This article introduces the expanded network theory and demonstrates the heuristic value of its construct of strong-ties and weak-ties rationalities. This construct is derived from the network theory of Granovetter and corroborated with evolutionary biology and psychological studies on group processes. This construct has wide-ranging implications and applications for cultural and cross-cultural psychology. It informs our efforts toward cultural sensitivity in theory and research design and offers a new tool for cultural analysis. In particular, it can serve as a useful framework to investigate cultures in transition in the globalizing era. Insights into strong-ties and weak-ties rationalities may even contribute to shaping the future of the human society.

This paper claims that the missing value dimension in positive psychology's model of the good life is attributable to its focus on the unreflective first-order desires, as exemplified by hope theory, and its misguided claim of scientific neutrality that renders invisible the moral maps of human experiences. It is argued that the solution of the problem lies in self-reflexivity, which is an extra mental space needed for the drawing and redrawing of moral maps. Exposition of self-reflexivity shows how a self-to-self transaction adds a so far neglected intrapersonal dimension to cross-cultural analysis, and how moral maps are rendered visible and transformative in second-order desires, as exemplified by the Chinese Buddhist notions of savoring and `emptiness.'

Harold Cohen is a renowned painter who has developed a computer program,AARON, to create art. WhileAARONhas been hailed as one of the most creativeAIprograms, Cohen consistently rejects the claims of machine creativity. Questioning the possibility forAIto model human creativity, Cohen suggests in so many words that the human mind takes a different route to creativity, a route that privileges the relational, rather than the computational, dimension of cognition. This unique perspective on the tangled web of mind, machine, and creativity is explored by an application of three relational models of the mind to an analysis of Cohen's talks and writings, which are available on his website:www.aaronshome.com.