Our paper aims at bringing to the fore the crucial role that habits play in Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by means of natural selection. We have organized the paper in two steps: first, we analyse value and functions of the concept of habit in Darwin's early works, notably in his Notebooks, and compare these views to his mature understanding of the concept in the Origin of Species and later works; second, we discuss Darwin’s ideas on habits in the light (...) of today’s theories of epigenetic inheritance, which describe the way in which the functioning and expression of genes is modified by the environment, and how these modifications are transmitted over generations. We argue that Darwin’s lasting and multifaceted interest in the notion of habit, throughout his intellectual life, is both conceptually and methodologically relevant. From a conceptual point of view, intriguing similarities can be found between Darwin’s (early) conception of habit and contemporary views on epigenetic inheritance. From a methodological point of view, we suggest that Darwin’s plastic approach to habits, from his early writings up to the mature works, can provide today’s evolutionary scientists with a viable methodological model to address the challenging task of extending and expanding evolutionary theory, with particular reference to the integration of epigenetic mechanisms into existing models of evolutionary change. Over his entire life Darwin has modified and reassessed his views on habits as many times as required by evidence: his work on this notion may represent the paradigm of a habit of good scientific research methodology. (shrink)

This paper is a preliminary attempt to bring to the fore some questions and issues regarding the role of habits in aesthetics. Indeed, much attention has recently been given to habits across a wide range of fields of inquiry: philosophers turn to the concept to investigate its significance to the historical development of Western thought; neuroscientists look into the role that habits play in the functioning of the human mind and identify the neural and psychological underpinnings of habitual behavior; anthropologists, (...) political scientists and sociologists tap into habits as a key notion to explain social dynamics and collective behavior. For all of these waves that the notion has made in other parts of the humanities and social sciences, there have been so far, however, only a few sustained discussions of habits in conjunction with aesthetics. What is the role of habits in aesthetic experience? How do habits influence and regulate artistic creative processes? (shrink)

This paper critically investigates the ethical perspectives and practices of individuals and organizations who make persuasive technologies. An organization that claims to be at the forefront of ethical persuasion is behavioral software company Boundless Mind. Yet Boundless Mind sells ostensibly oxymoronic software products: an Application Programming Interface for third-party applications that optimizes the capture of end user attention, and an application for end users on how to make third-party applications less persuasive. Drawing upon Foucault’s interpretation of ethics as an “aesthetics (...) of existence” and the related concept of “therapeutic authority,” I argue Boundless Mind justify the “poaching” and “protecting” of user attention based on a view of the human subject as fixable and their capability to instrumentalize user subjectivity to socially desirable ends. I walkthrough Boundless Mind’s technology-habit-breaking application Space and highlight a behavioral technique administered by Space called stimulus devaluation, which enables the user to develop a transformative relationship with their technology habits and persuasive applications. I conclude the paper by arguing that a persuasive technology ethics based on fixing the user obfuscates the power of persuasive technologists by limiting the scope of ethical inquiry to the activities of the user. (shrink)

The Howie Smith Project (THSP) is a social enterprise that was formed in response to David Cameron’s Conservative Party’s political ideology, The Big Society. A practice-led study, THSP occupies derelict properties and enables space for creative enterprise, start-up opportunities, development of creative practice, entrepreneurship, collaboration and progress in an attempt to secure affordable long-term space for continued creative use as the city evolves. Regeneration strategies in the UK have targeted the creative industries and the rise in digital technology, bio-tech and (...) green energy solutions, and introduced creative catalysts to encourage wider city developments from private investment, influencing gentrification, and displacing artistic progress. Nottingham was perhaps the last major city in the UK to initiate a creative quarter strategy and target future development in The Lace Market and Hockley area in support of the city’s growth and the creative class it seeks to attract alongside its regeneration vision. This thesis reveals the ethnographical methodology in documenting a portfolio of case studies in Nottingham, Leicester and Southwell, following research into The Big Society and strategies toward regeneration and the creative community. Often the artist, musician and performer lose out as cities gentrify, forced to develop their practice on the fringe of society and Bohemia. This thesis is an autoethnographic account of this experience and looks to understanding the practical methods that were pursued to achieve this goal. It presents a regeneration model that was developed through this research, considering an alternate and sustainable approach to the top-down authority-led initiatives. (shrink)