This book has two goals. It introduces a pattern of 4 interlocking constraints which I call the "structure of concern" and it issues a challenge to all of the thinkers of world to find the best level of description for it; the level at which it might be explained... concern structure models turn up everywhere, including discussions of knowledge management methodologies, suicide, yoga, information systems, sex, multi-agent networking, ethics, nervous system organization, drama, military planning, speech pragmatics, forest conservation, education and even philosophy. Some concern structure models are quite specialized and obscure, but some others count among the most widely used conceptual frameworks we have. My main goal in this book is simply to compare all of these frameworks to point out the similarities between them. This "catalog" itself is the argument I make in this book - the argument that some universal pattern lurks among all these models - a universal pattern that needs description.

Unique in that it collects, presents, and synthesizes cutting edge research on different aspects of statistical reasoning and applies this research to the teaching of statistics to students at all educational levels, this volume will prove of great value to mathematics and statistics education researchers, statistics educators, statisticians, cognitive psychologists, mathematics teachers, mathematics and statistics curriculum developers, and quantitative literacy experts in education and government.

This book, The Kyoto Post-COVID Manifesto for Global Economics (KM-PC), is a sequel to our 2018 book, The Kyoto Manifesto for Global Economics (KM-I, 2018). It further exposes the failures of a global economic regime that, based on self-interest, has led to the enormously unequal and fragmented society of today and our decreased ability to respond and recover from the critical worldwide consequences of such a regime over time — notably, climate change. At stake is our very survival beyond the twenty-first century. The fundamental tenet of this book is that our power to heal our currently fractured society lies in the depth of our humanity — in our shared human spirit and spirituality. What is sacred or of imperishable supreme value is what we can be as a human race: empowered, fulfilled individuals, living in harmony, deeply sharing and caring for one another and the environment that sustains us across our distinct cultures and worlds in which we live. Thus, the norms in our economic relations do not have to be those of self-interest that separates us, the ever-watchful distrust represented by “the deal” and immediate economic advantage for me. Instead, we can build an economic frame for our society based on mindfulness, care, mutual human benefit, and trust — on our shared humanity. Our argument was complete and we were ready to publish. But then, suddenly, from the dawning of 2020, everything changed. COVID-19 invaded and the world as we knew it simply stopped. No one saw it coming. As authors, we waited to watch and seek to understand. The result is that the book captures the COVID trauma and, against the fractures based on self-interest already visible in today’s society, assesses the impact of COVID-19 now and for the future. Focusing on a humanity-based economics is even more important now, and this book shows why. Chapter 15 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Presents new methods in scenario thinking, based on a mix of high-level research and top-level consultancy experience. The authors describe the logical bases of a range of scenario methods and provide detailed 'road maps' on how to implement them - together with practical examples of their application.

Comprehensively addressing the development of thinking from a wide variety of perspectives, this volume presents original work from cognitive psychologists, curriculum specialists, federal government and business leaders, politicians, educational theorists, and other prominent figures specializing in this complex field. These experts provide directives for teacher education, textbook development, classroom activities, administrative policies, publication procedures, business connections, community education strategies, and whole school projects as sample plans of action. Designed to spark adoptions of the solutions it proposes, this book suggests significant steps that can be taken to move toward more advanced thinking instruction in our educational systems.

Thinking through Kierkegaard is a critical evaluation of Søren Kierkegaard's vision of the normatively human, of who we are and might aspire to become, and of what Mehl calls our existential identity. Through a pragmatist examination of three of Kierkegaard's key pseudonymous "voices" (Judge William, Climacus, and Anti-Climacus), Peter J. Mehl argues that Kierkegaard's path is not the only end of our search, but instead leads us to affirm a plurality of paths toward a fulfilling existential identity. Contrary to Kierkegaard's ideal of moral personhood and orthodox Christian identity, Mehl aims to acknowledge the possibility of pluralism in existential identities. By demanding sensitivity to the deep ways social and cultural context influences human perception, interpretation and self?representation, Mehl argues that Kierkegaard is not simply discovering but also participating in a cultural construction of the human being. Drawing on accounts of what it is to be a person by prominent philosophers outside of Kierkegaard scholarship, including Charles Taylor, Owen Flanagan, Alasdair MacIntyre, and Thomas Nagel, Mehl also works to bridge the analytic and continental traditions and reestablishes Kierkegaard as a rich resource for situating moral and spiritual identity. This reexamination of Kierkegaard is recommended for anyone interested in what it means to be a person.