113,907 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
Quantum Zeno Effect Explains Magnetic-Sensitive Radical-Ion-Pair Reactions
Chemical reactions involving radical-ion pairs are ubiquitous in biology,
since not only are they at the basis of the photosynthetic reaction chain, but
are also assumed to underlie the biochemical magnetic compass used by avian
species for navigation. Recent experiments with magnetic-sensitive radical-ion
pair reactions provided strong evidence for the radical-ion-pair
magnetoreception mechanism, verifying the expected magnetic sensitivities and
chemical product yield changes. It is here shown that the theoretical
description of radical-ion-pair reactions used since the 70's cannot explain
the observed data, because it is based on phenomenological equations masking
quantum coherence effects. The fundamental density matrix equation derived here
from basic quantum measurement theory considerations naturally incorporates the
quantum Zeno effect and readily explains recent experimental observations on
low- and high-magnetic-field radical-ion-pair reactions.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure
Autocatalytic Theory of Meaning
Recently it has been argued that autocatalytic theory could be applied to the
origin of culture. Here possible application to a theory of meaning in the
philosophy of language, called radical interpretation, is commented upon and
compared to previous applications.Comment: 4 pages, no diagrams, LaTex2
HUMAN NATURE OR HUMANITY: BETWEEN GENES AND VALUES
We are within nature and culture, conditioned simultaneously by genes and meanings. This form of our self-understanding is the result of fundamental modifications that happened in modern philosophical anthropology and of the impact of the natural Science. In modern philosophy three types of approaches to the human situation were constituted at different times: the idealist, the naturalist, and the culturalist, and the problem of whether humanity is natural (biological) or cultural has begun to take precedence over the issue of human supernatural roots. Both approaches are presented, their presuppositions discussed, and arguments in favor of a version of the culturalist approach. Only the culturalist approach allows us to understand our own self-constitution and, in particular, our self-reflectivity, as well as the naturalist attempts to ignore them and immerse ourselves in nature
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