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Abstract

In this paper, we explore various adaptive factors that can influence the emergence of a communication system that benefits the receiver of signals (the hearer) but not the emitter (the speaker). Using computer simulations of a population of interacting agents whose behaviour is determined by a neural network, we show that a stable communication system does not emerge in groups of unrelated individuals because of its altruistic character. None the less, another set of simulations shows that the emergence of a language that confers an advantage only to hearers, not to speakers, is possible under at least three conditions: (1) if the hearer and the speaker tend to share the same genes, as predicted by kin selection theory; (2) if the population is ‘docile’ and the communication system is culturally transmitted together with other adaptive behaviours, as predicted by Simon’s docility theory; and (3) if the linguistic system is used not only for social communication, but also for talking to oneself, in particular as an aid to memory.

Keywords: Language evolution, Alturism, Neutral networks, Kin selection, Docility theory, Talking to oneself

@article{Mirolli05benefitsTheHearer,
  author={Marco Mirolli and Domenico Parisi},
  title={How can we explain the emergence of a language that benefits the hearer but not the speaker?},
  journal={Connection Science},
  year={2005},
  month={December},
  volume={17},
  number={3-4},
  pages={307-324},
  doi={10.1080/09540090500177539},
  url={http://www.isrl.uiuc.edu/~amag/langev/paper/Mirolli05benefitsTheHearer.html},
  keywords={Language evolution, Alturism, Neutral networks, Kin selection, Docility theory, Talking to oneself}
}

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