title: A nui wave encountering psychology from the shores of the Pacific

authors: Siautu, Alefaio

subjects: Maori

abstract: The worldview of Pacific nations which lie within the vast ocean of the South Pacific is yet to be uncovered in the world of psychology. Since the first wave of migrants to the shores of Aotearoa,/New Zealand, many differing pathways have evolved for the children of the Pacific sojourners. Pasefika youth are emerging as an influential force in youth culture today. However, these highly visible pockets of Pasefika talent mask the reality of overcrowded housing, poor health, lowincomes, tailend educational achievement, and the frequent experience of issues to do with cultural identity and values (Tiatia, 1988; Taule’alea’usumai, 1997). Within these areas of concern Pasefika people will encounter ‘helping professions’ such as psychology. It is a discipline which has historically been devoted to understanding the human ‘psyche’ or ‘soul’. Most of this body of knowledge however is derived from European contexts. The South Pacific has now produced a generation of Pasefika academics that are crisscrossing the globe with pioneering theoretical frameworks specific to our region. It is within this framework that I present to you my current thinking and its intent of ‘claiming our legitimate space’.

text: A nui wave encountering psychology from the shores of the Pacific The worldview of Pacific nations which lie within the vast ocean of the South Pacific is yet to be uncovered in the world of psychology. Since the first wave of migrants to the shores of Aotearoa,/New Zealand, many differing pathways have evolved for the children of the Pacific sojourners. Pasefika youth are emerging as an influential force in youth culture today. However, these highly visible pockets of Pasefika talent mask the reality of overcrowded housing, poor health, lowincomes, tailend educational achievement, and the frequent experience of issues to do with cultural identity and values (Tiatia, 1988; Taule’alea’usumai, 1997). Within these areas of concern Pasefika people will encounter ‘helping professions’ such as psychology. It is a discipline which has historically been devoted to understanding the human ‘psyche’ or ‘soul’. Most of this body of knowledge however is derived from European contexts. The South Pacific has now produced a generation of Pasefika academics that are crisscrossing the globe with pioneering theoretical frameworks specific to our region. It is within this framework that I present to you my current thinking and its intent of ‘claiming our legitimate space’.

year: 2008

title: On artificial superintelligence and the problem of charismatic extinction threats

authors: Agar, Nicholas

subjects: artificial superintelligence

abstract: This paper focuses on the challenge of finding a rational response to Artificial Superintelligence (ASI) as an extinction threat. We allow that artificially superintelligent beings are possible. This leaves open the question of how much we should worry about them. We treat ASI as a charismatic extinction threat. Our starting analysis of charisma comes from the sociologist Max Weber (1947). We extend the concept of charisma beyond individual personalities to events including extinction threats. Our principal example of a charismatic extinction threat is Skynet, the human-unfriendly AI of the movies of the Terminator franchise. Skynet’s charisma interferes with the processes by which we rationally evaluate future risks. Our exploration of the psychological and emotional dimensions of assessing extinction threats considers work by the Nobel laureate economist Robert Shiller (2019) in the emerging field of narrative economics. We connect the virality of extinction stories with the work of the psychologist Elke Weber. According to Elke Weber (2010) we have a finite pool of worry to allocate to all of our future concerns. The charisma of Skynet means that we risk worrying too much about it and, as a consequence, worrying insufficiently about the uncharismatic challenge of climate change. We conclude with a brief discussion of a proposal that could lead to a more rational allocation of worry about extinction and other threats to humanity. We counsel imagination insurance for an intrinsically uncertain future.

text: On artificial superintelligence and the problem of charismatic extinction threats This paper focuses on the challenge of finding a rational response to Artificial Superintelligence (ASI) as an extinction threat. We allow that artificially superintelligent beings are possible. This leaves open the question of how much we should worry about them. We treat ASI as a charismatic extinction threat. Our starting analysis of charisma comes from the sociologist Max Weber (1947). We extend the concept of charisma beyond individual personalities to events including extinction threats. Our principal example of a charismatic extinction threat is Skynet, the human-unfriendly AI of the movies of the Terminator franchise. Skynet’s charisma interferes with the processes by which we rationally evaluate future risks. Our exploration of the psychological and emotional dimensions of assessing extinction threats considers work by the Nobel laureate economist Robert Shiller (2019) in the emerging field of narrative economics. We connect the virality of extinction stories with the work of the psychologist Elke Weber. According to Elke Weber (2010) we have a finite pool of worry to allocate to all of our future concerns. The charisma of Skynet means that we risk worrying too much about it and, as a consequence, worrying insufficiently about the uncharismatic challenge of climate change. We conclude with a brief discussion of a proposal that could lead to a more rational allocation of worry about extinction and other threats to humanity. We counsel imagination insurance for an intrinsically uncertain future.

year: 2025

title: Maori preservice primary teachers’ responses to mathematics investigations

authors: Hāwera, Ngārewa

subjects: mathematics

abstract: There has been concern for some years about the low mathematics achievement of Maori students in New Zealand. This case study reports on the responses of 18 Maori preservice teachers to investigative approaches to learning mathematics during their compulsory Year 1 mathematics education course, as a possible aid towards helping improve the achievement level of Maori in mathematics.

text: Maori preservice primary teachers’ responses to mathematics investigations There has been concern for some years about the low mathematics achievement of Maori students in New Zealand. This case study reports on the responses of 18 Maori preservice teachers to investigative approaches to learning mathematics during their compulsory Year 1 mathematics education course, as a possible aid towards helping improve the achievement level of Maori in mathematics.

year: 2006