Outside and As If

The " As if " Dilemma

As-If-Republican Interpretation

Social wasps desert the colony and aggregate outside if parasitized: parasite manipulation?

Infection of the paper wasp, Polistes dominulus (Christ), by the strepsipteran parasite Xenos vesparum Rossi results in a dramatic behavioral change, which culminates in colony desertion and the formation of extranidal aggregations, in which up to 98% of occupants are parasitized females. Aggregations formed on prominent vegetation, traditional lek-sites of Polistes males, and on buildings, whi...

Designing as if trust mattered

Historically, builders of CSCW tools have not focused on the creation of trust among users as a critical design goal. Yet, high levels of trust produce a number of benefits, including reduced coordination and communication costs. These benefits are particularly salient and desirable for geographically distributed workers. Therefore, to the extent that support for geographically distributed work...

Tlön and the Philosophy of “As if”

ive thinking cuts its way by suppressing aspects of the real. Similarly, a system consists in subsuming the multiplicity of factors to one type only (a type, which in turn, has been obtained likewise). The same holds for categories, which are formed by selecting certain aspects or cases while ignoring others; the selection being made upon the criterion of expediency (we do not put together alem...