Guest lecture: Richard Menary (Macquarie, Australia)

“Enculturating Cognition: From Simple Minds to Talking Heads and Back”

How do we get from the simplest kinds of minds to complex minds capable of language and culture? Dennett provides a sweeping account in his recent book, in which he provides a sustained argument for how cultural evolution is key to gradually evolving fully enculturated minds. My own work has been primarily focussed on the mechanisms of enculturation including: Learning driven plasticity, re-use (degeneracy) and cultural canalisation. I’ll propose a way of filling in the details of how enculturation works, taking into account a gradualist explanation of the slow transition from simple minds to fully enculturated talking heads. In closing, I’ll consider some possible objections.   

All are welcome! No registration required.

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