Reviews the empirical and conceptual findings, makes forecasts about the future likelihood of the use of force in each category of conflict, the role of learning and non-learning in the decline of war, why the great powers are still more committed to the use of force than other states, and the prospects for weaning them from violence.

Hume writes that it is “no inconsiderable part of science barely to know the different operations of the mind, to separate them from each other, to class them under their proper heads, and to correct all that seeming disorder, in which they lie involved, when made the object of reflection and enquiry.” He describes this branch of knowledge as “mental geography.” Yet while his mental geography of thought is now well understood, his mental geography of feeling—specifically, of the non-sensory “secondary impressions” or “impressions of reflection” that he discusses in Books 2 and 3 of A Treatise of Human Nature—has not been. This essay seeks to clarify Hume’s doctrines in these two Books by explaining the nature and classification of the five kinds of secondary impressions that Hume distinguishes: (1) sensible agitations (i.e., “emotions” in one sense of that term); (2) feelings of or from mental operations; (3) volitions; (4) passions (both calm and violent); and (5) sentiments of taste.

Analyzes the superficial and underlying motives of initiators for the use of force.

The modern world has been shaped by imperialism, a practice engaged in by all great powers and some lesser ones. Empires are history but their consequences are not. Their dissolution has given rise to a multitude of new states, restored independence to formerly independent units, and reduced the size and influence of former metropoles. Decolonization, whether peacefully or violently accomplished, has given rise to a series of new conflicts among successor states, among neighboring states, and between metropoles and former colonies. We might lump these conflicts together as post-imperial. If so, many kinds of conflicts would fit under this rubric. They could encompass colonial and postcolonial conflicts, rump states, partitioned countries, and arguably other categories as well like revenge and regional rivalries. I have accordingly opted for a finer-grained analysis.

This chapter considers why conformation systems matter for scholars studying any aspect of human sociality; the importance of the book’s compilation of many hundreds of instances of conformations; how each of the four evolved dispositions for conforming constitutes a niche for the cultural evolution of congruent practices, artifacts, art, and architecture; and the selective forces on cultural practices and institutions in those niches.

AI-supported crowdsourcing for knowledge sharing is a collaborative approach that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to facilitate the gathering, organizing, and sharing of information or expertise among a large group of people, known as crowd workers. Despite the growing body of research on motivations in crowdsourcing, the impact of AI-supported crowdsourcing on workers’ motives remains unclear, as does the extent to which their participation can effectively address societal challenges. A systematic review is first conducted to identify trends and gaps in AI-supported crowdsourcing. This chapter then employs a case study through a crowdsourcing platform to look for missing children to demonstrate the pivotal role of AI in crowdsourcing in managing a major societal challenge. Emerging trends and technologies shaping motivations in AI-supported crowdsourcing will be discussed. Additionally, we offer recommendations for practitioners and researchers to integrate AI into crowdsourcing projects to address societal challenges.

Chapter IV discusses another important feature of Tolkien’s work, that is, the vast amount of narrative parallelism, both intra- and intertextual, focusing on some case studies (including the relation between the hero Beren and the hobbit Frodo in particular). These parallels are related to Tolkien’s belief in “the seamless web of story”, that is to say, to the view that there is only one single Tree of Tales, criss-crossing primary and secondary realities, which sprouts again and again with new branches and leaves, all different and yet all similar. This ‘organic’ image is helpful to understand key aspects of Tolkien’s literary ‘theory’, including his famous aversion to allegory, which is here related to his belief that literature embodies in new “modes” the same universal “motives” but in a way that is ‘unexpected’ and ‘unconscious’, and the conviction that all stories correlate with each other in a narrative chain having its centre in the Gospel Story.

This chapter problematises questions of agency, transformation and motives in the context of the exclusion of young people from school. It addresses the question: in what ways might young people be agentic in processes of school exclusion and how might that agency be strengthened? In order to explore this question, the chapter draws on recent developments in cultural-historical theories of transformative agency by double stimulation and Bernsteinian insights on cultural transmission and pedagogy. Empirical data from an exploratory study of permanent school exclusions in a southern English city are used to illustrate the theoretical considerations on transformative agency that are emerging from a four-year multidisciplinary comparative study of exclusion, in all its forms, across the four jurisdictions of the UK. Data are also used to explore the concept of the categorisation of exclusions and in the context of understanding the possibilities for young people’s agency in exclusion.

Research suggests that people adopt conspiracy theories in an attempt to satisfy (1) existential (e.g., the need to feel secure and in control), (2) epistemic (e.g., the need to understand the world), and (3) social (e.g., the need to feel positive about one’s self or group) motives (Douglas et al., 2017). In this chapter, we consider the extent to which this framework can explain belief in the QAnon conspiracy theory specifically. QAnon beliefs appear to be driven by existential threats, such as the belief that there is a vast satanic paedophile ring which is being covered up by left-wing Hollywood elites. Regarding epistemic motives, such as the tendency to seek patterns where they do not exist, it becomes understandable why some people might be attracted by cryptic “Q Drops.” Finally, QAnon beliefs are typically right-wing and tend to point the finger towards the left-wing elite for all the alleged wrong-doings. QAnon beliefs, therefore, also appear to be socially motivated. Following the discussion, we outline the similarities and differences between QAnon and other conspiracy theories, and outline ideas for future research.

It was inevitable that Igor Stravinsky would experiment with serialism, given his penchant for interval-based composition, even making a comment to Milton Babbitt that he had always composed with intervals. Stravinsky’s intrigue with intervallic patterns is significant in some of his earlier works – particularly the motivic networks supporting the narratives of Firebird (1910) and Perséphone (1934). In fact, examining the interval ordering in the motives from these works, Stravinsky, perhaps unwittingly, retains the exact order of intervals while producing twelve different pitch classes. In retrospect, this seems to have foreshadowed the development of his own brand of serialism in his later years, beginning with Cantata in 1952, and maturing over the fourteen years through works such as Septet, In Memoriam Dylan Thomas, Canticum Sacrum, Threni, Agon, Movements for Piano and Orchestra, A Sermon, a Narrative, and a Prayer, Variations: Aldous Huxley in memoriam, Abraham and Isaac, Elegy for J.F.K., Introitus: T.S. Eliot in memoriam, and his last major work, Requiem Canticles, in 1966.