The Evolution of Language and Human Rationality

TL;DR

This paper explores how language evolution, driven by sexual selection, shaped human social cognition and rationality through fast, unconscious mental processes like Theory of Mind and pragmatic skills, rather than deliberate reasoning.

Contribution

It proposes that many aspects of human mental life and social behavior are governed by rapid, unconscious feature structure unification, challenging traditional views of rational deliberation.

Findings

Language evolution linked to sexual selection for social display.

Mental processes like Theory of Mind operate via fast, unconscious unification.

Social emotions and motivations are less rational and more automatic than previously thought.

Abstract

If language evolved by sexual selection to display superior intelligence, then we require conversational skills, to impress other people, gain high social status, and get a mate. Conversational skills include a Theory of Mind, a sense of self, self esteem and social emotions. To be impressive, we must converse fluently and fast. The syntax of an utterance is defined by fast unification of feature structures. The pragmatic skills of conversation are also learned and deployed as feature structures; we rehearse conversations as verbal thoughts. Many aspects of our mental lives (such as our Theory of Mind, and our social emotions) work by fast, pre conscious unification of learned feature structures, rather than rational deliberation. As we think, we use the Fast Theory of Mind to infer (unreliably) how a Shadow Audience will regard what we think, say, and do. These forces, which determine our motivations and actions, are less rational and deliberate than we like to suppose