Culture, its evolution and anything inbetween
Here are some thoughts I’ve been having on cultural evolution. All of them need fuller exposition, but I don’t have time for that now. 1. Cultural Evolution, so What? I’ve got a fairly sophisticated narrative account of some varieties of popular music in 20th century America. The account centers on the interaction between African- and … Continue reading “Some Quick Thoughts on Cultural Evolution”
Do you fancy the prospect of putting your communication skills to the test and winning $1000? If so, you should probably go and check out The Vocal Iconicity Challenge: http://sapir.psych.wisc.edu/vocal-iconicity-challenge/ Devised by Gary Lupyan and Marcus Perlman, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the aim of the game is to devise a system of vocalizations to communicate a … Continue reading “The Vocal Iconicity Challenge!”
On Thursday I ran an experiment to evolve an app name. And here’s the name that won: I’m not sure if I could cope with having to say ‘Lingo Bingo’ for the next two months, but we’ll see. Here’s how it worked: Show the participant 10 app names for 20 seconds Hide the names and … Continue reading “Evolve an App Name: Results”
Edit: The results are out! I’m working with the Language in Interaction project to create an App game about linguistic diversity. It’s a game where you listen to several recordings of people talking and have to match the ones who are speaking the same language. It’s quite a lot like the Great Language Game, but … Continue reading “Evolve an App Name”
Last week saw the publication of my latest paper, with co-authors Simon Kirby and Kenny Smith, looking at how languages adapt to their contextual niche (link to the OA version and here’s the original). Here’s the abstract: It is well established that context plays a fundamental role in how we learn and use language. Here … Continue reading “Languages adapt to their contextual niche (Winters, Kirby & Smith, 2014)”
Posted at 3 Quarks Daily: Evolving to the Future, the Web of Culture Europeans had been trading with Asian peoples since ancient times. But things began to change in the 15th Century when the Spanish and Portuguese sent ships across the oceans, followed by Northern Europeans in the 17th Century. By the late 19th Century … Continue reading “The Theory of Cultural Ranks at 3QD”
This is revised from the introduction to a website I put up in the old days of web 1.0, all in hand-coded HTML. Where I’ve since uploaded downloadable versions of the documents I’ve used those links in this revised introduction, but you’re welcome to access the online versions from the old introduction. Mind and Culture … Continue reading “Mind-Culture Coevolution: Major Transitions in the Development of Human Culture and Society ”
The Speculative Grammarian Essential Guide to Linguistics is now available in electronic format. In the highest tradition of satire, this book gives a unique insight into the world of linguistics. It is crucial reading for any linguist who is trying to maintain a sense of perspective (or for those seeking the comfort of realising their … Continue reading “SpecGram Essential Guide to Linguistics: electronic version”
During this year’s EvoLang conference, a book was launched with perspectives on the last conference. The past, present and future of language evolution research (McCrohon, Thompson, Verhoef & Yamauchi, 2014) is a volume of student responses to EvoLang9 in Kyoto. It includes basic reviews and criticism, synthesis of current approaches, experiments and sociological perspectives. It … Continue reading “The Past, Present and Future of Language Evolution Research”
I’ve got a new post at 3 Quarks Daily: The Only Game in Town: Digital Criticism Comes of Age. I open with Moretti – natch – then to Willard McCarty’s 2013 Busa Award Lecture, where he talks of embracing the computer as Other. I end with Said on his belief in an autonomous aesthetic realm, … Continue reading “Digital Criticism Comes of Age, a Post at 3QD”
