I’ve been having fun reading through Signals: Evolution, Learning, & Information. Many of the scenarios revolve around variations of the Lewis Signalling Game. It’s a nice simple model that lets you talk about communication without having to talk about intentionality (what you “meant” to say).
Intention seems to mostly be about self-awareness of the existing signalling equilibrium. When I speak slowly and carefully, I’m constantly checking what I want to say against my understanding of our signalling equilibrium, and reasoning out implications. If I scream when I see a tiger, I’m still signalling, but various facts about the signalling equilibrium are not booted into consciousness.
So, claim: Lewis style signalling games are the root of all communication, from humans to dogs to bacteria. The “extra” stuff that humans seem to have which is often called intent as to do with having other/additional reasoning abilities, and being able to load one’s signalling equilibrium into that reasoning system to further engage in shenanigans.
I’ve been having fun reading through Signals: Evolution, Learning, & Information. Many of the scenarios revolve around variations of the Lewis Signalling Game. It’s a nice simple model that lets you talk about communication without having to talk about intentionality (what you “meant” to say).
Intention seems to mostly be about self-awareness of the existing signalling equilibrium. When I speak slowly and carefully, I’m constantly checking what I want to say against my understanding of our signalling equilibrium, and reasoning out implications. If I scream when I see a tiger, I’m still signalling, but various facts about the signalling equilibrium are not booted into consciousness.
So, claim: Lewis style signalling games are the root of all communication, from humans to dogs to bacteria. The “extra” stuff that humans seem to have which is often called intent as to do with having other/additional reasoning abilities, and being able to load one’s signalling equilibrium into that reasoning system to further engage in shenanigans.