Explanatory power Explanatory power is the ability of a hypothesis to effectively explain the subject matter it pertains to. One theory is sometimes said to have more explanatory power than another theory about the same subject matter if it offers greater predictive power. That is, if it offers more details about what we should expect to see, and what we should not. Explanatory power may also suggest that more details of causal relations are provided, or that more facts are accounted for. Scientist David Deutsch adds that a good theory is not just predictive and falsifiable (i.e. testable); a good explanation also provides specific details which fit together so tightly that it is difficult to change one detail without affecting the whole theory. The opposite of explanatory power is explanatory impotence. Overview[edit] Deutsch says that the truth consists of detailed and "hard to vary assertions about reality" Deutsch takes examples from Greek mythology. References[edit]
Computational complexity theory Computational complexity theory is a branch of the theory of computation in theoretical computer science and mathematics that focuses on classifying computational problems according to their inherent difficulty, and relating those classes to each other. A computational problem is understood to be a task that is in principle amenable to being solved by a computer, which is equivalent to stating that the problem may be solved by mechanical application of mathematical steps, such as an algorithm. A problem is regarded as inherently difficult if its solution requires significant resources, whatever the algorithm used. Closely related fields in theoretical computer science are analysis of algorithms and computability theory. Computational problems[edit] A traveling salesman tour through Germany’s 15 largest cities. Problem instances[edit] A computational problem can be viewed as an infinite collection of instances together with a solution for every instance. Representing problem instances[edit]
COMPLEXITY THEORY AND MANAGEMENT PRACTICE by JONATHAN ROSENHEAD | Home | Contents | Join the Discussion Forum | Rationale | Interesting Links | Feedback | Search | Jonathan Rosenhead There is some evidence of managerial take-up of ‘complexity’ as a framework for informing organisational practice. This is still at an early stage, and take-up may or may not lead to take-off. what failings in current management theory or practice are claimed to be corrected? I will first provide the briefest of overviews of the subject matter of chaos and complexity theory, followed by an outline of the ways in which they have been applied to the field of management. Keywords: Complexity, chaos, management, analogy, metaphor, Darwin Copyright: © Jonathan Rosenhead 1998 Jonathan Rosenhead 1. Complexity and chaos theory have already generated an impressive literature, and a specialised vocabulary to match. The more general name for the field is complexity theory (within which ‘chaos’ is a particular mode of behaviour). 2. The list is longer. 3. 3.1 General lessons
Theory choice A main problem in the philosophy of science in the early 20th century, and under the impact of the new and controversial theories of relativity and quantum physics, came to involve how scientists should choose between competing theories. The classical answer would be to select the theory which was best verified, against which Karl Popper argued that competing theories should be subjected to comparative tests and the one chosen which survived the tests. If two theories could not, for practical reasons, be tested one should prefer the one with the highest degree of empirical content, said Popper in The Logic of Scientific Discovery. Mathematician and physicist Henri Poincaré instead, like many others, proposed simplicity as a criterion.[1] One should choose the mathematically simplest or most elegant approach. Popper's solution was subsequently criticized by Thomas S.
Home Benchmarking Benchmarking is the process of comparing one's business processes and performance metrics to industry bests or best practices from other industries. Dimensions typically measured are quality, time and cost. In the process of best practice benchmarking, management identifies the best firms in their industry, or in another industry where similar processes exist, and compares the results and processes of those studied (the "targets") to one's own results and processes. In this way, they learn how well the targets perform and, more importantly, the business processes that explain why these firms are successful. Benchmarking is used to measure performance using a specific indicator (cost per unit of measure, productivity per unit of measure, cycle time of x per unit of measure or defects per unit of measure) resulting in a metric of performance that is then compared to others.[1][2] Benefits and use[edit] Collaborative benchmarking[edit] Procedure[edit] The 12 stage methodology consists of:
Game of Life News: Oblique Life spaceship created Andrew J. Wade has recently built a self-replicating configuration in Life. It consists of two stable configurations equipped with Chapman-Greene construction arms, and a volley of gliders circulating between them. The announcement was made on this forum thread . The spaceship propagates at the impressively slow speed of (5120,1024)c/33699586. Undoubtedly, this creation will lead to an avalanche of discoveries in Life. It differs from the Standard Architecture in a variety of ways. The configuration uses three Chapman-Greene construction arms at each end of the tape: two perpendicular arms for construction, and a third arm for destruction. This is the thirteenth explicitly constructed spaceship velocity in Life, although it facilitates an infinite number of related velocities.
Competition Competition in sports. A selection of images showing some of the sporting events that are classed as athletics competitions. Consequences[edit] Competition can have both beneficial and detrimental effects. Many evolutionary biologists view inter-species and intra-species competition as the driving force of adaptation, and ultimately of evolution. Biology and ecology[edit] Economics and business[edit] Merriam-Webster defines competition in business as "the effort of two or more parties acting independently to secure the business of a third party by offering the most favorable terms".[4] It was described by Adam Smith in The Wealth of Nations (1776) and later economists as allocating productive resources to their most highly-valued uses.[5] and encouraging efficiency. Experts have also questioned the constructiveness of competition in profitability. Three levels of economic competition have been classified: Competition does not necessarily have to be between companies. Interstate[edit]
Occam's razor The sun, moon and other solar system planets can be described as revolving around the Earth. However that explanation's ideological and complex assumptions are completely unfounded compared to the modern consensus that all solar system planets revolve around the Sun. Ockham's razor (also written as Occam's razor and in Latin lex parsimoniae) is a principle of parsimony, economy, or succinctness used in problem-solving devised by William of Ockham (c. 1287 - 1347). It states that among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected. Other, more complicated solutions may ultimately prove correct, but—in the absence of certainty—the fewer assumptions that are made, the better. Solomonoff's theory of inductive inference is a mathematically formalized Occam's Razor:[2][3][4][5][6][7] shorter computable theories have more weight when calculating the probability of the next observation, using all computable theories which perfectly describe previous observations.
Reproducibility Aristotle′s conception about the knowledge of the individual being considered unscientific is due to lack of the field of statistics in his time, so he could not appeal to statistical averaging of the individual. History[edit] Boyle's air pump was, in terms of the 17th Century, a complicated and expensive scientific apparatus, making reproducibility of results difficult The first to stress the importance of reproducibility in science was the Irish chemist Robert Boyle, in England in the 17th century. The air pump, which in the 17th century was a complicated and expensive apparatus to build, also led to one of the first documented disputes over the reproducibility of a particular scientific phenomenon. Reproducible data[edit] Reproducibility is one component of the precision of a measurement or test method. Reproducibility is determined from controlled interlaboratory test programs or a Measurement systems analysis.[6][7] Reproducible research[edit] Noteworthy irreproducible results[edit]
Stroop effect Effect of psychological interference on reaction time Green Red BluePurple Red Purple Mouse Top FaceMonkey Top Monkey Naming the font color of a printed word is an easier and quicker task if word meaning and font color are congruent. In psychology, the Stroop effect is the delay in reaction time between congruent and incongruent stimuli. The effect has been used to create a psychological test (the Stroop test) that is widely used in clinical practice and investigation. A basic task that demonstrates this effect occurs when there is a mismatch between the name of a color (e.g., "blue", "green", or "red") and the color it is printed on (i.e., the word "red" printed in blue ink instead of red ink). Original experiment[edit] Stimulus 1: Purple Brown Red Blue Green Stimulus 2: Brown GreenBlueGreen Stimulus 3: ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ Examples of the three stimuli and colors used for each of the activities of the original Stroop article.[1] Experimental findings[edit]
Thomas Kuhn Thomas Samuel Kuhn (/ˈkuːn/; July 18, 1922 – June 17, 1996) was an American physicist, historian, and philosopher of science whose controversial 1962 book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions was deeply influential in both academic and popular circles, introducing the term "paradigm shift", which has since become an English-language staple. Life[edit] Kuhn was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Samuel L. Kuhn, an industrial engineer, and Minette Stroock Kuhn. He graduated from The Taft School in Watertown, CT, in 1940, where he became aware of his serious interest in mathematics and physics. He obtained his B.S. degree in physics from Harvard University in 1943, where he also obtained M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in physics in 1946 and 1949, respectively. Thomas Kuhn was married twice, first to Kathryn Muhs with whom he had three children, then to Jehane Barton Burns (Jehane R. Kuhn was an agnostic.[4] His family was Jewish on both sides. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions[edit] Honors[edit]
Cognitive map Overview[edit] Cognitive maps serve the construction and accumulation of spatial knowledge, allowing the "mind's eye" to visualize images in order to reduce cognitive load, enhance recall and learning of information. This type of spatial thinking can also be used as a metaphor for non-spatial tasks, where people performing non-spatial tasks involving memory and imaging use spatial knowledge to aid in processing the task.[6] The neural correlates of a cognitive map have been speculated to be the place cell system in the hippocampus[7] and the recently discovered grid cells in the entorhinal cortex.[8] Neurological basis[edit] Cognitive mapping is believed to largely be a function of the hippocampus. Numerous studies by O'Keefe have implicated the involvement of place cells. Parallel map theory[edit] Generation[edit] The cognitive map is generated from a number of sources, both from the visual system and elsewhere. History[edit] The idea of a cognitive map was first developed by Edward C.
Hypothesis A hypothesis (plural hypotheses) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. For a hypothesis to be a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it. Scientists generally base scientific hypotheses on previous observations that cannot satisfactorily be explained with the available scientific theories. The adjective hypothetical, meaning "having the nature of a hypothesis", or "being assumed to exist as an immediate consequence of a hypothesis", can refer to any of these meanings of the term "hypothesis". Uses[edit] In Plato's Meno (86e–87b), Socrates dissects virtue with a method used by mathematicians,[2] that of "investigating from a hypothesis In common usage in the 21st century, a hypothesis refers to a provisional idea whose merit requires evaluation. Any useful hypothesis will enable predictions by reasoning (including deductive reasoning). Scientific hypothesis[edit] Working hypothesis[edit] Hypotheses, concepts and measurement[edit] See also[edit]