Synchronic
"occurring at the same time," 1775, shortening of synchronical (1650s), from Late Latin synchronus "simultaneous" (see synchronous). Linguistic sense is first recorded 1922, probably a borrowing from French synchronique (de Saussure, 1913). Synchronal "simultaneous" is from 1650s. Related: synchronically.
Synchronic
Ferdinand de Saussure first makes the distinction between the synchronic and diachronic in his Course in General Linguistics (1916). Though de Saussure is talking about approaches to studying language use, his distinction can be generalized to the study of lots of phenomena.
Philosophers, psychologists, and economists have reached the consensus that one can use two different kinds of regulation to achieve self-control. Synchronic regulation uses willpower to resist current temptation. Diachronic regulation implements a plan to avoid future temptation. Yet this consensus may rest on contaminated intuitions. Specifically, agents typically use willpower (synchronic regulation) to achieve their plans to avoid temptation (diachronic regulation). So even if cases of diachronic regulation seem to involve self-control, this may be because they are contaminated by synchronic regulation. We therefore developed a novel multifactorial method to disentangle synchronic and diachronic regulation. Using this method, we find that ordinary usage assumes that only synchronic--not diachronic--regulation counts as self-control. We find this pattern across four experiments involving different kinds of temptation, as well as a paradigmatic case of diachronic regulation based on the classic story of Odysseus and the Sirens. Our final experiment finds that self-control in a diachronic case depends on whether the agent uses synchronic regulation at two moments: when she (1) initiates and (2) follows-through on a plan to resist temptation. Taken together, our results strongly suggest that synchronic regulation is the sole difference maker in the folk concept of self-control.
Genome editing technologies are increasingly coming under scrutiny, based on various social value judgments in biomedical research, clinical care, and public health. A central cause of this sociotechnical tension is that these technologies are capable of precisely and easily creating genome-modified organisms and human cells and tissues. To exemplify a general framework for a national governance system of genome editing technologies, we first look at the regulatory dynamics in Japan. Second, we expose the potential tension between national and international debates and directions for the global harmonization of genome editing technologies. Third, underpinning these two perspectives, we propose contiguous governance as a novel model of the governance of emerging biotechnologies from both synchronic and diachronic perspectives. These perspectives, derived from genome editing technologies, can contribute to a better understanding and consideration of future regulations and governance systems. 041b061a72