Books by "Mark R. Lindsay"
4 books found
Since the first edition was published two years ago, much has been done on extend ing the work done on SMART to address new and important areas [3-5,54,79,80, 108-110,116,118-120,122]. In this second edition, we have revised, updated and corrected the existing text and added three new chapters. These chapters provide a broader coverage of the fie1d of agents, and show in more detail how the specific framework described can be used to examine other areas. In Chapter 6, we use the concepts of discovery to apply the framework to autonomous interaction in multi agent systems; in Chapter 10 we use it for considering normative agents and sys tems; and in Chapter 11 we describe work on an implementation and development environment. As a course text, the book can be considered in different parts, as follows. - Chapter I and Chapter 2 offer a basic introduction to agents and their core com ponents. - Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 cover relationships between agents and basic notions of cooperation for multi-agent systems. - Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 introduce sociological agents, which are needed for rea soning and planning, and their use in reasoning about communication and inter action. - Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9 and Chapter 10 each cover different application areas relating to different aspects, inc1uding coordination (through the contract net), agent architecture (through AgentSpeak(L), social dependence networks, and normative systems.
The Dream Frontier is that rare book that makes available the cumulative wisdom of a century's worth of clinical examination of dreams and then reconfigured that wisdom on the basis of research in cognitive neuroscience. Drawing on psychodynamic theorists and neuroscientific researchers with equal fluency and grace, Mark Blechner introduces the reader to a conversation of the finest minds, from Freud to Jung, from Sullivan to Erikson, from Aserinksy and Kleitman to Hobson, as the work toward an understanding of dreams and dreaming that is both scientifically credible and personally meaningful. The dream, in Blechner's elegantly conceived overview, offers itself to the dreamer as an answer to a question yet to be asked. Approached in thi open-ended manner, dreams come to reveal the meaning-making systems of the unconscious in the total absence of waking considerations of reality testing and communicability. Systems of dream interpretation arise as helpful, if inherently limited, strategies for apprehending this unconscious quest for meaning. Whereas students will appreciate Blechner's concise reviews of the various schools of dream interpretation, teachers and supervisors will value his astute reexamination of the very process of interpretating dreams, which includes the manner in which group discussion of dreams may be employed to correct for individual interpretive biases. Elegantly written, lucidly argued, deftly synooptic but never ponderous in tone, The Dream Frontier provides a fresh outlook on the century just passed along with the keys to the antechambers of the new century's reinvestigation of fundamental questions of conscious and unconscious mental life. It transcends the typical limits of interdisciplinary reportage and brings both researcher and clinician to the threshold of a new, mutually enriching exploration of the dream frontier in search of basic answers to basic questions.
"This chapter explores the causes of population aging (diminishing fertility levels and rising life expectancies) and why it is inevitable in most countries. It then discusses the book's four main hypotheses. Advanced stages of population aging will significantly reduce states' capacity (or military capabilities) to war while increasing leaders' and citizens' preferences for peace (Hypothesis 1). Because of aging's impact on capabilities and preferences, demographically old countries will be less likely to initiate wars than will younger ones (Hypothesis 2). If an aged country does initiate war, the effects of aging will create major barriers to military success (Hypothesis 3). Finally, the effects of population aging will help prevent a power transition between the United States and China (Hypothesis 4). Although the United States confronts major challenges created by its aging population, it is significantly better shape in this area than is China. Population aging, as a result, will be a potent force for the continuation of US relative power dominance. The chapter concludes with analyses of: the book's contributions to the literature, counterarguments and their problems, operationalization of variables, and case selection criteria"-- Provided by publisher.