Doctoral Degrees (Information Science)

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Characteristics and availability of journal literature used by biomedical researchers in South Africa
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 1991-12) Steynberg, Susan; Rossouw, S. F.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Information Science.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The management of especially academic libraries need to justify the expenditure on staff, equipment and materials to the top management at universities which are in the throes of economically stringent times. Document delivery is seen as one of the core functions an academic information service performs and thus an appropriate target for objective assessment The present project focuses on the document delivery capability of the academic medical libraries in South Africa. A dual research protocol is employed. Firstly the characteristics of the journal literature used by the South African biomedical researchers are analysed and described. The availability of these publications are subsequently investigated. The journal articles published in 1989 by the target group provides the source data for the project. These articles, augmented by a representative sample of the references cited, are analysed according to established bibliometric criteria. The resulting description of characteristics is significant in its comparability with similar international studies. Subsequently, an empirical document delivery test is conducted at all seven the academic medical libraries in South Africa to establish the availability quotient of the identified journal citations. A hypothetical national average is also calculated. A high availability rate was found at all the test libraries. Academic libraries are at present forced to cancel journal subscriptions. It is crucially important that such cancellations should be handled on a rational basis thereby limiting the damage to what is collectively considered a national asset This is only possible through national cooperation under the auspices of the CUP. This study was intended as an indicator of the current state of availability of biomedical journal literature in South Africa. It is recommended that the same methodology be used for follow-up studies to control these results and to monitor future availability trends.
Formal concept analysis applied to pattern matching and automata
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-03) Venter, Frederick Johannes; Watson, B. W.; Kourie, D. G.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Information Science.
ENGLISH ASBSTRACT: This thesis explores the use of formal concept analysis (FCA) to solve pattern matching problems conventionally solved by techniques based on finite au-tomata (FAs). The problems examined in some detail are 2D pattern matching of rectilinear objects, pattern matching on multiple keywords and construction of failure FAs. In addition, broad FCA based approaches to solving problems are proposed that address non-deterministic FA to deterministic FA reduction and that address acyclic deterministic FA pattern matching. Overall, the the-sis illustrates that many of these pattern matching problems are amenable to solutions based on FCA. However, the formal concept lattice built to solve any of these problems will invariably encapsulate more information than what is needed to solve the particular problem at hand. While this might be space/ time inefficient, it might also represent an opportunity to be exploited for associated problems. Neither of these matters are empirically explored in the thesis.
Gekombineerde skool- en openbare biblioteke : 'n moontlike oplossing vir plattelandse gebiede
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 1993-12) Crafford, Agnes; Overduin, P. G. J.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Information Science.
ENGLISH SUMMARY: The possible combination of school and public libraries in rural areas is the main theme of the dissertation. Both the school and public libraries serve the community; the school library solely for use by the school and the public library for the use of the broader community. Although there are two functioning libraries in country towns there are still underprivileged communities who have unsatisfactory or even no library facilities. Research on the needs of these areas is essential, community development being the most important contribution which can be provided by the library, to the underprivileged. The research centres on the main problem: whether there is any justification for two libraries with roughly the same objectives in any small town. Possible negative factors, such as a poor economic climate, a decline in the number of school pupils, the depopulation of rural areas and insufficient library facilities must be taken into account for the efficient functioning of both libraries. Combined libraries can be a solution. Reasons for the establishment of combined libraries are amongst others; rationalization, financial saving, sufficient library facilities and the provision of improved services. Combined libraries could function in the rural areas in existing library buildings or newly-erected structures and provide a service to both the uninformed user in a strange, new environment, as well as to the more experienced seeker of knowledge. Country towns and districts in the Western Cape were defined as the chosen area for research. The circle is drawn closer with the specific target being combined schools, for example, the combination of both a primary school and high school component on the same site. The custom of combined institutions has thus already been accepted in these towns. The dissertation initially reviews the role of existing schObl and public libraries in rural areas. The aims and functions of both types of libraries are discussed and compared and similarities and differences are noted. Each existing school and public library is evaluated to on its own standards. Both the libraries must therefore meet these requirements to be successful. The criteria whereby these libraries are judged are: [i] management and control, [ii] stock, [iii] staff, [iv] library hours and [v] accommodation. All aspects of both types of libraries are discussed thoroughly and all advantages and disadvantages are investigated. A schoolpublic library must, therefore, meet certain standards to succeed in the role of a combined library. Following on an in-depth discussion of two existing libraries in a rural area, the research shifts to combined libraries in certain foreign countries, namely Australia, Canada, the United States of America and Sweden. The African State, Malawi, is also used as an example of a country with a developing community. Comparisons are made between factors in local and foreign countries and conclusions are drawn. The emphasis moves on to a new situation where a newly-planned, combined library on the school grounds is proposed. Such a library, known as Model A, should serve .a community where no school or public library exists. The highest priority is afforded to the pupil and facilities for studying, as well as an instruction area are provided. Model A, is compared to Model B, which represents the school library as a combined library and Model C, which represents the public library as a combined library. Combined libraries in the rural areas will provide the communities and schools with these advantages: [iJ more effective accommodation, [iiJ a larger stock, [iiiJ professional staff and [ivJ longer library hours. Together, these advantages should successfully provide rural areas with an effective community service.
The history of the South African Public Library, Cape Town, 1830-1961
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 1983-12) Tyrrell-Glynn, William Henry Patrick Aloysius; Ehlers, D. L.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Information Science.
Incongruence and enactment in information systems : a sensemaking analysis
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2013-12) Le Roux, Daniel Bartholomeus; Kinghorn, Johann; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Information Science.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In the six decades since organisations rst adopted computer machinery to support their operations this form of technology has undergone rapid evolution. This evolution is characterised by both the advancement of the machines themselves and the expansion of their application in the organisational domain through the development of increasingly advanced software. A particularly in uential development for large enterprises has been the introduction of computerised Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERPs) and the popularisation of proprietary ERP packages. By integrating the feature sets of an increasingly wide range of business software applications ERPs enable organisations to satisfy a large part of their information processing requirements by adopting a single software artefact. This approach o ers numerous bene ts to adopters as it ensures the integration of information processing activities across organisational functions. However, the realisation of these bene ts depends upon the organisation's ability to achieve congruence between its own structures and those embedded in proprietary ERP packages. This includes, on one level, the management of the processes of adaptation through which organisational actors become accustomed to a new technology and, on another level, the con guration and alignment of the artefact with the organisation's operating procedures. Despite the popularity of ERP adoption the achievement of congruence in information systems is an illusive ideal for many organisations. Accordingly, many Information Systems (IS) scholars have researched the organisational, technical and social factors which obstruct congruence and the interventions proposed to counter these. A key nding following from these investigations is that, notwithstanding the implementation of countering interventions, organisations often need to continue operations while experiencing some degree of incongruence or mis t in their information systems. The research performed in this study advances knowledge about this phenomenon by investigating the implications of incongruence for the behaviour of users of proprietary ERPs in organisations. Weickean Sensemaking Theory is adopted as conceptual framework to enable the investigation of instances of incongruence as events experienced by users in the context of their work environments. The theory dictates that users, rather than passively adopting the impositions of software artefacts, en- act information systems in unpredictable ways based on subjective and shared processes of sensemaking. An empirical investigation is performed and takes the form of a single, cross-sectional case study in which a variety of data collection techniques are utilised. The data sources are analysed and triangulated to trace the relationship between experiences of incongruence and patterns of information systems enactment among the user community. The ndings of the study reveal that experiences of incongruence cultivate knowledge sharing among a user community, a process which aligns their beliefs about the nature, role and use of a technology in an organisation. Furthermore, experiences of incongruence encourage users to augment designed technologies through the development informal information processing activities and alternative work ows. These forms of behaviour, while resolving users' experiences incongruence, lead to variance between the designed technology and the enacted technology creating various risks for the integrity of the organisation's business processes.
Knowledge discovery and anomalies — towards a dynamic decision-making model for medical informatics
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2018-03) Arndt, Heidi; Kinghorn, Johann; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Information Science.
ENGLISH SUMMARY : Worldwide healthcare has become a major concern for modern society, which is challenged to make quality care accessible and affordable to all. With a slowing world economy, rapidly rising medical costs and a better-informed customer base, governments and healthcare organisations are under pressure to deliver a product that focuses on quality care, transparent costs and an excellent patient experience. This requires well-informed and nimble operating and decision-making by healthcare organisations, putting pressure on the discipline of informatics within systems. In a comprehensive literature survey, it was found that healthcare organisations are organisations made up of a wide variety of subsystems operating in a complex environment. In addition, there are individualities that challenge the development of health information systems. Bisociative knowledge discovery, which is the creative discovery of previously unknown information from habitually incompatible domains, was introduced as an alternative tool to address the need for decision support in the healthcare sector. It was further found that information networks are a useful way to integrate data from habitually incompatible domains. Lastly, frequent pattern mining was identified as the machine learning tool for mining bisociations within information networks. A knowledge discovery framework for data-intensive research focusing on the field of biomedical informatics was developed in this study. Within this framework, data are represented as integrated, heterogeneous information networks, and machine learning algorithms are applied to the data with the explicit purpose of finding interconnectedness within these structures that can lead to bisociative knowledge discoveries. This framework was further developed into a knowledge discovery process model for bisociative knowledge discovery with a focus on the healthcare sector. The knowledge discovery process model for bisociative knowledge discovery was then applied in a case study which made use of the Nationwide Inpatient Sample data that forms part of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project. The case study successfully demonstrated the construction of habitually incompatible domains and their integration into a heterogeneous information network. Furthermore, it demonstrated the application of frequent pattern mining algorithms to extract subgraphs from the constructed information network. This was followed by the constructing of the extracted subgraphs as concept graphs with the purpose of visualising the results for further interpretation. At the end of this research it was concluded that:  The proposed explorative data mining method using bisociative knowledge discovery revealed unexpected, potentially interesting relationships within the constructed information network.  Modelling data from the healthcare sector as an information network allowed visual insights into the structure of the data, which supported the detection of novel insights that otherwise would not have been revealed.  Organisations operating in a complex environment can be successfully unpacked into rich layers of abstraction and the integration of these layers can be automated through computing.
Media multitasking and cognitive control : assessing the feasibility of an intervention requiring the self-regulation of smartphone use
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-12) Parry, Douglas Anderson; Le Roux, Daniel B.; Bantjes, Jason; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Information Science.
ENGLISH SUMMARY : Increasingly our personal, work, and social contexts are characterised by engagements with communications media. Adapting to and coping in this hyper-connected world has cultivated high levels of media multitasking —the simultaneous use of one medium alongside other media or non-media activities. Over the preceding decade researchers have investigated possible associations between media multitasking and changes in cognitive control. While extant research is characterised by both convergent and divergent findings, overall, current evidence supports the suggestion that those who frequently engage in media multitasking are more likely to underperform relative to lighter media multitaskers in a number of cognitive domains. In particular, research suggests that media multitasking is negatively associated with attentional capacities, working memory, task-switching ability, and interference management. In response to calls for investigations considering the remedial efficacy of interventions targeting media multitasking and related cognitive effects the study presented in this dissertation endeavoured, firstly, to investigate existing behavioural interventions targeting cognitive outcomes associated with media multitasking; secondly, to develop a novel media multitasking intervention; and, thirdly, to assess the feasibility of this intervention for a student population. To address the study objectives a three-phase mixed-methods investigation was executed. Owing to the interdisciplinary nature of research in this domain, the first phase involved reviewing relevant literature from cognitive psychology, media and communication, and social informatics to provide a conceptual foundation for the phases to follow. Subsequently, building on theories of behaviour, cognition, media use, and self-regulation the patterns and drivers of media multitasking were considered and summarised through the provision of an integrative model of media multitasking behaviour. While not empirically tested in this study, the model, as a summary of previous research, guided the subsequent intervention evaluations. The phase concluded with an evaluation of the current state of research into associations between media multitasking and cognitive control. In phase two a systematic review methodology was adopted to consider previous interventions targeting the effects of media multitasking on executive functioning. This review aimed to determine, firstly, the nature of interventions assessed, secondly, the efficacy of these interventions in terms of both behaviour change and changes in outcomes related to cognitive control and, finally, to identify the factors affecting implementation. At the time of review interventions fell into three categories: awareness, restriction, and mindfulness. While some were shown to have been effective at changing behaviour or cognitive outcomes, no single category contains interventions which, categorically, produced improvements in attention-related performance. Extending from this synthesis key research gaps are identified, with suggestions for future research proposed. In the third phase, informed by the outcomes of the review and the theoretical basis established in phase one, a novel media multitasking intervention was developed. To produce rich insights into the feasibility of the proposed intervention and related aspects of behaviour with technology, a mixed-methods design involving the collection of both quantitative and qualitative data was implemented. Specifically, to assess the demand, acceptability, implementation, and efficacy dimensions of feasibility, the pre/post design involved the collection of quantitative data relating to media multitasking, demographics, cognitive control, everyday executive functioning, and intervention-application, as well as qualitative interview data relating to experiences and impressions of the intervention. Following from these methods the overall feasibility of the intervention was analysed. While the implementation and demand dimensions of the intervention were regarded to be feasible, acceptability was shown to be only partially feasible. Moreover, for the intended outcomes, the intervention was shown not to be effective. No evidence to support the targeted improvements in cognitive control ability were found. Despite this, the intervention was seen to bring about behavioural changes and engender increased instances of single-tasking. This was seen to be a positive outcome and prompts consideration of the differences between state-level effects and trait-level effects. Consequently, it is proposed that, as an intervention targeting improvements in cognitive control, the assessed procedures are not feasible but, as an intervention targeting alignment between media behaviour and longer-term goals, preliminary support for its feasibility was shown. While many of the findings are particularly nuanced and open up new questions, the outcomes hold a number of important implications for research and practice in a variety of domains. The study findings are of interest because of their relevance for research concerning media multitasking interventions, associations between media multitasking and cognitive control and, more generally, behaviour with technology.
Modelling knowledge security : knowledge security as a knowledge management problem
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-12) Shear, Christopher James; Watson, Bruce W.; Van der Walt, Martin; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Information Science.
ENGLISH SUMMARY : For today’s organisations, knowledge has become a highly valuable resource, one that is often critical for competitive success. As such, a variety of methods and approaches have surfaced in recent decades, coalescing into what has become known as knowledge management (KM). The purpose of KM is largely focused on using various mechanisms and technologies to promote the discovery, capture, sharing and application of knowledge to derive value. Yet, while many studies address how knowledge should be leveraged more openly, fewer have focused on how best to secure it. This poses a risk to organisations, due to the increasing complexity of the intelligence-gathering mechanisms employed by those seeking to gain this knowledge for their advantage. In response, the idea of knowledge security has emerged as a mechanism to counter this risk. From an academic perspective, it has largely been grounded in information security theory. This has occurred because of the convergence that has taken place between information systems and KM, with security having taken a largely explicit focus. While beneficial in some ways, this approach is also somewhat problematic for a couple of reasons. Firstly, knowledge can extend beyond the explicit and is often found in intangible tacit forms, which may not be covered by taking a pure information security-driven approach. Thus, not having a comprehensive understanding of the measures needed to secure organisational knowledge at each dimension of KM activity, and vice versa, can make knowledge more vulnerable to compromise. Secondly, this creates a dichotomy between KM activity, predominantly centred on the amplification and distribution of knowledge and current security practices, which aim to limit and control access to processes. It is also a symptom indicative of the deeper question about knowledge in organisations, in terms of how it should best be retained, protected, and managed, in a balanced manner. Thus, the study focuses on overcoming this discrepancy by imposing the meta-question of knowledge security upon KM theory. The objective of the research is to advance the body of knowledge, by contributing to it in the form of a better understanding of how knowledge security can be conceptualised as a KM problem and be presented as a model. It is hoped that in doing so, it will set the foundation for future research on this topic and that it will contribute to solidifying knowledge security as part of the broader set of KM processes. To achieve these research objectives, the research design is structured to focus on three components. The first is a theoretical analysis centred on an examination of the literature related to organisational knowledge, KM, and knowledge security. The second is an empirical analysis focused on identifying the relationship between security and knowledge in practice. The third is combining the insights gained from the first two components and using these inputs to design a conceptual model outlining the relationship between knowledge security and KM. This process culminated in the development of a conceptual model of knowledge security that highlights its relationship with KM.
Narrativity and organisation : an investigation in sensemaking theory
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-04) Maasdorp, Christiaan Hendrik; Kinghorn, J.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Information Science.
ENGLISH SUMMARY : The dissertation argues that Karl E. Weick's organisational sense-making theory lacks the resources to properly study organisational phenomena that requires interpretation and can benefit from aspects of philosophical hermeneutics. Whilst sensemaking is often depicted as a hermeneutical approach to organisations, the dissertation traces its theoretical roots and situates it in social psychology and interpretivist sociology. It is argued that Weick's distinction between sensemaking and interpretation is untenable from the perspective of philosophical hermeneutics and that it is based on a too narrow understanding of interpretation. The operations of action- and belief-driven sensemaking, based on the metaphor of the framing of cues, are contrasted with the philosophical her meneutic view of coming to an understanding as a negotiated event, captured in the metaphor of the fusion of horizons. A critical analysis of the role of stories as vocabularies of sensemaking that yield either cues or generates future frames in the form of plausible stories concludes that Weick's theorisation of narrative is too brief to offer a conception of narrativity that resonates with his theory of organisational sensemaking. The philosophy of Paul Ricoeur provides better theorisation about the role of narrative in structuring experience. It is argued that narratives, conceived in the way Ricoeur does, offer a stronger and richer concept than the cue-frame-relation triad of sensemaking theory since it not only opens up proposed worlds, but also connects the past and the present. Therefore narrative should be regarded as more than mere content for sensemaking, and instead should be considered a constitutive element for the sensemaking process alongside the notion of enactment. The prospects for incorporating aspects from hermeneutic theories of narrative into sensemaking theory is investigated in the context of the problem area of organisational identity. It is argued that organisational identity is a problem requiring both interpretation and action. Weick's view of identity construction and Ricoeur's view of narrative identity offer two wmys into this field. Finally Weick's emphasis on enactment and Ricoeur's emphasis on narrative continuity are integrated in a restatement of the model of organisational sensemaking processes based more fully on the perspective of philosophical hermeneutics.
Social network cognition : an empirical investigation of network accuracy and social position
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-04) Cornelissen, Laurenz Aldu; Watson, B. W.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Information Science.
ENGLISH SUMMARY : The navigation of social relations is a central part of human life. In 1998, Robin Dunbar proposed the social brain hypothesis: brain size, particularly the neocortex, is directly related to the size and complexity of social networks of the species. This is due to the computational complexity needed for memorising relationships, and social skills necessary to manage those relationships. There is a key research field attempting to deal with questions around understanding social networks. Embedded in a structuralist agenda, social network analysis (SNA) offers theory, concepts, mechanisms, and tools to investigate social networks. A particular subset of the field investigates how individuals encode and perceive social networks. The realisation that humans are surprisingly inaccurate about social relations around them, prompted scholars to investigate why. If understanding social environments is such an important part of human life, why do researchers observe such inaccurate perceptions. The question led to investigations into the causes of individual misperceptions of social relations, and the consequences of such distorted perceptions. In other words, what causes people to misperceive crucial social relations, and what are the effects of differentiations of perceptions for individuals and groups? Prior work has mostly focussed on organisational contexts, which offers natural boundaries for social networks, as well as individual and group motivations for the functioning of the networks. Evidently, some individuals are more accurate than most, and a natural direction is to investigate why, and what the consequences are for these individuals. The literature employs a key assumption, which up to this point has been unchallenged. Inherited from the structuralist agenda, it has assumed that accuracy about the social network is the result of an individual’s social position. The network structure offers the opportunities and constraints for the individual, and thus results in increased awareness of social relations from an advantageous social position. The assumption is challenged in this thesis through highlighting evidence from a logical inconsistency between empirical findings and the proposed theoretical framework. Prior research proposes that individuals are accurate due to their position exposing them to information about social relations, a classical structuralist stance. Yet, when individuals in a formalised social position (such as organisational rank) are consistently observed to have lower acuity, the theoretical explanation cites motivation as antecedent, thus introducing agency into a structuralist theory. Proposing agency as an ad-hoc explanation for this finding does not offer a coherent theoretical framework. This, therefore, prompts a need for developing a more coherent theoretical framework from which to interpret the empirical findings, and guide future research. The pure structuralist theory for social acuity is thus challenged through a critical analysis of current literature and empirical findings. Three hypotheses are developed which is tested with new and prior data. Using non-parametric tests, the hypotheses are substantiated, which prompts an elaboration of the thesis to develop a formalisation of theoretical frameworks. The implicit assumptions of prior work are formalised under exposure theory, which stands as a structuralist approach to social network cognition. Subsequently, a formalisation of the thesis is developed into networking theory, which is a contextualisation of structuration theory. The thesis then draws increasingly broader conclusions for future research, and opens key questions about the role of cognition of social networks in a modern environment characterised by broad access to internet and social media platforms, enabling us to establish networks beyond our original capacity, as set by Dunbar.
The use of enterprise social networks for social support within virtual teams
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-12) Henry, Michael Stephen; Le Roux, Daniel Bartholomeus; Parry, Douglas A.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Information Science.
ENGLISH SUMMARY: Communication within organisations has become increasingly virtual, and this increased virtuality has brought more opportunities for distributed work. At the team level, increased distributedness resulted in virtual teams – teams separated by geographic and/or temporal distance. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual teams have become increasingly common and, as a result, there exists a need to understand the communication practices and the implications of these practices for individual team member’s well-being. Enterprise social networks (ESNs) like Slack and Microsoft Teams are a central tool for communication in virtual teams. In particular, ESNs are frequently used to communicate social support among team members. Social support has been associated with a wide range of individual well-being outcomes, making it suitable for examining the effects of ESN use within virtual teams. To this end, this dissertation addresses a single primary objective: Investigate the relationship between social support and ESN use within virtual teams. The objective was addressed through a literature review followed by a three-phase mixed-methods empirical study. The academic literature was explored by completing a systematic review. The review identified the current state of research concerning ESNs, virtual teams, and social support including the integration of those findings across fields. Informed by the results of the systematic review, two research questions were developed for the empirical work and a mixed-methods research design was implemented. First, a qualitative analysis of messages within team channels in an ESN was conducted to examine enacted support behaviours. Building on this, Phase Two involved interviews of distributed workers who use ESNs to identify their enactment and perceptions of social support. In Phase Three a quantitative survey was distributed to corroborate and generalise the results of Phases One and Two. The empirical work resulted in findings from each phase as well as two metainferences: an ESN locations taxonomy and an integrative framework for virtual team social support enactment within ESNs. Findings included the use of messages, threads, and emoji reactions for expressing specific types of social support, such as the use of threads for informational and appraisal support. Expressions of support varied based on location within ESNs (e.g. announcement channels compared to direct messages). Emotional support expressions tended to occur in private locations, including within watercooler interest group channels and private team channels. Descriptive statistical results as well as correlations between various types of ESN use and perceived social support were found in Phase Three. The study produced several artefacts usable by future researchers: a framework for examining distributed work (Chapter 2), a taxonomy for enacted social support within ESNs (Chapter 7), a taxonomy of ESN locations (Chapter 10), and an integrated framework for virtual team social support enactment within ESNs (Chapter 10). An interview guide has been included for future research on ESN use within virtual teams, as has a survey instrument which measures the frequency of ESN location use and enacted social support within ESNs.
Van Homo na sapiens: Die evolusionere rol van religie in die ontwikkeling van die mens
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-03) Troskie, Sandra; Craffert, Pieter F.; Watson, Bruce W.; Van den Heever, Jurie; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Information Science.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Studies in the health sciences have found overwhelming evidence for a positive correlation between religious practice and the life quality and life expectancy of religious practitioners. Given the strong indications that religious practice affects the way in which the brain processes feelings, one may reasonably assume that the processes of evolution have selected for religion because religious beliefs and behaviour has enabled the practitioner to cultivate his or her inner world of feelings to the benefit of personal wellbeing. If this is the case, these studies offer scientific support for one of the most common claims of religious traditions around the world, namely that unbridled feelings pose a threat to the welfare of both self and society. The fundamental problem with this assumption, however, is the fact that etiological and primatological research shows that feelings are not unique to humans, but are in fact physiological states shared by several social species. This is a strong indication that evolution has probably selected for feelings because these dispositions promotes the welfare of some social species. The question to ask is therefore why it is that humans are the only species for whom the processes of evolution found it advantageous to select for attributes that would enable us to cultivate not only our external environments, but also the inner worlds of our feelings? This question underpins the ultimate goal of this thesis, which is to utilise religion as a lens for conducting a neuro-cultural enquiry into the processes by which an "anatomical, neurological, genetic, physiological ape”, in the words of prominent neuroscientist Vilayanur Subramanian Ramachandran, becomes human. The focus is thus not on religion as a cultural phenomenon, but rather on what the emergence of this phenomenon — and its impact on both our evolution and personal wellbeing—reveals about the nature and existence of human life.

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