Frontiers, Boundaries, and Open Social Systems

Green, Stanton W.; Perlman, Stephen M.

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-298780-9.50007-2

Cited by 15 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Models of social phenomena, on the other hand, tend to have lower accuracy than models in physics (Beckage et al, 2013 ), as in studies of life success given IQ, for example, where correlations above 0.5 are taken to be indications of strong relationships (Firkowska-Mankiewicz, 2002 ). This is accepted by the psychologists and social scientists who recognize the inevitable challenge of modelling social phenomena: there is great heterogeneity between human subjects (Axelrod, 1997 ) as social systems are open systems affected by many factors that we cannot account for (Green & Perlman, 1985 ). This, however, does not stop users from applying optimization techniques on inaccurate models of social systems [as in the optimization of click-through-rates (Richardson et al, 2007 ) and content recommendations (Cremonesi et al, 2010 ) on websites], because the mathematics of the optimization techniques does not break down.…”

Section: Object Limitmentioning

confidence: 99%

Limits of Optimization

Carissimo

Korecki

2023

Minds & Machines

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Optimization is about finding the best available object with respect to an objective function. Mathematics and quantitative sciences have been highly successful in formulating problems as optimization problems, and constructing clever processes that find optimal objects from sets of objects. As computers have become readily available to most people, optimization and optimized processes play a very broad role in societies. It is not obvious, however, that the optimization processes that work for mathematics and abstract objects should be readily applied to complex and open social systems. In this paper we set forth a framework to understand when optimization is limited, particularly for complex and open social systems.

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Section: Object Limitmentioning

confidence: 99%

Limits of Optimization

Carissimo

Korecki

2023

Minds & Machines

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“…Frontiers or borderlands, terms we are using interchangeably here, are understood as ambiguous “Third Spaces” within which diverse groups encounter one another often, where communities from distinct cultural backgrounds occupy the same areas, and where little distance separates communities tied to different traditions (Naum, 2010: 101). Research aimed at frontier settings has emphasized that these spaces were dynamic zones of political, cultural, and social interaction and innovation (e.g., Barth, 1969; Green and Perlman, 1985; Lightfoot and Martinez, 1995). More than simply a line on a map, frontier zones were (and are) open to new forms of political organization, social personhood, and value accumulation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chronology construction in the borderlands: Bayesian modelling of Potomac Valley settlement histories

Gallivan,

Henshaw,

Borden

2023

North American Archaeologist

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Bayesian modelling of radiocarbon dates to construct detailed chronologies has become a key methodology in North America's ‘historic turn,’ though the Middle Atlantic has seen few efforts to apply these techniques. Drawing from 70 legacy dates and 25 new assays, this study develops Bayesian chronological models for 10 Late Woodland (AD 900-1600) sites in the Potomac Valley. Our goal is to assess how the arrival of Luray communities impacted the region's settlement history. During the Late Woodland period Native communities tied to three cultural traditions established a series of towns in the Potomac Valley, at times close to one another. With evidence of population movements, intergroup violence, and coalescent communities, the Late Woodland Potomac Valley appears to have represented a dynamic borderland during these centuries. The chronology developed in this study points toward a landscape of settlements we have labelled Persistent Places, Unsettled Settlements, and Transitory Towns.

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“…Frontiers, borderlands and boundaries have long been key concepts in archaeological theory to explain how social groups locate themselves within landscapes (Green & Perlman 1985; Waselkov & Paul 1982). Popularized by Turner in his spatial study of the American West (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Frontier Archaeology: Excavating Huli Colonization of the Lower Tagali Valley, Papua New Guinea

Ash¹,

Denham²,

Ballard³

et al. 2022

CAJ

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Archaeological investigations have documented an ideological and occupied frontier in the Lower Tagali Valley along the southern margins of the Highlands of Papua New Guinea. Open-area excavations document two types of house structure associated with Huli occupation of the Lower Tagali Valley landscape, a women's house (wandia) and a lodge and ceremonial complex associated with a bachelor cult (ibagiyaanda). Excavation revealed the complete floor plan of the women's house site and multiple structural elements of the ceremonial complex. Radiocarbon dating provides a chronology for both sites that accords with genealogical histories for the colonization of this landscape by Huli during the early nineteenth century, or approximately eight generations ago. These archaeological findings are consistent with the strategies still employed today by Huli in the initial ideological incorporation of new territory and anchoring of expansionary claims through subsequent settlement and cultivation.

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Frontiers, Boundaries, and Open Social Systems

Cited by 15 publications

References 7 publications

Limits of Optimization

Limits of Optimization

Chronology construction in the borderlands: Bayesian modelling of Potomac Valley settlement histories

Frontier Archaeology: Excavating Huli Colonization of the Lower Tagali Valley, Papua New Guinea

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