Article
Toward a Calculus of Redundancy: Signification,Codification, and Anticipation in Cultural Evolution
This article considers the relationships among meaning generation, selection, and the dynamics of discourse from a variety of perspectives ranging from information theory and biology to sociology. Following Husserl's idea of a horizon of meanings in intersubjective communication, we propose a way in which, using Shannon's equations, the generation and selection of meanings from a horizon of possibilities can be considered probabilistically. The information-theoretical dynamics we articulate considers a process of meaning generation within cultural evolution: information is imbued with meaning, and through this process, the number of options for the selection of meaning in discourse proliferates. The redundancy of possible meanings contributes to a codification of expectations within the discourse. Unlike hardwired DNA, the codes of nonbiological systems can coevolve with the variations. Spanning horizons of meaning, the codes structure the communications as selection environments that shape discourses. Discursive knowledge can be considered as meta-coded communication that enables us to translate among differently coded communications. The dynamics of discursive knowledge production can thus infuse the historical dynamics with a cultural evolution by adding options, that is, by increasing redundancy. A calculus of redundancy is presented as an indicator whereby these dynamics of discourse and meaning may be explored empirically.
Properties of Erdos measure and the invariant Erdos measure for the golden ratio and all values of the Bernoulli parameter are studies. It is proved that a shift on the two-sided Fibonacci compact set with invariant Erdos measure is isomorphic to the integral automorphism for a Bernoulli shift with countable alphabet. An effective algorithm for calculating the entropy of an invariant Erdos measure is proposed. It is shown that, for certain values of the Bernulli parameter, the algorithm gives the Hausdorff dimension of an Erdos measure to 15 decimal places.
Properties of Erdos measure and the invariant Erdos measure for the golden ratio and all values of the Bernoulli parameter are studies. It is proved that a shift on the two-sided Fibonacci compact set with invariant Erdos measure is isomorphic to the integral automorphism for a Bernoulli shift with countable alphabet.
The present article examines the main peculiarities of modern development of the sources of Private International Law, including domestic legislation, international treaties, international customs, case law, legal acts of international organizations and lex mercatoria. The author proved that at present the main trend of the development of domestic legislation as a source of PIL consists of its intensive and extensive codification. Another trend of the development of PIL sources undermines the enlargement of instruments of non-state regulation of private international relations, namely, lex mercatoria as an example of soft law. As far as the development of PIL sources in the European Union is concerned, two trends may be observed simultaneously: firstly, formation of European conflict law and European Civil Procedure by instruments not only having legal force but also having direct application on the territory of the EU Member States (regulations); secondly, formation of the unified material rules regulating private relations amongst different subjects on the territory of the EU, which are contained either in regulations, or in non-binding documents.
The article examines current trends in the process of national codifications of international private law (PIL) on the example of countries in Asia and Africa. The choice of the subject of the study is due to the fact that the PIL of these countries is least known to the Russian reader. Meanwhile, the process of codification of PIL is global, covering all regions of the world, including Asia and Africa. The legislation of these countries demonstrates the whole variety of forms and methods of codification of PIL, the whole range of contradictions and problems that arise when developing new laws and modernizing old ones. The article concluded that in the codification of MPEs in African and Asian countries, the intrabranch form dominates, with a considerable number of legislators preferring the intrabranch integrated method; there is a direct borrowing of the European models adopted many years ago, often without their adaptation to current trends in the development of the PIL; many laws on PIL in Islamic countries have a religious tint, which may hinder the normal development of cross-border private relations.
In this paper we propose a new machine learning concept called randomized machine learning, in which model parameters are assumed random and data are assumed to contain random errors. Distinction of this approach from "classical" machine learning is that optimal estimation deals with the probability density functions of random parameters and the "worst" probability density of random data errors. As the optimality criterion of estimation, randomized machine learning employs the generalized information entropy maximized on a set described by the system of empirical balances. We apply this approach to text classification and dynamic regression problems. The results illustrate capabilities of the approach.
The study dwells on the problem of interaction between North American legal doctrine and codifications of private international law in the state of Louisiana and the Province of Quebec. Covering both classical and modern USA schools of thought in the area of conflict of laws, the article also includes a comparative analysis of Book IV (Conflict of Laws) of Louisiana Civil Code and Book X (On private international law) of Quebec Civil Code respectfully. On comparing these acts, the authors dwell on a thesis that, in spite of the obvious similarities between respectful legal systems, one cannot state undoubtedly that American doctrine of private international law has been recepted by abovementioned codifications in equal measure. Therefore, despite all the similarities, the doctrinal traditions on which they are respectfully based are actually different.
This article is devoted to the Digest of the Laws of the Russian Empire – an embodiment of the operative legal system in late imperial Russia. Even though the Digest contained the law in force, and thus should be studied as a crucial source on Russian (legal) history, its meaning has been often overlooked. The reason for that is a remarkable difference between the original texts of laws adopted by the legislator, and their published form in the Digest. This difference came from the necessary editing procedures when every new piece of legislation was included in the existing system of the Digest. This strange feature of legal procedure when two different versions of a particular law – the original one and the one codified in the Digest – both remained in force should be considered as a part of official autocratic legality in late imperial Russia. Even though it may seem inefficient and irrational, the practice of obligatory codification of laws in the Digest existed for a rather long time – from 1835 until 1917. My research aims to find possible explanations for the Digest’s prolonged existence in the context of political and legal culture of late imperial Russia. What did Russian ‘official legality’ actually mean on the levels of theory and action?
In the collection of issues there are published the works of the participants of the III International scientific-practical conference "Systematization of legislation: theoretical development" (Kazan, October 23, 2015) on topical issues of legal science and practice.
This book offers a comparative analysis of value and identity changes in several post-Communist countries. In light of the tremendous economic, social and political changes in former communist states, the authors compare the values, attitudes and identities of different generations and cultural groups. Based on extensive empirical data, using quantitative and qualitative methods to study complex social identities, this book examines how intergenerational value and identity changes are linked to socio-economic and political development. Topics include the rise of nationalist sentiments, identity formation of ethnic and religious groups and minorities, youth identity formation and intergenerational value conflicts
2nd edition of the first volume of "Capital" by K. Marx, dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the publication.
The article presents a systematic review of various approaches to the definition and method of studying value orientations, the connection of values and social action. The authors analyze the relationship between various sociodemographic groups and their value orientations. On the basis of data obtained after conducting sociological research in Russia, an analysis has been made of the relationship between respondents' value orientations and their political preferences. In addition, the most characteristic value orientations for the electorate of the most prominent modern politicians have been investigated. When using the Schwartz system, it turns out that the electorate most committed to the values of conservation and at the same time the least committed to the values of self-enhancement belongs to Sergey Baburin and Gennady Zyuganov. At the other pole one finds Ksenia Sobchak and especially Aleksei Navalny, whose supporters are characterized by both the maximum values of the index of commitment to the values of openness to change, and the maximum values of the index of commitment to the values of self-enhancement. An intermediate position is occupied by the electorate of Vladimir Putin, Gregory Yavlinsky, Dmitry Medvedev, Pavel Grudinin, Boris Titov, and Vladimir Zhirinovsky, but at the same time the electorate of Putin, Yavlinsky and Medvedev is inclined towards values of conservation, and the electorate of Grudinin, Titov and Zhirinovsky is towards values of openness to change. Using Inglehart system, politicians have been subdivided into two main clusters on the basis of value orientations of their electorate at the 2018 presidential elections: a class of candidates whose electorate adheres more to materialist values of survival and traditional religious values and a class whose electorate is more committed to secularrational values and postmaterialist values of self-expression.
Brazil's Movimento de Trabalhadores Sem Teto (MTST, Homeless Workers' Movement) has grown dramatically in recent years. This growth was partly provided for by the use of a large government housing programme, Minha Casa Minha Vida (MCMV, My House My Life), which allowed the MTST to construct housing for its members and swell its ranks with thousands of new members. Yet some have argued that the MCMV programme used by the MTST may compromise the autonomy of civil society organisations. This article, by contrast, argues that while the MCMV programme encouraged bureaucratic practices, it also helped to promote the cultural politics of the MTST.
In this paper the term 'crowdfunding' is defined and it demonstrates how this
could be used as a potential solution for social and cultural issues in rural
communities. In the academic literature, crowdfunding is primarily examined
as a brand-new business tool, a way to collect new investment. However, a
large proportion of projects created on Russian crowdfunding platforms are
directly linked to cultural and social initiatives. Moreover, the sponsors of
such projects often forgo any material reward for participation and donate
their money without any incentives beyond the project’s completion. In light
of this fact it is important to examine socially-oriented crowdfunding projects,
their growth and spread in Russia; attempt to answer the question whether
they are more or less successful than other projects in respective crowdfund
-
ing platforms; track the geography of such projects and figure out if the
phenomenon is limited to developed urban areas of Russia. In order to achieve
that goal, the subjects (social crowdfunding project centered around rural
revitalization) were deliberately selected. For the purposes of this examina
-
tion, over two hundred projects launched between 2012 and 2017 were
chosen. All of these were from the two major Russian crowdfunding platforms:
Boomstarter
and
Planeta.ru
. The search centered around the keywords 'vil
-
lage', 'rural', 'hamlet' and 'countryside'. Projects were analysed based on their
fundraising success (a
successful project was defined as one that managed
to raise the initially declared amount, or a partial amount according to the
rules of the platform in allotted time), thematic differences and geographic
location. The examination showed that the chosen projects were in fact more
successful when compared to the platform average, thematic differences in
projects did not impact the success rate and geographically there were projects
from 54 subjects of the Russian Federation out of 85.