A sequence of three books or the aesthetics of the reading lists

As anyone acquainted with film editing or the order in which food and wine should be served knows too well, how you put together words, sounds or pictures is essential to the overall meaning of the whole. Sometimes, syntax is everything. After all, all the colours are already in the rainbow, all the sounds already silently vibrate in the chord of a violin, and all the words may be found in the OED. It is how you put them together that makes the difference.

With this proviso, it is easy to see that the order in which we read macro-blocks of words - also known as books - makes a difference and sometimes a big one in our insights and appreciation. A reading list is not just a list, it is, in film jargon, a sequence, and as such it acquires a sense of its own.

The book-sequence that I have in mind in this blog may seem rather peculiar, but then, sometimes, it is the unexpected juxtaposition of seemingly unrelated elements that represents the pleasant novelty.

Here it is. It starts with Horton Hears a Who!, a 1954 book by Dr. Seuss. It then continues with Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions, a 1884 science fiction novel by Edwin A. Abbott, And it ends with Slaughterhouse-Five; or, The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance With Death, a 1969 novel by Kurt Vonnegut.

Each book is a gem. All of them are metaphors-against. Each of them is based on a different perspective about the space-time conditions of our lives. From a story on the smallest dimension, to a story of a new dimension in space, to a story on a different dimension in time. Only the sequence is my own.

I won't spoil your pleasure by revealing the plots. So let me add a last comment: one day I'd like to write a piece on the aesthetics of reading lists. Letters (alphabetic order) and numbers (chronological order) are misleading curtains behind which dramatic sequences hide their meaning.

WPE-2008 Workshop on Philosophy and Engineering

Following the first successful Workshop on Philosophy and Engineering at the University of Delft last year, WPE-2008 will be held at The Royal Academy of Engineering, Carlton House Terrace, London, from November 10-12 2008.

This is a multi-disciplinary conference for philosophers, ethicists and engineers interested in the philosophical and ethical issues surrounding engineering and technology. Extended abstracts are now being invited on the following three ‘demes’: Philosophy, Ethics and Reflections from Practitioners.

The deadline for abstracts is August 18 2008.

For the call for papers click on the title.

Further information is online.

For further information, contact Natasha McCarthy on natasha.mccarthy@raeng.org.uk or David Goldberg on deg@uiuc.edu

NA-CAP 2008 Conference

NACAP is a great success this year, don't miss the booklet with the abstracts.

The talks are all very interesting, Bloomington is lovely, Indiana University is great and the steaks are fabolous. Let us hope NACAP 2009 will also be hosted there!

Lively, Google's Second Life

Second Google? The giant is planning to find its space in web-based virtual environments.

Here is a wiki article. You may wish to contribute to improve it.

Unfortunately, expect more fragmentation. They say cats' have seven lives but they (the lives) all belong to them and they (the cats) are the same in all of them. Not so with virtual environments and ourselves. Yet, one day, changing avatars depending on the environment will seem a odd as it would be today to change car depending on the road on which you're driving. One day.

The relevance of Information

The following article: "Understanding Epistemic Relevance", Erkenntnis, 2008, 69.1, 69-92, is now in print.

Here is the abstract. You may click on the title for the preprint.

Agents require a constant flow, and a high level of processing, of relevant semantic information, in order to interact successfully among themselves and with the environment in which they are embedded.

Standard theories of information, however, are silent on the nature of epistemic relevance. In this paper, a subjectivist interpretation of epistemic relevance is developed and defended.

It is based on a counterfactual and metatheoretical analysis of the degree of relevance of some semantic information i to an informee/agent a, as a function of the accuracy of i understood as an answer to a query q, given the probability that q might be asked by a.

This interpretation of epistemic relevance vindicates a strongly semantic theory of information, according to which semantic information encapsulates truth. It accounts satisfactorily for several important applications and interpretations of the concept of relevant information in a variety of philosophical areas. And it interfaces successfully with current philosophical interpretations of causal and logical relevance.

Understanding who we are, online? offline? onlife!

Click on the title and you will be sent to a short, insightful piece on interpersonal perception (part of the wider phenomenon of interpersonal relationship), that is, how we go about grasping each others' profiles, identities and personalities online (including ours'), and what the constants and variables are that make a difference in this process. Absolutely worth reading.

A quick comment on aside: many of the points made are applicable to our life offline as well, and this is not surprising, if the threshold between the two is becoming increasingly porous. Ultimately, it will be onlife interpersonal relationship that will matter. When you apply for a job, don't forget to update your Facebook files.

Thinkers and visionaries share their ideas on the information revolution

It took some time, patience, convincing and the editorial skills of my PA and RA, but in the end, we did it: the PHILOSOPHY OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION: 5 QUESTIONS is out.

The book contains interviews with Margaret Boden, Valentino Braitenberg, Brian Cantwell Smith, Gregory Chaitin, Daniel Dennett, Keith Devlin, Fred Dretske, Hubert Dreyfus, Luciano Floridi, Tony Hoare, John McCarthy, John Searle, Aaron Sloman, Patrick Suppes, Johan van Benthem, Terry Winograd and Stephen Wolfram.

Here is the Preface.

When Vincent Hendricks invited me to contribute to, and edit, this volume on the Philosophy of Computing and Information (PCI), I was flattered. When I discovered that I had the freedom to invite some of the best researchers in the world to join me in the enterprise, and pick their brains about their experiences, interests and views, I was thrilled. It was only when I finally realised what it meant to coordinate such an effort that I was overwhelmed by its magnitude.

After some thoughts and consultations with several colleagues, I came to the conclusion that it would be impossible to produce the sort of volume that I had initially envisaged, something that would recount personal stories, provide insightful ideas on the past, present and future status of PCI, while also giving an overview of who’s who in the field and, to top it all, outline the lines of research that are, or could be, fruitful. As a kid in a toyshop, I had a list of invitees that was far too long, given the size of the planned volume, and far too many questions to ask. I also wished to provide some balance, with views coming not just from philosophy, but also from science and industry. The whole project seemed a recipe for failure.

If I have even only partly succeeded in my plan, it is because of Vincent’s support, the patience and availability of the contributors, and the extraordinary help of Valeria Giardino, my personal assistant, and Joanna Gillies, my research assistant. They really made the volume feasible.

If I were the reader, I would probably skip this brief introduction and jump to the contribution of my preferred researcher. The book is constituted of independent chapters, which indeed could be read in any order. But if the reader can bear with me for another minute or two, I would like to clarify a couple of points that might enhance the reading experience.

With an analogy, PCI could be compared to a pair of pincers. On the one hand, this relatively new field is concerned with the critical investigation of the conceptual nature and basic principles of information, including its dynamics (especially computation), utilisation (especially in ethically sensitive contexts) and sciences. On the other hand, PCI seeks to elaborate and apply information-theoretic and computational methodologies to classic philosophical problems. The reader will find that the following interviews alternate between these two approaches. Their convergence represents a remarkable strength.

A second feature of the volume worth emphasising is that PCI owes much to earlier research in the philosophy of Artificial Intelligence. As the perceptive reader may notice, the latter never acquired all the importance that it deserved, but it paved the way for further studies in PCI, which would otherwise have been unlikely to flourish.

Coming to the structure of the volume, all participants were asked the same set of five questions:

1. Why were you initially drawn to computational and/or informational issues?
2. What example(s) from your work (or the work of others) best illustrates the fruitful use of a computational and/or informational approach for foundational researches and/or applications?
3. What is the proper role of computer science and/or information science in relation to other disciplines?
4. What do you consider the most neglected topics and/or contributions in late 20th century studies of computation and/or information?
5. What are the most important open problems concerning computation and/or information and what are the prospects for progress?

The contributors were invited to write a series of specific answers or use the questions as starting points for longer essays. The authors have taken full advantage of this freedom, and this explains the very different lengths and styles of the contributions.

Finally, it is almost pointless to remind the reader that, nowadays, computing and information, and their philosophy in the broad sense, play a most important scientific, technological and conceptual role in our world. Developments in computer and information science, their techniques and methods, have sparked the formulation of, and the solution to, central problems in endless contexts. Their profound influence on our lives is well captured by the view that ours is a global, transnational “information society”. Computational and information-theoretical insights and technologies have sharpened, radicalized and extended how we conceptualise and deal with reality and our lives. Without the computer/information revolution, our century would be unrecognizable. In short, computer science and information science have continued to serve as a fulcrum in the current development of human history. This book attempts to put together the views and experiences of some of the visionary pioneers and most influential thinkers in such a fundamental area of our intellectual development. I hope you will enjoy it and find it inspiring. It was a difficult editorial project to follow, but, on a personal note, it turned out to be worth all the effort.

CALL FOR PAPERS Software Quality Journal - Special Issue on Cultural Issues and Software Quality

With software development an increasingly globally integrated activity involving a complex chain of cooperating partners it is clear that culture can play an important role in determining the efficiency of the process and the efficacy of the software produced. SQJ wishes to address this important area in the form of a Special Issue.

It is clear that approaches to software development can have culturally dependent outcomes, responses and effects. For example Open Source has produced differing responses in many parts of Asia than from those in many European countries. Likewise culturally diverse project teams are likely to have a fundamentally different dynamic to those of a more mono-cultural grouping and consequent impact on the software produced. Equally the groupist or individualist nature of the owner/ producer/actor/user may elicit varying software creations.

Although research has been conducted into models of culturally sensitive software development, little work exists reporting the suitability of approaches for varying cultures. For example no coherent body of work exists connecting say practical cultural theory (e.g. Hofstede) with software development. Partly this maybe due to the very interdisciplinary nature of the subject but this SQJ Special Issue is intended to address this previous omission.

This special issue aims to present the foundational constructive call to software quality strategists and technicians to consider culture in software development practices. This special issue of "Software Quality Journal" will focus on how software quality is both perceived, received and constructed varies with culture, in terms of the people who develop, use or simply live alongside software.

Original papers are solicited that present research results, innovative case studies, actual culturally reflective software experiences, state-of-the-art surveys, and tutorials. Topics of particular interest on "Cultural issues and Software Quality" include but are not limited to:

• Impact of cultural diverse project teams
• Cultural Software Quality perspectives
• Culturally-sensitive Software development models and methods
• Cultural Theory and Software Quality
• Life Cycle Issues and cultural difference
• Innovative quality culturally varying practices in software engineering
• Measuring culture in software development
• Empirical Case Studies highlighting cultural issues or ramifications

Editor Dr David Preston School of Computing and Technology Docklands Campus University of East London London, E16 2RD, United Kingdom. Tel: +44-208-223-3306 Fax: +44-208-590-7799 Email: d.preston@uel.ac.uk

Submitted papers will be rigorously refereed.

Papers should be submitted to the special issue through Editorial Manager http://sqjo.edmgr.com selecting the article type "Special Issue: Cultural Issues" on or before May 2, 2009.

Submission of a manuscript to the Software Quality Journal is a representation that the manuscript:
a) has not been previously published,
b) is not currently under consideration for publication elsewhere, and
c) will not be submitted elsewhere until a decision is made regarding its suitability for publication in Software Quality Journal.

Submission is also the representation that the work has been approved for open publication if performed under an official sponsorship requiring such an approval.

Presence 2008

From the website:

Academics and practitioners with an interest in research, theory, technologies and applications related to the concept of (tele)presence are invited to submit their work for presentation at PRESENCE 2008 in Padova, Italy, on October 16-18, 2008.

The goal of the PRESENCE 2008 conference is to bring together academic researchers studying presence, content and technology developers, and interested commercial parties so they can meet, share experiences, present research, and exchange ideas.

Following the format of the previous successful PRESENCE workshops, PRESENCE 2008 will be an informal, highly interactive conference with distinguished invited speakers, paper presentations, special sessions on specific topics, and poster sessions. Ample time will be reserved for informal interactions between all participants, and several social events (included in the registration fee) will be organized to facilitate this.

PRESENCE 2008 is organized by the International Society for Presence Research (ISPR) and the Human Technology Lab (HTLab) at the University of Padua.

Stealing Wi-Fi connectivity... who can throw the first modem?

Very entertaining and informative article from Time, don't miss it.

And yes, I'm guilty too. The Residence in Bari, where I spent far too much time working by myself than I wish to remember, did not have any Internet connection. However, if I could place myself just at the right angle on the balcony (third floor, a rather risky exercise), a very feeble, yet still perceivable signal would reach me, as a drop of water in the desert, and I could be "onlife" again. Blessed be the user who did not password it (and the very good weather too, there are disadvantages about being in Oxford). I survived through many lonely weekends thanks to that digital tiny stream.

Philosophy's Relevance in Computer Science

From the website:

The conference aims to present the multilayered reciprocal effects between philosophical basic reflection and applied research in the context of Philosophy and Information Science. It addresses a larger public and offers a forum of discussion between experts from different specialist areas.

It will be held at the University of Paderborn, 3-4 October 2008.