Mind in Evolution

Mind, Evolution, and Computers

which consciousness can exist without intrinsic material structure. With this vision of reality, they state that it will not be possible for humans to build a computer that can duplicate the consciousness of a human mind. I submit that such thinking is in error, even though some of its proponents are men of scientific training and great accomplishment. A few years ago, a book by Roger Penrose, ...

Mind as Evolution and Evolution as Such

One of the purposes of consciousness is to acquire knowledge. The models of this task traditionally assume a division between the known and the knower, a division that leads into doubtful reasoning about some kind of (frequently disguised) homunculus. The current paper tries to avoid such fallacies by viewing the adaptation of the mind as an evolutionary process, a process distinct (but not ind...

Evolution of theories of mind

When people play a game for the …rst time, their behavior rarely conforms to a Nash equilibrium. In such situations, behavior is more successfully predicted by the level-k and cognitive hierarchy models. These models postulate a hierarchy of types, such that higher types form more sophisticated beliefs about their opponents’ behavior. In this paper, I study the evolution of such types, accordin...

The Evolution of “Theory of Mind”

This paper provides an evolutionary foundation for our capacity to attribute mental states such as belief, desire, and intent to ourselves, and to others. This ability, referred to as “Theory of Mind”, is intrinsic to game theory and is viewed by many as the capstone of social cognition. We argue here that theory of mind allows organisms to efficiently modify their behavior in strategic environ...

Evolution, Culture, and the Human Mind