Bootstrapping components of a modern mind (original) (raw)

Abstract

Wynn, T., Overmann, K. A., Coolidge, F. L., & Janulis, K. (In press). Bootstrapping components of a modern mind. In T. Wynn & F. L. Coolidge (Eds.), Cognitive models in Palaeolithic archaeology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. In the paleoanthropological record, there is a chronological gap between the appearance of modern gross neural anatomy (especially parietal lobe expansion) and the appearance of modern behavior, however defined. Convincing evidence for modern working memory capacity, abstract concepts, symbolic culture, and so on, is very late (after 40,000 years ago for groups who demonstrate all of these traits), long after the evolution of modern-shaped brains. There are a number of ways to account for this gap—a late neural mutation, the ratchet effect of culture change, and taphonomic bias have all been proposed. The present paper supports the idea that modern minds are extended minds that work through material objects to achieve powerful results. The gap between modern ...

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