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Computational complexity and the
evolution of Homo sapiens
John F Hoffecker
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research
University of Colorado at Boulder
American Anthropological Association
Washington DC • December 2014
HYPOTHESIS:
Homo sapiens is characterized by a faculty for
performing computations with symbols (words and
numbers) in the brain on a more complex level than
other forms of Homo.
The appearance of the modern human anatomy in the
fossil record reflects an increase in computational
complexity related to epigenetic changes in the timing
and pattern of early brain growth.
www.ks.uiuc.edu/Research/magsense/ms.html
computation in modern humans
sundaycomicsdebt.blogspot.com/2010/09/
“A complex train of thought can no more be carried on
without the aid of words, whether spoken or silent, than a
long calculation without the use of figures or algebra”
Charles Darwin (1871: 57–58)
“. . . the material structures of language both reflect,
and then systematically transform, our thinking and
reasoning about the world”
Andy Clark (2011: 59)
language as cognitive scaffolding
words & numbers = “material symbols”
“. . . the fundamental purpose of brains is to produce future”
Daniel C. Dennett (1991: 177)
kangaratmurdersoc.wordpress.com/2010/12/13/
“material symbols” of
language allow
computation about
objects and events
outside immediate
spatial and temporal
setting of individual
VOCALIZATIONS (WORDS AND NUMBERS)
SYNAPTIC CONNECTIONS (NEURONAL INFORMATION)
CODONS/BASE PAIR TRIPLETS (GENETIC INFORMATION)
how is complexity measured?
Simon (1962) proposed a
hierarchical measure of complex
systems
Chomsky (2006: 129)
syntactic language as computation
LEVEL 1
LEVEL 2
LEVEL 3
www.seawolfkayak.com/sb-workshops
gatesofthearctic.areaparks.com/
modern humans also perform
computations through visual-
tactile coordination of the
hands with material objects
as with the products of the
computations that underlie
syntactic language, artifacts and
features may exhibit a complex
hierarchical structure and
potentially infinite variations
LEVEL 1
LEVEL 2
LEVEL 3
Conard 2009: 248, fig. 1
LEVEL 1
LEVEL 2
LEVEL 3
adapted from Sato 2009: 33
Udehe snare (Russian Far East)
LEVEL 1
LEVEL 2
LEVEL 3
VOCALIZATIONS (WORDS AND NUMBERS)
SYNAPTIC CONNECTIONS (NEURONAL INFORMATION)
CODONS/BASE PAIR TRIPLETS (GENETIC INFORMATION)
alarm calls: matching sound and meaning
evolutionary roots of language in Homo
http://www.daviddarling.info/childrens_encyclopedia/Speak_Chimpanzee_Chapter2
http://open.jorum.ac.uk/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/964/Items/SD226_2_section4
KNM-ER 1470: ~1.9 million years old
1470 endocast: reorganization of frontal lobe (third inferior
frontal convolution, Broca’s area) (Tobias 1987; Holloway 1995;
Falk et al. 2000)
early Homo expansion into less productive habitat ~2 mya
Dominguez-Rodrigo et al. 2010: 322, fig. 6
FLK Zinj main
excavation
(Leakey 1971)
Beekman and Lew
(2007) addressed
problem of “when
does it pay to
dance?”
● dancing beneficial
when it allows
colony to focus on
high-quality patches
ecological modeling & information-center foraging strategy:
honeybee colony foraging
Primary kin
Primary kin
Hill et al. 2011: 1288, fig. 2
Lieberman 2011:
505, fig. 12.9
Lalueza-Fox et al. 2011: 251, table 1
Lalueza-Fox et al. 2011: 251, table 1
“social brain hypothesis” (Dunbar 1996, 1998)
H. sapiens in sub-Saharan
Africa 200–75 ka
(1367–1510 cm3)
1250–1299 cm3
adapted from Lieberman 2011: 566, fig. 13.12a
Homo sapiens
(Jebel Irhoud, Morocco)
~160,000 years old
Smith et al. 2007: figs. 1 & fig. 2
Coqueugniot et al. 2004:
299–300, figs. 1 & 2
Homo erectus
(Modjokerto, Java)
~1.8 million years old
1.0–1.5 years old:
brain volume = 72–84%
Gunz et al. 2011: fig. 5
archaeology of the social brain
Clark 1993: 155, fig. 1 Bouzouggar et al. 2007:
9967, fig. 3
VOCALIZATIONS (WORDS AND NUMBERS)
SYNAPTIC CONNECTIONS (NEURONAL INFORMATION)
CODONS/BASE PAIR TRIPLETS (GENETIC INFORMATION)
NEW FORMS OF INFORMATION: WRITING etc.