Brain Storms - 9
An Information Processing Approach to the Evolution of Human Language and Intelligence
An Information Processing Approach to the Evolution of Human Language and Intelligence
The aim of this
post is to suggest that the way to understand the evolution of
language and human intelligence is to start from the assumption that
the human brain is no more than an animal brain in which some of the
features have been stretched – in a way analogous to the
giraffe's neck or the elephant's trunk. It notes how a very simple
recursive architecture, demonstrated by an unconventional
experimental computer language called CODIL, can actually be used to
support a wide range of “intelligent” information
processing tasks, and suggests how the approach could be extended to
support natural languages. In particular it suggests trigger points where a comparatively small change could lead to an
explosive increase in the potential information processing power of
the brain.
Chris Reynolds