Feelings and Emotions are an Essential Part of Our Everyday Experience So Why Do So Many Modern Therapies Try to Get Rid of so Called ‘Bad Feelings’ by Leon Paterson

In this short article we will go beyond the limited psychology research to explore how feelings and emotions work. The variability of emotions will be demonstrated to show that they are not simply on or off – you’re happy or you’re not happy. That in fact emotions increase to a peak and then decrease often through a short space of time. Read more…

Twas The Rant Before Christmas… What Makes The COOCs Initiative Succeed Where Others Fail

The language of failure is a tricky one to use without creating unhelpful tensions which can compartmentalize the spirit and function of education and social projects. When walking through the surreal world of policy-town, phrases take root and oblige people to think and act in ways which conform to the language that is giving shape to their thoughts. Policy and it’s language has come to possess people’s practice.
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Open Access to Research Publications: Accessing Research Online by Emily Nunn

Have you ever looked for an academic research article online? A clinical trial for a new drug, for instance, evidence for the effects of climate change, or a study into the experiences of young LGBTQ people attending secondary school? If you study or work at a university, you may take access to this research for granted, but if not, you will often encounter a “paywall”; a screen that asks you to sign in to read further, or to pay a one-off charge.

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Thoughts on the Structure of Language

In the writings of Gottfried Leibniz can be found many elements relating to the possibility of a universal language. Specifically he was working on a constructed language as a concept which would gradually come to replace that of rationalized Latin as the natural basis for a projected universal language. Leibniz conceived of a ‘characteristica universalis’, an “algebra” capable of expressing all conceptual thought. This kind of algebra would include rules for symbolic manipulation, which he called a calculus ratiocinator. Read more…

Horizon-scanning: Ethics for Robots – Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? by John Sawkins

The driver-less car is already here: how many of us knew that it will be pre-programmed to make its own ethical decisions? For example, unlike the human driver, who would understandably, if given the option, seek to protect his or her family if the worst were to happen and a crash with lethal consequences occurred, the driverless car would dispassionately choose the option with the least number of casualties as opposed to saving the lives of its own passengers. Read more…

Leith Lives: The Country Within The Country

Having spent a good part of my life in the very heart of Leith, I have watched the place change over time. Of all things Leith has is soul. It is the country within the country having a long and distinguished history of trade and commerce with all parts of the world.  Before oysters and claret were the trappings of the wealthy, these were eaten and shared in the everyday lives of the workers of Leith. Read more…

Podcast: Treasures in phone boxes; street games and play in the city by Jana Wendler

Play is a fundamental part of our lives: we play to socialise, to discover the world, to learn, to have fun or simply to play – until a certain age. Then, play becomes exceptional: something to do in certain places, at certain times, with certain goals and in clear opposition to our ‘normal’, ‘working’ lives. I find this shift intriguing – what is it about play that makes it such an ambiguous practice? And what can we do to reclaim its openness and enchantment?
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