Benchmark testing and independent verification of the VS2DT computer code

Abstract. Background: Theory is the foundation of science; this is true in suicidology. Over decades of studies of suicide notes, Leenaars developed a multidimensional model of suicide, with international (crosscultural) studies and independent verification. Aim: To corroborate Leenaars's theory with a psychological autopsy (PA) study, examining age and sex of the decedent, and survivor's relationship to deceased. Method: A PA study in Norway, with 120 survivors/informants was undertaken. Leenaars' theoretical–conceptual (protocol) analysis was undertaken of the survivors' narratives and in-depth interviews combined. Results: Substantial interjudge reliability was noted (κ = .632). Overall, there was considerable confirmatory evidence of Leenaars's intrapsychic and interpersonal factors in suicide survivors' narratives. Differences were found in the age of the decedent, but not in sex, nor in the survivor's closeness of the relationship. Older deceased people were perceived to exhibit more heightened unbearable intrapsychic pain, associated with the suicide. Conclusion: Leenaars's theory has corroborative verification, through the decedents' suicide notes and the survivors' narratives. However, the multidimensional model needs further testing to develop a better evidence-based way of understanding suicide.

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The Computational Sublime in Nick Montfort's ‘Round’ and ‘All the Names of God’

CounterText ◽

10.3366/count.2015.0027 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 1 (3) ◽

pp. 348-365 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Mario Aquilina

Keyword(s):

Computer Code ◽

Computer Programs ◽

Literary Text ◽

Text Generation ◽

Mathematical Concepts ◽

Literary Space

What if the post-literary also meant that which operates in a literary space (almost) devoid of language as we know it: for instance, a space in which language simply frames the literary or poetic rather than ‘containing’ it? What if the countertextual also meant the (en)countering of literary text with non-textual elements, such as mathematical concepts, or with texts that we would not normally think of as literary, such as computer code? This article addresses these issues in relation to Nick Montfort's #!, a 2014 print collection of poems that presents readers with the output of computer programs as well as the programs themselves, which are designed to operate on principles of text generation regulated by specific constraints. More specifically, it focuses on two works in the collection, ‘Round’ and ‘All the Names of God’, which are read in relation to the notions of the ‘computational sublime’ and the ‘event’.

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