Blackmore's theory is that language developed so that memes would have a digital format, so as to increase the fidelity of replication.
To elaborate, once an early human used a word to represent a certain kind of object, and others learned the trick of using words to represent classes of objects, this idea would catch on very strongly because humans found it easy to replicate.
Bear in mind that most primates, and many other kinds of mammals, have enough capacity for abstract thought to do this. What humans possess that these other mammals do not is the capacity for all-purpose imitation.
Blackmore suggests that intelligence quotient became a factor in mate selection. Being someone who identifies as "sapiosexual," I certainly agree that intelligence is very attractive. If this is so, then humans became steadily more intelligent, and along with this intelligence increase, the "Deep Grammar" inherent in all of us would have evolved as well.
With or without memetics, the only way evolution can account for the development of language, pattern recognition, and intelligence, is to say that these abilities "ramped up" somehow. Blackmore's explanation for this sounds as good to me as any other alternative I've seen.
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timeasmymeasure
Re: part two
Date: 2004-07-22 10:27 am (UTC)To elaborate, once an early human used a word to represent a certain kind of object, and others learned the trick of using words to represent classes of objects, this idea would catch on very strongly because humans found it easy to replicate.
Bear in mind that most primates, and many other kinds of mammals, have enough capacity for abstract thought to do this. What humans possess that these other mammals do not is the capacity for all-purpose imitation.
Blackmore suggests that intelligence quotient became a factor in mate selection. Being someone who identifies as "sapiosexual," I certainly agree that intelligence is very attractive. If this is so, then humans became steadily more intelligent, and along with this intelligence increase, the "Deep Grammar" inherent in all of us would have evolved as well.
With or without memetics, the only way evolution can account for the development of language, pattern recognition, and intelligence, is to say that these abilities "ramped up" somehow. Blackmore's explanation for this sounds as good to me as any other alternative I've seen.