Javier Sanchez

Irruption Theory (IT) offers a novel approach to understanding mind-brain interaction in decision-making. IT suggests that the mind’s influence on brain dynamics can manifest as “irruption” — the emergence of noise or physical fluctuations that alter brain activity. Lately, Irruption-Absorption Theory (IAT) has also incorporated the idea of “absorption,” which refers to the mental stabilization or fixation of chosen content. A crucial tool for exploring the implications of this theory could be the Haken-Kelso-Bunz (HKB) model, which can simulate phase transitions in the brain, such as shifts from randomness to different kinds of stability, through simple parameter adjustments. In this paper, we demonstrate how the HKB model can incorporate IAT’s irruption and absorption after some conceptual refinement, dubbed IAT*, and help to understand the results of recent experiments that require decision-making. In doing so, we aim to present mental influence in decision-making tasks as that which enables phase transitions responsible for perception and choice. Our interpretation is that the mind’s selective focus may guide brain dynamics, aligning with physical causality without disrupting it.

From how a whirlpool is formed behind a rock to how temperature speeds up a chemical reaction, constraints are pervasive in nature. They are also essential for explaining the emergence of dissipative structures, the far-from-equilibrium systems responsible for increasingly complex forms of organization. In this article, we argue that the constraints on change exert a non-derivative causal influence on microphysics by introducing selection rules, and that they are causal not by what they produce, but by what they prevent. However, recent approaches in the philosophy of science, such as the one we call “higher-level causal eliminativism” (HLCE), deem constraints as non-causal explanations or derivative causal explanations. HLCE is a microphysicalist perspective according to which reality is the result of an interplay of microphysical interactions. It denies the causality of constraints; only their explanatory value is recognized. In so doing, HLCE commits itself to superdeterminism, the theory for which some unknown non-local hidden variables and the laws of nature utterly determine the outcomes of all events, including those of quantum physics. Superdeterminism considers all higher-order relationships as nothing but statistically salient effects of global microphysical field interactions. By undermining the dependence of mathematical selection on ontological processes, superdeterminism leads to an arbitrary selection of initial conditions for the universe. Yet we will argue that this arbitrariness undermines itself and the hopes of HLCE.

Este trabajo analiza en el contexto actual del consumo de la prensa qué interesa a las audiencias españolas de las revistas de viajes. Los objetivos son identificar la frecuencia y los motivos de lectura, averiguar qué les importa de los contenidos e investigar qué les atrae de las fotografías. La metodología se basa en un cuestionario estructurado a una muestra representativa de la población española (n=1000). Los principales resultados desvelan una escasa frecuencia de lectura; gran interés por la información práctica; preferencia por la fotografía paisajística (mayores de 54) y de ocio nocturno (jóvenes), e indiferencia por la fuente periodística de las imágenes. Datos significativos para adaptar la estrategia de contenidos de las revistas de viajes.

Dos hilos impulsan estas líneas: la reflexión sobre uno de los acontecimientos cruciales de este fin de siglo en Europa, la masacre de Srebrenica, y la necesidad de contribuir a la tarea colectiva de reconstruir una tradición filosófica en lengua castellana más allá de las clásicas distinciones de géneros. Ambos propósitos confluirían, metonímica y metafóricamente, en un nombre, Machado, y una obra, el Juan de Mairena. Los textos del apócrifo del poeta, tan próximo en algunos momentos al pensamiento de Lévinas o Heidegger, pueden contribuir a articular un examen crítico, insertado en una tradición, sobre ese símbolo de nuestra época.

The Maximum Entropy Production Principle (MEPP) stands out as an overarching principle that rules life phenomena in Nature. However, its explanatory power beyond heuristics remains controversial. On the one hand, the MEPP has been successfully applied principally to non-living systems far from thermodynamic equilibrium. On the other hand, the underlying assumptions to lay the MEPP’s theoretical foundations and range of applicability increase the possibilities of conflicting interpretations. More interestingly, from a metaphysical stance, the MEPP’s philosophical status is hotly debated: does the MEPP passively translate physical information into macroscopic predictions or actively select the physical solution in multistable systems, granting the connection between scientific models and reality? This paper deals directly with this dilemma by discussing natural determination from three angles: (1) Heuristics help natural philosophers to build an ontology. (2) The MEPP’s ontological status may stem from its selection of new forms of causation beyond physicalism. (3) The MEPP’s ontology ultimately depends on the much-discussed question of the ontology of probabilities in an information-theoretic approach and the ontology of macrostates according to the Boltzmannian definition of entropy.

In a recent work (Grasso et al., 2021 ), practitioners of the Integrated Information Theory (IIT) claim to have overcome the weaknesses of causal reductionism in producing a coherent account of causation, as causal reductionism would blatantly conflate causation with prediction and could not answer the question of ‘what caused what.’ In this paper, I reject such a dismissal of causal reductionism since IIT anti-reductionists misunderstand the reductionist stance. The reductionists can still invoke a causal account stemming from the causal power of the universe’s basic units and interactions that, eventually, may lead to structures supporting integrated information. Additionally, I claim that the IIT-inspired misunderstanding of causal reductionism originates from the former’s metaphysical deficit, conflating information with causation. However, as a possible way out, if IIT is complemented with a deeper metaphysical ground, such as nested hylomorphism, an improved argument against causal reductionism can be made to work by invoking formal causality as the ultimate cause of integration in natural systems.

La modernidad se caracteriza por una epistemología que ha conducido a la separación de los saberes. Como consecuencia, tanto la teología protestante como la católica han sufrido la falta de una perspectiva unitaria en su razonar sobre Dios. La cultura postmoderna, aceptando la fragmentariedad, presenta una nueva sensibilidad epistemológica que abre posibilidades prometedoras para el redescubrimiento de la trascendencia. Entre ellas, la dialogicidad intrínseca de la Creación apunta a la vía de la belleza como camino privilegiado que la teología ha de explorar en un sentido descendente y, especialmente, ascendente

This study analyzes the interests of Spanish audiences in travel magazines within the current context of press consumption. The objectives are to identify the readers' reading frequency and reasons for reading, what contents interest them, and what aspects of the photographs attract them. The methodology involves a structured questionnaire completed by a representative sample of the Spanish population (n=1000). The main results reveal a low reading frequency, great interest in practical information, preference for landscape photography (over the age of 54) and nightlife photography (young people), and indifference regarding the journalistic source of the images. These data provide relevant information on which to adapt travel magazines' content strategy.

In recent years, supported by new scientific evidence, the conceptualization of cognitive reserve has been progressively enriched and now encompasses not only cognitive stimulating activities or educational level, but also lifestyle activities, such as leisure physical activity and socialization. In this context, there is increasing interest in understanding the role of psychological factors in brain health and cognitive functioning. In a previous study, we have found that these factors mediated the relationship between CR and self-reported cognitive functioning. In this study, we have confirmed an association between two important constructs included in the psychological wellbeing and salutogenic models, “purpose in life” and “sense of coherence,” CR, as assessed using a questionnaire, and cognitive functioning, as evaluated using a comprehensive neuropsychological battery. Results from 888 middle-aged healthy participants from the Barcelona Brain Health Initiative indicate that both sense of coherence and CR were positively associated with verbal memory, reasoning and attention, working memory, and global cognition. Moreover, the relation between CR and cognitive functioning in the different domains is partially mediated by SoC. When we controlled for brain integrity, introducing into the model neurofilament light chain measures, the mediator role of SoC was confirmed for reasoning and attention and global cognition. However, purpose in life was not associated with cognitive functioning. These results reveal the central role of the SoC construct, which mediates the association between classic CR estimates and cognitive functions, potentially representing a modifiable target for interventions that aim to promote brain health.

Biometric identity systems are now a prominent feature of contemporary law enforcement, including in Europe. Often advanced on the premise of efficiency and accuracy, they have also been the subject of significant controversy. Much attention has focussed on longer-standing biometric data collection, such as finger-printing and facial recognition, foregrounding concerns with the impact such technologies can have on the nature of policing and fundamental human rights. Less researched is the growing use of voice recognition in law enforcement. This paper examines the case of the recent Speaker Identification Integrated Project, a European wide initiative to create the first international and interoperable database of voice biometrics, now the third largest biometric database at Interpol. Drawing on Freedom of Information requests, interviews and public documentation, we outline the emergence and features of SiiP and explore how voice is recognised and attributed meaning. We understand Speaker Identification Integrated Project as constituting a particular ‘regime of recognition’ premised on the use of soft biometrics to disembed voice in order to optimise for difference. This, in turn, has implications for the nature and scope of law enforcement, people's position in society, and justice concerns more broadly.

In futsal there are two referees on the playing court and their capacity to respond to physical and physiological demands imposed during the game is essential for the success. The futsal characteristics such as size pitch, referees position and rules of games or type of league could impose specific physical efforts probably. The aim of this study were to analyze the physical demands of eight elite referees from seven matches of Spanish Futsal Cup 2020. The physical activity of each referee during the match was monitored with a Local Positioning System, which was installed on futsal pitch where the matches were played. The data differences were evaluated as Paired-Samples T-Test procedure. The results revealed a similar total distance between halves. The zone 3 distance showed a significative decrease during the match in comparison to the first and second halves. The number of high-intensity acceleration and deceleration decreased in the second half of the match. Therefore, the use of the tracking device to monitoring physical performance provides knowledge of the specific activity profile from futsal referees. This information to can be useful to design more accurate the training programs.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the neuromuscular response to an agility and repeated sprint ability test according to the level of competition in futsal players. A total of 33 players from two elite teams and one amateur team participated in the study. The participants completed an agility t-test, a 30 m-speed test, and a RSA test. A countermovement jump test and a tensiomyography test of the rectus femoris and biceps femoris of both legs were carried out before and after the tests. RSA test revealed better sprint times in elite players compared to amateurs in the seven bouts, as well as in the 30 m sprint and in the agility test. In conclusion, elite players showed greater performance in the RSA test, in the 30 m tests and in the agility test compared to amateur players. The contractile properties were not a key factor in the RSA performance of the futsal players.

El Trabajo por Proyectos es una metodología muy apropiada para utilizarla en la enseñanza superior, por su carácter investigador. El aprendizaje es activo, involucra al alumno y trabaja otras capacidades cognitivas distintas a las que se desarrollan con la clase magistral. Con la implantación, este curso, del llamado Plan Bolonia, algunos profesores pertenecientes al Grupo de Innovación Educativa Didáctica de las Matemáticas de la UPM, nos planteamos introducir en la asignatura de primer curso del Grado de Arquitectura, denominada Geometría Euclídea, Afín y Proyectiva algunos cambios dirigidos a este tipo de aprendizaje.

The philosopher Roberto Unger and the physicist Lee Smolin have recently argued that the current explanatory framework of cosmology, which presumes a timeless background of unchanging physical laws, should be replaced by a thoroughly relational framework in which time is fundamental and all laws are subject to change. Within this alternative framework, however, Unger and Smolin find themselves confronted by a dilemma: either the laws of nature evolve according to some higher set of “meta-laws,” which reinstates a timeless background at a higher level, or the laws of nature evolve randomly and the path of inquiry is blocked. In response to this dilemma, the authors propose a theory of causal events as singular, freely chosen, and self-determined optimalities constrained only by their intrinsic relations to all other events.