Papers by Till Nikolaus von Heiseler
This paper contributes to two debates: the debate about language evolution and the debate about t... more This paper contributes to two debates: the debate about language evolution and the debate about the foundations of human collaboration. While both cooperation and language may give the impression of being adaptations that evolved for the "good of the group," it is well established that the evolution of complex traits cannot be a direct result of group selection. In this paper I suggest how this tension can be solved: both language and cooperation evolved in a unique two-level evolutionary system which was triggered by a well-documented geological event-the drying out of the climate-in East Africa, which subsequently reduced the intermating between groups and thus made it possible that the mechanism that produced differences between groups (including social forms of selection such as female choice) could be the target of natural selection on the group level. If a social form of selection (e.g., sexual selection) produced differences in fitness between groups, the displacement process between groups would indirectly select those forms of social selection that produce groups that would displace all others. The main hypothesis presented in this paper is that, in this situation, a backchannel between the two levels of selection naturally evolves. A backchannel between the two levels would, for example, emerge when sexual selection (or any other form of social selection) was sensitive to the individual's contribution to the group. Examples of systems utilizing a backchannel are nerve cells being better nourished when used more frequently, enabling them to be conducive to the survival of the whole organism, or a law firm in which all employees get paid to the extent that they contribute to the survival and success of the firm. In both cases, the selection on the higher level informs the selection on the lower level. The aim of the paper is to illuminate these rather opaque claims, to which the reader probably has many objections in this abridged form.
Language—often said to set human beings apart from other animals—has resisted explanation in term... more Language—often said to set human beings apart from other animals—has resisted explanation in terms of evolution. Language has—among others—two fundamental and distinctive features: syntax and the ability to express non-present actions and events. We suggest that the relation between this representation (of non-present action) and syntax can be analyzed as a relation between a function and a structure to fulfill this function. The strategy of the paper is to ask if there is any evidence of pre-linguistic communication that fulfills the function of communicating an absent action. We identify a structural similarity between understanding indexes of past actions of conspecifics (who did what to whom) and one of the simplest and most paradigmatic linguistic syntactic patterns – that of the simple transitive sentence. When a human being infers past events from an index (i.e., a trace, the conditions of a conspecifics or an animal, a constellation or an object) the interpreters' compre...
Frontiers in Psychology, 2019
Language-often said to set human beings apart from other animals-has resisted explanation in term... more Language-often said to set human beings apart from other animals-has resisted explanation in terms of evolution. Language has-among others-two fundamental and distinctive features: syntax and the ability to express non-present actions and events. We suggest that the relation between this representation (of non-present action) and syntax can be analyzed as a relation between a function and a structure to fulfill this function. The strategy of the paper is to ask if there is any evidence of pre-linguistic communication that fulfills the function of communicating an absent action. We identify a structural similarity between understanding indexes of past actions of conspecifics (who did what to whom) and one of the simplest and most paradigmatic linguistic syntactic patterns-that of the simple transitive sentence. When a human being infers past events from an index (i.e., a trace, the conditions of a conspecifics or an animal, a constellation or an object) the interpreters' comprehension must rely on concepts similar in structure and function to the 'thematic roles' believed to underpin the comprehension of linguistic syntax: in his or her mind the idea of a past action or event emerges along with thematic role-like concepts; in the case of the presentation of, e.g., a hunting trophy, the presenter could be understood to be an agent (subject) and the trophy a patient (direct object), while the past action killed is implied by the condition of the object and its possession by the presenter. We discuss whether both the presentation of a trophy and linguistic syntax might have emerged independently while having the same function (to represent a past action) or whether the presentation of an index of a deed could constitute a precursor of language. Both possibilities shed new light on early, and maybe first, language use.
Frontiers in Psychology, 2020
The Evolution of Language, 2014
The problem of language evolution can be split into two questions: What was language selected for... more The problem of language evolution can be split into two questions: What was language selected for? And what possible scenario could allow this adaptation process to occur? This paper addresses only the first question. Our hypothesis is that language was initially selected for narration (an utterance that refers to a past action) and only later was used for other purposes. We provide evidence from different fields and perspectives and show that selection for narration is not only suggested by the structure of language itself but also has the potential to solve other unanswered questions: the emergence of episodic memory and the ability to understand others as having beliefs, thoughts, desires, etc. (theory of mind). Furthermore, our hypothesis provides a new perspective on the problem of human altruism. This paper is meant not as a final result, but as a proposal for a provocative working hypothesis (see title) and a prelude to a model that could explain why narration (or storytelling) came under such immense selective pressure.
Theoria et Historia Scientiarum, 2015
Language is what makes us human. It is the basis of human knowledge, culture, and society. Despit... more Language is what makes us human. It is the basis of human knowledge, culture, and society. Despite its importance, how language evolved is still a mystery. Various recent studies suggest that humans developed through a "super-fast" evolutionary process found nowhere else within the animal kingdom. This suggests a discontinuity in the evolutionary process itself. We propose the following model: Humans evolved in a unique evolutionary system consisting of two feedback loops, there being a backchannel between them; the lower loop producing the variations needed for selection in the upper loop to take place. What is meant by the "backchannel" here is a structure enabling the selection of the lower loop to "anticipate" the selection of the upper one. The content of this backchannel is displaced action encoded in narration. We show that not only the human brain and language but also most of the unique human faculties (including theory of mind, episodic memory and the unique human altruism) are adapted almost exclusively to developing the functioning of the backchannel (narration) at a super-fast evolutionary pace.
Front. Psychol. / Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology / HYPOTHESIS AND THEORY article, 2020
This paper proposes a social account for the origin of the truth value and the emergence of the f... more This paper proposes a social account for the origin of the truth value and the emergence of the first declarative sentence. Such a proposal is based on two assumptions. The first is known as the social intelligence hypothesis: that the cognitive evolution of humans is first and foremost an adaptation to social demands. The second is the function-first approach to explaining the evolution of traits: before a prototype of a new trait develops and the adaptation process begins, something already existing is used for a new purpose. Applied to the emergence of declarative sentences, this suggests something already existing—natural signs (which have a logical or causal relation to what they denote)—were used for the declarative function and thereby integrated (in the form of indexical objects implying a past action) into communication. I show that the display of an indexical object (such as the display of hunting trophies) can imply a conceptual structure similar to that informing the syntax of sentences. The view developed in this paper is broadly consistent with the argumentative theory of Mercier and Sperber, which suggests that reasoning is less adapted to decision making than to social purposes such as winning disputes or justifying one’s actions. In this paper I extend this view to the origin of the concept of truth. According to my proposal, the first declarative sentence (articulated in a simple sign language) emerged as a negation of a negation of an implicit statement expressed by the display of an indexical object referring to a past action. Thereby, I suggest that the binary structure of the truth value underlying any declarative sentence is founded on disagreements based on conflicts of interest. Thus, I deny that the concept of truth could have evolved for instrumental reasons such as solving problems, or through self-questioning about what one ought to believe.
frontier, 2019
Language-often said to set human beings apart from other animals-has resisted explanation in term... more Language-often said to set human beings apart from other animals-has resisted explanation in terms of evolution. Language has-among others-two fundamental and distinctive features: syntax and the ability to express non-present actions and events. We suggest that the relation between this representation (of non-present action) and syntax can be analyzed as a relation between a function and a structure to fulfill this function. The strategy of the paper is to ask if there is any evidence of pre-linguistic communication that fulfills the function of communicating an absent action. We identify a structural similarity between understanding indexes of past actions of conspecifics (who did what to whom) and one of the simplest and most paradigmatic linguistic syntactic patterns-that of the simple transitive sentence. When a human being infers past events from an index (i.e., a trace, the conditions of a conspecifics or an animal, a constellation or an object) the interpreters' comprehension must rely on concepts similar in structure and function to the 'thematic roles' believed to underpin the comprehension of linguistic syntax: in his or her mind the idea of a past action or event emerges along with thematic role-like concepts; in the case of the presentation of, e.g., a hunting trophy, the presenter could be understood to be an agent (subject) and the trophy a patient (direct object), while the past action killed is implied by the condition of the object and its possession by the presenter. We discuss whether both the presentation of a trophy and linguistic syntax might have emerged independently while having the same function (to represent a past action) or whether the presentation of an index of a deed could constitute a precursor of language. Both possibilities shed new light on early, and maybe first, language use.
Language is what makes us human. It is the basis of human knowledge, culture, and society. Despit... more Language is what makes us human. It is the basis of human knowledge, culture, and society. Despite its importance, how language evolved is still a mystery. Various recent studies suggest that humans developed through a “super-fast” evolutionary process found nowhere else within the animal kingdom. This suggests a discontinuity in the evolutionary process itself. We propose the following model: Humans evolved in a unique evolutionary system consisting of two feedback loops, there being a backchannel between them; the lower loop producing the variations needed for selection in the upper loop to take place. What is meant by the “backchannel” here is a structure enabling the selection of the lower loop to “anticipate” the selection of the upper one. The content of this backchannel is displaced action encoded in narration. We show that not only the human brain and language but also most of the unique human faculties (including theory of mind, episodic memory, and the unique human altruism) are adapted almost exclusively to developing the functioning of the backchannel (narration) at a super-fast evolutionary pace.
The problem of language evolution can be split into two questions: What was language selected for... more The problem of language evolution can be split into two questions: What was language selected for? And what possible scenario could allow this adaptation process to occur? This paper addresses only the first question. Our hypothesis is that language was initially selected for narration (an utterance that refers to a past action) and only later was used for other purposes. We provide evidence from different fields and perspectives and show that selection for narration is not only suggested by the structure of language itself but also has the potential to solve other unanswered questions: the emergence of episodic memory and the ability to understand others as having beliefs, thoughts, desires, etc. (theory of mind). Furthermore, our hypothesis provides a new perspective on the problem of human altruism. This paper is meant not as a final result, but as a proposal for a provocative working hypothesis (see title) and a prelude to a model that could explain why narration (or storytelling) came under such immense selective pressure.
Posters by Till Nikolaus von Heiseler
A prelude to future standard theory of language evolution
Books by Till Nikolaus von Heiseler
»Wir wollen uns Folgendes vorstellen: Alle Ihre Werke, alles, was Sie geschrieben und gesagt habe... more »Wir wollen uns Folgendes vorstellen: Alle Ihre Werke, alles, was Sie geschrieben und gesagt haben, ist verloren. Verloren als materielle Aufzeichnung, verloren aber auch in den Köpfen der Menschen. [...] Und nun versuchen wir in einem einzigen Gespräch zu retten, was zu retten ist. Eine Flaschenpost an die Zukunft.«
Die »Flaschenpost an die Zukunft« ist kein Interview, sondern ein Gespräch darüber, was Friedrich Adolf Kittler in die Waagschale zu werfen hat, wie er dazu kam, die Medienwissenschaft neu zu erfinden und wie Zukunft und Wiederkunft der Götter zu denken sind. Flaschenpost will aber auch heißen, das einer Zukunft zu senden, was in der Gegenwart noch nicht angekommen ist und eben in ihr auch nicht ankommen kann, weil die Gegenwart die Gegenwart ist und die Zeit der Ankunft noch nicht gekommen.
Inszenierte Medientheorie mit Dirk Baecker, Wolfgang Ernst, Matthias Lilienthal, Lara X. Schiffer... more Inszenierte Medientheorie mit Dirk Baecker, Wolfgang Ernst, Matthias Lilienthal, Lara X. Schiffer, Detlev Schneider, Pit Schultz, Florian Schneider, und Janus von Abaton Die Protagonisten dieses Bandes diskutieren nicht weniger als die Frage, ob Medientheorie die Welt verändern kann. Dirk Baecker antwortet in der Tradition der Aufklärung: »Es gibt eine soziale Utopie bei dem Projekt und diese Utopie besteht in der Zurkenntnisnahme unserer soziologischen Beschreibung in den sozialen Systemen, die wir beschreiben«, während Matthias Lilienthal auf die Rolle der radikalen Subjektivität für das Auftauchen des Ungewöhnlichen und Neuen aufmerksam macht und Wolfgang Ernst das Idealszenario eines generativen Archivs entwirft, in der jeder zum Autor oder zur Autorin werden kann ... Die Pointe des Projektes besteht darin, dass die theoretischen Grundlagen für das Experiment, welches das Projekt darstellt, im Projekt selbst erarbeitet werden. Das Wirksamwerden von Medientheorie und Formatforschung wird unmittelbar erprobt: Die Protagonisten des Bandes diskutieren nicht nur über die Möglichkeit einer ästhetischen und sozialen Praxis, sondern werden selbst Teil einer Inszenierung. Sie werden hier also nicht nur zu Produzenten von Wissen, sondern gleichzeitig zum Gegenstand der Forschung und zu Figuren auf einer medientheatralen Bühne. Medientheater ist somit nicht nur das Thema, sondern auch ein hier vorgeführtes Verfahren der Sichtbarmachung und die Antwort auf die Frage nach einer ästhetischen und sozialen Praxis von Medientheorie und Formatforschung. - Ein Muss für alle, für die Medientheorie mehr sein soll als ein wirkungsloses akademisches Fach. Sie können an unserem offenen Mitschreibprojekt »Medientheater« teilnehmen.
Press by Till Nikolaus von Heiseler
No theory of human evolution that cannot explain the accelerated evolution of our ancestors needs... more No theory of human evolution that cannot explain the accelerated evolution of our ancestors needs to be taken into serious consideration anymore. In other words, the unique characteristics of human beings are the result of their unique form of evolution. This is the new and only framework in which we can answer the question of how language capacity evolved.
Abstracts by Till Nikolaus von Heiseler
There are hundreds of theories about language evolution. However, most of them contain the same m... more There are hundreds of theories about language evolution. However, most of them contain the same mistake: They are based on the popular myth that the genetic divergence between humans and their closest of kin, the chimpanzees, is rather slight. This misconception is based on the fact that the respective predecessors of chimpanzees and humans diverged only about 6 million years ago. However, evolution occurs at very different pace. Recent studies suggest that humans developed through a “super-fast” evolutionary process found nowhere else within the animal kingdom.
Drafts by Till Nikolaus von Heiseler
Die Frage nach der Herkunft des menschlichen Geistes stellt sich seit Darwin in neuer Weise. In d... more Die Frage nach der Herkunft des menschlichen Geistes stellt sich seit Darwin in neuer Weise. In den letzten Jahrzehnten sahen wir zwei große Trends: die einen wollen den menschlichen Geist aus einer physikalischen Mechanik des Gehirns erklären und sehen in Bezug auf die Evolution des menschlichen Geistes keinen grundlegenden Unterschied zu der Evolution der kognitiven Fähigkeiten anderer Lebewesen, und die anderen erklären die Kluft zwischen Mensch und Tier mit der menschlichen Kultur und insbesondere mit der Fähigkeit des Menschen, Symbole, Mythen und Erzählungen zu entwickeln: Diese Narrative, so sagen sie, gäbe Menschen ihre Identität: wir leben in Geschichten. Auch sie sind der Meinung, dass wir uns hinsichtlich der in der Evolution entstandenen genetischen Ausstattung nicht notwendigerweise stark von anderen Tieren unterscheiden. Die Evolution des Geistes verbindet die beiden miteinander in Konflikt stehenden Positionen in vollkommen neuer Weise. Wie das?
Der Mensch ist nicht zuerst entstanden und dann kamen die Erzählkulturen, sondern die Sprache ent... more Der Mensch ist nicht zuerst entstanden und dann kamen die Erzählkulturen, sondern die Sprache entsteht, um abwesende Handlungen zu repräsentieren in einem konkreten evolutionären Szenario. Der Mensch und die Sprache entstehen für die Erzählung.
Talks by Till Nikolaus von Heiseler
I. Fake-News und Hass-Kommentare in den sozialen Medien-Legendenbildung in unserer Zeit 1. Legend... more I. Fake-News und Hass-Kommentare in den sozialen Medien-Legendenbildung in unserer Zeit 1. Legendenbildungen in den sozialen Medien können medientechnisch erklärt werden In den heutigen sozialen Medien kommt es zu Hass-Postings, verleumdenden Legenden und Verschwörungstheorien. Dies wird in der Regel so interpretiert, dass diese Postings ein Ausdruck einer vorher schon bestehenden Geisteshaltung seien und dass möglicherweise das Internet dazu einlade, im Schutze der Anonymität Verleumdungen zu verbreiten. Dies ist eine kartesische Interpretation des Phänomens: eine Interpretation, die den Schlüssel für das Verständnis des Phänomens im Individuum sucht. Eine medientheoretische Interpretation dagegen würde nicht vom Individuum ausgehen, sondern vom medientechnischen Dispositiv: der Logik der Transformation von Narrativen in sozialen Medien. Die Vermutung ist, dass sich in der Kommunikation von Online-Plattformen Elemente der traditionellen Mündlichkeit und Schriftlichkeit mischen und dass sich die Legendenbildung in den sozialen Medien in ähnlicher Weise vollzieht wie in oralen Konstellationen. 2. Unterscheidung zwischen oraler und schriftlicher Kultur (1) Während im Gespräch der Gesamteindruck zählt-die Stimme, die Erscheinung, die Artikulation-, reduziert die Schrift den Diskursbeitrag auf die Aussagen. Dies führt zu einer Konzentration auf Argumente. (2) Während sich der Gehalt und die Argumente eines Gesprächs später nicht mehr genau nachvollziehen lassen, ist der Streit um die Wahrheit in Schriftform ein Angebot an den Lesenden, selbst zu denken, und auch eine Einladung zum kritischen Widerspruch (Nachvollziehbarkeit der Quellen => Kommentier-und Zitierpraxis). (3) Dadurch, dass sich das griechische Alphabet (die erste vollalphabetisierte Schrift von der alle westlichen vollalphabetisierte Schriften abstammen) auf die menschliche Sprache bezieht und nicht auf die Dinge an sich, wird der magische Bann gebrochen. Piktogramme und logografische Schriftzeichen werden dagegen eher magisch mit dem Gegenstand verbunden. (4) Während Konsonantenschriften immer eines Meisters bedürfen, der sie vokalisiert, können Bücher in vollalphabetisierter Schrift von jedem gelesen werden, der Lesen gelernt hat. Konsonantenschriften führen demnach eher zu hierarchischen Verhältnissen. (5) Wissenschaft ist der Streit um die Wahrheit in der Schrift. Weitere Bedingungen: Abwesenheit einer Buchreligion und eine entwickelte Argumentationstechnik, die-zumindest im griechischen Antike vermutlich zunächst in Hinblick auf Gerichtsverhandlungen entstanden ist.
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Papers by Till Nikolaus von Heiseler
Posters by Till Nikolaus von Heiseler
Books by Till Nikolaus von Heiseler
Die »Flaschenpost an die Zukunft« ist kein Interview, sondern ein Gespräch darüber, was Friedrich Adolf Kittler in die Waagschale zu werfen hat, wie er dazu kam, die Medienwissenschaft neu zu erfinden und wie Zukunft und Wiederkunft der Götter zu denken sind. Flaschenpost will aber auch heißen, das einer Zukunft zu senden, was in der Gegenwart noch nicht angekommen ist und eben in ihr auch nicht ankommen kann, weil die Gegenwart die Gegenwart ist und die Zeit der Ankunft noch nicht gekommen.
Press by Till Nikolaus von Heiseler
Abstracts by Till Nikolaus von Heiseler
Drafts by Till Nikolaus von Heiseler
Talks by Till Nikolaus von Heiseler
Die »Flaschenpost an die Zukunft« ist kein Interview, sondern ein Gespräch darüber, was Friedrich Adolf Kittler in die Waagschale zu werfen hat, wie er dazu kam, die Medienwissenschaft neu zu erfinden und wie Zukunft und Wiederkunft der Götter zu denken sind. Flaschenpost will aber auch heißen, das einer Zukunft zu senden, was in der Gegenwart noch nicht angekommen ist und eben in ihr auch nicht ankommen kann, weil die Gegenwart die Gegenwart ist und die Zeit der Ankunft noch nicht gekommen.