access to mathematical learning. Lave and Wenger's (1991) concept of transparency captures this dual function of talk as a learning resource in the practice of school mathematics. I argue that the dual functions, visibility and invisibility, of talk in mathematics classrooms create dilemmas for teachers. An analytic narrative vignette drawn from a secondary mathematics classroom in South Africa illustrates the dilemma of transparency that mathematics teachers can face, particularly if they are teaching multilingual classes.

How individuals learn to take turns: Emergence of alternating cooperation in a congestion game and the prisoner's dilemma

Abstract: In many social dilemmas, individuals tend to generate a situation with low payoffs instead of a system optimum ("tragedy of the commons"). Is the routing of traffic a similar problem? In order to address this question, we present experimental results on humans playing a route choice game in a computer laboratory, which allow one to study decision behavior in repeated games beyond the Prisoner's Dilemma. We will focus on whether individuals manage to find a cooperative and fair solution compatible with the system-optimal road usage. We find that individuals tend towards a user equilibrium with equal travel times in the beginning. However, after many iterations, they often establish a coherent oscillatory behavior, as taking turns performs better than applying pure or mixed strategies. The resulting behavior is fair and compatible with system-optimal road usage. In spite of the complex dynamics leading to coordinated oscillations, we have identified mathematical relationships quantifying the observed transition process. Our main experimental discoveries for 2- and 4-person games can be explained with a novel reinforcement learning model for an arbitrary number of persons, which is based on past experience and trial-and-error behavior. Gains in the average payoff seem to be an important driving force for the innovation of time-dependent response patterns, i.e. the evolution of more complex strategies. Our findings are relevant for decision support systems and routing in traffic or data networks.