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Issues in Interdisciplinarity 2020-21/Evidence in Intelligence Testing

Introduction
The means by which intelligence is defined and tested has significant implications for individuals livelihoods in modern society so the subject has been the source of controversy.

Intelligence is an abstract concept formulated from variable aspects, and different disciplines have conflicting views on what counts as evidence in measuring intelligence. Some even argue that intelligence testing should cease. However, it can be a valuable theoretical and practical tool in studying mental development and assessing cognitive abilities. Resolving interdisciplinary conflicts through integration could develop more holistic approaches to intelligence testing which can be used to benefit individuals and society. Tests need to be universal across machines, animals, humans, and therefore disciplines, and results standardised against humans. Reaching a common understanding of evidence of intelligence means we'll have certainty of when a machine has achieved intelligence.

This Wikibook will look at evidence in intelligence testing in psychology, computer science and an anthropological/sociological perspective with the goal of highlighting conflicts.

Evidence in Intelligence Testing in Psychology

In, the most common measure of intelligence is Intelligence Quotient (IQ). There are multiple modern IQ tests, the most common in the English-speaking world being the Wechsler Intelligence Scale, with different versions for adults and children. David Wechsler believed intelligence to be made up of interconnecting elements of cognitive ability that could be isolated and measured. The current version of the test, WAIS-IV, is composed of indexes: verbal comprehension, perceptual reasoning, working memory, and processing speed.

The IQ score is calculated based on  comparing individual performance against the average. These scores are normally distributed where average score is the most common (mean of 100 and standard deviation of 15 IQ points). IQ scores are therefore estimates of intelligence rather than being a direct measure. IQ tests have been shown to have high statistical reliability with a confidence interval of approximately 10 points and a standard error of 3 points. Although performance in IQ tests can vary on an individual basis due to external factors such as motivation and anxiety, casting doubt on validity, IQ scores correlate with performance in jobs and schools. Some psychologists regard this as sufficient evidence that IQ tests are viable for practical use in education and jobs.

Other psychologists have been critical of IQ tests with Wayne Weiten stating "IQ tests are valid measures of the kind of intelligence necessary to do well in academic work. But if the purpose is to assess intelligence in a broader sense, the validity of IQ tests is questionable." IQ tests can measure forms of intelligence, but broader aspects including creativity and emotional intelligence are unaccounted. There are alternative tests for measuring aptitude in response to the criticisms. An example is the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test.

An Anthropological and Sociological Perspective
Anthropological and sociological understandings focus on an individuals interactions with their wider culture and society. Since intelligence is a contested concept for which definitions vary both across and within cultures, those within anthropology argue that tests measuring intelligence must be emic – i.e., derived from within – the culture of the individual being tested. Due to qualitative differences between cultures, some argue that quantitative comparisons made across cultures will be unhelpful. Taking an anthropological perspective, Sternberg and Kaufman have argued that cultures "designate as “intelligent” the cognitive, social and behavioural attributes that they value as adaptive to the requirements of living in those cultures". Similarly, some sociologists argue that intelligence is a social construct, and its evidence is the product of a particular sociohistorical context concerned with issues surrounding social stratification and inequality.

In relation to measuring intelligence, those taking anthropological and sociological perspectives have highlighted the modifiability of intelligence, along with other external factors influencing performance in particular testing methods. Berry and Irvine have emphasised the need to appreciate the different levels of context that influence the performance of intelligence, including ecological and experimental contexts. Their work has shown how cognitive styles develop in accordance with environmental demands. The requirement is then for the experimental context (context in which intelligence is being tested) to align with the individuals own learning and everyday context. One example comes from Brazilian street children, who, despite being reliant upon their mathematics skills to run their own business to survive, performed poorly on solving the same mathematical problems when tested in school due to the abstract nature of the problems presented which were removed from their real-world context. Conventional IQ and psychometric based tests, are thus considered problematic for their basis in assumptions of the acontextuality of intelligence and cognitive performance, especially when used to compare individuals from diverse cultural and economic backgrounds.

Evidence in Intelligence Testing in Computer Science
Language as Evidence

The imitation game follows from Descartes’ ideas of language versatility in new and challenging situations being the first test of intelligence. An interrogator, separated from a machine and human, asks questions. Through answering, the machine tries to trick the interrogator that it's the human, and the human tries to help the interrogator guess. If the machine is successful, it provides evidence that it's intelligent according to Turing. The machine must mimic a human, pretending it's unable to perform complex equations and faking natural-looking human spelling mistakes. Evidence for intelligence here is adaptability, not the g-factor view of handling complexity.

The HAL project measures conversational ability as evidence of intelligence and an estimate of human maturity is assigned to the machine. The machine’s speech is examined for evidence looking at vocabulary size, response types and.

Cybernetics

Goal-focused systems (both animal and mechanical) where communication, or conversation, between system and environment is a prerequisite for activity. The system’s response/activity as it interacts with the changing environment is taken as evidence of intelligence. Evidence of intelligence is focused on activity and purposeful behaviour rather than reason.

Universal Intelligence Test

A machine receives rewards for interacting with an environment, it must learn the environment structure and what actions receive rewards to maximise amount received. Extra reward is given for applying Occam’s razor which is a intuitive, yet intelligent, method.

IQ

It's rarely considered evidence of intelligence when a machine completes a classical IQ test, possible from 1963 when an AI program passed geometric analogy tasks from WAIS.

Often results are comparable to humans but, like in the case of number completion, the way machines solve problems can be different meaning results have different error distributions.

Related is psychometric AI, the field of building machines that can solve a range (using a single test is useless to evaluate a machine since it can be specialised to solve it) of established tests.

Conclusion
There is still much debate over what is considered evidence in intelligence testing. In machines, testing is focused on evidence for real-time flexibility, adaptability, and creativity; especially in terms of language and conversation. Like anthropological and sociological approaches, computer science tends to focus on interactions with the external environment. This goes against the universal, static, approach of IQ tests which, in its emphasis on evidence for intrinsic characteristics of intelligence measured in isolation, tends to ignore context. Engagement between these disciplines, alongside unexplored disciplines, could help move away from this narrow understanding of intelligence and towards a more practical understanding.


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Tahitian/Questions

 * Who is this? : O vai teie?
 * What is this? : E aha teie?

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Tahitian/Questions


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Aymara/Prepositions

 * until : kama
 * Behind : qhipha

title: Aymara/Prepositions


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Brief History of Europe/Classical antiquity and the rise of Islam

Classical antiquity

Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) started in the 8th century BC, and is centered on the civilizations around the Mediterranean Sea, and especially focused on the Greco-Roman world of ancient Greece and ancient Rome.

It had a reemergence of written sources after the Late Bronze Age collapse (circa  1200 and 1150 BC), with cultural collapse which included Mycenaean Greece (which led to the Greek Dark Ages), the Kassites in Babylonia, the Hittite Empire in Anatolia and the Levant, and the New Kingdom of Egypt.

Archaic period
Archaic Greece (circa 8th to 5th centuries BC) was the first period of classical antiquity. Until the discovery of the Mycenaean Civilization, it was the first known period of Greek history. Coming out of the Greek Dark Ages, Greek city-states began to develop; these included Athens (Athína), Sparta (Spárti), Corinth (Kórinthos), Thebes (Thíva), Syracuse (Siracusa), Aegina (Égina), Rhodes (Ródos), Árgos, Erétria, and Elis. Archaic Greece ended with the second Persian invasion of Greece (480–479 BC).

Around the Mediterranean Sea, there were peoples such as Phoenicians, Carthaginians and Assyrians; Archaic Greece; and Etruscans and the Roman Kingdom in Italy. According to legend, Rome was founded on 21 April 753 BC by Romulus and Remus, twin descendants of the Trojan prince Aeneas; they were suckled by a she-wolf in infancy, and Remus was killed either by Romulus or by one of his supporters.

Classical Greece and Hellenistic period
Classical Greece was roughly during the 5th to 4th centuries BC. After the fall of the Athenian tyranny in 510 BC, Cleisthenes put Athens on a democratic footing in 508 BC.

The Greco-Persian Wars (499–449 BC) progressed to the first Persian invasion of Greece (492–490 BC), in which Persia conquered Macedon and Thrace, and established supremacy over the Aegean Sea. In the second Persian invasion of Greece (480–479 BC), the famous Battle of Thermopylae (480) took place, where King Leonidas and 300 Spartans fought to the death to guard a retreat. After Thermopylae, Xerxes of the Achaemenid Empire ordered the Destruction of Athens. Following Greek victory in the second invasion and Greco-Persian Wars, Macedon, Thrace and Ionia would gain independence from Persia.

After the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), Greece came under the hegemony of Sparta. Spartan hegemony ended with the Battle of Leuctra (371 BC), with the rise of Thebes and Athens. This was followed by a expansion of Macedonia under Philip II of Macedon (who reigned 359–336 BC). Classical Greece ended in 323 BC with the death of Alexander the Great, who had acquired a huge Macedonian empire which included much of Greece and the Middle East, including the Persian Achaemenid Empire.

Hellenistic period (323 BC onward) started with the death of Alexander the Great. The Diadochi (Greek "successors" of Alexander the Great) fought over and carved up Alexander's empire into several Hellenistic kingdoms after his death. It ended with the emergence of the Roman Empire, particularly signified by the Roman conquest of Greece in 146 BC, and the Roman conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt (and death of Cleopatra and Mark Anthony) in 30 BC, following the Battle of Actium in 31 BC.

Roman Republic and Empire
Roman Republic (traditionally dated 509 BC to 27 BC) began with the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom and Roman monarchy. During Roman Republic, Rome's control greatly expanded, from around the city to over most of the Mediterranean world.

Towards the end of the republic, great generals gained control, including Marius and Sulla. The First Triumvirate (60–53 BC) was an alliance of Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus. Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon and precipitated Caesar's Civil War (49–45 BC), in which he defeated Pompey. After Caesar was assassinated (44 BC), Octavian (Caesar's adopted son and heir), Mark Antony (Caesar's lieutenant), and Lepidus, would form an alliance called the Second Triumvirate. Caesar's assassins Brutus and Cassius were defeated by Mark Antony and Octavian in the Liberators' civil war (43–42 BC). Octavian became the first emperor as Augustus (27 BC) ending the republic, after the Battle of Actium (31 BC) and his defeat of Mark Antony and Cleopatra.

Roman Empire (1st century BC to 5th century AD) was founded in 27 BC by Augustus (formerly Octavian). But Rome had acquired imperial character from the 130s BC with the acquisition of Cisalpine Gaul, Illyria, Greece and Hispania; and with the acquisition of Iudaea, Asia Minor and Gaul in the 1st century BC.

The first period of the Roman Empire was known as the Principate (27 BC–284 AD), characterized by the reign of a single emperor (princeps). The early period of the Principate was called the Pax Romana ("Roman Peace", 27 BC–180 AD), a time of relative stability, with the empire at its greatest extent in 117 AD. The Julio-Claudian dynasty (27 BC–68 AD) was followed by the Year of the 4 Emperors (68–69), the Flavian dynasty (69–96), the Nerva–Antonine dynasty (96–192), the Year of the 5 Emperors (192–193), the Severan dynasty (193–235), and the Crisis of the Third Century (235–284).

The Byzantine Empire (395–1453), or Eastern Roman Empire, survived the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476.

Iranian Plateau
Before the Sasanian Empire (224 to 651 AD), empires of the Iranian Plateau included:

 * Achaemenid Empire (550 BC–330 BC) was the first Persian Empire, established by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC with the conquest of the Median, Lydian and Babylonian empires. It fell to the Empire of Alexander the Great after the defeat of Darius III.
 * Seleucid Empire (312 BC–63 BC) was a Hellenistic period empire founded by Seleucus I Nicator following the division of the Empire of Alexander the Great. Mithridates I of Parthia conquered many of their lands. The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom (256 BC–125 BC) seceded from the Seleucid Empire.
 * Parthian Empire (247 BC–224 AD) was founded by Arsaces I of Parthia, who led the Parni tribe (an Iranian people) from the region of Parthia. It would expand over the territories of the Seleucid Empire. It was succeeded by the Sasanian Empire.

Late antiquity
Late antiquity followed the Crisis of the Third Century (235–284 AD), and ended with the early Muslim conquests (622–750 AD). It was the last period of classical antiquity, and overlaps with some of the Early Middle Ages.

Crisis of the Third Century, and Tetrarchy

The Crisis of the Third Century (235–284 AD) was a period of great political instability in the Roman Empire; over a 50-year period there were at least 26 claimants to the title of emperor, mostly from prominent generals. During this period, Aurelian (emperor 270–275) reunited the Roman Empire, by his reconquest of the Palmyrene Empire and the Gallic Empire; this earned him the title "Restorer of the World" before he was assassinated.

The crisis was ended with the ascension of the Roman Emperor Diocletian in 284 AD; this began the Dominate, the so-called "despotic" later phase of imperial government, following the earlier period known as the Principate (27 BC–284 AD). Diocletian attempted the Tetrarchy (293–313 AD), which divided the Roman Empire into east and west; two senior emperors (the augusti) ruled each division, along with two junior emperors and designated successors (the caesares).

The tetrarchic system broke down with the Civil wars of the Tetrarchy (306–324); Constantine the Great gained control of the entire empire, after defeating Maxentius (an usurper in Rome) at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge (312 AD), and Licinius (the augustus of the East) at the Battle of Chrysopolis (324 AD). Constantine is thought to be the first Christian Roman emperor, and was instrumental in the creation of the Nicene Creed. He expanded the empire, and founded Constantinople and the Constantinian dynasty.

Migration Period
Migration Period  was a period of barbarian invasions of Europe. They can be seen as beginning with the invasion of Europe by the Huns in 375, and ending with the conquest of much of Italy by the Lombards by 568; but sometimes it is extended from circa 300 until circa 800.

There were invasions by the Huns, but also by Avars, Slavs and Bulgars. The Hunnic Empire (370s–469) included much of Eastern Europe and western Asia, and was unified under Attila. Huns may have been Turkic.

This contributed to movements in Germanic peoples, particularly Goths (including the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths), Vandals, Anglo-Saxons, and Franks. Other Germanic peoples affected included Lombards, Burgundians, Suebi, Frisii, and Alemanni.

Fall of the Western Roman Empire
Theodosius I (379–395) was the last emperor to rule the Roman Empires in both east and west, and after that the empire would permanently divide again into the Western Roman Empire and Eastern Roman Empire (or Byzantine Empire).

The fall of the Western Roman Empire was in 476, when non-Roman Odoacer deposed Romulus Augustulus and became King of Italy (476–493). Later on, Italy became part of the Ostrogothic Kingdom (493–553), before Italy fell to the Byzantine Empire.

The fall in 476 can in part be attributed to the migration during the Migration Period, especially Goths and other non-Roman people entering the empire after fleeing from Huns. Other factors included the weakening of the army and the economy; ineffective rule of the emperors and civil administration; and internal struggles for power.

Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire (395–1453), or Eastern Roman Empire, continued after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Earlier in 324, Constantine the Great moved the seat of his empire from Nicomedia to Constantinople (formerly called Byzantium, later called Istanbul). Sometimes characterized as the "New Rome", Constantinople became the capital of the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantine Empire was oriented towards Greek rather than Latin culture, and characterized by Orthodox Christianity.

Under the Justinian Dynasty (518–602), the Byzantine Empire reached its greatest extent since the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The expansion resulted largely from the Wars of Justinian the Great (Justinian I), who ruled between 527–565, and expanded it over North Africa, southern Spain, and Italy (including Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica). It also included the Balkan peninsula, Anatolia, and the Holy Land. In this period, the Plague of Justinian (541–542 AD) had a profound effect on the population of the empire, with an estimated 25–50 million deaths.

Many territories were later lost to the Islamic Caliphates during the early Muslim conquests (622–750). The Byzantine Empire had been weakened by the ongoing Byzantine–Sasanian wars (285 to c. 628), against the Persian Sasanian Empire; this included the 626 siege of Constantinople. After the fall of Sasanians, at the first and second Arab sieges of Constantinople (674–678 and 717–718) the Umayyad Caliphate was defeated by the Byzantine Empire.

The Byzantine Empire would continue uninterrupted until the Sack of Constantinople (1204), when it was succeeded by the Empire of Nicaea (1204–1261). Constantinople was retaken in 1261, and the Byzantine Empire would then continue until the Fall of Constantinople, in 1453 to the Ottoman Empire.

Sasanian Empire
The second Persian Empire was the Sasanian Empire (224 to 651 AD), also called the Sassanid Empire or Neo-Persian Empire, and officially called the Empire of Iranians. It was founded by Ardashir I of the House of Sasan, and it succeeded the Parthian Empire. The Sasanian Empire was great rivals were the Greco-Romans, and fought many wars against them in the Byzantine–Sasanian wars (285 to c. 628).

The Sasanian Empire itself was toppled in 651 by the Rashidun Caliphate in the Muslim conquest of Persia.

Islam and the Islamic Golden Age

Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion: the central message is that there is only one God (called Allah), and that Muhammad is his prophet, whose scriptures called the Quran are the word of God; later teachings, called the sunnah, are composed of hadiths (sayings). Followers are usually called Muslims.

Early Muslim Conquests and caliphates
The Early Muslim Conquests (or Arab conquests) created unification of the Arabian Peninsula, and a century of large and rapid expansion into north Africa, Iberia, and the Middle East and beyond. It saw the collapse of the Sassanid Empire, and the Byzantine Empire lost many territories. It can be divided into:
 * 1) Conquests of Muhammad (622–632): including Islamic expansion in Arabia. Muhammad lived c. 570 to 632. Khalid ibn al-Walid (585–642) was Muhammad's great general.
 * 2) Rashidun Caliphate (632–661): including the conquests of the Levant, Egypt, and the neo-Persian Sasanian Empire.
 * 3) Umayyad Caliphate (661–750): including the conquest of Sindh, Maghreb, and Hispania and Septimania (al-Andalus).

A caliphate is a state under the leadership of a caliph, an Islamic steward who claims to be a successor to Muhammad. Islamic rulers also include sultans (who rule over sultanates), and emirs (who rule over emirates). After the Early Muslim Conquests, the two most significant caliphates were:

 * 1) Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258), and the Islamic Golden Age.
 * 2) Ottoman Caliphate (1517–1924), a later caliphate of the Ottoman Empire (1299–1922), an empire of the Late Middle Ages and modern period.

The Fatimid Caliphate (909–1171) was the only significant Shia (specifically Isma'ilism) caliphate, and had territories in northern Africa, Egypt, and the Middle East.

Shia–Sunni divide
Soon after the death of Muhammad, Muslims were divided into two major Islamic branches: Shia and Sunni Islam. Shias (also called Shi'ites) believed that the early caliphs should only have been members of Muhammad's family; so they only recognise the Shia imams as being legitimate.

The Battle of Karbala (680), where the supporters and relatives of Husayn ibn Ali (Muhammad's grandson and Shia imam), were defeated by a larger force of the caliph Yazid I (of the Sunni Umayyad caliphate), solidified the Shia-Sunni divide. The Shias were instrumental in the Abbasid Revolution (747–750), the overthrow of the Umayyads by the Abbasids, but the Abbasid Caliphate was Sunni.

From the eighth century, Arab and Iranian dynasties were both Sunni and Shia; Turkic dynasties were dominated by Sunni Islam. The Safavid conversion of Iran to Shia Islam, over the 16th through 18th centuries, turned Iran, which previously had a Sunni majority, into the spiritual bastion of Shia Islam. Today the majority of Muslims are Sunni, with Shia majorities only in Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Lebanon, and Azerbaijan.

Islamic Golden Age
The Islamic Golden Age occurred during the time of the Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258), a Sunni caliphate that succeeded the Umayyad Caliphate. For many years the Abbasids ruled from the city of Baghdad, and it became a central hub for learning and culture.

During the Islamic Golden Age, science, economic development and cultural works flourished in the Middle East. The translation movement continued, which was the translation of texts into Arabic, especially from Persian and Greek. They learned how to make paper from the Chinese, and built many paper mills in Baghdad. This would lead to thirty-six libraries in Baghdad, including the House of Wisdom (the Grand Library of Baghdad).

Great scholars of the Islamic Golden Age include:

 * Al-Khwarizmi was a Persian scholar who made great advances in algebra, the Arabic being "al-jabr". He also developed and popularized Hindu–Arabic numerals.
 * Ibn al-Haytham was an Arab scholar described as the "father of modern optics"; he was the first to describe sight as light reflecting from an object and then entering the eyes.
 * Jabir ibn Hayyan was known as the "father of chemistry", making advances in alchemy, cosmology, numerology, astrology, medicine, magic, mysticism and philosophy.
 * Ibn al-Nafis was an Arab physician who first to described the pulmonary circulation of the blood.
 * Avicenna (Ibn Sina) was a Persian polymath who wrote the hugely influential The Canon of Medicine and The Book of Healing.
 * Al-Zahrawi was an Arab physician, surgeon and chemist, and is considered as the "father of surgery". He described over 200 surgical instruments, and used catgut for internal stitching.
 * Al-Razi was a Persian polymath and physician, and an early proponent of experimental medicine.
 * Omar Khayyam was a Persian mathematician, astronomer, and poet, who devised a very accurate solar calendar.
 * Ismail al-Jazari was an Arab polymath who wrote The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices, describing many mechanical devices.
 * Nasir al-Din al-Tusi and Al-Battani greatly advanced trigonometry.

Early fragmentation of the Islamic world

The Abbasid Caliphate had succeeded the Umayyad Caliphate in 750, and would survive until 1258. But by about 892 and the death of Al-Mu'tamid, the Abbasid's direct rule was reduced mostly to Mesopotamia and western Arabia, with other autonomous rulers adhering to nominal Abbasid suzerainty, but with de facto independence. This created political fragmentation of the Islamic world, with much instability in dynasties and territories.

Later on Abbasid political power would further diminish, especially with the rise of the Iranian Buyids and Seljuk Turks. But the Abbasids would be recognized as caliphs by most dynasties that followed, and there were also later political revivals.

Middle East outside of Egypt
Other than the Abbasid Caliphate, there was many other Islamic dynasties in the Islamic world. Prominent Arab dynasties of the Middle East included:

 * Hamdanid dynasty (890–1004) was an Arab dynasty of Shia Islam in northern Mesopotamia and Syria.
 * It would fall to the Uqaylid dynasty (990–1096), a Shia Islam Arab dynasty.
 * Jarrahids (circa 970s to to early 12th century), an Islamic Arab dynasty, ruled Palestine, Transjordan and northern Arabia.
 * Mirdasid dynasty (1024–1080), an Arab Shia Islam dynasty, controlled the Emirate of Aleppo.

The Iranian Intermezzo was the rise of Iranian Muslim dynasties (mainly Persians and Kurds) in the Iranian plateau after domination by the Arabs. Iranian dynasties included:

 * Buyid dynasty (934–1062, also known as Buwaihids, Bowayhids, Buyahids, or Buyyids) was a Shia Iranian dynasty, which would rule lands in Mesopotamia and Persia during this time.
 * Kakuyids (1008–1141) were related to the Buyids.
 * Other Iranian dynasties tended to be more Sunni Islam, and included the Samanids (819–999), Tahirids (821–873), Saffarids (861–1003), Sajids (889–929), Ziyarids (930–1090), and Sallarids (942–979).

The Shia Century was the period of vitality by major Shia Islam dynasties starting in the tenth century, especially the Hamdanids, Fatimids (of Egypt and to the west), and Buyids. During this period, Shia polities controlled most of the Islamic world, including its core areas. The Abbasid Caliph, the supreme Sunni leader, and Baghdad came under the control of the Buyids; while the Sharif of Mecca was under the control of the Fatimids.

It ended with the Sunni Revival, a rival of Sunni political power. The Buyid control of Baghdad ended in 1055 with the Seljuk Turks. The rise of Turkic and mamluk dynasties of Sunni Islam also ended the Iranian Intermezzo. They included the Seljuk Turks (and Zengids), Ghaznavids, and Khwarazmians.

Egyptian dynasties
After the decline of Abbasid rule, Egypt had a succession of dynasties:

 * Tulunid dynasty (868–905) was a mamluk Sunni dynasty of Turkic origins. With the splintering of Abbasid rule they became the first independent dynasty to rule Egypt, as well as much of Syria, since the Ptolemaic dynasty.
 * Tulunid dynasty would fall to the Abbasid Caliphate.
 * Ikhshidid dynasty (935–969), a Turkic mamluk Sunni dynasty, followed the Abbasid rule in Egypt and the Levant.
 * Fatimid Caliphate (909–1171) was an Arab and Berber Caliphate of the Isma'ili-Shia. Starting in North Africa and Sicily, it spread to Egypt, the Holy Land, and western Arabia, but lost its territories to the west.

The Fatimid Caliphate Of Egypt would later be taken over by dynasties of Sunni Islam:

 * Ayyubid dynasty (1171–1260) ended Fatimid Egypt; it was founded by Saladin, who had risen to be vizier of Fatimid Egypt. The Ayyubids were eventually overthrown by the Mamluk Sultanate.
 * Mamluk Sultanate of Cairo (1261–1517), which lasted until the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517.

Further west
Arab dynasties to the west included:

 * Córdoba (756–1031): the Sunni Umayyads held on to al-Andalus (Iberia) as the Emirate of Córdoba, which became the Caliphate of Córdoba in 939.
 * It then split into smaller states called taifas; al-Andalus was later ruled by the Almoravid dynasty and Almohad Caliphate. The Reconquista was the reconquest of Iberia by Christians.
 * Idrisid dynasty (788–974), a Shia Moroccan dynasty that gained Morocco.
 * Aghlabid dynasty (800–909), a Sunni Arab dynasty that gained Ifriqiya (north-central Africa).
 * Fatimid Caliphate (909–1171), see above for details.

In North Africa outside of Egypt, the Fatimid Caliphate was followed by the Berber Zirid dynasty (973–1148); this opened the way for other North African Berber dynasties, such as the Almoravid dynasty, Almohad Caliphate, Zayyanid dynasty, Marinid Sultanate, and Hafsid dynasty.

Mamluk dynasties
Mamluk (or mameluke, literally "possessed") commonly refers to slave soldiers of the Arabs. They included enslaved Turkic peoples, but also enslaved Egyptian Copts, Circassians, Abkhazians, and Georgians. With time they became a powerful military knightly class, and would found many Muslim dynasties

Dynasties founded by mamluks included the Tulunids (868–905), Ikhshidids (935–969), Ghaznavids (977–1186), Khwarazmian dynasty (1077–1231), Mamluk dynasty of Delhi (1206–1290), Mamluk Sultanate of Cairo (1250–1517), and Mamluk dynasty of Iraq (1704–1831).


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Wikibooks:Requests for deletion/Open and Distance Education/Course Design/Overview

Open_and_Distance_Education/Course_Design/Overview
It is an orphan. I decided to put the content on the parent page "Course_Design".
 * ✅. Next time you can add a tag. See Deletion policy. --Atcovi (Talk - Contribs) 14:10, 15 February 2018 (UTC)


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Wikibooks:Requests for deletion/History of China/The Period of Three Country

History of China/The Period of Three Country
This page's content is nonsense, completely different from historical facts. The content is completely wrong and is a strange story made up by the creator of the page. Please delate it so that less people will be misled. — Preceding unsigned comment added by C.E. user HM J. Y (talk • contribs)
 * Seems to be sparse in content to begin with. Leaderboard (discuss • contribs) 08:54, 9 June 2019 (UTC)
 * Hoax -- 94rain Talk 06:40, 21 June 2019 (UTC)
 * 3 Kingdoms stories start at fall of Kingdom of Han (Not Yan) and rise of yellow turban rebellion. This book is totally BS. --Encik Tekateki (discuss • contribs) 14:25, 24 June 2019 (UTC)


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Wikibooks:Requests for deletion/Puzzles/Rubik's cubes

Delete Rubik Cube from Puzzles
I propose to delete this page Puzzles/Rubik's cubes from Wikibooks as (i) Rubik Cube should have its own Wikibooks (ii) There are already 2 books discuss about this namely How to Solve the Rubik's Cube and Rubik Puzzles. Adding this book won't be adding much values to this project. Proposed by --Encik Tekateki (discuss • contribs) 14:34, 24 June 2019 (UTC)
 * A one-page (or even longer) overview basically summarizing the puzzle and possibly naming the moves is of value in an overview book on puzzles. A complicated puzzle like Rubik's Cube may also require more in-depth analysis, but that's not a reason to leave it out of an overview volume. Chazz (talk) 15:20, 24 June 2019 (UTC)
 * per Chazz. --Pi zero (discuss • contribs) 18:01, 24 June 2019 (UTC)


text: Talk:Puzzles/Rubik's cubes

title: Talk:Puzzles/Rubik's cubes


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History of video games/Media/Marketing

1970s

Video and computer games were generally not intended for direct purchase and use by mass market gamers in the 1970's. What ads did exist at the time were typically aimed at arcade owners, and emphesized qualites that would appeal to the manager of the venue, rather then directly to the gamer.

Television advertisements for the Magnavox Odyssey are aired beginning in 1972 and 1973. Advertising efforts on television include using commercials and product placement on game shows such as What's my Line. Marketing for the system has many obstacles, and has to explain what the system does to an audience who is unfamiliar with electronic games or closed circuit television add ons.

1980s
Game box artwork

1990s
Pepsi released the PlayStation 1 advergame Pepsiman in March, 1999 to advertise Pepsi soft drinks in Japan.

2000s
In 2007 Mountain Dew Game Fuel is introduced to cross promote Halo 3 for the Xbox 360, achieving wild success.

2010s
Many restaurants used the mania surrounding Pokémon Go in 2016 to promote their business.

2020s
Early in 2020 Burger King attracted negative attention for advertising on Twitch channels by using donation shout outs, instead of conventional marketing arrangements, effectively using a tool for fans to undercut the streamer. In late 2020 Wendy's began working with twitch streamers.

title: History of video games/Media/Marketing


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Issues in Interdisciplinarity 2020-21/Lockdown chapter

= Evidence in Effectiveness of Lockdown =

Introduction
When the pandemic hit, a debate concerning the optimal response started. This chapter investigates the evidence disciplines of Economics, Political Science and Public Health rely upon to determine the effectiveness of the implementation of lockdowns and the role disciplinary methodological differences play in it. Lockdown is defined here as 'a series of restrictions on the social and economic life of citizens and use of public spaces'.

As this debate is influencing states' decisions to pursue particular virus-containment strategies, it is important to highlight the potential flaws in the arguments of each discipline and to demonstrate that an interdisciplinary approach is essential for determining the most effective measures.

Economics
In, virus-suppression measures like lockdowns are viewed as a trade-off between economic costs and lives lost. Many researchers attempt to represent the problem as a cost-benefit analysis by constructing quantitative models that either justify the costs of lockdown or find it inefficient.

Economic evaluation is based on abstract, generalised models that rely on quantitative data, estimates, theories, forecasts and other models, for example, epidemiological models which also have some degree of abstraction and error. Both economic and epidemiological models have to be based on limited data obtained by observation rather than controlled randomized trials and thus may be insufficiently reliable. As a result, some economists propose mitigation strategies that are less economically severe instead of a full lockdown. But others recognise the validity of strict short-term suppressive restrictions, admitting that if they help to contain the virus, it may speed up the economic recovery and lower costs in the long-term. However, those who calculate economic costs, inclusive of deaths and harm incurred due to a recession caused by lockdowns, suggest that strict suppression measures may be less effective in less economically developed countries and that the idea of the choice between economic harm and lives lost is flawed due to the direct interconnection of the two.

Therefore, a dominant opinion doesn't exist within the discipline due to a high degree of uncertainty, and the differences in questions, methodologies, and consequently, the evidence that different economists consider.

Public Health
researchers' primary focus, regarding lockdowns, is “disease trends and risk factors, outcomes of treatment or public health interventions... and health care costs and use.”

Specifically for pandemics like Covid-19, the most common method used for assessing combative strategies is an ‘intervention and prevention program evaluation,’ a combination of qualitative and quantitative methodologies. This method aims to determine the effectiveness of lockdowns by comparing the change in the indicators in the pre-lockdown months and post-lockdown months.

Majority of the evidence in public health research consists of models of the number of cases against different factors such as geographical location, age-groups etc. Multiple national and cross-national studies have observed an overall downward trend in the number of cases after physical distancing measures (such as lockdowns) have been implemented, establishing a direct correlation between the two. However, although India imposed a nationwide lockdown that slowed infection rate, the number of cases skyrocketed as soon as the lockdown was lifted. This was due to inadequate existing public health facilities which weren't improved during the lockdown, reversing any positive effects of it.

Public health recommendations continue to evolve during the pandemic. However, overall, based on limited quantitative evidence, the public health ministries of multiple countries assert that lockdowns are the most effective preventative measures, especially when coupled with other mitigative strategies such as test and trace and mandatory quarantines.

Political Science
Political Science studies focus on the actions and attitudes of individuals, groups, and institutions on the local, national and international levels. To understand the effectiveness and consequences of lockdowns, it collects empirical evidence through surveys, questionnaires, interviews, and case studies along with field-work, ethnographic works and past experiences.

In regards to the effectiveness of lockdowns, the central issue for political scientists is the impact of lockdowns on political support and behavioural attitudes towards governmental institutions and actors, especially in democratic states, due to increasing government intervention (e.g tracking systems ) and the undemocratic nature of lockdown depriving people of the civil liberties.

The findings of multiple cross-national surveys indicate an increase in diffuse political support, regarding lockdown arrangements.

However, the qualitative evidence suggests that the undemocratic nature of lockdowns can worsen existing social conflicts as well as lead to a new wave of social unrest in democracies. Studies have illustrated several correlations: between distinct features of states and citizens’ reaction to lockdown, between political beliefs, agitation campaigns and lockdown compliance, and between unemployment and opposition to the state-proposed measures.

All in all, the existing evidence suggests that the short-term effects of the lockdown on political support are mostly positive as the people recognize its need. However, long-term effects are yet undetermined, but seem to be more negative as no fundamental ideological changes are happening while the role of the government changes, and this can cause continuous violent discontent with undemocratic measures, thus putting the safety and well-being of people under threat.

Conflict in Evidence
Overall, multiple conflicts among these disciplines along with their most contested conclusions seem to arise from the limitations of the evidence that they rely on. The nature of their methodologies makes some disciplines consider short-term impacts rather than long-term ones and take either qualitative or quantitative factors into account, but not both.

Evidence in Public Health is limited to the short-term impact of lockdowns on health-related variables. It doesn’t account for how they may influence economic variables such as exacerbation of existing economic inequalities and negative growth in, causing a. Recessions result in increased unemployment levels and poverty, which can lead to higher long-term death rates, especially in less developed countries.

The evidence in Economics considers these long-term impacts on economies, but it is based on limited quantifiable factors. Economic models tend to lack recognition of psychological influences, of some quantitatively unmeasurable uncertainty, and many aspects of the complex interdependence of society. They calculate the effectiveness of lockdown measures based on a change in the GDP and estimated and don't consider the citizens’ opinion on the ‘economic costs vs lives lost’ debate. For example, the initially calculated costs of a lockdown were later reassessed when it was found that only 7% of the negative growth in economic activity was due to legal restrictions while 60% was caused by people’s fear of the severity of the virus and the anticipated crisis, highlighting the importance of consideration of human behavior.

Due to the qualitative nature of the evidence it relies on, Political Science considers the effectiveness of suppressive measures in relation with human behavior. For example, due to its attention to the political climate and levels of trust in the country at the time of entering the lockdown, it addresses the likelihood of social conflicts and lack of compliance with the proposed measures and thus, chances of failure of lockdowns and loss of lives resulting from them if people are not in support of any governmental decisions.

A higher degree of reliance on interdisciplinary perspectives and evidence therefore will lead to fewer dangerous policy experiments and a more effective mitigation of the pandemic and its consequences.


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Talk:Issues in Interdisciplinarity 2020-21/Truth in Greenwashing

Social Sciences

Greenwashing’s foray into the mainstream has tied in several existing sociological issues. A chief one is eco-anxiety, which is anxiety specifically characterized by the topic of environmental decline and fear of social collapse. https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/world-news/what-eco-anxiety-could-you-17604207 That anxiety is a normal reaction to stressful or frustrating situations, but it is often internalized and can manifest as an individual feeling helpless about their inability to alter humanity’s trajectory. It can become deep-seated guilt, which is only exemplified by social media campaigns, government suggestions, and even corporate messaging, such as Coca-Cola publicly promising to reduce its waste while simultaneously opposing single-use plastic reforms and restrictions. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/plastic-waste-pollution-coca-cola-pepsi-nestle-sustainability-b455891.html This messaging is specifically formulated to shift blame onto the individual, even as these companies continue to pump out emissions, pollution, and toxic waste into the environment, and even withhold information relating to future climate change, as Exxon and Shell did in the 1980s. They hold the power, because they have the money to invest in predicting outcomes, and the ability to rival governments as they choose to avoid divulging that vital information. Instead, they can appease the public by putting on a front to show them that they care, essentially greenwashing their own practices, which can make consumers feel better about buying from them in a world where everything carries an environmental impact. The reason for the “annoying vegan” stereotype feeds off of psychological bias, which sows seeds of discontent between consumers themselves in regards to personal choices, rather than targeting those really responsible, again taking power away from the individuals who feel strongly about the issue. https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/jul/10/100-fossil-fuel-companies-investors-responsible-71-global-emissions-cdp-study-climate-change https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200203-the-hidden-biases-that-drive-anti-vegan-hatred https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200618-climate-change-who-is-to-blame-and-why-does-it-matter Intrapersonal conflict can surpass simple lifestyle variations, and venture into class distinctions too. Eco-friendly products tend to be more expensive than their standard counterparts, which makes sense to an extent. Pesticide-free produce may take more time to grow, paying a living wage ups production costs, and wood, paper, or aluminum packaging may cost more than simple plastic wrap. However, for those struggling to make ends meet, paying an extra 25% for toilet paper, for example, simply isn’t feasible, and in many cases, the demand hasn’t been around long enough to scale up in order to lower cost. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/buying-green-is-too-pricey-for-the-average-consumer/ In the cases of certain more privileged groups going beyond the essentials, and transforming every aspect of their life with aesthetically-pleasing bamboo and stainless steel, the greenwashing has not only succeeded from a marketing perspective, but has served to act as a divisive element between those who can and cannot afford what is perceived to be the “perfect” eco-friendly lifestyle. This directly contradicts the fundamental concept of the issue that we face today: we are all on this planet together, and the most effective way to create change is to hunt down those who don’t want change. Unfortunately, the inequality prevalent in so many societies today, especially Western ones where some do have the disposable income to buy an electric car, for example, the desire to carry out environmentalism perfectly can easily put people off, especially if they feel excluded or targeted because of their inability to “succeed.” The implied power dynamic may not be intentional here, but it puts middle and upper-class individuals at the center of the debate and praises them for their contributions, though others not making the same effort may be in that position out of necessity. https://www.curiouslyconscious.com/2019/06/eco-perfectionism.html/ https://www.onewomanproject.org/blog/2019/9/29/privilege-and-sustainability https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/renee-peters-how-sustainably-is-for-privileged Meanwhile, greenwashing continues to flourish as more and more people try to put their money into the vision of sustainability that they are exposed to through the distortion of influencer and corporate-controlled media.

Dyinghouseplant (discuss • contribs) 11:28, 2 December 2020 (UTC)

Quick Documentation: we had a group meeting on tuesday and decided to specify our topic even more (focus on fast fashion, specifically h&m's "conscious" line) and split up the social sciences portion between the other two sections to minimize words count and integrate the different disciplines.

Hey, so I just finished adding putting everything together to see the final draft, even tough we are not finished, this is what it could look like. In today's session we will discuss the tensions around the disciplines a little bit more to have a wikichapter that has a deeper knowledge of the subject. Also we have to fix a few references that are missing or incomplete. As we approach finishing our wikichapter we need to be careful about the word counts are we are already at the maximum number so every change in word will have to be carefully chosen. --Uclqesm (discuss • contribs) 11:22, 11 December 2020 (UTC)

Just went through the intro and environment section to clear up grammar and remove repetition. cut about 100 words but kept most of the actual content. maybe we can add more specifics about where the clothing goes/comes from, who is profiting etc. Also we should probably mention the western POV that we are writing from. Lastly, the problem of labor conditions and ethics/transparancy might be something worth exploring if we have space. I'm going to edit the other half tomorrow morning and find some more sources as well. Dyinghouseplant (discuss • contribs) 18:42, 11 December 2020 (UTC)

As we approach the deadline, after a zoom call yesterday, we agreed to look deeper into the kinds of truth we really wanted to talk about and especially the ones that we might have used but have the same meaning. We though that it was very difficult to talk about different kinds of truth because our views where very different and it is very subjective. I am currently trying to harmonise the style of our referencing because they are not always the same and find again some references that we forgot to include in our initial draft on the google doc. --Uclqesm (discuss • contribs) 10:01, 13 December 2020 (UTC)

All the references are now on the Harvard referencing model. --Uclqesm (discuss • contribs) 11:16, 13 December 2020 (UTC)

Tried to tie the subject of environmental studies more clearly into greenwashing and especially how the analytical tools used in the study of the impact of humans on the environment is implicitly related to an objective truth. Therefore it is interesting to see the tension here between the impact on greenwashing that claims to be environmental friendly and the objective truth behind that is based on scientific tools. --Uclqesm (discuss • contribs) 13:32, 14 December 2020 (UTC)


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Issues in Interdisciplinarity 2020-21/Evidence in the Resource Curse and democratic instability in Africa

Introduction
In this chapter, we explore how two disciplines rely on different types of evidence, which leads to contradicting conclusions on whether the "Resource Curse" is the main contributing factor to the continued democratic instability in Africa.

The economist Richard Auty introduced the idea of the “Resource Curse” and investigated countries that were rich in natural resources, but failed to grow economically. The “curse” describes how these countries often experience increased secessionist conflicts, poverty and reduced GDP growth, and anti-democratic effects. These components interact: authoritarian governments will be less able to resolve domestic conflicts, leading to an increased chance of conflict within the state; meanwhile, the reduced economic growth makes it harder to resolve such conflicts, and the impacts of conflict generate further economic chaos and decline. The widespread effects of this vicious cycle impact many African states.

Political science
In political science, research on the "Resource Curse" and democratic instability has been focused on utilising quantitative evidence, such as statistical analyses and models.

In 2001, the political scientist Michael Ross performed a quantitative analysis to investigate whether oil impedes democracy. He used pooled time-series cross-national data from 113 states between 1971 and 1997 and considered how the two independent variables, Oil and Minerals, impacted the Regime of a country. He used the control variables: Income, Islam, OECD membership, Regimet-5, and 26 dummy variables, which account for unique factors from each year such as the effects of the Cold War. This study concluded that the oil-impedes-democracy claim is “both valid and statistically robust”. Ross confirmed the validity of this conclusion with the support of his statistical evidence.

A review of the developments in evidence since Ross' study shows the widespread quantitative evidence which supports this claim. Statistical models confirmed the relationship between natural resource wealth and political survival, as well as this effect being dependent on the strength of the initial political power in place. Following panel data analysis, the idea of a "conditional resource curse" was presented, providing evidence for the long term effect of oil wealth. In 2012, Anderson and Ross responded to criticisms concerning the short timespan covered by the data in previous studies by stating that oil wealth only began to have an anti-democratic effect in the 1980s, when developing country governments began to capture previously foreign-owned oil rents, thus accumulating wealth for themselves.

Further studies have suggested that British colonialism has had a positive influence on democracy. British rule was considered a “learning experience” for subsequent democracy, due to the introduction of reforms that facilitated democracy such as bureaucratic structures or the rule of law. Statistical analysis showed that there is a significant positive association between former colonial influence and democratic tendency, as well as countries with democratic historical backgrounds being less prone to democratic collapse.

History

In history, evidence is based on the analysis of primary and secondary sources. This results in a narrative formed by particular historical events, thus the research methods and evidence produced are essentially qualitative.

Looking at qualitative evidence from the historical past of many African countries, we see that the natural resources of a state do not induce or inhibit political instability, but rather the instability is a result of historical and cultural factors such as colonialism, ongoing conflicts, corruption and economic recession.

The ongoing conflict results from the differences of ancestral, religious, and language backgrounds between ethnic groups. Historical analysis of the General Act of the Berlin conference shows that the dissimilarity within countries is owed to the “Scramble for Africa”, in which 13 European nations drew arbitrary borders as seen in an attempt to keep one another’s colonies in check. There was no acknowledgement of native African territories or ethno-regional factors (shown in the comparative maps). This engendered conflicts, as previously, dispersed communities had checks and balances to limit authoritarian power, but were then grouped together in an unprecedented environment of corruption and authoritarianism. Furthermore, qualitative surveys have shown the long-term civil, economic and emotional consequences of ethnic partitioning.

Oppressive colonial governments hindered the introduction of the values of democracy, by not holding elections and creating a legacy of autocratic rule. Imperialist regimes also made it hard for post-colonial rulers to establish authority democratically. During the post-colonialist era, bureaucracies emerged, which worsened the negative impacts of pre-colonial clientelism. As a result, post-colonial, modern bureaucracies transformed into neopatrimonial states. In this context, the extraction of natural resources was principally directed to benefit the patrimonial rule in power (personalised state) under the cover of an impersonal bureaucratisation. In consequence, the evidence highlights how, from a historical perspective, political instability has appeared as an inevitable outcome of inheriting a flawed system from colonial rule, which had a greater impact on political instability than oil wealth and the "Resource Curse".

Conclusion
Political Science generally maintains the view that oil wealth hinders democracy and supports this with statistical evidence, while History speculates that there are other factors to acknowledge, such as colonialism, supported by more qualitative evidence. While experts from each discipline will agree that both oil wealth and colonialism play a part, the conflict arises in the weighting of these factors as the different causes for Africa's political instability. This problem cannot be solved by simply comparing the evidence produced, because one approach offers a qualitative exploration of history whereas the other utilises a quantitative method of calculation, leading to a conflict in evidence.

Methods exist that attempt to quantify qualitative data by calculating the frequencies of particular themes from the set of data. This quantification has benefits, such as ease of analysis, providing answers to questions such as “To what degree ...?”, and allowing some comparison with quantitative data. However, it cannot be taken as the sole result of a qualitative investigation as it can undermine the impact of qualitative data, due to the differences in research methods and the data produced.

Understanding the main contributing factors to the continued democratic instability in Africa is important for creating a stable political environment, and so will be of interest to a number of parties. However, the differing evidence on this topic may lead to contradictory findings and incompatible attempts to resolve the issue. Here, we have recognised that the conflicting opinions arise from different types of evidence in History and Political Science, which are quantitative and qualitative respectively, and thus inherently incomparable by nature. Although they cannot be compared directly, we hope this chapter stimulates discussion on how both can be incorporated in both the recognition and resolution of problems.


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Issues in Interdisciplinarity 2020-21/Power in Plastic Surgery

Introduction
Cosmetic surgery is a speciality of Plastic surgery that focuses on improving or rejuvenating one's external appearance. In the last couple of decades, the percentage of people undergoing plastic surgery has grown significantly, with an increase of 446% in the United States in only one decade. This Wikibooks Chapter will scrutinize several power dynamics that can help us understand this growing phenomenon and examine the interdisciplinary tensions, inherent to the controversial nature of this practice. Currently, disagreements regarding the social and psychological implications, hinder communication between disciplines. However, an interdisciplinary perspective may be the best approach to understanding its increasing popularity and the power dynamics involved.

Medicine
Western beauty standards play a crucial role in the plastic surgery industry. Recently, some surgical cosmetic interventions have drawn the attention of sociologists because of the racial implications they carry, as they seem focused on pursuing western beauty standards by erasing physical characteristics typical to a certain racial group. The main procedures include:

Double fold eyelid surgery: Often referred to as “Asian blepharoplasty”, this surgery consists in creating a fold in the upper eyelid to form a slight furrow, making the eye seem wider. This surgery could be interpreted as a way to appear more caucasian, proving the racial alienation exercised by western influence.

Whitening treatments: In most eastern countries there is a considerable link between beauty and pale skin. There is a wide variety of products which aim to reduce the skin colour, such as makeup, whitening creams, and melanin-reducing injections. While some argue there is no correlation between the desire for pale skin and western beauty standards and relate this to skin colour reflecting social status, it can be interpreted as a manifestation of the hegemony of European beauty ideals nowadays. Lastly, there are some surgeries which, although not directly related to western body traits, can be interpreted as a pursuit of western beauty standards. For example, nose reshaping surgery, where Asian women look for a high-bridged narrow nose, which strands further from the average Asian nose, with a flatter nose bridge and wider nostrils. Other examples are breast augmentation or jawline reduction.

Psychology
Psychology can shed light on the motivators behind the desire to transform one's body, such as low self-esteem and an amplified perception of the interconnectedness between one's body and identity. These characteristics often surface as body dissatisfaction, which can start developing during childhood. Puberty related body transformations, appear to particularly influence young girls, as studies suggest, girls who start menstruating earlier are more likely to develop and maintain a negative body image. The speed at which these changes take place, make the new features seem more prominent, resulting in self-consciousness increasing, and all body-related comments having a greater impact on the subject.

Body dissatisfaction, in itself, is becoming more prevalent, to such an extent that it is being accepted as a normative discontent. This has made recognising body image disturbance, a more serious form of body dissatisfaction, increasingly challenging. This often appears as a symptom of psychiatric disorders, such as body dysmorphic disorder, narcissistic personality disorder and histrionic personality disorder.

People suffering from such disorders, perceive cosmetic surgery as a tangible solution to an intangible problem, yet such unrealistic expectations can result in cosmetic procedures causing more harm than good. Further psychiatric symptoms may arise after surgery, such as depression, anxiety and self-destructive behaviour, and studies have even suggested, undergoing breast augmentation is correlated to increased suicide rates.

Sociology
The sociological perspective observes that people associate beauty with positive traits. Thus, cosmetic surgery is increasing in popularity in countries with both low and high income as a powerful tool for increasing social mobility and employability opportunities.

In South Korea, for instance, some job applications require information such as weight and height accompanied by a photo, and reports suggest about one-third of human resources managers employ workers based on their appearance despite them not being the best fit for the job. Conversely, suitable candidates are rejected solely due to their appearance. Considering these consequences, cosmetic surgery may no longer be a 'want' but instead regarded as a 'need' and a pivotal investment.

Further, an "ethnical market" for cosmetic surgery has grown into existence, driven by immigrants, determined to adjust to the beauty standards of the society they live in. Understood to help with avoiding prejudices and exoticization, ethnic surgery is about inclusion, rather than purely aesthetics. People may not negate their origins but invest in social and economic opportunities that cosmetic enhancements can provide.

With the normalization of cosmetic surgery discrimination against the ones despite their age and gender avoiding it might become a new social problem.

Power Dynamics
As recognised medical practitioners, cosmetic surgeons carry authority, making their suggestions, alongside personal, non-verbalised attitudes towards the practice, immensely powerful. Interviews with surgeons have shown age related features, are usually considered subjective issues, while ethnicity related features are seen as objectively problematic, yet only when discussing non-white individuals. Increasing demand for such procedures, often described as “ethnic corrections", demonstrates a prejudice for western features, but surgeons do not necessarily interpret these as embodiments of racial inequalities. They argue, while there may be a western ideal, this is not standardized across all races and that, for example asian patients, do not desire double eyelid surgery because it removes their stereotypical features, but because they want to appear more “alert and bright-eyed”.

Surgeons further have distinct views related to gender. While cosmetic surgery is considered “normal” for women and compared to wearing makeup, similar parallels are not drawn in regards to men. Appearance related concerns are only perceived inherent to women, thus when males formulate similar worries, surgeons expect more justification. Due to a lack of understanding, the preconception that men are less effective in communicating their wishes and the fear of a malpractice claim if the results do not match expectations, cosmetic surgeons are therefore inclined to reject male patients. This perpetuates a cycle of cosmetic surgery remaining scarce for male patients, and thus the industry provides institutionalised support for defining gender. Aware of these power dynamics, cosmetic surgery companies, nevertheless choose to profit from them. Advertisements are directed at women, and focus on making these procedures appear empowering, as women are considered more perceptible targets, as well as more suitable patients.

Patients are found and created, but because patients are increasingly given control over every procedural detail, women believe their decision is self motivated, resulting in blind contribution to the reproduction of larger structural inequalities.

Interdisciplinary tensions
Every discipline approaches cosmetic surgery differently. While, sociology emphasizes the social opportunities surgery provides, suggesting they fabricate a new consumer market enabling individuals to present themselves as desired. Psychology sees surgery as a strategy to gain control over feelings of inadequacy. In practice, psychology is overlooked with surgeons not trained or required to complete psychological analyses of their patients. Increasing demand for cosmetic surgery, and the corresponding economic wealth generated are compelling motivators that have led psychological risks, to be ignored to prevent decelerating this growth.

Absence of interdisciplinary communication prevents understanding the increasing craze about cosmetic surgery and its potential threats. Cooperation between disciplines could help solve problems associated with cosmetic surgery.


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Talk:Issues in Interdisciplinarity 2020-21/Power of the Media vs Law in the Trial of the Chicago 7

16/11/20: Made our group today in our seminar and discussed which strand and issue we wanted to write about in our wikibooks chapter, leaning towards doing how different disciplines play into a case study

20/11/20: In our wiki-workshop, we decided on talking about power in the trial of the chicago 7, due to it's current media attention from the film with the same title and it's mirroring of events taken place this year (BLM protests etc, injustice in the 'justice' system etc). We decided that it would be interesting to look into media studies and law as our two disciplinary approaches and their power over the outcome of the trial. We began planning our chapter on a google docsApricotptr (discuss • contribs) 14:11, 2 December 2020 (UTC)


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User:Hh60645

1.TN 2.Chattonooga

title: User:Hh60645


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Talk:Issues in Interdisciplinarity 2020-21/Power in the Trial of the Chicago 7

16/11/20: We formed our group in our seminar and discussed which issues and which ATK strand we wanted to focus our chapter on, deciding that we were interested in either truth or power in a case study due to the contrasting views different disciplines can have and their real effects

20/11/20: In our wiki-workshop we decided to base our chapter on power in the trial of the chicago 7, due to the current media attention it's gained from the film of the same name, and it's similarity to current events (BLM protests, injustice in the 'justice' system etc), taking the disciplinary viewpoints of the law versus the media. We began to plan our chapter on a shared google docs to discuss ideas and structure the page.Apricotptr (discuss • contribs) 14:36, 2 December 2020 (UTC)


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LMIs in Control/Time-Delay Systems/Continuous Time/LMI for Stability of Retarded Differential Equation with Slowly-Varying Delay

This page describes an LMI for stability analysis of a continuous-time system with a time-varying delay. In particular, a delay-independent condition is provided to test uniform asymptotic stability of a retarded differential equation through feasibility of an LMI. The system under consideration pertains a single discrete delay, with the extent of the delay at any time bounded by some known value. Moreover, the delay is assumed to vary only slowly in time, with a temporal derivative bounded by a value less than one. Solving the LMI for a particular value of this bound, uniform asymptotic stability can be shown for any time-delay satisfying this bound.

The System
The system under consideration is one of the form:

\begin{align}

\dot{x}(t) &= Ax(t) + A_1x(t-\tau(t)) & t&\geq t_0, & 0&\leq\tau(t) \leq h, & \dot{\tau}(t)&\leq d<1

\end{align} $$

In this description, $$ A $$ and $$ A_1 $$ are matrices in $$ \mathbb{R}^{n\times n} $$. The variable $$ \tau(t) $$ denotes a delay in the state at time $$ t\geq t_0 $$, assuming a value no greater than some $$ h\in\mathbb{R}_+ $$. Moreover, we assume that the function $$ \tau(t) $$ is differentiable at any time, with the derivative bounded by some value $$ d<1 $$, assuring the delay to be slowly-varying in time.

The Data
To determine stability of the system, the following parameters must be known:

$$ \begin{align} A&\in\mathbb{R}^{n\times n} \\ A_1&\in\mathbb{R}^{n\times n} \\ d&\in [0,1) \end{align} $$

The Optimization Problem
Based on the provided data, uniform asymptotic stability can be determined by testing feasibility of the following LMI:

The LMI: Delay-Independent Uniform Asymptotic Stability for Continuous-Time TDS

\begin{align} &\text{Find}:\\ &\qquad P, Q \in\mathbb{R}^{n\times n}\\ &\text{such that:}\\ &\qquad P>0,\quad Q>0  \\ &\qquad \begin{bmatrix} A^T P+PA+Q & PA_1 \\ A_1^TP & -(1-d)Q \end{bmatrix}<0 \\ \end{align}

$$

Conclusion:
If the presented LMI is feasible, the system will be uniformly asymptotically stable for any delay function $$ \tau(t) $$ satisfying $$ \dot{\tau}(t)\leq d<1 $$. That is, independent of the values of the delays $$ \tau(t) $$ and the starting time $$ t_0\in\mathbb{R} $$:

 * For any real number $$ \epsilon>0 $$, there exists a real number $$ \delta>0 $$ such that:

 * $$ \|x_{t_0}\|_{\mathcal{C}}<\delta \quad \Rightarrow \quad \|x(t)\|<\epsilon \qquad \forall t\geq t_0 $$

 * There exists a real number $$ \delta_a>0 $$ such that for any real number $$ \eta>0 $$, there exists a time $$ T(\delta_a,\eta) $$ such that:

 * $$ \|x_{t_0}\|_{\mathcal{C}}<\delta_a \quad \Rightarrow \quad \|x(t)\|<\eta \qquad \forall t\geq t_0+T(\delta_a,\eta) $$

Here, we let $$ x_{t_0}(\theta)=x(t_0+\theta) $$ for $$ \theta\in[-\tau(t_0),0] $$ denote the delayed state function at time $$ t_0 $$. The norm $$ \|x_{t_0}\|_{\mathcal{C}} $$ of this function is defined as the maximal value of the vector norm assumed by the state over the delayed time interval, given by:

 * $$ \|x_{t_0}\|_{\mathcal{C}}:=\max_{\theta\in[-\tau(t_0),0]} \|x(t_0+\theta)\| $$

Obtaining a feasible point for the LMI, this result can be proven using a Lyapunov-Krasovkii functional:

\begin{align} &V(t,x_t)=x^T(t)Px(t) + \int_{t-\tau(t)}^t x^T(s)Qx(s) ds\\ \end{align} $$

Notably, if matrices $$ P>0,Q>0 $$ prove feasibility of the LMI for the pair $$ (A,A_1) $$, these same matrices will also prove feasibility of the LMI for the pair $$ (A,-A_1) $$. As such, feasibility of this LMI proves uniform asymptotic stability of both systems:

\begin{align}

\dot{x}(t) &= Ax(t) \pm A_1x(t-\tau(t)) & t&\geq t_0, & 0&\leq\tau(t) \leq h & \dot{\tau}(t)&\leq d<1

\end{align} $$

Moreover, since the result is independent of the value of the delay, it will also hold for a delay $$ \tau(t)\equiv 0 $$. Hence, if the LMI is feasible, the matrices $$ A\pm A_1 $$ will be Hurwitz.

Implementation
An example of the implementation of this LMI in Matlab is provided on the following site:

 * https://github.com/djagt/LMI_Codes/blob/main/stblty_cTDS_SlowVarying.m

Note that this implementation requires packages for YALMIP with solver mosek, though a different solver can also be implemented.

Related LMIs

 * - Delay-dependent stability LMI for continuous-time TDS

 * - Stability LMI for delayed discrete-time system


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User talk:Mpadilla0139

This is the page where you talk about me. Please do not add personal information, violent content, inappropriate/harmful content, hateful/bullying content, advertising content, sexually explicit content, mislead me, or other.

If you add content that does not follow the above details, I’ll remove the content after blocking you.

title: User talk:Mpadilla0139


text:
LMIs in Control/Time-Delay Systems/Continuous Time/LMI for Robust Stability of Retarded Differential Equation with Norm-Bounded Uncertainty

This page describes an LMI for stability analysis of an uncertain continuous-time system with a time-varying delay. In particular, a delay-independent condition is provided to test uniform asymptotic stability of a retarded differential equation with uncertain matrices through feasibility of an LMI. The system under consideration pertains a single discrete delay, with the extent of the delay at any time bounded by some known value. The matrices describing the system are assumed to be uncertain, with the norm of the uncertainty bounded by a value of one. In addition, the delay is assumed to vary only slowly in time, with a temporal derivative bounded by a value less than one. Solving the LMI for a particular value of this bound, uniform asymptotic stability can be shown for any time-delay satisfying this bound, independent of the value of the uncertainty function.

The System
The system under consideration is one of the form:

\begin{align}

\dot{x}(t) &= (A+H\Delta(t) E)x(t) + (A_1+H\Delta(t) E_1)x(t-\tau(t)) & t&\geq t_0, & 0&\leq\tau(t) \leq h, & \dot{\tau}(t)&\leq d<1

\end{align} $$

In this description, $$ A $$ and $$ A_1 $$ are matrices in $$ \mathbb{R}^{n\times n} $$. The variable $$ \tau(t) $$ denotes a delay in the state at time $$ t\geq t_0 $$, assuming a value no greater than some $$ h\in\mathbb{R}_+ $$. Moreover, we assume that the function $$ \tau(t) $$ is differentiable at any time, with the derivative bounded by some value $$ d<1 $$, assuring the delay to be slowly-varying in time. The uncertainty $$ \Delta(t)\in\mathbb{R}^{r_1\times r_2} $$ is also allowed to vary in time, but at any time $$ t\geq t_0 $$ must satisfy the inequality:

\begin{align}

\Delta^T(t)\Delta(t) &\leq I

\end{align} $$

The uncertainty affects the system through matrices $$ H\in\mathbb{R}^{n\times r_1} $$ and $$ E,E_1\in\mathbb{R}^{r_2\times n} $$, which are constant in time and assumed to be known.

The Data
To determine stability of the system, the following parameters must be known:

$$ \begin{align} A,A_1&\in\mathbb{R}^{n\times n} \\ H&\in\mathbb{R}^{n\times r_1} \\ E,E_1&\in\mathbb{R}^{r_2\times n} \\ d&\in [0,1) \end{align} $$

The Optimization Problem
Based on the provided data, uniform asymptotic stability can be determined by testing feasibility of the following LMI:

The LMI: Delay-Independent Robust Uniform Asymptotic Stability for Continuous-Time TDS

\begin{align} &\text{Find}:\\ &\qquad \epsilon\in\mathbb{R}, \quad P, Q \in\mathbb{R}^{n\times n}\\ &\text{such that:}\\ &\qquad \epsilon>0,\quad P>0,\quad Q>0  \\ &\qquad \begin{bmatrix} A^T P+PA+Q & PA_1 & PH & \epsilon E^T \\ A_1^TP & -(1-d)Q & 0 & \epsilon E_1^T \\ H^T P & 0 & -\epsilon I & 0 \\ \epsilon E & \epsilon E_1 & 0 & -\epsilon I \end{bmatrix}<0 \\ \end{align}

$$

Conclusion:
If the presented LMI is feasible, the system will be uniformly asymptotically stable for any delay function $$ \tau(t) $$ satisfying $$ \dot{\tau}(t)\leq d<1 $$, and any uncertainty $$ \Delta(t) $$ satisfying $$ \Delta^T(t)\Delta(t)\leq I $$. That is, independent of the values of the delays $$ \tau(t) $$, uncertainties $$ \Delta(t) $$, and the starting time $$ t_0\in\mathbb{R} $$:

 * For any real number $$ \epsilon>0 $$, there exists a real number $$ \delta>0 $$ such that:

 * $$ \|x_{t_0}\|_{\mathcal{C}}<\delta \quad \Rightarrow \quad \|x(t)\|<\epsilon \qquad \forall t\geq t_0 $$

 * There exists a real number $$ \delta_a>0 $$ such that for any real number $$ \eta>0 $$, there exists a time $$ T(\delta_a,\eta) $$ such that:

 * $$ \|x_{t_0}\|_{\mathcal{C}}<\delta_a \quad \Rightarrow \quad \|x(t)\|<\eta \qquad \forall t\geq t_0+T(\delta_a,\eta) $$

Here, we let $$ x_{t_0}(\theta)=x(t_0+\theta) $$ for $$ \theta\in[-\tau(t_0),0] $$ denote the delayed state function at time $$ t_0 $$. The norm $$ \|x_{t_0}\|_{\mathcal{C}} $$ of this function is defined as the maximal value of the vector norm assumed by the state over the delayed time interval, given by:

 * $$ \|x_{t_0}\|_{\mathcal{C}}:=\max_{\theta\in[-\tau(t_0),0]} \|x(t_0+\theta)\| $$

The proof of this result relies on the fact that the following inequality holds for any value $$ \epsilon>0 $$ and constant matrices $$ \alpha,\beta $$ of appropriate dimensions:

 * $$ \alpha \Delta(t)\beta + \beta^T \Delta^T(t)\alpha^T \leq \epsilon^{-1} \alpha\alpha^T + \epsilon\beta^T \beta $$

Using this inequality with $$ \alpha^T=\begin{bmatrix} H^TP & 0\end{bmatrix} $$ and $$ \beta = \begin{bmatrix} E & E_1 \end{bmatrix} $$, the described LMI can then be derived from that presented in, corresponding to a situation without uncertainty.

Implementation
An example of the implementation of this LMI in Matlab is provided on the following site:

 * https://github.com/djagt/LMI_Codes/blob/main/Rstblty_cTDS_SlowVarying.m

Note that this implementation requires packages for YALMIP with solver mosek, though a different solver can also be implemented.

Related LMIs

 * - Stability LMI for continuous-time RDE with slowly-varying delay without uncertainty

 * - LMI for quadratic stability of continuous-time system with norm-bounded uncertainty

 * - Stability LMI for delayed discrete-time system


text:
LMIs in Control/Time-Delay Systems/Continuous Time/Bounded Real Lemma under Slowly-Varying Delay

This page describes a bounded real lemma for a continuous-time system with a time-varying delay. In particular, a condition is provided to obtain a bound on the $$ L_2 $$-gain of a retarded differential system through feasibility of an LMI. The system under consideration pertains a single discrete delay, with the extent of the delay at any time bounded by some known value. This delay is only present in the state, with no direct delay in the effects of exogenous inputs on the state. In addition, the delay is assumed to vary only slowly in time, with a temporal derivative bounded by a value less than one, although results can also be attained if no bound is known. Solving the LMI for a particular value of the bound, while minimizing a scalar variable, an upper limit on the $$ L_2 $$-gain of the system can be shown for any time-delay satisfying this bound.

The System
The system under consideration is one of the form:

\begin{align}

\dot{x}(t) &= Ax(t) + A_1x(t-\tau(t)) + B_0 w(t) & t&\geq t_0, & 0&\leq\tau(t) \leq h, & \dot{\tau}(t)&\leq d<1 \\ z(t) &= C_0x(t) + C_{1}x(t-\tau(t))

\end{align} $$

In this description, $$ A $$ and $$ A_1 $$ are constant matrices in $$ \mathbb{R}^{n\times n} $$. In addition, $$ B_0 $$ is a constant matrix in $$ \mathbb{R}^{n\times n_w}$$, and $$ C_0,C_{1} $$ are constant matrices in $$ \mathbb{R}^{n_z\times n}$$ where $$ n_w,n_z\in\mathbb{N} $$ denote the number of exogenous inputs and regulated outputs respectively. The variable $$ \tau(t) $$ denotes a delay in the state at time $$ t\geq t_0 $$, assuming a value no greater than some $$ h\in\mathbb{R}_+ $$. Moreover, we assume that the function $$ \tau(t) $$ is differentiable at any time, with the derivative bounded by some value $$ d<1 $$, assuring the delay to be slowly-varying in time.

The Data
To obtain a bound on the $$ L_2 $$-gain of the system, the following parameters must be known:

$$ \begin{align} A,A_1&\in\mathbb{R}^{n\times n} \\ B_0&\in\mathbb{R}^{n\times n_w} \\ C_0,C_1&\in\mathbb{R}^{n_z\times n} \\ h&\in \mathbb{R}_+ \\ d&\in [0,1) \end{align} $$

The Optimization Problem
Based on the provided data, we can obtain a bound on the $$ L_2$$-gain of the system by testing feasibility of an LMI. In particular, the bounded real lemma states that if the LMI presented below is feasible for some $$ \gamma>0 $$, the $$ L_2 $$-gain of the system is less than or equal to this $$ \gamma $$. To attain a bound that is as small as possible, we minimize the value of $$ \gamma $$ while solving the LMI:

The LMI: L2-gain for TDS with Slowly-Varying Delay

\begin{align} &\text{Solve}:\\ &\qquad\min \gamma \\ &\text{such that there exist}:\\ &\qquad P,P_2,P_3,R,S,S_{12},Q\in\mathbb{R}^{n\times n}\\ &\text{for which}:\\ &\qquad P>0,\quad R>0,\quad S>0,\quad Q>0  \\ &\qquad \begin{bmatrix} \begin{array}{c c c c | c c} \Phi_{11} & \Phi_{12} & S_{12} & R-S_{12}+P_2^T A_1 & P_2^T B_0 & C_0^T \\ \end{array} \end{bmatrix}<0 \\ &\text{where}:\\ &\qquad \Phi_{11} = A^T P_2 + P_2^T A + S + Q -R\\ &\qquad \Phi_{12} = P-P_2^T+A^T P_3 \\ &\qquad \Phi_{22} = -P_3-P_3^T +h^2 R \end{align}
 * & \Phi_{22} & 0 & P_3^T A_1 & P_3^T B_0 & 0\\
 * & * & -S-R & R-S_{12}^T & 0 & 0 \\
 * & * & * & -2R - S_{12} - S_{12}^T - (1-d)Q & 0 & C_1^T \\\hline
 * & * & * & * & -\gamma^2 I & 0 \\
 * & * & * & * & * & -I

$$

In this notation, the symbols $$ * $$ are used to indicate appropriate matrices to assure the overall matrix is symmetric.

Conclusion:
If the presented LMI is feasible for some $$ \gamma $$, the system is internally stable, and will have an $$ L_2$$-gain less than $$ \gamma $$. That is, independent of the values of the delays $$ \tau(t) $$:

 * $$ \|z\|_{L_2} < \gamma \|w\|_{L_2} $$

It should be noted that this result is conservative. That is, even when minimizing the value of $$ \gamma $$, there is no guarantee that the bound obtained on the $$ L_2 $$-gain is sharp.

In a scenario where no bound $$ d $$ on the change in the delay is known, the above LMI can still be used to obtain a bound on the $$ L_2 $$-gain. In particular, setting $$ Q=0 $$ in the above LMI, a bound can be attained independent of the value of the derivative of the delay.

Implementation
An example of the implementation of this LMI in Matlab is provided on the following site:

 * https://github.com/djagt/LMI_Codes/blob/main/L2gain_cTDS.m

Note that this implementation requires packages for YALMIP with solver mosek, though a different solver can also be implemented.

Related LMIs

 * - Bounded real lemma for continuous-time system without delay

 * - Bounded real lemma for discrete-time system without delay

 * - Stability LMI for continuous-time RDE with slowly-varying delay


text:
Lentis/Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, and the Development of Environmental Values, 1950-1970

In 1962, Rachel Carson published Silent Spring, a book about the dangers of pesticide overuse. Carson’s views were shared environmentally-focused non-governmental organizations, but were heavily opposed by chemical companies benefitting from the use of pesticides. The book is credited by some with inspiring an environmental movement and stricter regulation, but it also led to many intense debates about pesticides. .

Environmentalism before Silent Spring
The federal government first began to act on environmental issues in the late 1940s. In 1947, congress passed the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, which required pesticide distributors to register their products with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The following year, congress enacted the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, which allowed the Surgeon General to establish programs to minimize water pollution and improve sanitary conditions. In 1955, the Air Pollution Control Act was passed to initiate research on the health risks of air pollution. The FWPCA and APCA were the precursors to the modern Clean Water and Clean Air acts.

During the same period, conservation groups were beginning to gain traction. The Nature Conservancy, which focuses on preserving ecologically significant lands and waterways, was founded in 1951. In 1956, The Sierra Club gained national recognition after lobbying congress to prevent the construction of a dam in a wildlife. The Audubon Society, a bird-watching organization, also began to advocate for environmental protection around this time. The emergence of environmentally-focused non-governmental organizations demonstrated the increasing awareness of environmental issues in the public.

Pesticide Use in the 1950s
The 1950s were considered the “golden age” of pesticide use, particularly for synthetic insecticide dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT). DDT was used during World War II to combat the spread of insect-borne illnesses. It was very popular in the United States after the war, and was widely used in household products to deter pests and prevent disease. Use of DDT in agriculture exploded after the war. It was seen as an improvement over use of sulfur- and arsenic-based pesticides, which were toxic to humans. Despite its success, DDT had devastating environmental effects. DDT is toxic to fish and harmful to birds, weakening their eggshells and impairing their reproduction. DDT is also highly persistent in the environment, with a half-life of around 150 years in water.

Pesticide Controversy in the late 1950s
In the late 1950s, several events induced scrutiny of pesticide use. First, in 1954, the Miller Pesticide Amendment was passed, regulating pesticide residue on raw agricultural products. The amendment increased costs and development times for pesticide manufacturers, who had to do more research on their products before bringing them to market.

In 1957, the USDA used DDT to fight the gypsy moth, which was destroying trees in northeastern forests. The USDA was spraying heavily during high wind, causing unintentional spread of the pesticide. Residents in the area complained of dead fish and birds, as well as damage to their crops and gardens.

The following year, the USDA used toxic pesticides against fire ants. There had been few reports of the fire ants causing significant damage, leading residents to question why congress had authorized the use of such harmful pesticides. Following this incident, the Audubon Society and the federal Fish and Wildlife Service successfully lobbied congress to begin researching the long-term effects of pesticides.

In 1958, the Food Additives Amendment outlawed additives that were shown to induce cancer in humans or animals. This amendment further increased the cost of developing pesticides, impeding their production. Some believe that this amendment was the final blow that ended the "golden age" of pesticide use. The increased concern over health and environmental consequences led to a decline in DDT use in the late 1950s. These events also helped inspire Rachel Carson’s writing of Silent Spring.

Rachel Carson before Silent Spring
Rachel Carson was born in 1907. Growing up, Rachel Carson loved to write. In 1925, she started college at the Pennsylvania College for Women, where she intended to major in English. However, after taking a biology class, she decided to switch majors. She graduated with honors in 1929. In 1932, Carson graduated from Johns Hopkins with a master’s degree in zoology. She then went on to work as a scientist for the Fish and Wildlife Service. Throughout her scientific career, Carson continued to write in her spare time. In 1951, she published her second book, The Sea Around Us. This book did very well, selling 250,000 copies in its first year and winning the National Book Award for nonfiction. This book showed Carson's remarkable ability to write in an engaging manner for specialist and non-specialist readers alike.

Silent Spring
In the late 1950s, Rachel Carson became concerned with the overuse of DDT and other pesticides. She decided to write Silent Spring in the hopes of changing public perception. However, she knew if she wrote a textbook about the detrimental effects of pesticide overuse, very few people would want to read her book. Instead, she also told stories of hurt wildlife. She used vivid imagery to show her readers that DDT wasn’t just affecting a few plants and insects, but the entire ecosystem through the food chain. She went further with these stories to illustrate how many animals, not just a couple insects, could be wiped out. This is where she gets the name for her book, Silent Spring. It represents a spring where all of the wildlife that used to live there has died. These stories also served to make the book more impactful. Carson didn’t just want her readers to be concerned about the current levels of DDT use. She also wanted them to spark change. While working at the Fish and Wildlife Service, she observed the government approving and using new scientific measures without knowing their potential environmental effects. She wanted her readers to know that without change, it was very unlikely the government would strictly regulate what was allowed into the environment. Instead, she wanted everyone to try to be a part of that conversation.

Preparing for Publication
Carson was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1957, a year before she began writing Silent Spring and 5 years before publishing the book. Carson expected push back from pesticide companies. She also knew she wasn’t going to have a lot of time or energy to fight for her book after publication. This led her to take steps before publishing to help Silent Spring gain momentum on its own. She included a very extensive and detailed appendix to show the plethora of evidence in support of her claims. She also sent the book to some of the top experts in the field to read before publication. This ensured that several other influential experts were in support of Silent Spring when it was released.

Chemical Company Outrage
As Carson expected, Silent Spring faced harsh criticism from chemical companies. Velsicol, a manufacturer of DDT, threatened to sue the book’s publication company Houghton Mifflin. Another chemical company, Monsanto, published 5,000 copies of a parody called "The Desolate Year". This story depicted a world of famine and disease caused by banning pesticides.

Carson was met with personal attacks meant to discredit her work. She was accused of being a communist sympathizer. Velisicol claimed that she had "sinister influences" compromising her work. It was implied that her intention was to reduce the ability of Western countries to produce food.

Senate Hearing
In 1963 Carson testified in front of a Senate subcommittee investigating pesticide use. She presented policy recommendations that she had been developing for years.

Carson never called for an outright ban on pesticides. When faced with the chance to do so at the hearing, she stated “I think chemicals do have a place.” She recognized the effects of reactance, the tendency to resist regulations that appear to be taking away freedoms. Carson believed citizens had a right to know how pesticides were used on their property. Her main argument was against aerial spraying, which allowed pesticides to be used on private property without permission. She believed the federal government was part of the problem, due to private industry’s influence. This was a main reason she did not advocate for a government ban, but action by citizens uniting together.

Silent Spring's Mixed Results / The Science Rift
Roland Clement was a proponent of Carson’s, and testified in front of the Senate with her. After the hearing, he was told that the chemical companies were willing to halt domestic use of DDT, but only if they could continue to export to other countries. This highlighted how deeply ingrained business interests were into government regulation.

Clement’s description emphasized the mixed results Silent Spring had on environmentalism. DDT was not banned in the United States until 1972, and companies were allowed to export it until the mid 1980s. Companies exploited every possible loophole to continue profiting. On the other hand, Carson brought environmentalism into the spotlight. She inspired legislation such as the Clean Air and Water Acts, the establishment of Earth Day, and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Carson was accused of using soft science and met with a well-financed counter reaction. This has become a modern playbook for attacks used by modern super-PACs. Companies whose industries are threatened by scientific findings invest large amounts into discrediting those studies. Issues such as climate change, which one might think people would be united to fix, are areas of heated debate and little action. Carson regarded her book and environmentalism as a unifying issue for humankind, but was met with increased factionalization.

Conclusion
Silent Spring created a politicized and partisan reaction that has worsened over time. On the other hand, Carson brought environmentalism into the spotlight. Future groups could expand on this chapter by discussing current misinformation tactics and how environmentalism has adapted to them over time. Another option would be looking at how scientific findings that break the status quo have always been fought, and how it compares to Carson’s experience.