Can optimality models and an ‘optimality research program’ help us understand some plant–fungal relationships?

How Can Evolution and Neuroscience Help Us Understand Moral Capacities?

Trying to understand morality has been a central human preoccupation for as far back as human history extends, and for very good reasons. The core phenomenon is readily observable: we humans judge each other’s behaviour as right or wrong, and each other’s selves as moral or immoral. If others view you as moral, you will thrive in the bosom of a human group. If, however, others view you as immor...

Can personality theory help us understand risk of falls?

Falling is one of the greatest challenges of aging, devastating for older individuals and expensive to the health system. While much research to date has focused on physical risk factors for falls, little is known about behavioral risk factors and the role of personality in the prevention of falls. This article examines the potential role personality theory can play in expanding our understandi...

Can Thomas Kuhn's paradigms help us understand software engineering?

Recent articles in EJIS have discussed whether or not Information Systems is a ‘discipline’. In The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Kuhn states that a scientific discipline can be identified by reference to its underlying belief system, the ‘paradigm’ or ‘disciplinary matrix’, to which all workers in that field must commit. An important element of Kuhn's model is the notion of ‘scientific ...

How can Sodium MRI techniques help us understand acute stroke?

This article addresses the potential usefulness of sodium MRI in the acute phase of stroke, asking whether the additional time required to acquire high quality sodium images is justified in the time-critical minutes following the presentation of a patient with symptoms. It begins with a description of the pathophysiology of stroke and the implications of the increasing bioenergetic failure on t...

Can Bohmian Quantum Information Help us to Understand Consciousness?