I enjoyed the wide range of topics covered in this conversation, but I was particularly interested when you started to discuss AI and art near the end. The analogy to how the development 3D animation technology has affected the demand for - and supply of - 2D animation and animators really made me think.
I think this puzzlement about "how come the general human brain?" is skewed wrong. We're the only great ape that's managed to survive outside the tropics and I'm pretty sure it's language that allows that. While language is certainly a general technology, the generality is cultural, if you will, not biological. It's been awhile since I've looked at the brain, language & evolution literature, but I'd think language is the result of biological specializations and that, in turn, results in the general cultural technology. But the human brain is still basically an ape brain, but with more neurons and a little tweak here and there. What language allows is something like a reconstruction of our perceptual and motor capabilities within the compass of language. That's what David Hays and I argue in "The Principles and Development of Natural Intelligence," https://www.academia.edu/235116/Principles_and_Development_of_Natural_Intelligence
Yes, good call out! I probably could have done a better job pushing on that in this conversation. I have an interview with Ted Gibson coming out in a few weeks that goes into a bit of detail on language as cultural technology.
I enjoyed the wide range of topics covered in this conversation, but I was particularly interested when you started to discuss AI and art near the end. The analogy to how the development 3D animation technology has affected the demand for - and supply of - 2D animation and animators really made me think.
I think this puzzlement about "how come the general human brain?" is skewed wrong. We're the only great ape that's managed to survive outside the tropics and I'm pretty sure it's language that allows that. While language is certainly a general technology, the generality is cultural, if you will, not biological. It's been awhile since I've looked at the brain, language & evolution literature, but I'd think language is the result of biological specializations and that, in turn, results in the general cultural technology. But the human brain is still basically an ape brain, but with more neurons and a little tweak here and there. What language allows is something like a reconstruction of our perceptual and motor capabilities within the compass of language. That's what David Hays and I argue in "The Principles and Development of Natural Intelligence," https://www.academia.edu/235116/Principles_and_Development_of_Natural_Intelligence
Yes, good call out! I probably could have done a better job pushing on that in this conversation. I have an interview with Ted Gibson coming out in a few weeks that goes into a bit of detail on language as cultural technology.
The brain is generalized to accommodate cultural specialization.