Search Results (25)

This study investigates the potential of generative artificial intelligence tools in addressing cognitive challenges encountered by humans during problem-solving. The performance of ChatGPT-4o and GPT-4 models in the NAEP mathematics assessments was evaluated, particularly in relation to the cognitive demands placed on students. Sixty NAEP mathematics assessment tasks, coded by field experts, were analyzed within a framework of cognitive complexity. ChatGPT-4o and GPT-4 provided responses to each question, which were then evaluated using NAEP’s scoring criteria. The study’s dataset was analyzed using the average performance scores of students who answered correctly and the item-wise response percentages. The results indicated that ChatGPT-4o and GPT-4 outperformed most students on individual items in the NAEP mathematics assessment. Furthermore, as the cognitive demand increased, higher performance scores were required to answer questions correctly. This trend was observed across the 4th, 8th, and 12th grades, though ChatGPT-4o and GPT-4 did not demonstrate statistically significant sensitivity to increased cognitive demands at the 12th-grade level. Full article

Informed by ideas drawn from critical race theory and decolonial thought, in this paper, I mount a critique of Roy Jackson’s proposal for an Islamicate philosophical and theological contribution to the Transhumanist goal of forging a posthuman successor to humanity. My principal concern is to draw attention to the assimilatory nature and status of Islamicate Transhumanism within the broader context of Transhumanism, understood as a technological articulation and refinement of global white supremacy in a technoscientific register. Full article

Grounded in, and in dialogue with, Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida’s Luanda, Lisboa, Paraíso of 2018, this paper interrogates a particular time and place of coloniality and racial capital’s reproduction of Black fungibility in late twentieth-century Portugal, after formal decolonization in Africa and in the wake of Black migratory waves from the post/neo-colony (Angola in this case) to the former metropolis. Almeida’s novel provides a literary intervention in grappling with the economic and institutional reinvention of anti-Blackness in Europe after settler colonialism, while also imagining and inscribing modes of Black being within and beyond the materialities of white supremacy. Towards this end and against the racial, gendered, and ableist logics of capital, the Black body in Almeida’s novel becomes a site through which the relationships between humans and matter as well as mind and body are decolonially revised. Full article

The imperial nature of Christianity structured around colonialism, white supremacy, and apartheid was governed by racially motivated logics that fundamentally define the idea of who could be human. Decades later, the uncomfortable emphasis on decoloniality in South African theological education arises in a contested space despite the need to decentre white, Western methods, interpretations, and experiences. Academic readiness and ownership regarding the implementation of decolonisation initiatives constitute a significant obstacle. They highlight how coloniality mediates and attempts to erase decolonising praxis. This article employs the theoretical framing of Grosfoguel’s analysis of the coloniality of power, of knowledge, and of being, surveys recent educational developments in theological education towards redress to reveal a hesitancy and considers the perspective change of educators towards decolonisation praxis. This article underscores a contextual challenge for the legitimacy of decolonialisation and the need to restore its significance amidst the slow pace of educational transformation in theological education. Full article

The study examines how members of the historically white possessive and supremacist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the United States (mis)appropriated Māori genealogy, known as whakapapa. The Mormon use of whakapapa to promote Mormon cultural memory and narratives perpetuates settler/invader colonialism and white supremacy, as this paper shows. The research discusses Church racism against Native Americans and Pacific Peoples. This paper uses Anthropologist Thomas Murphy’s scholarship to demonstrate how problematic the Book of Mormon’s religio-colonial identity of Lamanites is for these groups. Application of Aileen Moreton-Robinson’s white possessive doctrine and Hemopereki Simon’s adaptation to cover Church-Indigenous relations and the salvation contract is discussed. We explore collective and cultural memory, and discuss key Māori concepts like Mana, Taonga, Tapu, and Whakapapa. A brief review of LDS scholar Louis C. Midgley’s views on Church culture, including Herewini Jone’s whakapapa wānanga, is followed by a discussion of Māori cultural considerations and issues. The paper concludes that the alteration perpetuates settler/invader colonialism and Pacific peoples’ racialization and white supremacy. Genetic science and human migration studies contradict Mormon identity narratives and suggest the BOM is spiritual rather than historical. Finally, the paper suggests promoting intercultural engagement on Mormon (mis)appropriation of taonga Māori. Full article

Sylvia Wynter brings to light a structural entanglement between race and religion that is fundamental to identifying racism’s logic. This logic is continuous albeit often masked in particular in European race–religion constellations such as antisemitism and islamophobia. Focusing on the Americas, Wynter reveals a structural epistemic continuity between ‘religious’, rational and scientific racism. Nonetheless, Wynter marks a discontinuity between pre- and post-1492, by distinguishing between the Christian subject and Man, the overrepresentation of the human. In this essay, which focuses on European entanglements of race and religion, a process of dehumanization and its historical and geographic continuities is more discernible. As such, I question Wynter’s discontinuity, arguing that the Christian subject was conceived of as the only full conception of the human (although not without debate or inconsistencies), which meant that non-Christians were de-facto and de-jure excluded from the political community and suffered degrees of dehumanization. Within the concept of dehumanization, I focus on the entanglement of race and religion, or more specifically Whiteness and Christianity, as distinct markers of supremacy/difference and show that the Church had, and asserted, the power to produce both lesser and non-humans. Full article

Invented by Frank in 1979, Frank’s t-norm and t-conorm operations possess improved modifications and can be applied more generally than the existing algebraic t-norm and t-conorm. The major objective of this article is to determine Frank’s operational laws based on complex intuitionistic fuzzy (CIF) information. Moreover, we examine the Frank aggregation operators (averaging and geometric) based on CIF set theory and Frank operational laws, such as the CIF Frank weighted averaging (CIFFWA) operator, CIF Frank ordered weighted averaging (CIFFOWA) operator, CIF Frank hybrid averaging (CIFFHA) operator, CIF Frank weighted geometric (CIFFWG) operator, CIF Frank ordered weighted geometric (CIFFOWG) operator and CIF Frank hybrid geometric (CIFFHG) operator. Some dominant and feasible properties of the invented techniques are also stated. Additionally, to evaluate the problem of osteoporosis in human bodies based on their causes and risk factors, we illustrate an application of the multi-attribute decision-making (MADM) technique with consideration of the invented methods to show the supremacy and validity of the derived techniques. Finally, we aim to compare the proposed scenarios with some valid existing or prevailing techniques to increase the value of the presented approaches. Full article

Human activity recognition (HAR) is the process of interpreting human activities with the help of electronic devices such as computer and machine version technology. Humans can be explained or clarified as gestures, behavior, and activities that are recorded by sensors. In this manuscript, we concentrate on studying the problem of HAR; for this, we use the proposed theory of Aczel and Alsina, such as Aczel–Alsina (AA) norms, and the derived theory of Choquet, such as the Choquet integral in the presence of Atanassov interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy (AIVIF) set theory for evaluating the novel concept of AIVIF Choquet integral AA averaging (AIVIFC-IAAA), AIVIF Choquet integral AA ordered averaging (AIVIFC-IAAOA), AIVIF Choquet integral AA hybrid averaging (AIVIFC-IAAHA), AIVIF Choquet integral AA geometric (AIVIFC-IAAG), AIVIF Choquet integral AA ordered geometric (AIVIFC-IAAOG), and AIVIF Choquet integral AA hybrid geometric (AIVIFC-IAAHG) operators. Many essential characteristics of the presented techniques are shown, and we also identify their properties with some results. Additionally, we take advantage of the above techniques to produce a technique to evaluate the HAR multiattribute decision-making complications. We derive a functional model for HAR problems to justify the evaluated approaches and to demonstrate their supremacy and practicality. Finally, we conduct a comparison between the proposed and prevailing techniques for the legitimacy of the invented methodologies. Full article

The Nigerian legal system is diverse in that it recognizes several established legal systems that regulate how Nigerians conduct themselves. These legal frameworks include the civil law that was passed down from the British during and after colonization, pre-colonial customary laws and cultural practices, and religious laws (Christian and Islamic laws). Different kinds of norms and laws have subjected Nigerian women to violations of their rights depending on the woman’s cultural or religious affiliation. Such cultural and/or religious practices are usually in opposition to civil law and the Nigerian constitution, which is a custodian of these rights. Moreover, despite the supremacy of the constitution and expected compliance with international human rights treaties that Nigeria has ratified, the fact is that today there are impediments to the effective protection of women’s rights in Nigeria. For instance, although the Nigerian constitution outlaw’s discrimination on the grounds of gender, customary and religious laws continue to restrict the effective implementation of women’s rights, making it extremely difficult to harmonize domestic legislation with international human rights conventions, and also remove discriminatory measures. This article, thus, examines the issues of gender inequality as the basis for agitation for women’s empowerment and women’s rights while also proposing a re-alignment of domestic legislation in compliance with international human rights conventions and treaties, in order to combat cultural and religious norms that flout human rights considerations for Nigerian women. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to highlight the challenges that may arise when these legal systems clash, and how that affects the protection of women’s rights, particularly in view of international human rights treaties which Nigeria has signed and ratified. The article will therefore propose that women’s rights should be protected by seeking to eradicate cultural and religious practices that are discriminatory. This can be achieved by adopting laws which can be interpreted by domestic courts in line with constitutional requirements protecting the rights of women. It is noteworthy that the Nigerian judiciary has declared certain customs and traditions contrary to natural justice, equity and good conscience. Some of the case laws and judicial pronouncements will also be examined in this paper to enable implementation for the protection of women’s rights. The methodology adopted is desk-top legal research where judgments of courts and legislative enactments will form the basis of the findings of this paper. Full article

Currently, artificial intelligence is facing several problems with its practical implementation in various application domains. The explainability of advanced artificial intelligence algorithms is a topic of paramount importance, and many discussions have been held recently. Pioneering and classical machine learning and deep learning models behave as black boxes, constraining the logical interpretations that the end users desire. Artificial intelligence applications in industry, medicine, agriculture, and social sciences require the users’ trust in the systems. Users are always entitled to know why and how each method has made a decision and which factors play a critical role. Otherwise, they will always be wary of using new techniques. This paper discusses the nature of fuzzy cognitive maps (FCMs), a soft computational method to model human knowledge and provide decisions handling uncertainty. Though FCMs are not new to the field, they are evolving and incorporate recent advancements in artificial intelligence, such as learning algorithms and convolutional neural networks. The nature of FCMs reveals their supremacy in transparency, interpretability, transferability, and other aspects of explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) methods. The present study aims to reveal and defend the explainability properties of FCMs and to highlight their successful implementation in many domains. Subsequently, the present study discusses how FCMs cope with XAI directions and presents critical examples from the literature that demonstrate their superiority. The study results demonstrate that FCMs are both in accordance with the XAI directives and have many successful applications in domains such as medical decision-support systems, precision agriculture, energy savings, environmental monitoring, and policy-making for the public sector. Full article

Introduction: The spread of the COVID-19 virus and the supremacy of digital technologies have amplified global market volatility in all industries. This circumstance will have a lasting impact on students’ employability, so the education sector, particularly universities, should refocus its learning objectives. Design thinking (DT) is a collaborative and resourceful approach to problem-solving in which the demands of end-users and content creators take precedence. Objectives: In this study, the author seeks to comprehend how design thinking procedures in higher learning institutions inspire innovative behavior among undergraduate students. In light of the extensive literature regarding the adoption of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in terms of innovative actions, this study integrates two theoretical foundations (i.e., activity theory to mediate the nature of human activity and how its internalization affects mental development) and constructive learning theory to enhance students’ innovative action. Methods: The data for this quantitative investigation were acquired using an online survey. A total of 300 questionnaires were delivered to undergraduate university students in the eastern part of Saudi Arabia, of whom 208 responded. SmartPLS was utilized to analyze the data. The methodology proposed in this study aims to cultivate in university undergraduate students the sensibility and techniques of designers that are compatible with technological feasible innovative action. Results: This study addresses technology-assisted education in the context of Saudi Arabia. Students’ innovative learning experiences are characterized by autonomy and are supported by design thinking processes mediated by information and communication technology (ICT). On the basis of the findings of this study, the role of empathy and prototype in the DT process appears to be crucial to innovativeness, whereas the roles of define and ideate are detrimental to innovativeness. It has also been determined that ICT indirectly promotes innovative student behavior. Conclusions: Students valued the incorporation of design thinking and ICT in the creation of inventive action to foster creativity in problem-solving skills throughout the digital acceleration. To evaluate the transferability of these findings, future study might be undertaken in other education sectors, such as schools, vocational institutes, and the industry itself. In addition, future data should be analyzed through in-depth interviews or root cause analysis from the perspective of educators and instructional designers. Full article

Recently, artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled technologies have been widely employed for complex industrial applications. AI technologies can be utilized to improve efficiency and reduce human labor in industrial applications. At the same time, fault diagnosis (FD) and detection in rotating machinery (RM) becomes a hot research field to assure safety and product quality. Numerous studies based on statistical, machine learning (ML), and mathematical models have been available in the literature for automated fault diagnosis. From this perspective, this study presents a novel sandpiper optimization with an artificial-intelligence-enabled fault diagnosis (SPOAI-FD) technique for intelligent industrial applications. The aim is to detect the existence of faults in machineries. The proposed model involves the design of a continuous wavelet transform (CWT)-based pre-processing approach, which transforms the raw vibration signal into a useful format. In addition, a bidirectional long short-term memory (BLSTM) model is applied as a classifier, and the Faster SqueezeNet model is applied as a feature extractor. In order to modify the hyperparameter values of the BLSTM model, the sandpiper optimization algorithm (SPOA) can be utilized, showing the novelty of the work. A wide range of simulation analyses were conducted on benchmark datasets, and the results highlighted the supremacy of the SPOAI-FD algorithm over recent approaches. Full article

Many authors have noted the role that anthropocentrism has played in creating humanity’s dysfunctional relationship with the natural world. As human hubris (excessive pride or self-confidence) is an ailment that contributes to the anthropogenic sixth mass extinction of Earth’s biodiversity, we argue instead for ‘harmony with nature’. In recent decades, even the conservation discourse has become increasingly anthropocentric. Indeed, justification for nature conservation has in part shifted from nature’s intrinsic value to ‘ecosystem services’ for the benefit of people. Here we call for a transformation to a more harmonious human-nature relationship that is grounded in mutual respect and principled responsibility, instead of utilitarianism and enlightened self-interest. Far from what Tennyson called ‘red in tooth and claw’, we argue nature is a mixture of cooperation as well as competition. We argue that the UN’s ‘Harmony with Nature’ program is an innovative and refreshing path for change. If we are to achieve harmony with nature, modern industrial society will need to abandon its anthropocentric ‘human supremacy’ mindset and adopt an ecocentric worldview and ecological ethics. We conclude it is thus both appropriate (and essential) for conservationists to champion harmony with nature. Full article

How to combine science and technology with the humanities in the research on ancient cities to reveal ancient peoples’ urban planning thoughts is worthy of in-depth study. The capitals of the Western Han dynasty as well as the Sui and Tang dynasties were some of the greatest cities in the world at the time. This paper takes them as its subjects and puts forward a method to study the spatial relationship between ancient cities and the natural environment by combining spatial information technology and cultural analysis. Firstly, satellite images, elevation maps, urban ichnographies, and literature materials were collected and sorted to deeply understand the cultural thoughts involved in ancient urban planning; based on this, key element points were marked and rechecked on the spot, and the above drawings were accurately superimposed by GIS technology to form a geographic information base that integrated multisource information. Then, Python was used to construct a “decision model of spatial relationship between urban elements and natural elements”, and rules as well as parameters were set through man–machine collaboration. The decision model was used to test the geographic information base, and the information of strong correlations between urban objects and natural objects was outputted. The drawings were exported after screening, and a visual expression was realized with Illustrator software. The research results indicated that this analysis method was feasible, effective, and easy to promote. The new archaeological discoveries included eight important line segments with a 9:6 proportional relationship (which represents the balance of Yin and Yang) and two important line segments with a 9:5 proportional relationship (which represents the supreme imperial power) in the capitals of the Western Han dynasty as well as the Sui and Tang dynasties, and 16 contraposition lines in a positive direction or oblique 45° direction (which reflects the close relationship between urban elements and natural elements). We consider that the two capitals were intentionally closely related to natural environments such as mountain peaks and valley entrances in the planning stage, and that proportions and scales with profound humanistic meaning were selected. The capital of the Sui and Tang dynasties was specially aligned with the capital of the Western Han dynasty in space. These characteristics embody ancient Chinese Confucian cultural thoughts such as the “integration of yang and yin”, “harmony between nature and humans”, the “supremacy of emperors”, and the “use of numbers and shapes to convey meaning”. Full article

Most people consume meat regularly but simultaneously claim to be animal lovers, which should lead to a state of cognitive dissonance and cause distress. Against this backdrop, it is important to understand why some people decide to stop consuming meat or completely eschew animal products, while others do not. Research has shown gender and self-regulatory mechanisms as important factors, but the underlying psychological processes require further examination. In total, 3259 vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores completed an online questionnaire about their diet, gender role self-concept, moral disengagement from meat consumption, and human supremacy beliefs. The results showed that male vegans described themselves as more feminine but no less masculine than male omnivores, while no such differences were found in women. Furthermore, omnivores reported the highest moral disengagement from meat consumption, followed by vegetarians and vegans. The same was true of human supremacy beliefs. Moreover, the results showed that not only is diet itself related to differences in human supremacy beliefs but also the motives for this diet, with health and environmental motives being associated with stronger human supremacy beliefs than animal-related motives. These findings present practical implications for animal rights activists, marketing, and the health and education sectors. Full article