21,974 research outputs found
Does Meaning Evolove?
A common method of improving how well understood a theory is, is by comparing it to another theory which has been better developed. Radical interpretation is a theory which attempts to explain how communication has meaning. Radical interpretation is treated as another time dependent theory and compared to the time dependent theory of biological evolution. Several similarities and differences are uncovered. Biological evolution can be gradual or punctuated. Whether radical interpretation is gradual or punctuated depends on how the question is framed: on the coarse-grained time scale it proceeds gradually, but on the fine-grained time scale it proceeds by punctuated equilibria. Biological evolution proceeds by natural selection, the counterpart to this is the increase in both correspondence and coherence. Exaption, mutations, and spandrels have counterparts metaphor, speech errors, and puns respectively. Homologous and analogs have direct counterparts in specific words. The most important differences originate from the existence of a unit of inheritance (the traditional gene) occurring in biological evolution - there is no such unit in language
Does Meaning Evolve?
A common method of making a theory more understandable, is by comparing it to
another theory which has been better developed. Radical interpretation is a
theory which attempts to explain how communication has meaning. Radical
interpretation is treated as another time-dependent theory and compared to the
time dependent theory of biological evolution. The main reason for doing this
is to find the nature of the time dependence; producing analogs between the two
theories is a necessary prerequisite to this and brings up many problems. Once
the nature of the time dependence is better known it might allow the underlying
mechanism to be uncovered. Several similarities and differences are uncovered,
there appear to be more differences than similarities.Comment: title changed, completely rewritten, new version 37 pages previous
version 28 pages, to appear in Behaviour and Philosoph
The role of concurrency in an evolutionary view of programming abstractions
In this paper we examine how concurrency has been embodied in mainstream
programming languages. In particular, we rely on the evolutionary talking
borrowed from biology to discuss major historical landmarks and crucial
concepts that shaped the development of programming languages. We examine the
general development process, occasionally deepening into some language, trying
to uncover evolutionary lineages related to specific programming traits. We
mainly focus on concurrency, discussing the different abstraction levels
involved in present-day concurrent programming and emphasizing the fact that
they correspond to different levels of explanation. We then comment on the role
of theoretical research on the quest for suitable programming abstractions,
recalling the importance of changing the working framework and the way of
looking every so often. This paper is not meant to be a survey of modern
mainstream programming languages: it would be very incomplete in that sense. It
aims instead at pointing out a number of remarks and connect them under an
evolutionary perspective, in order to grasp a unifying, but not simplistic,
view of the programming languages development process
Competition of Languages and their Hamming Distance
We consider the spreading and competition of languages that are spoken by a
population of individuals. The individuals can change their mother tongue
during their lifespan, pass on their language to their offspring and finally
die. The languages are described by bitstrings, their mutual difference is
expressed in terms of their Hamming distance. Language evolution is determined
by mutation and adaptation rates. In particular we consider the case where the
replacement of a language by another one is determined by their mutual Hamming
distance. As a function of the mutation rate we find a sharp transition between
a scenario with one dominant language and fragmentation into many language
clusters. The transition is also reflected in the Hamming distance between the
two languages with the largest and second to largest number of speakers. We
also consider the case where the population is localized on a square lattice
and the interaction of individuals is restricted to a certain geometrical
domain. Here it is again the Hamming distance that plays an essential role in
the final fate of a language of either surviving or being extinct.Comment: 18 pages, 19 figure
`The frozen accident' as an evolutionary adaptation: A rate distortion theory perspective on the dynamics and symmetries of genetic coding mechanisms
We survey some interpretations and related issues concerning the frozen hypothesis due to F. Crick and how it can be explained in terms of several natural mechanisms involving error correction codes, spin glasses, symmetry breaking and the characteristic robustness of genetic networks. The approach to most of these questions involves using elements of Shannon's rate distortion theory incorporating a semantic system which is meaningful for the relevant alphabets and vocabulary implemented in transmission of the genetic code. We apply the fundamental homology between information source uncertainty with the free energy density of a thermodynamical system with respect to transcriptional regulators and the communication channels of sequence/structure in proteins. This leads to the suggestion that the frozen accident may have been a type of evolutionary adaptation
Graph Transformations and Game Theory: A Generative Mechanism for Network Formation
Many systems can be described in terms of networks with characteristic structural properties. To better understand the formation and the dynamics of complex networks one can develop generative models. We propose here a generative model (named dynamic spatial game) that combines graph transformations and game theory. The idea is that a complex network is obtained by a sequence of node-based transformations determined by the interactions of nodes present in the network. We model the node-based transformations by using graph grammars and the interactions between the nodes by using game theory. We illustrate dynamic spatial games on a couple of examples: the role of cooperation in tissue formation and tumor development and the emergence of patterns during the formation of ecological networks
Towards Understanding the Origin of Genetic Languages
Molecular biology is a nanotechnology that works--it has worked for billions
of years and in an amazing variety of circumstances. At its core is a system
for acquiring, processing and communicating information that is universal, from
viruses and bacteria to human beings. Advances in genetics and experience in
designing computers have taken us to a stage where we can understand the
optimisation principles at the root of this system, from the availability of
basic building blocks to the execution of tasks. The languages of DNA and
proteins are argued to be the optimal solutions to the information processing
tasks they carry out. The analysis also suggests simpler predecessors to these
languages, and provides fascinating clues about their origin. Obviously, a
comprehensive unraveling of the puzzle of life would have a lot to say about
what we may design or convert ourselves into.Comment: (v1) 33 pages, contributed chapter to "Quantum Aspects of Life",
edited by D. Abbott, P. Davies and A. Pati, (v2) published version with some
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