Thursday, April 12, 2012

Ubuntu




Ubuntu (Zulu/Xhosa pronunciation: [ùɓúntʼú]; English: /uˈbʊntuː/ oo-BUUN-too) or "uMunthu" (Chichewa) is an African ethic or humanist philosophy focusing on people's allegiances and relations with each other. Some believe that ubuntu is a classical African philosophy or worldview whereas others point out that the idea that ubuntu as a philosophy or worldview has developed in written sources in recent years. The word has its origin in the Bantu languages of southern Africa.

Ubuntu maybe defined as "I am what I am because of who we all are." (From a translation offered by Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee.)

Archbishop Desmond Tutu offered a definition in a 1999 book:[3]

A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, based from a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.

Tutu further explained Ubuntu in 2008:[4]

One of the sayings in our country is Ubuntu – the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can't exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can't be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality – Ubuntu – you are known for your generosity. We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole World. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.

Nelson Mandela explained Ubuntu as follows:[5]

A traveller through a country would stop at a village and he didn't have to ask for food or for water. Once he stops, the people give him food, entertain him. That is one aspect of Ubuntu, but it will have various aspects. Ubuntu does not mean that people should not enrich themselves. The question therefore is: Are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to be able to improve?

Tim Jackson refers to Ubuntu as a philosophy that supports the changes he says are necessary to create a future that is economically and environmentally sustainable.[6]

Judge Colin Lamont expanded on the definition during his ruling on the hate speech trial of Julius Malema [7]:

Ubuntu is recognized as being an important source of law within the context of strained or broken relationships amongst individuals or communities and as an aid for providing remedies which contribute towards more mutually acceptable remedies for the parties in such cases. Ubuntu is a concept which:
  1. is to be contrasted with vengeance;
  2. dictates that a high value be placed on the life of a human being;
  3. is inextricably linked to the values of and which places a high premium on dignity, compassion, humaneness and respect for humanity of another;
  4. dictates a shift from confrontation to mediation and conciliation;
  5. dictates good attitudes and shared concern;
  6. favours the re-establishment of harmony in the relationship between parties and that such harmony should restore the dignity of the plaintiff without ruining the defendant;
  7. favours restorative rather than retributive justice;
  8. operates in a direction favouring reconciliation rather than estrangement of disputants;
  9. works towards sensitising a disputant or a defendant in litigation to the hurtful impact of his actions to the other party and towards changing such conduct rather than merely punishing the disputant;
  10. promotes mutual understanding rather than punishment;
  11. favours face-to-face encounters of disputants with a view to facilitating differences being resolved rather than conflict and victory for the most powerful;
  12. favours civility and civilised dialogue premised on mutual tolerance.

Monday, April 02, 2012

La colaboracion a nivel de neuronas



Al parecer la colaboracion es un proceso que comienza a nivel de las neuronas.  Este estudio menciona como al aprender una nueva tarea se crean "clusters" de neuronas que ayudan al aprendizaje de esta tarea.  Muy interesante...

Learning New Tasks: Brain Cells Benefit From Having Neighbors
Alice G. Walton
The Atlantic
April 1, 2012

When we learn new a new task or a new nugget of information, our brain cells form new patterns of connections. This is the essence of learning. But what researchers have just found is that when brain cells form new connections, they are stronger when there is a "neighbor" close by.

The research team had mice learn a new motor task, like putting their paws through a slot to gain access to a morsel of food. They looked at what was going on in the motor cortex, which controls motor movements, specifically focusing on the "spines" of the cells' dendrites, the parts of the neurons that form synapses (cell-cell connections) with other neurons.

During the few days when the mice were learning and repeating the new behavior, some interesting changes took place in the cells of the motor cortex. The new synapses that were forming tended to form in clusters. Moreover, the spines grew stronger -- which makes for a better synaptic connection -- when there was another one nearby.

"We found that formation of a second connection is correlated with a strengthening of the first connection, which suggests that they are likely to be involved in the same circuitry," said lead author Yi Zuo in a news release. "The clustering of synapses may serve to magnify the strength of the connections."

When mice later learned a different, but related task (like grabbing a piece of pasta instead of a seed), the brain still formed clusters, but the ones involved in the different tasks remained separate. This suggests that each task forms its own clustered connections that stay in separate brain circuits. "Repetitive activation of the same cortical circuit is really important in learning a new task," Zuo said.

Previous research has shown that practice does indeed help us learn new tasks. This study adds to our understanding of the learning process by showing exactly what's going on in the brain to explain why repetition improves learning. Still, mixing up one's practice routine is also crucial to learning, since it challenges the brain to attack the task from different angles. Taking a break after you learn something new can also help solidify memories.

The researchers of the current study hope that understanding learning on the tiniest level will allow them to "find out the best way to induce new memories," which could help not only in physical tasks but also in absorbing new information in general.

The study was published in the journal Nature.