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Human Behavior

Here’s how artificial intelligence will shape Arizona business – AZ Big Media

Artificial intelligence does not mean pushing a button and waiting for a robot to jump out.

When you say artificial intelligence, some people jump to the worst possible scenario that technology and computers are going to take over the world, says Erica Sietsma, COO at Scottsdale-based Digital Air Strike. What they dont realize is how many really kind of basic functions that artificial intelligence helps us with every day.

As artificial intelligence (AI) adoption grows in Arizona, Az Business sat down with three experts from the world of technology for an AZ Tech Talk panel discussion about how AI is impacting the states business community, what companies can do to stay ahead of the competition, and how artificial intelligence can make businesses better and more efficient at what they do.

Joining Sietsma in the discussion is Robert Brown, managing director of BDO Digital; and Dr. Dwight Farris, professor at Grand Canyon University.

Az Business: How do you define artificial intelligence as it pertains to your business?

Erica Sietsma: We use artificial intelligence, but were not building robots or anything like that. Since were trying to engage with consumers, we use a myriad of different functions of artificial intelligence. We use cognitive services to digest and analyze any of the natural language communications that were having with consumers to give us better analysis of what the consumer really wants and their intentions. Then, we build out predictive analytics so that the next time we engage with that consumer or someone similar to that consumer, we know how to better engage on behalf of the business. Especially now during COVID, it makes it tough to truly provide that great customer experience when everything is virtual. So we help power that and a huge part of that is leveraging artificial intelligence.

Robert Brown: At BDO, we look at artificial intelligence as really an enabling technology rather than specifically a core application. AI is very good at being trained to look at data and predict particular outcomes, particular models and ideas in terms of information and insight that wouldnt necessarily be gleaned from a normal report. So artificial intelligence is very good in terms of a core technology, but it requires an application, an interface, as well as an ability to access portions of data, and a training module that really takes the technology and creates the outcome.

Dwight Farris: With education, there are several aspects of artificial intelligence. With the virtualization of everything now, cybersecurity is a high concern. What we have tried to convey to students, and were talking computer science, computer programmers, and cybersecurity students, is that we need to understand what artificial intelligence and cybersecurity is. And if you look at cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, youre talking about data, about processing data, and processing high amounts of data. And thats whats happening in our world now with the pandemic. So were utilizing artificial intelligence along with human intelligence to make sure these data are processed correctly.

AB: How are you utilizing artificial intelligence in your businesses?

DW: In education, we are looking for AI to develop some of the environments that were using for teaching. Were looking at how students are responding. Were getting together data on responses to remote learning. And were using artificial intelligence to let us know whats actually effective and whats not effective in education. Thats pretty big across all of higher education how are we going to develop these ongoing environments based on these new models of learning?

RB: At BDO, we look at artificial intelligence to really focus on how we can gain insights to information thats within the business and to create data-driven outcomes. Like a human being, which has a cognitive capability, we have an ability to understand data and interpret data. Artificial intelligence is really going to be utilized to do that very same thing. In many cases, as we, as humans, look at AI as that core technology, we have to train AI as a core technology to do what we, as humans, can do. The benefit of doing that is it provides scalability. It provides repeat repetition in the ability to collect data, assimilate data, and actually make an outcome. These are obviously very key for things such as accounting systems where we need to look at data and interpret data, not just saying what the numbers are, but what do the numbers mean?

Erica Sietsma

ES: Our suite of solutions really runs the gamut of every step of the customer journey from awareness solutions and even in advertising and getting you the right message at the right time. Thats always been the age old adage of advertising, but its a lot more complicated in todays day and age. If somethings highly, highly relevant and highly, highly targeted to you, you are more likely to convert. So we use AI day-to-day to power every solution, so that when youre having that conversation, it is more appropriate to you. Were answering the things the way you would want them to be answered or giving you options that are more relevant to you.

AB: How has artificial intelligence made you better at what you do as a company?

RB: We look at artificial intelligence in terms of making people better, and people are part of the business systems and processes that make up a company. Oftentimes, we look at people and think we need to hire more people to solve more and more problems as companies scale and get larger. Well, those people, in often cases, become data gatherers very intelligent people who look for pieces of information they can gather and then roll into a report that then gets consumed by someone else. Artificial intelligence is a core technology provided into systems that these data collectors use. These data collectors can now be converted into what we call data proctors. Because they understand the nuances of the data, whats being collected, artificial intelligence doesnt necessarily replace their job, but it moves that data collector to become that of a data proctor.

ES: The solutions we provide are more targeted. Theyre more relevant to our consumers. Its a better customer experience and its less humans. So even for ourselves, weve been able to automate our own internal processes to make our teams more efficient. With natural language processing, our solutions are able to propose responses. We are getting to the point where soon, well be able to just push the response to the site. Hey, we know this one is right. Its a review. This was a great experience. Thanks so much. You dont necessarily need a human responding to every single one of those, right? Theres a myriad of different ways you can handle that. Now, an upset customer, thats where we want to focus human attention. You want to use your human assets who are the most valuable piece of the company in the best way possible so that they enjoy their jobs.

Dwight Farris

DF: Machine learning, in case you dont know, is essentially AI applied to all these devices that tend to learn about human behavior. And this is programming, data processing, and were teaching to this. A lot of our students are very interested. They think that AI is magic. When you et into the area of programming, they say, Oh, no, this cant be what AI is. But that is what AI is. Its high level programming. Its math. Its data processing. And its very, very effective. And its becoming more and more a part of how we handle just about all the data that were processing, which is increasing.

AB: How do you see AI changing your businesses over the next several years?

ES: Its really in the last six months where weve seen the biggest leaps and bounds. I think its been way more toyed with like, Oh, can we do this? Now, looking at the next year or two years and its game, set, match. I think we will be able to do all the things weve been kind of talking about as a company and as a consumer engagement solutions provider. We see this kind of mecca where our clients can have great visibility and improve their business. AI will make our clients lives easier. It helps them save money in advertising. We can tell you exactly which clients to target, which ones not to worry about, and which ones are ready to buy based on buying history.

DF: Off-the-shelf products are becoming AI driven and that is what our students are focusing on building those products for corporations. So once they get out there, they can actually showcase what theyve actually been a part of, both as a student and even as an intern or whatever. Remember that AI, the way we view it now, is relatively new. Its usefulness has increased quite a bit in the last five years particularly. And with our current conditions, with data security, cybersecurity, all of this, its increasing even further. And our students and a lot of students across many institutions are at the cusp of helping those particular products become a reality.

Robert Brown

RB: We can actually use artificial intelligence to change the way we conduct business, rather than just the way we collect information about the business. So we look at things like customer sentiment analysis, where we look at the conversations of people out there and they may be saying things that are being transcribed to text, that are being posted on social, but they may actually have a very different meaning than what is actually being presented in text. They always say, never have a discussion with somebody where you want to have a meaningful outcome through email because in many cases, it can be misconstrued or misinterpreted. Well, artificial intelligence can actually improve that because it can understand emotion and sentiment and analysis, not totally the way a human being does, but it can actually understand and suggest outcomes that may be involved in how the business is actually engaging the marketplace, as an example.

AB: We want a bold prediction from each of you. How do you see artificial intelligence having its biggest impact on Arizona in the next five or 10 years?

RB: Whether its healthcare, manufacturing or the hospitality industry in Scottsdale, AI has the ability to change the way that businesses operate. Were not suggesting that artificial intelligence will be a robot at the front desk when you check into Scottsdales resorts, but it may also be a technology thats utilized to determine the clients requirements before they check in. What are their needs? What are their desires? What are their emotions? In many cases, AI can actually create customer profiling based on visits to the restaurants or spa, charging habits, and the types of products they consume so their customer journey is better enabled through the use of artificial intelligence. So artificial intelligence can be utilized to change the way that people visit, engage, live, operate in that state based upon how they live their lives and go about their business.

ES: Ive been very impressed over the last five years as Ive gone to different conferences with how much Arizona has invested in technology and technology companies. Digital Air Strike is born and bred here. And I think that support is going to power the future of our AI economy. I think a lot of Arizona business owners are very open to trying new things. Theyre very open to integrating new solutions, new technologies. I think thats going to bode really well for the state, plus its a great place to live. So. hopefully, we will have all of that talent graduating from our universities and staying in the state.

DF: I think we will do things smarter, and Im using that term loosely because we have smartphones, we have smart refrigerators, etc. But behind those items and those devices, its all artificial intelligence. I think that is going to grow. And were actually going to recognize that this is actually useful. Its not scary. Its not Terminator. Its actually useful. And I think were going to understand that better. Were in the pandemic now and were like, Were never going to be normal, but I think well recognize what technology is going to do for us and artificial intelligence will be at the forefront.

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Here's how artificial intelligence will shape Arizona business - AZ Big Media

Human Behavior

Will County colleges try to manage pandemic as new year begins – The Herald-News

The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed Will County-area colleges to make significant changes to keep students safe as classes begin.

Joliet Junior College, the University of St. Francis in Joliet and Lewis University in Romeoville all have plans on how they will continue to offer classes that lay out what measures theyre taking.

All three institutions have said they are requiring the use of face coverings for those on campus, maintaining regular cleaning of facilities and encouraging physical distancing according to public health guidance.

Colleges nationwide have been trying to reduce the number of people coming to campus on a regular basis.

Christopher Sindt, provost at Lewis University, said about 70% of classes for the semester will be delivered online. Another 20% will be given in a hybrid format, with the remaining 10% delivered in person.

Sindt said university officials tried to take a flexible approach to meet the needs of all of Lewis 6,400 students.

Weve tried to really pay attention to what students and families were telling us, he said, adding that he feels Lewis is in a comfortable place with its balance of remote and in-person instruction.

JJC has only about 10% of its students on campus for in-person labs every week. The junior college announced early in the spring that it would go nearly fully remote learning this semester and recently said it would continue with the format for next spring.

Our students have faced unprecedented stress, frustration and fear, JJC President Judy Mitchell said in a news release. But they havent given up on their education, and neither have we.

The schools also have implemented measures to screen and track those on campus in the event of a positive test.

JJC is requiring all individuals entering a campus building to go through a hands-free thermal temperature station. Those with a temperature of 100.4 degrees or higher will be required to leave and contact an appropriate college representative.

The college also is conducting its own contact tracing, said Judy Connelly, JJCs interim executive director of human resources. She said this does not replace the county health departments contact tracing program, which JJC also will be cooperating with, Connelly said.

JJC has been publicly reporting the number of positive COVID-19 cases among students and employees who have been on campus on its website. As of Thursday, JJC has reported nine positive cases among those who have been on campus since August.

Lewis University also is reporting the number of people whove been on campus and tested positive for COVID-19 on a weekly basis, which as of Aug. 28 stood at six.

The university said it is following contact tracing protocols as directed by the Will County Health Department. It also is using its LewisU smartphone app for students and staff to self-screen for symptoms daily before they come to campus.

This is a daily requirement for the 950 or so students who reside in on-campus housing. Anyone who tests positive is asked to contact the universitys COVID-19 hotline.

When on campus, students also use the app to check in via a QR code before they enter a classroom. This helps the university know who else might have been around someone who tests positive.

Sindt said he thinks students are very much engaged in complying with the safety protocols, a key to keeping the campus safe.

The most important part of our preparations is trying to communicate how important human behavior is, he said.

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Will County colleges try to manage pandemic as new year begins - The Herald-News

Human Behavior

Finding Our Way Back: Examining the Geography of the Black Past – Appalachian State University

Finding Our Way Back: Examining the Geography of the Black PastMike Williams, Education Projects Manager for the National Humanities Center in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina

Thursday, October 22, 20203:30 p.m.Via Zoom: https://appstate.zoom.us/j/99440176140This talk is free and open to the public.

This talk will evaluate the role of geography in understanding the legacies of the transatlantic slave trade, the resilience of the enslaved, and its effect on continuing efforts to reclaim African cultural heritage.

Michael Mike Williams is the Education Projects Manager for the National Humanities Center (NHC) in Research Triangle Park, N.C. Williams earned a B.A. in English and African-American Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a Masters of Education degree at North Carolina State University focusing on New Literacies and Global Learning, and a law degree from North Carolina Central University.

Prior to his position at the NHC, Williams served as chair of the history department at Warren New Tech High School in Warrenton, N.C. In that time, he was twice recognized as the Warren County Teacher of the Year (2014, 2017-18) and was named the 2017 Tachau National Teacher of the Year by the Organization of American Historians. Prior to this, he was a practicing attorney with the law offices of Williams & Clifton in Louisburg, N.C. Williams currently serves on the boards of the National Council for History Education and North Carolina Council for the Social Studies.

This event is brought to you by the Appalachian State University Department of Geography and Planning. To learn more about the Department of Geography and Planning, visit https://geo.appstate.edu.

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About the Department of Geography and PlanningThe Department of Geography and Planning promotes the understanding of the spatial dimensions of human behavior within the physical and cultural systems of the earth, and the role of planning in achieving improvement in those systems. The department offers degrees in geography and in community and regional planning. Learn more at https://geo.appstate.edu.

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Finding Our Way Back: Examining the Geography of the Black Past - Appalachian State University

Human Behavior

Versus Game Announces The Launch Of First-Ever Gaming Economy – PRNewswire

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --Versus Game, the world's leading consumer prediction marketplace, has announced the launch of its own gaming economy through a new exclusive feature that will give players the ability to host their own games. The first of its kind, the innovation will be a unique opportunity for users to earn money and grow their own social following.

Versus Game is a mobile game dedicated to rewarding consumers for their knowledge and predictions on matchups related to celebrities, pop culture, food, business and more. The new gaming economy feature will be available exclusively in the game's Android app, and will enable players to create their own custom games using Versus Game's classic formula (i.e. Which show will be the most popular on Netflix this week?). Hosts can choose to keep the games exclusive to their inner circle or open them up for anyone in the world to play, and will earn a portion of the revenue generated from each game they create.

Currently sitting at over 3 million users, Versus Game launched last year and has given away over $8.5 million in cash prizes, with $4 million being during the current COVID era. The game has partnered with popular celebrities, brands and influencers, including Fat Joe, Foodgod and Remy Ma, and is dedicated to creating an exclusive environment for fans and talent to interact. This fall, Versus Game is planning to launch exciting collaborations with ESPN, Cumulus Media, Maxim, Lil Baby, Steve Aoki, Amanda Cerny and more.

To date, Versus Game has been a platform used by influencers and celebrities to earn money and engage with fans in a meaningful and entertaining way. With the launch of the new user-created game feature, Versus Game will open up that unique opportunity to the masses, giving anyone and everyone the chance to earn money, grow their following and build their personal brand.

"We created Versus Game because we firmly believe that knowledge should be rewarded, and with the launch of our very own gaming economy, players will have an even larger stake in their own brand," says John Vitti, Founder and CEO of Versus Game. "It's natural human behavior to make predictions surrounding culturally relevant moments, and Versus Game pays people for doing just that. The new feature will take it a step further, and give our users the ultimate opportunity to earn big, gain followers, and create compelling games. We can't wait to see what players come up with."

The new gaming economy feature will be available exclusively on Versus Game's new Android app, launching Tuesday, September 8. For more information, please visit http://www.versusgame.com.

ABOUT VERSUS GAMEVersus Game is a consumer prediction marketplace that presents timely and relevant interactive games, giving users the opportunity to get paid for being right. Players can predict the outcome of their favorite brands, celebrities, musicians, movies, athletes and more for cash prizes, with the platform being the first of its kind to bring power to the masses and allow consumers to capitalize on their knowledge of mainstream culture. To date, the platform has over 3 million users and has given away over $8.5 million in cash prizes. For more information, please visit http://www.versusgame.com.

SOURCE Versus Game

http://www.versusgame.com

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Versus Game Announces The Launch Of First-Ever Gaming Economy - PRNewswire

Human Behavior

3 Things To Know About The Unabomber: Prophetic Warnings About Technology – Moguldom

Written by Dana Sanchez

Sep 08, 2020

A Harvard-educated math genius, Ted Kaczynski became one of the FBIs most wanted for planting 16 bombs between 1978 and 1995 targeting people involved with technology. Known as the Unabomber, he killed three people and injured 23 more in his desperation for attention.

Few people under the age of 60 would have known about the Unabomber if it hadnt been for the 2017 Netflix seriesManhunt: Unabomber, The National reported.

Hiding out in a Montana cabin off the grid, the Unabomber was caught in 1996 after theNew York TimesandWashington Postagreed to publish his 35,000-word manifesto Industrial Society and its Future. His brother recognized the ideas in the Sept. 19, 1995 publications and turned the Unabomber in.

Forty years later, it could be argued that the Unabomber was a visionary to whom we should all now be paying very close attention, Jonathan Gornall wrote in a February 2018 opinion piece in The National.

In his manifesto, Kaczynski wrote that he feared the technophiles are taking us all on an utterly reckless ride and that technology will eventually acquire something approaching complete control over human behavior. He was especially worried about artificial intelligence a concern shared by the late Stephen Hawking.

A super-intelligent AI, Professor Hawking warned, will be extremely good at accomplishing its goals and if those goals arent aligned with ours, were in trouble.

Twenty years earlier, Kaczynski predicted that computer scientists would develop intelligent machines that can do all things better than human beings. As society and the problems that face it become more and more complex and as machines become more and more intelligent, people will let machines make more and more of their decisions for them.

Eventually the decisions necessary to keep the system running will be so complex that human beings will be incapable of making them intelligently, at which stage the machines will be in effective control. People wont be able to turn off the machines because they will be so dependent on them that turning them off would amount to suicide.

Since then, Google, Facebook and Twitter have entered our digital lives, tracking and harvesting every facet of us. We willingly bring Amazons Echo and Googles Home into our living spaces, which listen, watch and learn about our preferences and habits.

Technology may be initially introduced as optional, but it changes society in such a way that it becomes impossible to function without using that technology, Kaczynski said. When you consider the United Nations assertion that access to the internet is a human right, up there with food, shelter and education, Kaczynski may be right.

Some technologists are starting to wonder if scale of tech intrusion in our lives is so extensive and complex that its getting out of hand. In the process, they are beginning to sound like Kaczynski, Gornall wrote.

Kaczynski cited cars, which gave everyone freedom to travel farther until they became a necessity, requiring more money, regulations and roads. Cities were designed for the convenience of drivers, not pedestrians, the Unabomber wrote. For many people, driving is no longer an option.

TheiPhone X shows that the Unabomber had a point, Steve Chapman wrote in a 2017 Chicago Tribune report. When cellphones first appeared, they offered one more way of connecting that could be accepted or rejected. Now we all panic when we leave home without a cell phone. We went from you can have a portable communication device to you must have a portable communication device practically overnight, Chapman wrote.

A domestic terrorist, Kaczynskiwas imprisoned for life, however, his ideas cannot be dismissed and are increasingly important, according to a 2013 Fox News opinion piece.

Listen to GHOGH with Jamarlin Martin | Episode 73: Jamarlin Martin Jamarlin makes the case for why this is a multi-factor rebellion vs. just protests about George Floyd. He discusses the Democratic Partys sneaky relationship with the police in cities and states under Dem control, and why Joe Biden is a cop and the Steve Jobs of mass incarceration.

Kaczynski wrote that increasing reliance on technology would end up short-circuiting the ability of humans to think for themselves and act on their own ideas and abilities.

The Unabomber saw the political left as particular villains in embracing these technologies, because they were in keeping with the leftist ideology that centralized power was the way to govern men, according to the Fox News opinion piece:

He saw these leftists as psychologically disorderedseeking to compensate for deep feelings of personal disempowerment by banding together and seeking extraordinary means of control in society, Fox opined. Well, Kaczynski,while reprehensible for murdering and maiming people, was precisely correct in many of his ideas.

Having seen Barack Obama elected, in part, by mastering the use of the Internet as a campaign tool, then watching his administration preside over eavesdropping on the American public, monitoring their emails and tapping their phones, denying them their due process and privacy, and making a play to disarm them, Kaczynski, must wonder what it will take for Americans to wake up to the fact that their individuality and autonomyindeed, what constitutes the core of a human lifeis under siege (by the very forces he predictedtechnology and leftist political leaders).

Read more: What Is The Algorithmic Colonization of Africa? Researcher Explains

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3 Things To Know About The Unabomber: Prophetic Warnings About Technology - Moguldom

Human Behavior

Heading to the beach, pool or park for Labor Day weekend? Doctors give COVID-19 safety tips – KHOU.com

Public health officials are concerned about "COVID fatigue" and people letting their guards down during the holiday that could lead to a rise in cases.

HOUSTON As Texas shows improvement in new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, public health officials are urging people to keep up their healthy habits, especially when celebrating the holiday weekend with friends or family.

After Memorial Day weekend, Texas saw a spike in new coronavirus cases, and Houston mayor Sylvester Turner warned people that in order to return to school in-person and re-open the economy fully, people would need to avoid creating a new rise in cases.

Human behavior largely determines the spread of the virus, according to UTHealth's Luis Ostrosky, MD, an infectious disease doctor.

Dr. Ostrosky said people should limit the size of any parties or gatherings. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo put a ban on gatherings of more than 10 people.

The more people, the higher risk," Dr. Ostrosky said.

Objects like sports balls, toys or cooking utensils getting passed from one person to another can potentially transmit the virus if people do not sanitize the objects and wash their own hands after each contact with the item.

He also urged people should treat family and friends the same as strangers when it comes to healthy habits: practice social distancing, wash your hands, and wear a mask, even if it gets hot or socially awkward.

We have a lot of people dying from this. We have families destroyed. We have situations where a family member cant say goodbye to their loved ones because theyre in an isolation environment. Its sad. Its really powerful," Dr. Ostrosky said.

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Heading to the beach, pool or park for Labor Day weekend? Doctors give COVID-19 safety tips - KHOU.com

Human Behavior

Commentary: Trump’s ban on diversity training is misguided. The training is neither divisive nor un-American. – The San Diego Union-Tribune

Anti-racism work has been happening for decades. However, it reached a critical mass in the late spring with the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and too many more. As people worldwide hunkered down at home due to the pandemic, they were forced to witness, contemplate and reconcile our individual and collective responsibility to create systemic change. Anti-racism work can now be found anywhere from the corporate world to grass-roots community organizing.

So it came as a surprise when buried at the bottom of the page in Saturdays The San Diego Union-Tribune, ironically in the Racial Justice in America section, was an article reporting President Donald Trumps ban on diversity training that discusses White supremacy or critical race theory. The rationale given was that these trainings were divisive and un-American.

Divisive? Not at all. When we study the Jewish Holocaust and the systems created to terminate an entire group of people based on race, is this divisive or is it critical knowledge to ensure history does not repeat itself? When we study how the German people were susceptible to a tyrant like Adolf Hitler and why so many were able to overlook these atrocities, is this divisive or is it a critical study of human behavior so that we as a people are never again complicit with the disregard of any human life?

Un-American? Not at all. The United States was birthed as a nation by White, Protestant Christian men running from religious persecution. It is a nation birthed from the womb of revolution against a religious system of oppression. Did our founding fathers falter in creating a country that was truly equitable for all? Yes. This is widely known and undebatable. We have learned how our nation was built, from the onset, on the backs of enslaved Africans on land stolen from Indigenous people who were here long before our founding fathers.

To be unwilling to acknowledge the historic truths about our country sends the message that only some are valued while other peoples lived experiences, family histories and day-to-day realities are of no consequence and are deeply unappreciated in todays United States.

Could it be that the president has conflated divisive and un-American with uncomfortable? The idea that we should be made to feel comfortable by others is in itself a concept born out of White supremacy and is a luxury that has only been afforded to some. On the contrary, the discomfort that the memorandum is encouraging be avoided is not something that we need to shy away from; rather it presents an opportunity to realize that our learning our growth often happens inside of this very discomfort.

Through discomfort we have learned to adopt a common vocabulary, and now normalized vernacular that includes terms like anti-racist, White supremacy, anti-Blackness, systemic oppression and racism as regular parts of conversations across the United States. Every person plays a role in perpetuating or dismantling systems of oppression and White supremacy. We are unable to be effective in our roles without a clear understanding of the complexity and pervasiveness of this issue.

Understanding the impact of systemic oppression and racism through the voices and experiences of those who are direct targets of it is the cornerstone of critical race theory. The theory is based on the belief that racism is embedded in the fabric of the country and its institutions, and impacts social structures, policies, practices and exchanges. In other words, it examines the systems that were created centuries ago and recognizes that these systems were created by those in power, White people, to preserve that power structure White supremacy and continue to effect the opportunities, relationships and resources for people today. This does not mean that all the White people who continue to benefit from these systems are bad people, but instead provides us with an understanding that can help forge better realities for ourselves and future generations.

With this knowledge, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and White people have come together to begin deconstructing and reconstructing these systems to better represent the culturally, racially diverse people of today. The work is uncomfortable, and at times painful, and it comes at a personal cost for all involved. It forces us to open our eyes to our own biases and behaviors that contribute to the sustaining of racist and oppressive systems.

Acknowledging our imperfection is not a flaw in the human condition. Regardless of discomfort, anti-racist work is the necessary action we must take to build a nation that lives up to its potential.

Salde Encarnacion is a Community Voices Project contributor. Melendrez is executive officer of equity and engagement at Southwestern College and a co-founder and co-president of an equity and inclusion firm.

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Commentary: Trump's ban on diversity training is misguided. The training is neither divisive nor un-American. - The San Diego Union-Tribune

Human Behavior

Development and initial psychometric properties of a panic buying scale during COVID-19 pandemic – DocWire News

This article was originally published here

Heliyon. 2020 Sep;6(9):e04746. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04746. Epub 2020 Sep 2.

ABSTRACT

Fear is a powerful driver of human behavior, even more during times of crisis. Panic buying occurs when fear and panic influence behavior leading people to buy more things than usual. So far, no specific scale on this has been found in the major databases, thus the aim of this exploratory study is to develop a Panic Buying Scale (PBS) during COVID-19 pandemic. 393 Brazilians took part in this study (251 women and 142 men), answering a sociodemographic questionnaire and instruments of these variables: (1)panic buying, (2)impulse buying, (3)temporal focus, (4)optimism, (5)risk perception, (6)need for cognition. Data collection was conducted through an online questionnaire which was shared through social media networks, from April 10th to May 4th, 2020. Factorial exploratory and confirmatory analysis indicated that PBS has a unidimensional solution and showed satisfactory reliability indexes. Results revealed that men buy more by panic than women. PBS also was positively correlated with impulse buying, past and future temporal focus, and risk perception; as well as negatively correlated with optimism and age. Findings suggest that PBS is psychometrically acceptable in the Brazilian context. This new instrument can be useful to understand the psychosocial phenomena associated with consumer behavior. Future investigations could provide more evidences of validity in other contexts.

PMID:32895636 | PMC:PMC7467094 | DOI:10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04746

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Development and initial psychometric properties of a panic buying scale during COVID-19 pandemic - DocWire News

Human Behavior

Cat owners fall in one of five categories, researchers say. Which one are you? – CNN

Domestic cats fall on a spectrum based on their proclivity to hunting and roaming and the supervision levels of their owners can affect how the feline pets interact with their surrounding environments.

Whereas some owners embrace the more wild tendencies of their cats and allow them the space to roam outdoors, others prefer raising house cats, keeping their furry friends inside and under supervision. Depending on where in this spectrum, you may be a "conscientious caretakers" or a "freedom defender."

"I think normally it's framed as a debate between cat owners or cat advocates and conservationists, particularly bird conservationists," says Sarah Crowley, an anthrozoologist based in Exeter's Centre for Geography and Environmental Science (CGES). Anthrozoologists study the interactions between humans and other animals.

Crowley and her colleagues at the University of Exeter have been seeking the middle ground in this conflict by considering the perspectives of cat owners. The ultimate goal of their work is to identify the best practices in sustainably managing cats' behavior, ideally in a way that keeps all parties satisfied.

The five types of owners

They have since identified five distinctive cat owner perspectives:

Outdoor cats don't only endanger birds and rodents; without human supervision they may also be at risk themselves.

"Cats roaming outdoors are more at risk for traffic accidents. They're also more at risk for disease," Crowley said.

"People don't tend to worry so much about rats and mice, but people are definitely concerned about birds and, in some countries, other vulnerable animals like small reptiles," she said.

Crowley notes that not all cats hunt or roam equally and variations increase even more between a city cat, for example, versus a farm cat. It was important to the Exeter research team to speak to cat owners directly due to the range in cat behavioral types. Going to the source means surveying various humans who care for these animals.

A "freedom defender" would be more likely to embrace their pet's natural instincts and accept the risks of a free-roaming cat in comparison to "conscientious caretaker" who is more likely to keep their cat indoor at least some of the time.

No matter where you or the cat lover in your life falls on this spectrum, researchers agree that simply being mindful goes a long way.

"We hope this research inspires people to think about what type they are and to have conversations with their friends and family about the responsibilities that cat owners might have, both to themselves and to other wildlife," Crowley said. "We think this can happen without a conflict between cat lovers and bird projects."

Quiz time

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Cat owners fall in one of five categories, researchers say. Which one are you? - CNN

Genetics

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