Parameter inference is a key aspect of spatial modeling. A major appeal of variograms is that they allow inferring the spatial structure solely based on conditioning data. This is very convenient when the modeler does not have a ready-made geological interpretation. To date, such an easy and automated interpretation is not available in the context of most multiple-point geostatistics applicatio...

is essay provides an interpretation and defence of Gilbert Ryle's discussion of knowing how, which has hitherto received relatively little attention given the importance of his remarks to the contemporary literature. I argue that Ryle offers an account of knowing how which can be contrasted with both so-called 'intellectualist' and 'neo-Rylean' theories. is consists of two claims concerning t...

I describe a pedagogical scheme devised to teach efficiently to computer scientists just enough quantum mechanics to permit them to understand the theoretical developments of the last decade going under the name of ‘‘quantum computation.’’ I then note that my offbeat approach to quantum mechanics, designed to be maximally efficacious for this specific educational purpose, is nothing other than ...

Over the past two decades it has become standard to construe Kant’s ethics as a paradigm of constructivism, standing in stark opposition to realism. Under such an interpretation, Kant’s ethics is based on constructive procedures that yield normative practical principles for us, rather than on facts about goodness that might ground such principles. While there is, no doubt, textual support for t...

In a recent article in Modern Physics Letters A, Gentry proposed a new static cosmological model that seeks to explain the Hubble relation as a combination of gravitational and Doppler red shifts. We show that Gentry's model, although supposedly based on general relativity, is inconsistent with the Einstein field equations; that it requires delicate fine tuning of initial conditions; that it is...

Ever since its commitment to the Copenhagen Accord of 2009 to lower its carbon emissions by 2020 to a level that will be 40% below those of 2005, China has been aiming to develop its photovoltaic (PV) solar energy industry. Because knowledge is a critical factor for obtaining a sustainable competitive advantage in a knowledge-intensive industry, it is essential to build up an interactive learni...

The collapse challenge for interpretations of quantum mechanics is to build from first principles and your preferred interpretation a complete, observer-free quantum model of the described experiment (involving a photon and two screens), together with a formal analysis that completely explains the experimental result. The challenge is explained in detail, and discussed in the light of the Copen...

1. Attempt at a self-contained quantum description The consistent-histories program 1,2,3 represents a more concerted effort than previous attempts to overcome what some workers regard as the main defect of the Copenhagen interpretation: the need to invoke the existence of a classical world as a precondition to the meaningful interpretation of quantum mechanics. Hence, just as for any other att...

In order to deal most effectively with the unanalyzable quantum whole, the Copenhagen interpretation takes as a “frame of reference” the preparation parameters and outcomes of measurements. It represents a passive, Ptolemaic-like instrumentalism directly related to “what we see in the sky,” i.e., to the “surface” of reality. However, the notion of quantum information leads to an active, Coperni...

It is argued that the Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics , founded ontologically on the concept of probability, may be questionable in view of the fact that within Probability Theory itself the ontological status of the concept of probability has always been, and is still under discussion. Two long unresolved-and in fact, seldom considered-issues have for long accompanied modern Pro...