Benchmarking Creativity

After the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, the summary report acknowledged the growing volume of practice-based research outputs within the Communication, Cultural & Media Studies Unit of Assessment. It also emphasized the need for practice-based researchers to provide clearer detail on the research process underpinning their work, but questions remain about how any given output should be evaluated. As well, while many departments expressed their investment into practice and theory, practice-based outputs constituted less than 5% of the total outputs submitted across all results. Given the increased use of practice-based methodologies within REF2014 UoA36, how should research outputs like exhibitions, documentary films, media art, or scriptwriting be evaluated by the peer review panels? And how should we account for interdisciplinary practice-based outputs, for example work at the intersections of media and performance or media and music?

This free event is hosted by the Creative Futures Research Centre at the University of the West of Scotland, and is co-funded by the MeCCSA Practice Section. It is designed to give peers an opportunity to inform the Research Excellence Framework 2014 in benchmarking quality for the future.

Where: Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow When: March/April 2012 TBC

Follow: @CreativeFutur for updates

Republic of the Moon

Last week, the new exhibition @FACT_Liverpool opened, bringing together a number of installations that are themed around the concept of space exploration and occupation.

There are some great articles and footage published about the work, including a specially commissioned short story and  really nice film about artist Agnes Meyer-Brandis in conversation with The Arts Catalyst curator, Rob La Frenais. There's also a lovely photo of Ethan and I, taken by Brian Slater (above).

http://vimeo.com/32618350

Is technology making us less human? (2011)

Battle of Ideas, London.

Bioart is changing the world

latest article for the Huffington Post focuses on the politics, philosophy and potential of bioart.

IN RECENT YEARS, a new breed of artists named bioartists have begun to infiltrate gallery spaces and scientific laboratories in pursuit of creative expression and new knowledge. Their number includes some of the world's most adventurous avant-garde artists, whose core currency is the playful and sometimes political exploration of new media through which to create art that will change our way of seeing the world. One such artist in this field, Gina Czarnecki, is having her first UK retrospective opening on December 8^th at The Bluecoat in Liverpool. Yet, there is a great deal more at stake with this new form of creative practice.

In the past, the medium of such artists might have been oil paint, water colours, or in more recent years, film, video, or digital technology. Today, their medium is biology – our biology to be more precise, and that of other species. However, their work does not simply derive from our present, post-genomic era; it also foregrounds what comes next. They conduct sociologies of the future, shaping the ideas of science fiction writers, film makers, and the work of scientists. By envisioning new forms of biological transformation and utilization, their ideas become constitutive of our era, in the way that artists before them did.

To this end, bioartists also scrutinize contemporary bioethical issues and scientific practice, such as the utilization of embryonic stem cells, or the development of transgenic species. However, it is far from clear that the intention of such artists is to resist such processes. Indeed, some are seeking their development in order to make their art possible, such as Stelarc, the long-standing performance artist who regularly alters his body for his art.

Beginning with live body hook suspensions in the 1970s, Stelarc’s most recent enterprise involves creating an ear on his forearm, grown from a cell culture and sculptured over a period of six years. The next stage for this work is the utilization of stem cells to create the precise ridges of the ear that only nature has been capable of perfecting, so far.

If this were not evidence enough of how artists celebrate the transformative aesthetic potential of biotechnology, then consider the subsequent stage of Stelarc’s Extra Ear. The end goal of the project is to implant an auditory device within the ear and for it to be remotely connected to the Internet, so web browsers can hear what the ear hears creating a distributed auditory system.

Other artists, such as Ionat Zurr & Oron Catts from Australia are scrutinizing the need for us to farm animals, at a time when environmental activists point out the amount of energy needed to sustain one animal life – and indeed, the harmful gases generated by such life forms! As an alternative, they have developed something called victimless meat, grown from cell cultures, which has the neat consequence of also attending to animal rights concerns, since there is no sentient life to speak of that is harmed by the consumption of such products.

Biology has been a medium for artists for some time. Everything from saliva to human excrement has entered the play space of artists over the years. The difference in these new works is their experimentation with cutting edge scientific applications, such as stem cells, cosmetic surgery and biotechnology generally – technologies that are at the margins of human experience and about which there is considerable controversy.

The resulting works vary considerably and they range from the weird and wonderful, such as Eduardo Kac’s fluorescent, transgenic bunny, to the sublimely curious such as Julia Reodica’s designer hymens, a collection of synthetic hymens, which invite questions into the role of virginity and its loss in the 21^st century. Alternatively, Yann Marussich’s whole-body secretion of a blue dye in a piece of live art called ‘blue remix’ heralds a new era of performance..

These artists have varied intentions and, like all good work, their art invites numerous and sometimes contradictory responses. It would be a mistake to suggest that they are pursuing anti-scientific ideologies, since this would radically limit the willingness of scientists to open their doors to such practice. Instead, the emphasis is on collaboration and shared vision, about nurturing new ways of interrogating the end goals of science as the utopian visions of humanity.

However, one can read a deeper politics into such desires. Their gentle tip toeing into labs raises important questions about how we organize society and understand our own humanity. For instance, why do we privilege scientific knowledge over, say, aesthetic, as evidenced by the way in which funding is skewed in favour of the former? In short, the efforts of bioartists is doing nothing less than attempting to disrupt the global knowledge economy by reinstating art as the primary medium of developing insights on the, as yet, unstudied future.

In so doing, the work of bioartists also raises difficult ethical questions. For instance, it requires us to consider by what codes of ethics such work should be governed? This is often the initial response of critics who find such work disturbing, offensive or potentially illegal: how could one play with transgenic science simply to create a new aesthetic artifact? However, there are good reasons for refraining from such judgements and this is because the aesthetic content of such works is only one way of evaluating their worth.

The more relevant ethical view to take reveals itself when inquiring into some of the challenges that such artists have faced in the pursuit of their work. For instance, in 2004, US bioartist Steve Kurtz was pursued by the FBI under suspicion of bioterrorism, after petri dishes with biological matter inside them were found in his home.

Such artists would want us to see them as acting on our behalf to make science more accountable to a broader public and for their work to engage us more fully on its long term goals and aspirations.

So, the transgenic art of Eduardo Kac invites us to consider the limits of ‘Playing God’ and he is quick to point out that scientists have already undertaken such experiments, we just don’t hear very much about it, or it is cloaked in some remote chance that the experiment will lead to knowledge that will assist humanity in some specific way. In any case, if one wanted to read Kac's fluorescent bunny as the next era of personalised pets, what should be our objection? Doesn’t our desire for pets necessarily commit us to their objectification and servitude, even though we might claim they are our companions?

In the end, if we are to experiment with creating new forms of life with synthetic biology, cloning and genetic modification, shouldn’t we just admit that it is for little more than our own amusement, whether that is the amusement of our own existence, or that which we find in witnessing great art?

La lutte antidopage, un "dogme inquiétant" pour certains

Interview for Stephanie Pertuiset @AFP on the Yannick Noah headlines around doping, published by a range of French newspapers, including Liberation & Le Temps. Here are some of the quotes from the raw invu in English:

1) Former tennis champion Yannick Noah said he is in favor legalizing doping to stop hyprocrisy. In France, every one shot at him, saying basically that doping is a really bad thing leading to Circus Games. Do you think it is a taboo nowadays to say something like that ?   Why antidoping has such be legitimated ? 

"Anti-doping is a worrying kind of dogma, which leaves little scope for serious ethical debates about elite sports practice. Anyone who speaks against it is quickly shunned by    the sports world, but enough people have made this kind of argument now. It's time people listened to what's being said - anti-doping is broken."

2)  I found you were quoted as saying the fight antidoping is at the opposite of its own objectives. Can you explain why ?

"Elite athletes are placed in a situation where they need to find a way of gaining an edge over their competitors. Inevitably this will involve using performance enhancing technologies and we have to act responsibly and recognize that this is a situation that the sports world has created. As such, it must take responsibility for developing more effective enhancements, which are available to all. As well, if the goal of anti-doping is to protect athletes from harm, then it fails. Instead, athletes pursue products on the black market and put themselves at even greater risk than if the doping technologies were legalized and under medical supervision"

3) WADA, national antidoping agencies and governments always put in front the so-called health issue. Do you think AD is a real health issue or led by others motivations ?

"All sports are a risk to health, with or without doping. Some doping technologies may increase that risk, but that increase could be moderated considerably if doping were out in the open. Health risk in itself is not a good enough reason to ban doping, there has to be something more too it - the moral dimension - and this is really not a robust reason to prohibit many doping forms"

4) The way the tests are done, all the wherabout system, the breach in intimacy… could all these things have an ethic justification according to you ?  

"Not at all. We find ourselves in a world where kids in high schools are being tested for sport related drugs. How far are we prepared to go in violating personal privacy to attempt to protect a level playing field? I think it's gone too far and, like Yannick Noah, sympathize with the idea that a change is necessary"

5) Do you think sport can keep living in its own square while the rest of society is taking substances to be better an more performant ?  

"Far from it. The world of sports is soon going to hit a massive road block with anti-doping. We live in a world where the use of human enhancement technologies - from laser eye surgery to cognitive enhancements  - are becoming features of 21st century living. What value will anti-doping have in an era where everyone has been genetically selected and optimized? None. Sports need to make changes soon, or risk being completely redundant activities"

Media Ethics: Is the sky falling?

Tomorrow - or later today if I find my password - I will publish this article on the Huffington Post, but here's a sneak preview: Professor Andy Miah considers why the UK Leveson Inquiry into Press Ethics should lead us to conclude that, while journalists shouldn't be hacking our phones, we should be hacking theirs.

The UK's Leveson Inquiry this week brings into focus the many debates that have taken place over the last two months about whether the British media's ethical foundation needs a radical overhaul after the apparent transgressions that have occurred through the News of the World phone hacking controversy. Many of these debates have global implications, given the nature of news syndication today; News International being among the most obvious example.

Much of the moral debate on this subject has focused on the case of Milly Dowler's family who are perhaps the most worthy victims in this situation. The knowledge of their daughter's voicemail being hacked at such a crucial time in the investigation of their daughter's disappearance amplified the trauma they experienced around Milly's death.

However, among the most crucial aspects of this debate is the way that celebrities – notably Hugh Grant and Steve Coogan – have intervened to speak on behalf of a community for which many people are unlikely to find much sympathy – the rich and famous.

One of the challenges with celebrity witnesses in any legal environment is that their creative personas often intertwine with the public's opinion about the merit of their concerns. Who didn't watch Steve Coogan's testimony and expert to hear a joke? And we got one or two. Upon noting that he saw journalists rummaging through his bins he noted that they did not look like tramps, adding “well almost”.

Equally, the reporting of celebrity testimonies occurs via the people who are the subjects of their criticisms – journalists. So, it is always risky when appealing to people with public profiles to establish the facts, especially when attempting to aid the public understanding of legal debates. In part, this is why many courts maintain a distance from media reporting, so as not to pollute the hearing with media opinion.

This isn't the first time that celebrities have questioned the intrusion of the press – the Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones wedding photos debacle between Hello and Ok! Magazines or Earl Spencer's pursuit of a European ruling on privacy are two of many more instances that have occurred over the years. Yet, the difference here is that the debate about the phone hacking case has focused more on the ethical rather than the legal changes that may be necessary to make. But, what ethical principles have been broken or which of them should more adequately be upheld?

One of the challenges in this case is that the difference between morality and ethics have been conflated. To be clear, journalists are governed by ethical codes but, in this case, it is the absence of a moral conscience that has caused more outrage, rather than just a transgression from an ethical framework. Codes of ethics compel rather than determine how people will act within a professional context. In contrast, moral convictions tend to prevail without the need for professional coercion.

This difference between morality and ethics is crucial when deciding what should be done. Journalists often operate by their own sense of morality when investigating stories and, at times, this may challenge their Editor's own sense of morality. Sometimes, this is a good thing, especially when Editors become too powerful and a newspaper loses sight of its public obligation, as may be said of News of the World. However, when the Editors and the journalists lose any degree of commonality in their sense of what is in the public interest and worthy of reporting, then we find a situation like the present case.

The public interest and respect for privacy is the standard moral tensions within debates such as this one. Journalists have claimed that there is no better way to find the truth than to listen to somebody's private messages, while the victims of hacking claim that privacy must still ensue despite their celebrity lifestyle.

There are a number of bad arguments that surround this case. It is inaccurate to claim that a person's phone messages are any great insight into truth; they are fragments of conversations at best. Even if they were helpful in determining facts, embracing such modes of practice within journalism would lead to the end of all privacy claims for all kinds of people - perhaps everyone. This would include permitting access to how journalists obtain their stories through coercion or entrapment. We would find ourselves in a situation where homes are wire tapped at will and by a range of institutions on the basis of public interest. The absence of all privacy is unlikely to create a very trusting society, as previous countries that have taken government surveillance too far have found.

Yet, the public interest argument is also disingenuous. To claim public interest over the justification for publishing stories about the sex lives of celebrities is a huge stretch of the concept. In these cases, it is commercial interests rather than public that are served, where the primary beneficiaries are media organizations, not the general public. At most, a member of the public may choose to consume a different form of leisure experience upon learning of any perceived moral transgression of the key actors, but this is hardly a greater good than the harm that may ensue for the individuals concerned, not to mention their families.

Both Hugh Grant and Steve Coogan are right that their being celebrities does not, in itself, legitimate intrusion into their private lives. There is no 'faustian pact' - as Coogan puts it - even for the celebrities who court the media. There must always be a point at which they – indeed, we – can say no to journalists and expect our privacy to be respected. An obvious example of this is reporting on the children of celebrities. Were the concept of privacy completely dead, then we would tolerate many more intrusions than is presently the case. We don't, because privacy still matters.

A second problem concerns whether or not the kind of journalists that are the focus of this conversation should be called journalists at all, as opposed to some other kind of media professional with a different code of ethics and different public expectations. Such a change in status would lead to a situation where the coverage of celebrities would occur via some form of contractual agreement, rather than free press. Importantly, this would not mean the demise of a free press, only that many of the periodicals whose work is primarily entertainment than news would lose these freedoms. I see no great loss in this regard, especially as most so-called news content derives from the work press officers and agents anyway.

There is one other further dimension to this debate that is rarely discussed, which is people's reliance on the media in an era when content is open and available. Most of us don't have time to follow proceedings in full, but today we have the opportunity to watch the full, unedited testimonies of the Leveson Inquiry witnesses without having to rely on a mediated interpretation. Today, public institutions have become news providers and our reliance on traditional media should be reduced considerably. In an era of pervasive media, we have also recreated an unmediated world.

So what is the answer to the question about how the press should be regulated? A number of ideas have been discussed from licenses for journalists to leaving things just as they are and making the present regulatory systems more effective. Some have argued that the system is perfectly fine – the journalists were caught by the system - and that any regulatory system will always be imperfect. As such, the possible loss of a free press that may ensue from tighter regulation would outweigh the possible infractions that evidently do occur within the present system.

The loss of a free press has such great implications for society that the anxieties of celebrity's losing control of their private lives is unlikely to be of any great significance in the grand scale of things. However, public laws are put in place for all kinds of people and we are asked to imagine how they would affect not just celebrities but people from any walk of life who may find themselves in a position of vulnerability, as is true of the Dowler family.

On this basis, change is necessary. Self-regulation with independent auditing is a much better way to monitor ethical practice – it works quite well in hospitals with Institutional Review Boards, for example. The press needs a much stronger internal ethical structure than is presently in place. Such boards should benefit from independent consultation from media ethicists and lawyers, whom are able to critically scrutinize day-to-day practice.

Such a system may also include, for instance, journalists having their own communications recorded in the course of their work, so as to later scrutinize their methods. If call centres monitor the calls with clients, why shouldn't journalists have their calls monitored 'for training purposes'? Journalists shouldn't be hacking our phones, we should be hacking theirs.

Why Anti-Doping Will Not Last

Presentation from Universitat Pompeu Fabra Law School last month

The Ethics of Sports

Unknown to me, I have a chapter in this Reader published by Routledge. My chapter focuses on the doping debate, arguing that concerns about health risk still dominate the ethical debate.

The democratising role of the web (2011)

the Roy Stringer lecture at FACT, Liverpool, myself with Martha Lane Fox, community engagement expert Patrick Fox (FACT / Arena Housing), Director of Strategy at Aurora Media John Egan, and Natalie Gross, Managing Partner at Amaze, to discuss the democratising role of the web, how digital content can help encourage people who have never been on the Internet to take their first steps online, and the role the cultural and creative industries can play in introducing off-liners to digital content.

Leadership in Science & Technology

Just published a new book chapter in this large 2-part volume by SAGE. My chapter is on Leadership in New Media. Here's a link to the book:

Finally, here's an outline of the contents (taken from the draft version):

Leadership in Science and Technology
Edited by William Sims Bainbridge

Leadership in Science and Technology, a 2-volume set within the SAGE Reference Series on Leadership, tackles issues relevant to leadership in the realm of science and technology. Progress in science and technology is a truly global enterprise, and leaders must have not only organizational skills and solid scientific expertise but also a vision to see farther than others do and social skills to join together other creative scientists and engineers to see how their work might contribute to a greater whole. This handbook will have 100 topics arranged under eight headings. Volume 1 will focus on general principles of science and technology leadership, whereas Volume 2 will provide case studies of leadership in science and technology.

There are really three related audiences for this handbook.  First, students will use it as a reference work, certainly for their school projects and perhaps even to help them think through future careers they themselves might have in science and technology.  Second, faculty and social science researchers will draw upon it for ideas, lecture material, literature citations, and other information that will contribute to their work.  Third, policy makers and other leaders in science and technology fields will draw upon it for inspiration and practical advice.

The general outline of the two volumes is as follows:

Volume  I: General Principles of Science and Technology Leadership
1. Social-scientific Perspectives on Science and Technology Leadership
2. Key Scientific Concepts about Leading and Innovating in Science and Technology
3. Characteristics of Science and Technology Leaders and their Contexts
4. Strategies, Tactics, and Tools of Science and Technology Leadership

Volume II: Case Studies of Leadership in Science and Technology
5. Leadership in Informal Communities of Scientists and Engineers
6. Leadership in Government Projects and Research Initiatives
7. Leadership in Industry Research, Development, and Innovation
8. Leadership in Education and University-Based Research

As of December 31, 2009, authors had agreed to write 69 of the projected 100 chapters:

002. Anthropology - Baba, Marietta L.
	https://www.msu.edu/~mbaba/
003. Cognitive Science - Rubin, Philip
	 http://www.haskins.yale.edu/staff/rubinbio.html
007. Philosophy - Kronz, Frederick M.
	http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~kronz/
009. Future Studies - Sardar, Ziauddin
	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziauddin_Sardar
010. Social Psychology - Lovaglia, Michael J.
	http://www.uiowa.edu/~soc/people/lovaglia.html
011. Sociology - Bainbridge, William Sims
	http://www.nsf.gov/staff/staff_bio.jsp?lan=wbainbri&org=IIS&from_org=IIS
012. Diffusion of Innovation - Gluesing, Julia Catherine
	http://www.ime.wayne.edu/bio.php?id=857
013. National Pre-eminence - Greenfeld, Liah
	http://www.bu.edu/uni/faculty/profiles/greenfeld.html
014. Human Subjects Research - Craig-Henderson, Kellina M.
http://www.gs.howard.edu/gradprograms/social_psychology1.htm
015. Research Groups - Hackett, Edward J. & Parker, John N.
	https://sec.was.asu.edu/directory/person/33115
016. Mechanizing Ethics - Wallach, Wendell
http://www.yale.edu/bioethics/studygrps_techno.shtml
017. Sustainability - Fischer, Douglas H.
http://www.vuse.vanderbilt.edu/~dfisher/
018. Technological Convergence - Roco, Mihail C.
	http://www.nsf.gov/eng/staff/mroco.jsp
019. Standards of Research and Misconduct - Braxton, John
	http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/x4611.xml
020. Creative Destruction - McKnight, Lee W. & Kuehn, Andreas	http://ischool.syr.edu/facstaff/member.aspx?id=355
021. Moral Exemplars	 - Huff, Charles William & Hughes, Kelly S.	http://www.stolaf.edu/people/huff/
022. Controversies - Martin, Brian
	http://www.uow.edu.au/~bmartin/
023. Design Innovation - Maher, Mary Lou	http://www.nsf.gov/staff/staff_bio.jsp?lan=mmaher&org=NSF
024. International Cooperation	Suskin, Mark
	http://www.nsf.gov/staff/staff_bio.jsp?lan=msuskin
025. Political Economy - Taylor, Mark Zachary
	http://www.inta.gatech.edu/faculty-staff/listing.php?uID=36
027. Fallibility and Authority - Roush, Sherrilyn
	http://philosophy.berkeley.edu/roush
029. Human Dimensions of Biology -  Maienschein, Jane
http://sols.asu.edu/people/faculty/jmaienschein.php
030. Gender Diversity - Frehill, Lisa
http://www.cpst.org/web/site/pages/welcome/Lisa_Bio.html
031. Intellectual Property Rights - Clarkson, Gavin
	http://www.gavinclarkson.com/
032. Product Liability - Cantor, Robin
http://www.exponent.com/robin_cantor/
034. Public Attitudes Toward Science and Technology - Inglehart, Ronald	http://polisci.lsa.umich.edu/faculty/ringlehart.html
035. Urban and Regional Planning - Tonn, Bruce
http://isse.utk.edu/staff/tonn.html
036. Science Careers - Hermanowicz, Joseph
	http://www.uga.edu/soc/people/faculty/hermanowicz_joseph.php
038. Ethics as Constraints and Goals - Gorman, Michael E.
	http://repo-nt.tcc.virginia.edu/homepage/mg/
039. Gatekeeping - Harris, Rebecca
	http://williams.wlu.edu/whoweare/faculty/harrisr.htm
040. Networking - Börner, Katy
	http://ella.slis.indiana.edu/~katy/
041. Peer Review - Bainbridge, William Sims	http://www.nsf.gov/staff/staff_bio.jsp?lan=wbainbri&org=IIS&from_org=IIS
043. Triple Helix - Etzkowitz, Henry 	http://www.ebnfez2009.com/assets/speakers/henry%20etzkowitz_biography.pdf
044. Computer Simulation - Cioffi-Revilla, Claudio
http://socialcomplexity.gmu.edu/director.php
046. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education - Suter, Larry E.	http://www.nsf.gov/staff/staff_bio.jsp?lan=lsuter&org=EHR&from_org=EHR
047. Virtual Organizations - Lutters, Wayne G. & Winter, Susan
	http://userpages.umbc.edu/~lutters/
048. Managing for Innovation - Trott, Paul 	http://www.port.ac.uk/departments/academic/hrmm/staff/title,22618,en.html
049. Science Policy - Lane, Julia I. & Fealing, Kaye Husbands	http://www.nsf.gov/staff/staff_bio.jsp?lan=jlane&org=NSF
050. Science Journalism - Lewenstein, Bruce V.	http://www.comm.cornell.edu/staff/employee/bruce_v_lewenstein.html
053. Open Source Software Development - Scacchi, Walt
	http://www.isr.uci.edu/~wscacchi/
054. Social Science Data Archives - Finke, Roger & Bader, Christopher D. & Whitehead, Andrew
	http://www.sociology.psu.edu/people/faculty/finke.shtml
055. Quantum Theory - Frappier, Melanie
	http://www.ukings.ca/kings_3635_11587.html
056. Sociobiology - Segerstrale, Ullica
	http://www.iit.edu/csl/ss/faculty/segerstrale_ullica.shtml
058. Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) - Harrison, Albert A	http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/faculty/Harrison/
059. Transhumanism - Hughes, James J.
	http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/bio/hughes/
060. Human Relations Area Files - Ember, Carol
	http://www.yale.edu/hraf/
061. The Psychoanalytic Movement - Bainbridge, William Sims	http://www.nsf.gov/staff/staff_bio.jsp?lan=wbainbri&org=IIS&from_org=IIS
062. High Resolution Computer Tomography Virtual Organization - Tapia, Andrea H. & Ocker, Rosalie & Rosson, Mary Beth & Ryan, Timothy & Blodgett, Bridgett
	http://andreatapia.net/
063. The Protein Data Bank - Berman, Helen M.
	http://rutchem.rutgers.edu/content_dynamic/faculty/helen_m_berman.shtml
065. Digital Library Initiative - Lesk, Michael
	http://www.lesk.com/mlesk/
066. Information Technology Research - Kiesler, Sara
	http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~kiesler/
067. University Corporation for Atmospheric Research - Jacobs, Clifford A.
	http://www.nsf.gov/staff/staff_list.jsp?orgId=126&subDiv=y
068. National Nanotechnology Initiative - Roco, Mihail C.
	http://www.nsf.gov/eng/staff/mroco.jsp
070. German V-2 Rocket Project - Bainbridge, William Sims	http://www.nsf.gov/staff/staff_bio.jsp?lan=wbainbri&org=IIS&from_org=IIS
071. Apollo Project - Launius, Roger D.
	http://www.si.edu/ofg/Staffhp/launiusr.htm
077. Polar Research - Korsmo, Fae L.
	http://www.nsf.gov/od/oia/staff/korsmo.jsp
078. The Mars Exploration Rover Mission - Vertesi, Janet
	http://janet.vertesi.com
080. Vaccination - Stein, Richard A.
	http://www.medpedia.com/users/226
081. Geographic Information Systems - Goodchild, Michael
	http://www.geog.ucsb.edu/~good/
084. Services Science - Spohrer, James C.
	http://www.almaden.ibm.com/coevolution/bio/index.shtml?spohrer
087. Robotics in Japan - Yuh, Junku
	http://www.hau.ac.kr/english/introduce/profile.htm
088. Engineering Education - Seely, Bruce E.
	http://www.social.mtu.edu/people/bseely.htm
089. Chicago School of Sociology - Papachristos, Andrew V	http://www.umass.edu/sociol/faculty_staff/papachristos.html
091. AAAS Education Programs - Chubin, Daryl E.
	http://www.aaas.org/ScienceTalk/chubin.shtml
092. Biology Postsecondary Education - Boylan, Myles
	http://www.nsf.gov/staff/staff_bio.jsp?lan=mboylan
093. Internet - Strawn, George O.
	http://www.nsf.gov/oirm/cio.jsp
096. Harvard Department of Social Relations - Bainbridge, William Sims	http://www.nsf.gov/staff/staff_bio.jsp?lan=wbainbri&org=IIS&from_org=IIS
098. The Open University (UK) - Bissell, Chris
	http://technology.open.ac.uk/tel/people/bissell/
100. The "New Math" - Raimi, Ralph A.
	http://www.math.rochester.edu/people/faculty/rarm/

Biosketch of the Editor:

William Sims Bainbridge is the author of 20 books and about 200 articles in the areas of sociology of technology, social movements, and research methodologies.  His first book, based on his 1975 Harvard doctoral dissertation in sociology, was a study of leadership in the social movement that produced spaceflight technology.  In the early 1980s, he began writing computer programs: (1) to model social interaction using artificial intelligence techniques, (2) to manage and analyze data in ways that existing statistical packages could not do, and (3) as educational tools to let students explore methods of data collection and analysis.  A recent example of the first category is his 2006 book, God from the Machine, for which he programmed a neural network multi-agent system to simulate religious cognition and conversion in a large community.  An example of the second category is his 1991 book, Goals in Space: American Values and the Future of Technology, which required reducing a correlation matrix based on questionnaire data that was too large for the available commercial software, using novel clustering algorithms.  Examples of the third category include two instructional packages combining a textbook with a suite of programs:  Survey Research: A Computer-Assisted Introduction (1989) and Social Research Methods and Statistics (1992).

After twenty years teaching in major universities, for the last seventeen years he has served as a program officer managing review of grant proposals in the social science and computer science directorates of the National Science Foundation.  His current NSF concentration is in Human-Centered Computing, which harmonizes with his recent independent research and editing in the new field of online virtual worlds.  His cover-featured article in the July 27, 2007 issue of Science explained the scientific potential of these virtual communities and Internet-based collaboration environments, and he recently began holding NSF grant proposal review panels on a virtual “island” in Second Life.  His book about World of Warcraft is about to be published by MIT Press.  After organizing the first large scientific meeting inside World of Warcraft in May 2008, in cooperation with Science, he edited a book growing out of the proceedings, Online Worlds, about to be published by Springer.  His small textbook, Online Multiplayer Games, is about to be published by Morgan and Claypool, and he has just completed a new book manuscript, The Virtual Future, on how virtual worlds depict advanced science and technology.

He has extensive experience editing publications on the societal implications of nanotechnology, converging technologies, and human-computer interaction.  In addition to special issues of journals and the forthcoming book Online Worlds, he has edited or co-edited:

2001 Societal Implications of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer. (Mihail C. Roco and WSB). Online at http://www.wtec.org/loyola/nano/societalimpact/nanosi.pdf

2003 Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer. (Mihail C. Roco and WSB). Online at http://www.wtec.org/ConvergingTechnologies/

2004 Encyclopedia of Human-Computer Interaction. Great Barrington, Massachusetts: Berkshire.

2006 Progress in Convergence: Technologies for Human Wellbeing. New York: New York Academy of Sciences. (WSB and Mihail C. Roco).

2006 Nanotechnology: Societal Implications--Maximizing Benefit for Humanity. Berlin: Springer. (Mihail C. Roco and WSB). Online at http://www.nano.gov/nni_societal_implications.pdf

2006 Nanotechnology: Societal Implications--Individual Perspectives. Berlin: Springer. (Mihail C. Roco and WSB). Online at http://www.wtec.org/SocietalImplications/2/si2vii_report.pdf 

2006 Managing Nano-Bio-Info-Cogno Innovations: Converging Technologies in Society. Berlin: Springer. (WSB and Mihail C. Roco).

Journalistic Cultures, Moscow

Tomorrow, I'll be heading to Russia to speak at Moscow State University for a Journalism conference. Here's the programme.

The 3rd International Media Readings in Moscow
Mass Media and Communications – 2011

JOURNALISTIC CULTURES:
FACING SOCIAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGES

CONFERENCE PROGRAM 

November 10, 2011 (Thursday)

Registration / Coffee
14.00

Round Table
(Russian Language)
16.00-18.00
Room 103
Moderators Dr. Olga Minaeva / Dr. Irina Prokhorova

To the 300th Anniversary of Mikhailo Lomonosov, the Founder of MSU

Session 1-1
16.00-18.00
Room Newsroom
Moderator Dr. Józef Kloch

Religious Impact on Journalism Cultures

A SPOKESMAN OF A CHURCH INSTITUTION AS A COMMUNICATOR, INTERPRETER AND NEGOTIATOR OF CHURCH’S REALITY IN THE ERA OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Monika Przybysz, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw, Poland

RELIGION IN PUBLIC LIFE OF RUSSIA TODAY
Roman Lunkin, Woodrow Wilson International Center, Washington, D.C., USA
Institute of Europe, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia

THE JOURNALIST ETHOS AND BIBLE PROFANATION
Józef Kloch, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw, Poland

RELIGIOUS ETHOS AND JOURNALISM ETHICS: RUSSIAN CONTEXT
Victor Khroul, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia

COMMEMORATIONS: THE BATTLE OVER MEMORY
Mihai Coman, Universite Stendhal, Grenoble3, France
College of Journalism and Mass Communication, Bucarest University, Romania

FAIRNESS AND ACCURACY IN WRITING ABOUT RELIGION - TOO HARD A TASK?
Anna Danilova, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia

MEDIA EVANGELISATION AS A TECHNICAL MEDIATISATION OF RELIGION
Daria Klimenko, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia

Session 1-2 (Russian Language)
16.00-18.00
Room 333
Moderator Prof. Svetlana Balmaeva 

ЖУРНАЛИСТ, СМИ И ДОВЕРИЕ ОБЩЕСТВА
JOURNALIST, MEDIA AND THE SOCIETY’S TRUST
Алла Александровна Ширяева, МГУ имени М. В. Ломоносова (Alla Shiryaeva, Lomonosov Moscow State University)

СОВРЕМЕННАЯ ЖУРНАЛИСТИКА: РЕВОЛЮЦИЯ ЦЕННОСТЕЙ?
MODERN JOURNALISM: REVOLUTION OF VALUES?
Татьяна Ивановна Фролова, МГУ им. М. В. Ломоносова (Tatiana Frolova, Lomonosov Moscow State University)

ЦЕНТР И РЕГИОНЫ РОССИИ В МОДЕЛИРОВАНИИ МЕДИАСИСТЕМЫ
RUSSIAN FEDERAL CENTER AND REGIONS IN MEDIA SYSTEM MODELLING
Юрий Михайлович Ершов, Томский государственный университет (Yury Ershov, Tomsk State University)

ФОРМИРОВАНИЕ НОВЫХ СТАНДАРТОВ ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНОЙ КУЛЬТУРЫ ЖУРНАЛИСТОВ В ТРАНСФОРМИРУЮЩИХСЯ ПРАВОВОМ ПОЛЕ И КОРПОРАТИВНОЙ СРЕДЕ
FORMING NEW STANDARDS OF PROFESSIONAL CULTURE FOR JOURNALISTS IN TRANSFORMING LAW AND CORPORATE ENVIRONMENT
Сергей Павлович Булах, Дальневосточный федеральный университет (Sergey Bulakh, Dalnevostochny Federal University) 

ЭТИКА ФОТОЖУРНАЛИСТИКИ: ОБЛАСТЬ МОРАЛЬНОГО И ПРАВОВОГО РЕГУЛИРОВАНИЯ
ETHICS OF PHOTO JOURNALISM: FIELDS OF MORAL AND LAW REGULATION
Алексей Маслов, Воронежский государственный университет (Alexey Maslov, Voronezh State University)

INSTANT PUBLISHING: РАСШИРЕНИЕ ПРОСТРАНСТВА МЕДИА
INSTANT PUBLISHING: EXPANDING MEDIA SPACE
Владимир Владимирович Харитонов, Гуманитарный университет Екатеринбурга (Vladimir Kharitonov, Humanitarian University in Ekaterinburg) 

Session 1-3 (Poster Session)
14.00-18.00
By the Registration Desk

Excursions
18.30

November 11, 2011 (Friday)

Opening Ceremony and Welcome Addresses to the Conference Participants
9.30-9.40
Room 232

Session 2
(Plenary – English Language / Synch. Translation)
9.40-11.30
Room 232
Moderator Prof. Elena Vartanova

Yassen N. Zassoursky, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia

GLOBAL JOURNALISTS: WHAT DO WE KNOW AND WHAT SHOULD WE KNOW?
David H. Weaver, Indiana University, U.S.A.

ACCOUNTING FOR DIVERSITY IN JOURNALISM CULTURES
Thomas Hanitzsch, University of Munich, Germany

POLISH JOURNALISTS TWO DECADES AFTER THE COMMUNISM
Prof. Bogusława Dobek-Ostrowska, University of Wrocław, Poland

REINVENTING COMMUNICATION: FROM SAGAS TO TWITTS
Andrey Korotkov, State Institute of International Affairs (University), Russia

Coffee Break
11.30-12.00

Session 3
(Plenary – Russian Language / Synch. Translation)
12.00-13.30
Room 232
Moderator Prof. Boris Lozovsky 

ЖУРНАЛИСТИКА В УСЛОВИЯХ ИНСТИТУЦИОНАЛЬНОГО КРИЗИСА
JOURNALISM UNDER INSTITUTIONAL CRISIS
Светлана Дашиевна Балмаева, Гуманитарный университет Екатеринбурга (Svetlana Balmaeva, Humanitarian University in Ekaterinburg)

ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНАЯ КУЛЬТУРА И ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНОЕ СООБЩЕСТВО: МЕХАНИЗМЫ ВЗАИМОДЕЙСТВИЯ
(PROFESSIONAL CULTURE AND PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITY: MECHANISMS OF INTERACTION)
Иосиф Михайлович Дзялошинский, Национальный исследовательский университет «Высшая школа экономики» (Josef Dzyaloshynsky, National Research University – The Higher School of Economics)

СОВРЕМЕННЫЕ ТЕХНОЛОГИЧЕСКИЕ ОСОБЕННОСТИ РАБОТЫ РЕДАКЦИЙ МЕЖДУНАРОДНОЙ ГАЗЕТНОЙ ГРУППЫ METRO И ИХ ВЛИЯНИЕ НА РЕДАКЦИОННУЮ КУЛЬТУРУ
MODERN WORKING TECHNICS FOR NEWSROOMS OF METRO INTERNATIONAL AND THEIR IMPACT ON NEWSROOM CULTURE
Борис Васильевич Коношенко, Генеральный директор-шеф редактор газеты Metro Москва (Boris Konoshenko, CEO/Editor-in-Chief Metro Moscow)

РЕГИОНАЛЬНЫЕ СМИ РОССИИ: МУЛЬТИМЕДИА И ЭКОНОМИКА
REGIONAL MEDIA IN RUSSIA: MULTIMEDIA AND ECONOMICS
Валерий Викторович Бакшин, Дальневосточный федеральный университет (Valery Bakshin, Dalnevostochny Federal University)

К ПРОБЛЕМЕ ТРАНСОФРМАЦИИ РЕГИОНАЛЬНЫХ  МЕДИАКУЛЬТУР В СОВРЕМЕННОЙ РОССИИ: ЛОКАЛИЗАЦИЯ  ИЛИ ГЛОБАЛИЗАЦИЯ?
TRANSFORMATION OF REGIONAL MEDIACULTURES IN MODERN RUSSIA: LOCALIZATION OR GLOBALIZATION?
Александр Валентинович Чернов, Гуманитарный институт Череповецкого государственного университета (Alexander Chernov, Cherepovets State University)

Lunch
13.30-14.30

Session 4
Presentations of the European Journalism Research Groups
14.30-15.30
Room 232
Moderator Dr. Maria Anikina 

EUROPEAN JOURNALISM OBSERVATORY
Natasha Fioretti

THE WORLDS OF JOURNALISM STUDY
Thomas Hanitzsch 

JOURNALISM IN CHANGE - PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTIC CULTURES IN RUSSIA, POLAND AND SWEDEN
Gunnar Nygren

Session 5-1
15.40-17.10
Room 333
Moderator Dr. Anastasia Alekseeva

SOCIOLOGICAL CULTURE AS THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENT OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTIC CULTURE
Maria Anikina, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia

MOTIVATION BEHIND THE USE OF SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES AMONG YOUTH IN INDIA
Khattri Neeraj, Trinity Institute of Professional Studies, India

A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF SOCIO-CULTURAL IMPACT OF NEW MEDIA ON USERS IN INDIA
Usha Rani Narayana, University of Mysore, India

JOURNALISM IN AN INNOVATION SOCIETY – A NEW ONTOLOGICAL STATUS?
Marina Shilina, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia 

ETHICS IN JOURNALISM AND SOCIAL VALUES IN A PERIOD OF SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION
Inessa Filatova, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia

Session 5-2
15.40-17.10
Room 103
Moderator Dr. Thomas Hanitzch

JOURNALISM IN CHANGE – PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTIC CULTURES IN RUSSIA, POLAND AND SWEDEN
Gunnar Nygren, Södertörn University, Sweden

THE IMPORTANCE OF JOURNALISTIC COMPETENCES FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES
Carmen Koch, Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), Institute of Applied Media Studies (IAM)
Vinzenz Wyss, Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), Institute of Applied Media Studies (IAM) 

MEASURING PRESS DIFFERENCES: AN UPDATE
Xu Xiaoge, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

THE INSTITUTIONAL ROLE OF JOURNALISM IN THE CONTEXT OF THE CAMPAIGN FUNDING CRISIS IN FINLAND
Sinikka Torkkola, University of Tampere, Finland
Anne Koski, University of Tampere, Finland

Session 6-1
17.20-18.50
Room 333
Moderator Annina Stoffel

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION OF JAPANESE JOURNALISM IN THE INTERNET AGE
Watanabe Takesato, Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan

JOURNALISM RELOADED – OR WHAT JOURNALISTS NEED FOR THE FUTURE
Alexandra Stark, MAZ – The Swiss School of Journalism, Switzerland

NEW GENERATION OF RUSSIAN JOURNALISTS: FROM DIGITAL ADVANCEMENT TO DIGITAL ADDICTION
Olga Smirnova, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia

NEW BRANDED MEDIA: THE FUTURE OF JOURNALISM
Anastasia Alekseeva, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia

Session 6-2
17.20-18.50
Room 103
Moderator Bogusława Dobek-Ostrowska

RUSSIAN AND SWEDISH JOURNALISTS – PROFESSIONAL ROLES, IDEALS AND DAILY REALITY
Elena Degtereva, Södertörn University, Sweden, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia
Gunnar Nygren, Södertörn University, Sweden

TRANSFORMING JOURNALISTIC CULTURES IN RUSSIA: RESEARCH PERSPECTIVE
Maria Anikina, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia

RUSSIAN JOURNALISM AS A SOCIAL LIFT
Svetlana Pasti, University of Tampere, Finland

DIFFERENT JOURNALISTIC CULTURES AND THE NATIONAL IDENTITY IN LATVIA
Ainars Dimants, School of Business Administration Turiba, Latvia 

Dinner
19.00
November 12, 2011 (Saturday)

Session 7
Plenary
(English Language / Synch. Translation)
9.30-11.30
Room 232
Moderator Dr. Mikhail Makeenko 

RUSSIAN JOURNALISM; THE CLASH OF PROFESIONAL CULTURES
Elena Vartanova, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia

THE LONG PASSAGE OF HISTORY: THE EVOLUTION OF PROFESSIONALISM AMONG JOURNALISTS AND THEIR INTERNATIONAL CONTACTS
Kaarle Nordenstreng, University of Tampere, Finland

MEDIA ETHICS IN AN AGE OF CONTROVERSY AND CONFUSION
Clifford Christians, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA

CRISIS OF THE FOURTH ESTATE AND RISE OF THE FIFTH ESTATE
Gregory Simons, Uppsala University, Sweden

SOCIAL MEDIA: CITIZEN JOURNALISM AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES Andy Miah, University of the West of Scotland 

Coffee Break
11.30-12.00

Session 8-1
12.00-13.50
Room 103
Moderator Dr. Greg Simons

ARE JOURNALISTS REALLY THAT DIFFERENT? A COMPARATIVE LOOK AT THE DEMOGRAPHICS, ROLES AND VALUES OF JOURNALISTS AROUND THE WORLD
David H. Weaver, Indiana University, U.S.A.

BETWEEN NEWS DESKS, SOCIAL NETWORKS AND CLICK COUNTS – CATALYSTS OF CHANGE IN SWISS JOURNALISM
Vinzenz Wyss, Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), Institute of Applied Media Studies (IAM)
Annina Stoffel, Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), Institute of Applied Media Studies (IAM) 

AUTONOMY AND JOURNALISTIC CULTURE THREATS AND OPPORTUNITIES IN A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE
Jöran Hök, Södertörn University, Sweden

NEWS CONTENT SHARING IN CONVERGENT AUSTRALIAN NEWSROOMS: THE ETHICS OF ONLINE REUSE CULTURE
Tim Dwyer, University of Sydney, Australia

POLISH JOURNALISTS AND NEW MEDIA: MAINTAINING PROFESSIONALISM OR DEPROFESSIONALIZATION?
Bogusława Dobek-Ostrowska, University of Wrocław, Poland
Michał Głowacki, University of Warsaw, Poland

Session 8-2
12.00-13.50
Room 333
Moderator Dr. Galina Perypechina

PUBLIC DISCUSSION AS A HOLISTIC POLISUBJECT TEXT
Irina Fomicheva, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia

CONTEMPORARY DEVELOPMENT OF DOCUMENTARY CINEMA THROUGH THE MEANS OF INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM
Renate Cane, School of Business Administration Turiba, Latvia

RADIO EKHO MOSKVY AS A PHENOMENON OF CONTEMPORARY BROADCASTING JOURNALISM
Ludmila Bolotova, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia
EkaterinaBolotova, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia 

JOURNALISTIC CULTURE OF THE RUSSIAN TV POLITICAL OBSERVERS: CONDITIONS FOR FORMATION
Yulia Dolgova, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia

TRAGEDY ON THE RUSSIAN TV SCREEN'11: ETHICAL AND NORMATIVE ASPECTS
Yuliya Yakusheva, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia

SPECIFIC FEATURES OF MULTIMEDIA CONTENT IN JOURNALISM
Diana Kulchitskaya, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia

Closing Remarks
14.00-14.20
Room 232

Lunch
14.30

thumbnail photo by David Gordillo, Flickr

#OccupyLSX

Photographs from #OccupyLSX taken yesterday

#battleofideas

Photos from this year's Battle.  

Smart Drugs

In advance of one event I'm involved with at the Battle of Ideas this weekend, I've written a brief article for the Independent. The title is'People should be free to take smart drugs if they choose to'. Here's the link and the text below.

People should be free to take smart drugs if they choose to

If you could take a pill that would instantly improve your memory or increase your ability to make sense of complex ideas, perhaps even make discoveries worthy of a Nobel prize, would you? What if you could enhance your capacity to assimilate new languages in a fraction of the time than would otherwise be necessary to become fluent? Answers to these questions may now become more urgent as a range of cognitive enhancements are quickly becoming available via pharmaceutical research.

Many of the early signs of these prospects arise from drugs that are presently used primarily to treat medical problems, one of the most famous of which is Ritalin. However, the candidate drugs that could enhance our cognitive abilities is endless and all we are asked to do is decide on whether or not we think their use for general enhancement rather than just therapy is a good idea.

It seems beyond question that many of the benefits of smart drugs would be valued my most people. Who wouldn’t want to make ground breaking discoveries or be able to perform better in exams? Just this week, the journal Annals of Surgery reported improved performance of doctors who use the cognitive alertness drug modafinil.

However, there are also practical reasons for why we would want to improve our cognitive ability on a day to day basis. Being able to remember where we left our keys or what we had to buy at the supermarket spring to mind. Of course, it’s unlikely that people would risk any serious long term health problems that may arise from using smart drugs, so a major obstacle to their use is being able to reduce these concerns.

After that, we may then need to consider what counts as being smarter, so as to have a better idea about what we need to enhance. Answers to this question have eluded artificial intelligence researchers for years, though we do know that there are different kinds of intelligence – logical or emotional, for example – and the improvement of each may require quite different techniques and imply quite distinct consequences. Equally, we would want to know if there were any trade offs in cognitive improvement. For instance, is advanced logical functioning detrimental to the more empathetic dimensions of our humanity?

As well, one of the big questions that follows from a society of brain enhancements is whether their use may be justified for state intervention, perhaps in trying to improve the memory of witnesses in courts of law where evidence depends on it. Alternatively, might society seek to improve the empathetic capacities of criminals so as to more effectively facilitation their rehabilitation?

There can be no doubt that all of these alterations will dramatically change who we are, the conditions of our existence and the order of things within society. No longer would a great school or good parents be such a great influence on whether or not one is able to excel in life. No longer would people who have been unable to excel as youngsters for whatever reason be restricted by this past.

Some would argue that these magic bullets to self-improvement are in fact ways of cheating ourselves, as they would rob us of the journey or process that is required to achieve great things. However, there are many things we do presently that require little effort, but which can have similar enhancing effects – such as sleeping well, drinking coffee every morning, or eating oily fish.

We don’t worry about whether these tactics compromise some sense of our own authenticity, so why should drugs be any different? Neither do we worry that they undermine some other route towards self-improvement, such as studying very hard or paying attention to what’s happening around us.

It seems to me that life is hard enough as it is and the prospect of smart drugs could improve the overall circumstances of many people. If more people have improved levels of all forms of intelligence, then we would find ourselves in a much richer society. This is also why we value education, because we believe that an enlightened mind can make a greater contribution to society and may even lead to a more enriched life. This does not mean that only formal education is valuable, but that the merit of learning is universally shared.

Smart drugs may be no different from a range of techniques that we currently employ to educate people more effectively. Of course, there is always some doubt about whether these are actually improvements. For instance, as many people like the idea of learning via an iPad as learning through a blackboard and chalk, but the really smart people realize that each has its use and that new technology does not negate the value of other methods of self-improvement.

This is why individuals should be left to make their own choice and take their best guess at trying to improve their lives. It is also why the state would be obliged to make smart drugs – which are sufficiently safe – available to all. Indeed, it could not afford to do otherwise.

Throughout October and November, The Independent Online is partnering with the Institute of Ideas’ Battle of Ideas festival to present a series of guest blogs from festival speakers on the key questions of our time.

Mozart Reloaded

I am delighted to report the release of Professor Eduardo Miranda's latest musical composition, which includes an essay written by me on the future of music. Eduardo's work operates at the intersection of art, science and music and my essay considers how musical compositions may be made in the future.

Here's a link to the CD and an excerpt from my essay:

Citation:

Miah, A. (2011) Musical Intelligence for the Future, in Miranda, E. (2011) Mozart Reloaded, Sargasso Publishing [audio CD + book].

 It may be no coincidence that Eduardo Miranda refers to his compositions as ‘recombinant’ processes, as this concept alludes to a way in which we might regard them as forms of biotechnological mutation, engineered to bring about new species categories. After all, Miranda’s work leads to the existence of new forms of musical experience and new ways of thinking about composition and creativity.

As with any biological mutation, the role of the creator in these compositions is difficult to specify. While certain processes begin with clearly defined interventions, the creative work also takes on a life of its own, intervening and changing the course of the final creation. We may even think of artwork generally in a similar way, whereby the artist’s influence on the final composition is understood as only one part of the series of processes that lead to the final work. When utilizing artificial intelligence to create art, this ambiguity is even more apparent.

Miranda’s compositions may be the first to answer the complex question of whether machines could ever approximate the kind of intelligence required to create music. In so doing, his work extends a number of discussions that have taken place in recent years about the possibility of artificial intelligence, the role of science and art collaborations, and what it is to be human. 

Roy Stringer Lecture

On Nov 1st, I'll take part in a panel debate that will take place as part of FACT's Roy Stringer Lecture, which is given this year by Martha Lane Fox. The title for the event is 'The Democratising Role of the Web'

Here's a brief on the event:

FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology), in partnership with Amaze, presents the next Roy Stringer lecture with respected entrepreneur and digital champion, Martha Lane Fox. Martha is the UK's Digital Champion and heads up the Race Online 2012 campaign which aims to get the 8.3 million UK residents who have never used the Internet online. She came to prominence after setting up lastminute.com with Brent Hoberman in 1998. She is also a non-executive director of Marks & Spencer, Channel 4 and mydeco.com. Martha joins a panel of guests including Professor Andy Miah, community engagement expert Patrick Fox (FACT / Arena Housing), Director of Strategy at Aurora Media John Eagan, and Natalie Gross, Managing Partner at Amaze, to discuss the democratising role of the web, how digital content can help encourage people who have never been on the Internet to take their first steps online, and the role the cultural and creative industries can play in introducing off-liners to digital content. Andy Miah is Director of the Creative Futures Research Centre and Chair of Ethics and Emerging Technologies in the Faculty of Business & Creative Industries at the University of the West of Scotland. A Fellow of FACT, Miah regularly publishes in major newspapers around the world, which have included The Washington Post, the Guardian and the Independent and the Huffington Post. He is currently a columnist for the Guardian. Peter Barron is Google's head of public relations for Britain, Ireland and the Benelux countries. Before joining Google in 2008, the Belfast-born journalist was editor of the BBC programme Newsnight. Jon Eagan has worked as a communications professional for 25 years as a charity campaigner, political strategist and consultant. He is a regular contributor to regional print and broadcast media and is a director at Liverpool-based communications agency Aurora Media. Aurora developed the 'It's Liverpool' campaign to promote the city. The event will be chaired by Herb Kim (@herbkim). Herb is the CEO of Codeworks, founder of the Thinking Digital Conference and is included in the Wired Magazine & Media Guardian Top 100 lists.

Thumbnail image from Wikipedia

Humanity 2.0

The RSA has just published the video footage to the Humanity 2.0 debate I chaired with panellists Professor Steve Fuller, Dr China Mieville, Dr Sarah Chan & Dr Rachel Armstrong.

Battle of Ideas

From 28-30 October, I'll be speaking at the Battle of Ideas in London. I'll take part in two sessions, both broadly focused on the ethics of biological modification. The first is on Saturday and are titled 'Designer people: is technology making us less human?' (Sun, 1230pm, Lecture Theatre 1) and 'Smart Drugs: Magic Bullet or Cheating Ourselves?' (Sun, 345pm, Lecture Theatre 1)

Here's a brief outline of the programme with other speakers:

http://www.instituteofideas.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday 12 August 2011
Media Contact: Patrick Hayes 07782 133399 / 020 7269 9222
7th Battle of Ideas Festival Programme Announced
The Institute of Ideas today unveils the 7
th
BATTLE OF IDEAS FESTIVAL programme,
featuring a line-up of 350 speakers participating in 75 debates on society’s big issues and
unresolved questions (see: http://www.battleofideas.org.uk/index.php/2011/overview/).
The main weekend festival, held at the Royal College of Art, London on October 29-30, showcases
keynote debates entitled:
Battle against the fates; Profiting Responsibly? Business in the Big Society; Creativity and Curiosity:
do we make stuff up or find it out? Has tolerance gone too far? Loyalty in an age of whistleblowing and Wikileaks; Is individualism bad for society?
Seven strands run through the format of the festival weekend, allowing in-depth examination of a
subject. They are entitled:
Battle for the World, Battle for Morality, Food Fight, Society Wars, Battle for our Brains,
Reassessing... Politics and Sporting Contests.
In addition there are a large number of standalone discussions on subjects including:
The Tea Party – defenders of the American Dream?    Life off Earth: are the aliens out there?
Burlesque: female empowerment or posh stripping? Islamophobia: the new racism or liberal angst?
Ain’t misbehaving - do British children need the army to sort them out?   Smart drugs: magic bullet
or cheating ourselves?    Olympic expectations: can't see the games for the legacy?   Through a glass
darkly: why do atheists love the King James Bible?
Commenting on the launch of the festival programme, Claire Fox, Institute of Ideas director, said:
‘In a period in which we are seeing hugely important cultural shifts, from nihilistic rioters looting and
burning up their own communities to many longstanding institutions – including the police, media
and political parties – hollowing out and being called into question, never has the need for rational
debate been more important.’
‘The Battle of ideas festival 2011 will provide two days of the kind of high-level, thought provoking
public debate that is currently urgently needed. We aim to avoid lazy platitudes and to interrogate
what is really happening in society both in the UK and internationally. Free speech is allowed!’
Confirmed speakers at the Battle of Ideas festival 2011 include: David Aaronovitch, columnist, The Times; author, Voodoo Histories; Anne Atkins novelist, columnist
and broadcaster; regular contributor to Radio 4's Thought for the Day; Simon Baron-Cohen, director,
Autism Research Centre, University of Cambridge; author, Zero Degrees of Empathy; Daniel BenAmi, finance and economics journalist; author Ferraris for All: in defence of economic progress and
Cowardly Capitalism; Melvin Burgess, award winning children's author, novels include Nicholas
Dane, Junk and Kill All Enemies; John Cooper, leading criminal and human rights barrister; regular
columnist, The Times and Observer; editor, Criminal Bar Quarterly; Claire Fox, director, Institute of
Ideas; panellist, BBC Radio 4's Moral Maze; Frank Furedi, professor of sociology, University of Kent,
Canterbury; author, Wasted, Politics of Fear and On Tolerance: in defence of moral independence;
Clare Gerada, GP; chair, Royal College of General Practitioners; Tom Holland, award-winning
historian; author, Rubicon: the triumph and tragedy of the Roman Republic; winner, 2007 Classical
Association Prize; Simon Jenkins, columnist, Guardian; chairman, National Trust; author, A short
history of England; Irma Kurtz, writer; broadcaster; agony aunt, Cosmopolitan Magazine;
author, About Time: growing old disgracefully; Philippe Legrain, advisor to José Manuel Barroso,
President of the European Commission; author, Aftershock: reshaping the world economy after the
crisis; Kenan Malik, writer and broadcaster; presenter of Analysis, BBC Radio 4; author, The Quest
for the Moral Compass (forthcoming);  Paul Mason, broadcaster; author, Financial Meltdown and
the End of the Age of Greed; Andy Miah, director, Creative Futures Research Centre, University of
West Scotland; Tim Montgomerie, co-editor, Conservative Home; co-founder,
ConservativeIntelligence.com; member, advisory board, Centre for Social Justice; Ruth Padel, poet
and writer; author Darwin - A Life in Poems; Tariq Ramadan, professor of contemporary Islamic
studies, University of Oxford; author,The Quest for Meaning: developing a philosophy of pluralism;
Jeffrey Rosen, professor of law, George Washington University; legal affairs editor, The New
Republic; author, The Supreme Court: The Personalities and Rivalries that Defined America; Brendan
O’Neill, editor, spiked; William Saletan, journalist, Slate; author, Bearing Right: how conservatives
won the abortion war; John Sutherland, Emeritus Lord Northcliffe Professor of English Literature,
University College London; author, The Lives of the Novelists; George Szirtes, reader in creative
writing, UEA; poet; editor; translator; author, The Burning of the Books and Other Poems; Raymond
Tallis,  author, thirty medical and non-medical books including Aping Mankind: Neuromania,
Darwinitis and the Misrepresentation of Humanity; Gáspár Miklos Tamás, visiting professor, Central
European University; president, Green Left; author, Les Idoles de la Tribu; Tom Watt, actor, writer
and broadcaster: best known as Lofty from EastEnders, David Beckham’s ghostwriter and Fighting Talk’s
Champion of Champions 2011; Martin Wolf, associate editor and chief economics
commentator, Financial Times; author, Fixing Global Finance; Zoe Williams, columnist, The
Guardian; Cathy Young, contributing editor Reason; and many more.
Press passes for the weekend are available and a wide range of Battle of Ideas speakers are
available for comment. Contact: Patrick Hayes 07782 133399 patrickhayes@instituteofideas.com
Notes to editors:
1) The 7
th
Battle of Ideas festival weekend is taking place on the weekend of 29-30 October at the Royal
College of Art, London. For the full programme and list of confirmed speakers, visit: www.battleofideas.org.uk2) Battle Satellite events are organised with a range of national and international partners taking place
throughout October and November. Full details of the programme can be viewed online here:
http://www.battleofideas.org.uk/index.php/2011/satellites/
3) Press passes for all events are available and a wide range of festival speakers are available for media
comment on issues being discussed at the Battle of Ideas before and during the event. Contact:
patrickhayes@instituteofideas.com 07782 133399 / 020 7269 9222

Deporte, ética y derecho

In Octubre, estare hablar sobre deporte, ética y derecho en Barcelona por el Universidad Pomeu Fabra. Es un conferencia en la escula de derecho y abajo tiene la programa. Within my talk, I will weave in themes about democracy, freedom and the good life...

Presentación: ¿Por qué es importante el deporte para la filosofía del derecho?

Prof. José Luis Pérez Triviño Prof. Titular de Filosofía del Derecho. UPF. 10-10,30 h.

Why Anti-Doping Will Not Last: Bioethics & Sport in an Era of Human Enhancement

Prof. Andy Miah Director Creative Futures Research Centre Chair of Ethics and Emerging Technologies University of the West of Scotland. 10,30-11,30 h.

Las lesiones deportivas y el Derecho Penal

Prof. José Manuel Ríos Corbacho Prof. de Derecho Penal. Universidad de Cádiz. 11,45-12,45 h.

Dopaje y paternalismo

Prof. Claudio Tamburrini Investigador del Centre for Healthcare Ethics. Facultad de Filosofía. Universidad de Estocolmo. 12,45-13,45 h.

thumbnail image by Andy Miah, Iraq 2003 protest in Barcelona