The Dictionary of Human Geography

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as a critical and imaginative means of address-

ing geographical concerns. dp

Suggested reading

Cosgrove (1999); Deutsche (1996b).

artificial intelligence Computerized deci-

sion makingthat simulates human expert

decision-making. In its simplest form, artificial

intelligence (AI) consists of a body of proced-

ural rules (e.g. the linearIF THEN ELSErules

that are the mainstay of computer program-

ming). Or it can describe a heuristic type of

intelligence that surpasses simple procedural

instructions. Artificial intelligence can relieve

humans of tedious tasks such as addition of

grocery prices. For such simple tasks, it often

surpasses humans in speed and accuracy but

can fall short when asked to codify knowledge

in a holistic manner. Since the early 1990s,

more sophisticated AI has sought to emulate

human thinking using parallel computing (e.g.

neural netsand geneticalgorithms). These

techniques have been more successful than

traditional linear rule-based systems in classi-

fying area types or identifying regional zones.

They have also been used formapgenerali-

zation – a task that requires processing of

multiple decision-making facets including

context, intention,scaleand contiguity. In

each case, neural nets and genetic algorithms

teach themselves based on positive or negative

reinforcement during ‘training’. In the case of

neural nets, a series of images corresponding

to a given classification may be ‘fed’ into the

net. Subsequent training rewards the net for

choosing the right classification. At the pre-

sent, AI is only able to emulate very simple

human decision-making though the promise

of truly intelligent computing. ns

Suggested reading

Openshaw and Openshaw (1997); Weibel (1991).

Asia (idea of) Considered the world’s largest

continentbut actually part of a single land-

mass with Europe (the conventional dividing

line being the Ural and Caucasus mountains),

Asia lays claims to being the ‘cradle of human

civilization’ as it is home to important ancient

civilizations – including those of China,

India, Japan and Persia – that generated

major developments in agriculture, urbanism,

religion and other fields of human expression

(Parker, 1994, p. 4).

Derived from Greek and first used to de-

scribe the region later known as Asia Minor,

‘Asia’, like other related terms such as the

‘Orient’ or the ‘Far East’, is a cartographic

construct imposed from the outside rather

than a pre-existing geographical reality.

Depicted oneurocentricmaps of the world

as the ‘east’, European colonizers tended to

frame Asia in oppositional terms to Europe:

as culturally degenerate, environmentally de-

bilitating and inherently backward, in contrast

to Europe’s civilizational progress and

enlightenment (Weightman, 2006). As a

conceptual category, the term ‘Asia’ has con-

tinued to evolve, often in response to external

categorization. The term for the sub-region of

South East Asia, for example, has only gained

currency since the Second World War, when

the region gained visibility in military and

strategic terms under the South East Asia

Command established in 1943, and conse-

quently achieved legitimacy in international

eyes (Savage, Kong and Yeoh, 1993). ‘Asia’

as a construct is also subject to internal pres-

sures. For example, the term ‘Asiatic’ to refer

to the inhabitants of Asia or as an adjective

pertaining to Asia has now been superseded

in common usage by ‘Asian’: the former no-

menclature fell out of favour in the postwar

era, as it had become laden with pejorative

implications during Europeancolonialism.

Today, Asia’s 3.6 billion people account for

about three-fifths of the world’s population.

China, the most populous nation in the

world, has a current population of more than

1.2 billion people, followed closely by India,

with a population of slightly over a billion

(United Nations, 2005). Although the world’s

population growth rate is now generally

declining, and in Asia it is likely to fall even

further below the global rate, nonetheless, the

developing countries of Asia will still be major

contributors to world population growth for

many decades to come. More than a third of

Asia’s population live in urban areas, includ-

ing some of the largest megacities in the world.

Considering Asia as one geographical entity,

however, belies the diversity in cultures and

peoples, as well as a wide range of economic,

political and demographic structures. Migra-

tion, trade, war and European colonization in

the past had contributed to contact, exchange

and syncretism in many spheres of life within

the region. Despite the new sense of Asian

solidarity expressed during the Bandung Con-

ference of 1955 to sever ties of dependency on

the West, different approaches to decoloniza-

tion and nationalism in the mid-twentieth cen-

tury led the countries in Asia down divergent

pathways (Parker, 1994, p. 10). The more

Gregory / The Dictionary of Human Geography 9781405132879_4_A Final Proof page 37 31.3.2009 9:44pm

ASIA (IDEA OF)