Search Results (1,060)

This study investigates the foundational causes of unsustainability that obstruct efforts to address global challenges such as climate change, environmental degradation, water crises, and public health deterioration. Using qualitative research with in-depth expert interviews from education, environmental studies, and business, it finds that these global challenges, while visible on the surface, are deeply rooted in worldviews that shape human behavior, societal structures, and policies. Building on this insight, the thematic analysis manifests three interrelated systemic paradigms as the fundamental drivers of unsustainability: a crisis of wholeness, reflected in fragmented identities and collective disorientation; a disconnection from nature, shaped by human-centered perspectives; and the influence of dominant political-economic systems which prioritize growth logics over ecological and social concerns. These paradigms underlie both structural and cognitive barriers to systemic transformation, which influence the design and implementation of education for sustainability. By clarifying a body of knowledge and systemic paradigms regarding unsustainability, this paper calls for transformative education that promotes a holistic, value-based approach, eco-empathy, and critical thinking, aiming to equip future generations with the tools to challenge and transform unsustainable systems. Full article

The characterization of Large Reasoning Models (LRMs) as exhibiting an “illusion of thinking” has recently emerged in the literature, sparking widespread public discourse. Some have suggested these manifestations represent bugs requiring fixes. I challenge this interpretation by reframing LRM behavior through dual-process theory from cognitive psychology. I draw on more than half a century of research on human cognitive effort and disengagement. The observed patterns include performance collapse at high complexity and counterintuitive reduction in reasoning effort. These appear to align with human cognitive phenomena, particularly System 2 engagement and disengagement under cognitive load. Rather than representing technical limitations, these behaviors likely manifest computational processes analogous to human cognitive constraints. In other words, they represent not a bug but a feature of bounded rational systems. I propose empirically testable hypotheses comparing LRM token patterns with human pupillometry data. I suggest that computational “rest” periods may restore reasoning performance, paralleling human cognitive recovery mechanisms. This reframing indicates that LRM limitations may reflect bounded rationality rather than fundamental reasoning failures. Accordingly, this article is presented as a hypothesis paper: it collates six decades of cognitive effort research and invites the scientific community to subject the dual-process predictions to empirical tests through coordinated human–AI experiments. Full article

This research aims to examine the role and emerging trends of critical thinking within tertiary education through a bibliometric analysis, with particular emphasis on disparities among countries with differing Human Development Index (HDI) levels. The analysis seeks to identify thematic associations related to critical thinking across nations at various stages of development, as well as to explore the educational methods and strategies employed regionally to cultivate critical thinking skills. The findings highlight notable contrasts between developed and developing nations, especially in terms of educational strategies, dominant academic discourses, and region-specific research priorities. Full article

Educational institutions are facing a crisis characterized by the need to address diverse learning styles and vocational aspirations, exacerbated by ongoing financial pressures. To navigate these challenges effectively, there is an urgent need to innovate educational practices and learning environments, ensuring they are adaptable and responsive to the evolving needs of students and the workforce. The adoption of the Industry 5.0 framework offers a promising solution, providing a holistic approach that emphasizes the integration of human creativity and advanced technologies to transform educational institutions into resilient, human-centric, and sustainable learning environments. In this context, this article presents a transdisciplinary methodology that integrates Asset Management (AM) with Social Innovation (SI) through Design Thinking (DT) to co-design Educational Facilities 5.0 with stakeholders. The application of the proposed approach in an AgroLab case study—a food and agricultural laboratory—demonstrates how the methodology enables the definition of an Educational Facility 5.0 and generates AM Design Knowledge to support informed decision-making in the subsequent design, implementation, and operation phases. Following DT principles—where knowledge emerges through iterative experimentation and insights from practical applications—this article also discusses the role of SI and DT in AM, the role of Large Language Models in convergent processes, and a vision for Educational Facilities 5.0. Full article

This article addresses the epistemic and political problem of self-referentiality in theology within the context of post-secular societies as a demand for public relevance of faculties of theology within the 21st-century university. It focuses on the epistemological emergence of public theology as a distinct knowledge, such as human rights, and ecological thinking, contributing to the public mission of knowledge production and interdisciplinary engagement. This study applies Michel Foucault’s archaeological and genealogical methods in dialogue with Michel de Certeau’s insights into the archaeology of religious practices through a multi-layered analytical approach, including archaeology of knowledge, apparatuses of power, pastoral government, and spirituality as a genealogy of ethics. As a result of the analysis, it examines the historical conditions of possibility for the emergence of a public theology and how it needs to be thought synchronously with other formations of knowledge, allowing theology to move beyond its self-referential model of approaching dogma and the social practices derived from it. This article concludes programmatically that the development of public theology requires an epistemological reconfiguration to displace its self-referentiality through critical engagement with a public rationality framework as an essential task for the public relevance and contribution of theology within contemporary universities and plural societies. Full article

This essay argues for the reciprocal benefits of joining the new theories of matter emerging out of critical posthumanism and the psychedelic drugs currently experiencing a so-called “renaissance” in global north societies. While the former’s twin emphasis on relationality and embodiment is perfectly suited to capture and ground the ontological, epistemological, and ethical implications of psychedelic experiences of interconnectedness and transformation, these substances are in turn powerful companions through which to enact a “posthuman phenomenology” that helps us with the urgent task to “access, amplify, and describe” our deep imbrication with our more-than-human environments. In other words, I argue that while the “new materialism” emerging out of posthumanism can help elaborate a psychedelic rationality, psychedelics can in turn operate as educators in materiality. It is from this materialist perspective that we can best make sense of psychedelics’ often touted potential for social transformation and the enduring suspicion that they are somehow at odds with the “ontoepistemological order” of modernity. From this point of view, I contend that a crucial critical move is to push against the common trope that this opposition is best expressed as a turn from the narrow scientific and “consumerist materialism” of modern Western societies to more expansive “spiritual” worldviews. Pushing against this science-–spirituality binary, which in fact reproduces modern “indivi/dualism” by confining psychedelic experience inside our heads, I argue instead that what is in fact needed to think through and actualize such potentials is an increased attention to our material transcorporeality. In a nutshell, if we want psychedelics to inform social change, we must be more, not less, materialist—albeit by redefining matter in a rather “weird”, non-reductive way and by redefining consciousness as embodied. By the end of the essay, attaching psychedelics to a new materialism will enable us to formulate a “material spirituality” that establishes psychedelics’ political value less in an idealistic or cognitive “politics of consciousness” and more in a “materialization of critique”. Full article

Alexithymia is a trait-like deficit in the cognitive processing of emotions, characterized by difficulty identifying and describing feelings, externally oriented thinking, and limited imaginal capacity. It reflects a deficit in emotional intelligence, specifically in the intrapersonal ability to understand and manage one’s own emotional states and to similarly recognize how others might view them. Emotional intelligence has been conceptualized as a distinct form of intelligence that involves emotion-related mental abilities and meets standard psychometric criteria for inclusion within the broader taxonomy of human intelligences. Increasingly, alexithymia is also understood as a failure of affect-focused mentalization, or the ability to perceive emotions in oneself and others as intentional states. This study examined alexithymia using a multi-informant approach to assess intrapersonal and interpersonal emotional awareness. A sample of 211 university students and their informants completed the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), an informant version (TAS-20-IF), and a novel meta-perception version (TAS-20-Meta). Two hypotheses were tested and supported: (1) participants underestimated their alexithymia traits relative to informant ratings and (2) self- and meta-perception ratings were more strongly correlated than either was with informant ratings. These findings support the view that alexithymia reflects deficits in both affective mentalization and a specific domain of human intelligence. Full article

Aside from a few passages addressing animals or the environment, Confucian philosophy appears to lack an environmental ethics perspective. Li Zhehou’s (李澤厚) contemporary work in Confucian philosophy continues this lacuna by limiting his understanding of community to the human realm. Using the common liberal humanism that limits moral actions to the interpersonal human realm misses the importance of inclusive moralities such as animal rights and environmental ethics. I propose that if we return to the original shared common cultural roots of Confucian and Daoist philosophy that a Confucian understanding of the natural world can embrace the non-human environment within the scope of Confucian morality. Extricating ideas from the Yijing, the Shijing, Xunzi, Dong Zhongshu, Wang Chong, and later scholars, the concept of the mutual resonance and response (ganying 感應) between the natural world and humans developed into the unity of heaven and humanity (tianren heyi 天人合一). An inclusive Confucian depth ecology opens new ways of thinking that can be deployed to envision deeper dimensions for understanding the self’s inner life, its connections to the outer life of the self–other relationship, and its extension to a kin relationship with the environment. This paper explores how these old and new ways of thinking can change our behavior and change our moral interactions with others including the environment and thereby enhancing freedom as an achievement concept derived from graceful moral action. Full article

As generative AI tools become increasingly embedded in education, their role in supporting student learning remains both promising and contested. These cross-continental multiple case studies explore how integrating AI into classroom-based creative projects can move students from intimidation to meaningful engagement, comprehension, and retention of course content. Drawing on data from four international university classrooms—in the USA, UK, Canada, and Australia—this mixed-methods study examines students’ experiences as they collaboratively created comic books using generative AI. Each instructor embedded the assignment within their own pedagogical context, enabling cross-institutional comparison of AI’s educational potential. Findings highlight a shared trajectory: students initially approached AI with uncertainty or overconfidence, but developed nuanced understandings of its capabilities through experimentation, reflection, and collaboration. The process of creating narrative-driven visual outputs required students to synthesize theoretical material, communicate effectively in teams, and creatively solve problems—fostering both cognitive and interpersonal learning. Students reported deeper comprehension of academic content and greater confidence using AI tools critically and ethically. This study concludes that when framed as a collaborative partner rather than a replacement for human thinking, AI can support deeper learning experiences. It also suggests that creative, team-based projects can demystify AI and build essential future-facing skills. Full article

As organizations become increasingly projectified, safeguarding the resilience of project professionals and teams emerges as a critical organizational challenge. Adopting a systems lens, we investigate how agile mindsets and agile practices function as systemic antecedents of resilience at the individual and team levels. Eleven semi-structured interviews with experienced project managers, product owners, and team members from diverse industries were analyzed through inductive thematic coding and system mapping. The findings show that mindset supplies psychological resources—self-efficacy, openness and a learning orientation—while practices such as team autonomy, iterative delivery and transparent communication provide structural routines; together they trigger five interlocking mechanisms: empowerment, fast responsiveness, holistic team dynamics, stakeholder-ecosystem engagement and continuous learning. These mechanisms reinforce one another in feedback loops that boost a project system’s adaptive capacity under volatility. The synergy of mindset and practices is especially valuable in hybrid or traditionally governed projects, where cognitive agility offsets structural rigidity. This study offers the first multi-level, systems-based explanation of agile antecedents of resilience and delivers actionable levers for executives, transformation leaders, project professionals, and HR specialists aiming to sustain talent performance in turbulent contexts. Full article

The modern workplace grapples with a human energy crisis, characterized by chronic exhaustion, disengagement, and emotional depletion among employees. Traditional well-being initiatives often fail to address this systemic challenge, particularly in industrial contexts. This study introduces the Human Energy Management System (HEMS), a strategic framework to develop, implement, and refine strategies for optimizing workforce energy. Grounded in Industry 5.0’s human-centric, resilient, and sustainable principles, HEMS integrates enterprise risk management (ERM), design thinking, and the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle. Employing a qualitative Design Science Research (DSR) methodology, the study reframes human energy depletion as an organizational risk, providing a proactive, empathetic, and iterative approach to mitigate workplace stressors. The HEMS framework is developed and evaluated through theoretical modeling, literature benchmarking, and secondary case studies, rather than empirical testing, aligning with DSR’s focus on conceptual validation. Findings suggest HEMS offers a robust tool to operationalize human energy reinforcement strategies in industrial settings. Consistent with the European Union’s vision for human-centric industrial transformation, HEMS enables organizations to foster a resilient, engaged, and thriving workforce in both stable and challenging times. Full article

Tourism offers many economic benefits but can have long-lasting ecological effects when improperly managed. Tourism can cause overwhelming pressure on wastewater treatment systems, as in Belize, where some of the over 400 small islands (cayes) that were once temporary sites for fishermen have become popular tourist destinations. An overabundance of nitrogen, in part as a result of incomplete wastewater treatment, threatens human health and ecosystem services. The tourism industry is a complex and dynamic industry with many sectors and stakeholders with conflicting goals. In this study, a systems thinking approach was adopted to study the dynamic interactions between stakeholders and the environment at Laughing Bird Caye National Park in Belize. The project centered on nutrient discharges from the caye’s onsite wastewater treatment system. An archetype analysis approach was applied to frame potential solutions to nutrient pollution and understand potential behaviors over time. “Out of control” and “Underachievement” were identified as system archetypes; “Shifting the Burden” and ‘‘Limits to Success’’ were used to model specific cases. Based on these results, upgrading of the wastewater treatment system should be performed concurrently with investments in the user experience of the toilets, education on the vulnerability of the treatment system and ecosystem, and controls on the number of daily tourists. Full article

Transdisciplinary thinking lies at one end of a continuum within system thinking, with discipline-based approaches at the other end. Interdisciplinarity and multidisciplinarity are intermediate domains within this continuum. Transdisciplinary thinking is unique in always starting with problem-structuring related to contexts, in which people, typically with multiple and competing objectives, interact with a biophysical world. As such, transdisciplinary thinking is particularly relevant to pastoral systems where livelihoods and environmental issues intersect, and where multiple stakeholders are the norm. Integration, both within transdisciplinary thinking and consequent action, is particularly challenging. This is because there is no quantitative methodology that can capture the complex essence of transdisciplinary issues that encompass both human and biophysical disciplines. Nevertheless, a transdisciplinary approach provides a framework for civilised debate and communication within a broad framework of policy generation. We illustrate these issues with two highly contrasting studies, these being pastoralism at the country level in New Zealand and at the county level in Qinghai on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in Western China. Both case studies are characterised by complex property rights within a dynamic resource-constrained environment, in which environmental issues have planetary implications that extend well beyond the bounds of the pastoral system itself. Full article

Wicked problems defy simple solutions. From climate change to mass shootings, their causes are not singular but systemic, interconnected, and often politicized. Yet in both public discourse and policy design, one-cause and root-cause thinking continue to dominate. This paper introduces Webs of Causality (WoC) and Connect-the-Dots (CtD) thinking as cognitively grounded, empirically supported frameworks for understanding and addressing wicked problems. Drawing on four complementary studies—including experimental interventions, national surveys, and systematic literature reviews—we demonstrate: (1) the persistent human tendency to select and politicize a single cause from a known WoC, and (2) the effectiveness of six DSRP-based cognitive moves in improving causal reasoning and solution design. Together, these studies validate a new cognitive protocol for mapping complex problems and designing systemic, simultaneous interventions. We argue for a paradigm shift in policy and education—away from partial, politicized solutions and toward comprehensive, coordinated responses that reflect the real-world complexity of the problems we face. Full article

Artificial intelligence has brought tremendous convenience to human life in various aspects. However, during its application, there are still instances where AI fails to comprehend certain problems or cannot achieve flawless execution, necessitating more cautious and thoughtful usage. With the advancements in EEG signal processing technology, its integration with AI has become increasingly close. This idea of interpreting electroencephalogram (EEG) signals illustrates researchers’ desire to explore the deeper relationship between AI and human thought, making human-like thinking a new direction for AI development. Currently, AI faces several core challenges: it struggles to adapt effectively when interacting with an uncertain and unpredictable world. Additionally, the trend of increasing model parameters to enhance accuracy has reached its limits and cannot continue indefinitely. Therefore, this paper proposes revisiting the history of AI development from the perspective of “anthropomorphic computing”, primarily analyzing existing AI technologies that incorporate structures or concepts resembling human brain thinking. Furthermore, regarding the future of AI, we will examine its emerging trends and introduce the concept of “Cyber Brain Intelligence”—a human-like AI system that simulates human thought processes and generates virtual EEG signals. Full article