Complex Social Life

Communication and organization

May

2013

What’s the relationship between communication and organization? Many will agree that you cannot have an organization without communication, but this relationship can be understood in many different ways. “Communicative Constitution of Organization” or CCO proposes that, in fact, organization is communication. I came across this theory while looking for ideas for my thesis. I’m interested in understanding ...

Lessons learned from going No Poo

Mar

2013

It’s been two months since the last time I washed my hair with shampoo. Don’t get me wrong, I still wash it, but I just stopped using shampoo. Here is what I’ve learned from the experience: You can live without shampoo, your hair gets thicker than with shampoo but more manageable, clean and clean-looking. It ...

From Computer Engineering to Sociology

Jan

2013

Just a quick reminder of how I got to Sociology from Computer Engineering and Artificial Intelligence. I was always interested in sociology and psychology. My main goal when I started with artificial intelligence was to learn more about what is intelligence and how we can characterise it. After seeing that there were no conclusive answers ...

Thermodynamics, entropy and environmentalism

Dec

2012

Everyone I know can tell you about thermodynamics, even non-scientists. It’s one of those things that have been cited in newspapers, books and movies so much that everyone knows at least a couple of things. Maybe you don’t think you know about it, but if I say “energy cannot be created nor destroyed, only transformed” ...

Squatting in London: Politics and Identity

Dec

2012

I finally uploaded my dissertation you can find it here: Squatting in London: Politics and Identity This work presents an analysis of the squatter movement in London. After a historical introduction reviewing the main events related to land property and squatting, the concepts of cultural politics and new social movements are explained, justifying the use ...

The squatter scene in London

Nov

2012

First of all, the squatter community is an informal one; there are no registries or any kind of formal membership to be part of the community. The boundaries of this community are not well-defined. A common misleading assumption would be that it is formed by people who are squatting, but this would be a simplification ...

The map and the territory 6

Nov

2012

A common discussion with some of my friends is about science and its limits. I’m really concerned with how people understand science nowadays, as if something is true just because it’s scientific. I’m not the first one worried about this, Popper, one of the key figures in defining modern science, used the term “scientism” pejoratively ...

Lock-in, or how sometimes poor products become best-sellers

Nov

2012

It is usually believed that in a free market only the best products will stay and bad products will be discarded, almost like natural selection where the better adapted individuals will survive and the rest will just disappear. But history has proven that mediocre products or suboptimal products can make it in the market, becoming ...

Brief history of squatting and land struggle in England (Part II)

Oct

2012

In the 20th century, common lands were almost non-existent and agriculture was sunk in a depression. Enclosed land was sold as it was seen as a liability rather than an asset. People living on these lands were called, disdainfully, squatters because of the conditions of their houses, although they were legally occupying that land. A ...

Brief history of squatting and land struggle in England (Part I)

Oct

2012

Squatting, defined as the occupation of a property or land without legal title or consent, is present as part of the urban life in many cities and can be seen in many rural areas across the world. Squatting is deeply rooted in the history of the United Kingdom. As in many countries across Europe, the struggle ...