IdeaWazaWiki - User contributions [en]

Transculturation

2003-02-03T08:56:24Z

213.253.40.201: * multiculturalism

'''Ethnoconvergence''' is a relatively new term to describe the phenomenon of merging and converging cultures. In a modern sense, this reflects communication and transportation technology's effect of reversing cultural divergence - no longer do societies drift apart, they now come together.

The obstacles to ethnoconvergence are not great - the primary issue - language, ( ''hence, communication and education'') can, in fact, be overcome within a generation or two. This would depend upon efforts to facilitate greater ease of discourse, and reciprocal training in language studies. English, for example, is spoken by more non-Anglo-American people than Anglo-Americans. English has become the worldwide defacto-standard international language.

However, it is observed that even in monolingual, industrial societies like urban North America, some individuals do cling to a "modernized" primordial identity, apart from others. Some intellectuals, such as Michael Ignatieff, argue that convergence of culture does not necessarily mean convergence of [[ethnic]] identities. This can become evident in social situations, where people divide into separate groups.

This is another peculiarity: some individuals tend to see it perfectly justified to assimilate and some others view assimilation as illiberal and politically incorrect.

Often it's in a secular, multi-ethnic environment that cultural concerns are both minimalised and exaccerbated; Ethnic prides are boasted, hierarchy is created ( "center" culture versus "periphery") but on the other hand, they will still share a common "culture", and common language and behaviours. Often the elderly, more conservative-in-association of a clan, tend to reject cross-cultural associations, and participate in ethnically similar community-oriented activities. [[Xenophobes]] tend to think of cross-cultural contact as a component of [[assimilation]], and see this as harmful.

The obstacle to ethnoconvergence is [[ethnocentrism]], which is the view that one's culture is of greater importance than anothers.' Ethnocentrism often takes different forms, as it is a highly personal bias, and manifests itself in countless aspects of culture. [[Relgion]], or belief, is the prime ethnocentric divider. Second is [[custom]], which may overlap religion. With the adherence to each distinct component, comes the repulsion of the other. In most regions, ethnic divides are binary, meaning only two distinct cultures are present, each seeing the other as foreign. Many, however make the point that the binary example is the exception, and the norm is far more dynamic.

We can divide ethnicity into two distinct areas, as they relate to ethnoconvergence: Utilitarian traits, and traditional customs. Language usually falls into the first category, as people often do not attach to language a highly ethnic value. Learning a foreign language does not, in the eyes of most people, constitute a forfeiting of ones cultural heritage.

Religion, on the other hand, is a highly personal and attached part of culture. However, religion does not neatly correspond with ethnic identity. In many [[cosmopolitan]] societies, religion is everything - social, utilitarian, intellectual, political; from the point of view of people of immersed cultures; The very concept of ethnicity and its distinctions is incongruous to their immersed concepts.

In many societies, such as in those in Europe, languages are considered a significant component of ethnic values. This belies the fact that most Europeans reject learning other learn other languages. Quite the contrary, Europeans are often polyglots, and may label other individuals by their ethnicities; practical means of distinguishing cultures may resemble tendencies similar to ethnocentrism.

However, the political and cultural significance of regional or national languages are retained due to the fact that these polyglots conform to the linguistic norms of the place they visit - doing "as the Romans do". Thus, conforming to the "ethnic integrity" of the region.

It has even become a cliche that "to learn a new language is to adopt a new soul". There are many other examples of the essential significance of language. In pre-[[Russian]] [[Siberia]], [[Tatar-Mongol]] colonists in the [[Taiga]] often recognized [[Turkic]]-speaking indigenous groups as their "own people" and non-Turkic groups as "foreigners". This is in spite of the fact that these indigenous groups had a similar level of material culture, and shared much of a primitive culture with tribes foreign to the Muslim-Buddhist Tatar-Mongols.

See also:
* [[multiculturalism]]

Archive:Fanboy

2002-11-25T16:45:31Z

213.253.40.183: even within the subculture of fandom.

An <b>fanboy</b> is a derogatory term used to describe (usually in a negative context) someone who is utterly devoted to a hobby or a subject, to the point where the hobby becomes an obsession. "Fanboys" are often experts on minor details regarding their hobbies, and they take these details extremely seriously. The stereotypical image often associated with ''[[Star Trek]]'' fans (or [[Trekkies]]) can be used to describe a fanboy: the idea of a person with little or no social life outside the circle of fans he or she associates with.

Because of its negative connotations, the term "fanboy" is generally seen as insulting to those who are familiar with its usage, even within the [[subculture]] of [[fandom]].

Archive:Fanboy

2002-11-25T16:45:31Z

213.253.40.183: even within the subculture of fandom.

Archive:Fanboy

2002-11-25T16:45:31Z

213.253.40.183: even within the subculture of fandom.

Archive:Fanboy

2002-11-25T16:45:31Z

213.253.40.183: even within the subculture of fandom.

Archive:Hoag's Object

2002-09-09T06:50:15Z

213.253.39.73: ASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database data for Hoag's object]

'''Hoag's object''' is a highly unusual [[ring galaxy]] which appears to have a yellow core and a disconnected outer ring. Even more remarkably, another almost identical smaller object can be seen through the ring.

References: Hoag, A. A. (1950), ''AJ'', '''55''', 170

See also: [[polar-ring galaxy]], [[NGC 4650A]], [[Cartwheel Galaxy]]

External links:
* http://heritage.stsci.edu/2002/21/table.html
* http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/Rings/Rings17_2.html
* http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/PR/2002/21/index.html
* [http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/nph-objsearch?objname=hoag%27s+object&extend=yes&out_csys=Equatorial&out_equinox=J2000.0&obj_sort=RA+or+Longitude&of=pre_text&zv_breaker=30000.0&list_limit=5&img_stamp=YES NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database data for Hoag's object]

Archive:Hoag's Object

2002-09-09T06:30:33Z

213.253.39.73: another extlink, stub finished

'''Hoag's object''' is a highly unusual [[ring galaxy]] which appears to have a yellow core and a disconnected outer ring. Even more remarkably, another almost identical smaller object can be seen through the ring.

See also: [[polar-ring galaxy]], [[NGC 4650A]], [[Cartwheel Galaxy]]

External links:
* http://heritage.stsci.edu/2002/21/table.html
* http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/Rings/Rings17_2.html
* http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/PR/2002/21/index.html

Archive:Hoag's Object

2002-09-09T06:29:07Z

213.253.39.73: see-alsos added

'''Hoag's object''' is a highly unusual [[ring galaxy]] which appears to have a yellow core and a disconnected outer ring. Even more remarkably, another almost identical smaller object can be seen through the ring.

See also: [[polar-ring galaxy]], [[NGC 4650A]], [[Cartwheel Galaxy]]

External links:
* http://heritage.stsci.edu/2002/21/table.html
* http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/PR/2002/21/index.html
* http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2241538.stm

Archive:Hoag's Object

2002-09-09T06:24:55Z

213.253.39.73: Even more remarkably, another almost identical smaller object can be seen through the ring.

'''Hoag's object''' is a highly unusual ring galaxy which appears to have a yellow core and a disconnected outer ring. Even more remarkably, another almost identical smaller object can be seen through the ring.

External links:
* http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/PR/2002/21/index.html
* http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2241538.stm

Archive:Hoag's Object

2002-09-09T06:20:38Z

213.253.39.73: extling

'''Hoag's object''' is a highly unusual ring galaxy which appears to have a yellow core and a disconnected outer ring.

External links:
* http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2241538.stm

Archive:Hoag's Object

2002-09-09T06:19:58Z

213.253.39.73: new

'''Hoag's object''' is a highy unusual ring galaxy which appears to have a yellow core and a disconnected outer ring.

Geographical mile

2002-09-05T04:36:16Z

213.253.40.205: It is not the same as a statute mile, which is 5280 feet,

A unit of length determined by 1 minute of arc along the Earth's equator, equal to 1855 m (6087.15 feet). It is not the same as a [[statute mile]], which is 5280 feet, or a [[nautical mile]] which is 1 minute of arc along a great circle of the Earth (1852 m, 6076.1 feet).

See also:
* [[Conversion of units]]
* [[mile]]

External links:
* see [http://www.state.ak.us/adfg/habitat/geninfo/nerr/kbec/humandata/cstzone.html here] for a citation of the difference between the nautical and geographical mile

Geographical mile

2002-09-05T04:31:29Z

213.253.40.205: * mile

A unit of length determined by 1 minute of arc along the Earth's equator, equal to 1855 m (6087.15 feet). It is not the same as a [[nautical mile]] which is 1 minute of arc along a great circle of the Earth (1852 m, 6076.1 feet).

See also:
* [[Conversion of units]]
* [[mile]]

External links:
* see [http://www.state.ak.us/adfg/habitat/geninfo/nerr/kbec/humandata/cstzone.html here] for a citation of the difference between the nautical and geographical mile

Geographical mile

2002-09-05T04:27:44Z

213.253.40.205: * see [http://www.state.ak.us/adfg/habitat/geninfo/nerr/kbec/humandata/cstzone.html here] for a citation of the difference between the nautical and geographical mile

A unit of length determined by 1 minute of arc along the Earth's equator, equal to 1855 m (6087.15 feet). It is not the same as a [[nautical mile]] which is 1 minute of arc along a great circle of the Earth (1852 m, 6076.1 feet).

See [[Conversion of units]]

External links:
* see [http://www.state.ak.us/adfg/habitat/geninfo/nerr/kbec/humandata/cstzone.html here] for a citation of the difference between the nautical and geographical mile

Revising opinions in statistics

2002-04-20T08:26:14Z

213.253.40.133: fixing Bayes' theorem link

Researchers who use [[personal probability]] can proceed as follows:
#A [[statistical model]] for the data generating process is assumed. The model might specify that the data follows a normal distribution with an unknown mean.
#The researcher describes his opinion about the unknown mean as having a [[normal distribution]] centered at 10 with a [[standard deviation]] of 2. This would be called the researcher's '''prior''' distribution for the mean.
#With the [[likelihood function]] of the observed data and the probabilistic description of his opinion, the researcher can calculate (using [[Bayes' theorem]]) the appropriate opinion consistent with both sources of information. This is called the '''posterior''' distribution.

back to [[statistical theory]] -- [[applied statistics]]