Search Results

From Chemical to Social Networks

John F. Padgett

in The Emergence of Organizations and Markets

This chapter discusses the next frontier in autocatalytic modeling. Building on the model of production in Chapter 3, communication in two forms is added in the formal models in this chapter: ... More

This chapter discusses the next frontier in autocatalytic modeling. Building on the model of production in Chapter 3, communication in two forms is added in the formal models in this chapter: symbolic communication through primitive language and genealogical communication through biographies. Language here emerges out of token feedbacks and social-interactional learning. Genealogical descent and family organizations emerge out of reciprocity and teaching. In the terminology of a multiple-network ensemble, the first cross-sectional type of communication is equivalent to the emergence of relational social-network ties, and the second longitudinal type of communication is equivalent to the emergence of constitutive social-network ties. With these human-like extensions beyond biochemistry, three types of autocatalysis emerge: production autocatalysis, where material objects are produced and exchanged; cellular or biographical autocatalysis, where actors are constructed through intercalated biographies; and linguistic autocatalysis, where symbols are passed and reproduced in conversations.Less

Ritual Civility, Moral Practices of Interpersonal Exchange, and Symbolic Communication

Marc Gopin

in Holy War, Holy Peace: How Religion Can Bring Peace to the Middle East

Abrahamic and cultural processes of change have been neglected by elite diplomacy and conflict resolution efforts in the Palestinian/Israeli conflict (although possibly only at a conscious level). ... More

Abrahamic and cultural processes of change have been neglected by elite diplomacy and conflict resolution efforts in the Palestinian/Israeli conflict (although possibly only at a conscious level). However, cultural and religious habits can be very helpful in peacemaking processes, and are expressed in two kinds of human engagements – informal and formal or ritualistic; such nonrational interactions are a necessary catalyst of rational negotiations. The power of symbol and metaphor is also a strong factor in interreligious encounters. This is investigated first by looking at the most elemental level of the encounter – the human face – and then at two other key ingredients of empathetic psychology – silence (listening) and humility. An examination is then made of symbolic and moral gestures, symbolic communication, and rituals. Numerous illustrative examples of these points are given from the author's experiences in Israel and Palestine.Less

Universal Grammar and Semiotic Constraints

Terrence W. Deacon

in Language Evolution

This chapter places the human ability for complex symbolic communication at the centre of language evolution. It rejects the notion that the many subpatterns of language structure that can be found ... More

This chapter places the human ability for complex symbolic communication at the centre of language evolution. It rejects the notion that the many subpatterns of language structure that can be found across all the languages of the worlds — the so-called language universals — are products of cultural processes, or that they reflect a set of evolved innate constraints (a language-specific ‘Universal Grammar’). Instead, evidence from philosophy and semiotics suggests that they derive from a third kind of constraint originating from within the linguistic symbol system itself. Because of the complex relationships between words and what they refer to (as symbols), semiotic constraints arise from within the symbol system when putting words together to form phrases and sentences. During the evolution of language, humans probably discovered the set of universal semiotic constraints. These constraints govern not only human language but also, by their very nature, any system of symbolic communication, terrestrial or otherwise.Less

Colonization and Symbolic Realityin Mesoamerica

Andrzej Piotrowski

in Architecture of Thought

This chapter discusses the notion of religious syncretism in Mesoamerica. It shows that the hybrid character of religious practices in the Americas eluded not only the Spaniards but also later ... More

This chapter discusses the notion of religious syncretism in Mesoamerica. It shows that the hybrid character of religious practices in the Americas eluded not only the Spaniards but also later knowledge of these events. Syncretism, as a way of thinking, becomes symptomatic here of cultural interactions that operated on a subconscious level, sheltered by architecture and the arts. The colonizers attempted to exploit what they considered to be the language of indigenous forms, but actually limited their engagement only to what they could control. Although the Spaniards did not intend to admit pagan imports into their teachings, architecture, and art, their narrow-mindedness and arrogance prompted them to dismiss as irrelevant anything that was not explicitly figurative or message-like. At the same time, complexity, ambiguity, and contradictions were inherently meaningful in earlier Mesoamerica. The Spanish system of symbolic communication and the pre-Hispanic modality of evocative thought have coexisted, operating on different levels, never intersecting theologically but frequently occupying the same material environments.Less

The Divided City and the Divided Self

in Barcelona's Vocation of Modernity: Rise and Decline of an Urban Image

The linguistic metaphors “language” of the city and “grammar” imply a correspondence between urban space and symbolic communication. In his Cours de linguistique générale, Ferdinand de Saussure used ... More

The linguistic metaphors “language” of the city and “grammar” imply a correspondence between urban space and symbolic communication. In his Cours de linguistique générale, Ferdinand de Saussure used the example of the street to show how the linguistic sign is determined by difference. In this context, “language” performs an epistemological function, rather than a communicational one. Like continuity in space, a linguistic continuum is important to a city's identity. The significance of a correlation between both kinds of continuity is evident in cities whose space has shifted in and out of state borders, such as Constantinople/Istanbul, Straβburg/Strasbourg, Danzig/Gdansk, or Königsberg/Kaliningrad. Barcelona's modern history is linked to its struggle to retain a linguistic identity. Juan Marsé's 1990 political satire, El amante bilingüe (The Bilingual Lover), offers the most explicit literary intervention in Catalonia's language conflict and shows the protagonist experiencing the emerging bilingualism as a personality disorder.Less

King John and the Wielding of Soft Power

Hugh M. Thomas

in Power and Pleasure: Court Life under King John, 1199-1216

Drawing on earlier parts of the book, this chapter focuses on the court as a source of soft power and investigates John’s effectiveness in wielding that power. Much recent scholarship on the early ... More

Drawing on earlier parts of the book, this chapter focuses on the court as a source of soft power and investigates John’s effectiveness in wielding that power. Much recent scholarship on the early Middle Ages investigates ritual, gestures, and the display of emotions, activities that may be grouped together as symbolic communication. Major themes will be how John used various forms of symbolic communication to build power and how his enemies sought to contest his efforts. Gift exchange and its impact on power relations is another subject. The chapter then challenges the assumption that the rise of administrative kingship made traditional forms of soft power obsolete, arguing that increased bureaucratic and financial capacity allowed kings to employ soft power more effectively. However, though John and his officials created a magnificent court, well designed to enhance soft power, John, through his own blunders and desire for self-gratification, forfeited many of the advantages.Less

Language Evolution and Linguistic Norms

Nikola Kompa

in The Normative Animal?: On the Anthropological Significance of Social, Moral, and Linguistic Norms

How might language have evolved and which (types of) norms, if any, might have played a role in shaping it? This chapter addresses these two questions by first exploring differences between human ... More

How might language have evolved and which (types of) norms, if any, might have played a role in shaping it? This chapter addresses these two questions by first exploring differences between human language and animal communication systems; the difference between natural signs, signals, and non-natural signs (symbols) will be elaborated. The author claims that normativity enters the picture only at the level of symbols. The remainder of the chapter is devoted to the question of what kinds of norms might have played a role in the evolution of symbolic communication. The author argues, firstly, that a certain level of cooperation is needed if non-natural signs are to be interpretable at all; secondly, a type of prudential norm emerges as signs acquire stable meaning; thirdly, interpretation of implicit communication is governed by pragmatic norms, too.Less

Mindscapes of the Postglacial Epoch

John F. Hoffecker

in Landscape of the Mind: Human Evolution and the Archaeology of Thought

This chapter analyzes the development of the super-brain, which brought forth a new phenomenon that functions above the level of an individual organism's brain. The advancement of language and other ... More

This chapter analyzes the development of the super-brain, which brought forth a new phenomenon that functions above the level of an individual organism's brain. The advancement of language and other forms of symbolic communication allowed for the integration of brains within a social group, essentially increasing the computational and recursive power of human thought. An increase in population and settlement size was a consequence of this redesigned human. The super-brain created an alternative ecological place for the human organism: a place subject to recurrent change that allows for potentially unlimited growth. With the emergence of large populations, humans began to redesign the landscape as well as themselves; these recreated landscapes reflected not the evolved patterns of organic life, but the peculiar forms of the mind.Less