Autocatalytic closure in a cognitive system: A tentative scenario for the origin of culture

TL;DR

This paper proposes a speculative model where autocatalytic networks in cognition facilitated the transition from episodic to memetic culture in early humans, emphasizing the role of social interaction in cognitive development.

Contribution

It introduces a novel application of autocatalytic network theory to explain the emergence of complex cultural cognition in early humans.

Findings

Autocatalytic networks may underlie the development of worldview in humans.

Social interaction is potentially critical for the formation of internal cognitive models.

The model offers a new perspective on the cognitive transition associated with Homo erectus.

Abstract

This paper presents a speculative model of the cognitive mechanisms underlying the transition from episodic to mimetic (or memetic) culture with the arrival of Homo erectus, which Donald [1991] claims paved the way for the unique features of human culture. The model draws on Kauffman's [1993] theory of how an information-evolving system emerges through the formation of an autocatalytic network. Though originally formulated to explain the origin of life, this theory also provides a plausible account of how discrete episodic memories become woven into an internal model of the world, or worldview, that both structures, and is structured by, self-triggered streams of thought. Social interaction plays a role in (and may be critical to) this process. Implications for cognitive development are explored.