Social Fuzziology: Study Of Fuzziness Of Social Complexity (studies In Fuzziness And Soft Computing)

Fuzziology studies the fuzziness inherent in what we know about ourselves, the sources and nature of our experience, our thoughts and feelings, drives for understanding and urges to create and realise our potential. This kind of fuzziness is at the core of our existence, at the essence of our humanness. It affects any field of human activity, be it mathematical study of fuzzy equations and fuzzy integrals; engineering design and implementation of fuzzy logic-based methodologies; fuzzy control systems or fuzzy robots. Social fuzziology investigates the role of fuzziness in understanding the dynamic complexity of human existence in the social world. It is a study of the nexus between the complex demands of life -individual and social -and the fuzziness of thinking. Since human evolution over 2 billion years has seen the co-evolution of social complexity with human language and thought, it is likely that the fuzziness of language and thought is especially intimately formed by the demands of social complexity, just as social complexity is sustained by the inherent fuzziness of language and thought. Social fuzziology is not simply one field of application of fuzziology. Given the initial state of the development of fuzziology, social fuzziology needs to develop hand in hand with fuzziology, each helping to advance the other. The book applies the principles and insights of Fuzzy Logic to the complexity of social life. It draws on the full range of the social sciences, including some of the most up-to-date work on the escalating complexities of post modern life, e.g. new information technologies in a global world, new forms of consciousness and identity, new relationships between humans, machines, nature and environment. The volume is interdisciplinary, combining expertise from Fuzzy Logic and the Postmodern Social Sciences, synthesising and applying concepts and methods of Fuzzy Logic in innovative ways to the world of social life. It gives readers from the social sciences a comprehensive, exciting and practical guide for applying Fuzzy Logic, while bringing a rich body of social problems and concepts on to the agenda for researchers in Fuzzy Logic and related fields. Front Matter....Pages I-XX Introduction to Social Fuzziology....Pages 1-45 Bridging the Study of Complexity with Social Fuzziology....Pages 47-75 Understanding Fuzziness of Ourselves....Pages 77-98 Understanding Fuzziness of Society....Pages 99-130 Case Studies: Understanding Fuzzy Social Categories....Pages 131-142 Fuzziness of the West and the East....Pages 143-166 Key Terms in the Language of Fuzziology....Pages 167-179 Back Matter....Pages 181-188 Introduction to Social Fuzziology Bridging the Study of Complexity with Social Fuzziology Understanding Fuzziness of Ourselves Understanding Fuzziness of Society Case Studies: Understanding Fuzzy Social Categories Fuzziness of the West and the East Key Terms in the Language of Fuzziology References.