Nov 26
Just saw a presentation by Dunbar on social cognition from an evolutionary and anthropological view.
Once more it it is clear how the brain as a computer has a very distinct style, different from the logical analysis framework in the physical sciences.
One theme in this work is how primate’s biology has developed to deal with a social network of like-behaving people. One key description is of a person who knows and takes into account that other persons are acting in the social setting, and recursively, how those persons are taking into account another person’s acting in a social setting.
For example jack is concerned that Joe expects jane to -- etc, etc.
theory of mind,
reading intentions,
operating as if, etc.
establishing trust, dominance, and other relations
So at the base level, one chops wood and carries water. At the social level, one acts towards others, knowing that they are in turn interpreting the interaction. But that involves a new layer of cognition and affect. In other words our brains have become specialized in dealing with social interaction. Well, I keep saying brains, but the “intelligence” involves neurons and bio-chemistry of all kinds throughout the body.
It seems he is describing interaction machines.
But he also emphasizes some non-conscious patterns of interaction that serve to motivate people. For example people get together, laugh and have a good time. We don’t necessarily know how the various neurological and hormonal, etc patterns are firing, nor why we are engaging in the interaction.
Given the increased motivation to interact, his focus is on the fact that it takes more social cognition to accomplish social interaction. In other words the cognitive demands of social interaction serve as an important evolutionary selection pressure.
But what I am getting out the discussion is how the brain system design is accumulative and does not necessarily factor out like we have modeled reality. For example, there is some evidence that hormonal levels in individuals adjust due to the outcome of an election. Losers tend to reduced testosterone. That general effect is not easy to observe in our typical theory of mind because hormonal changes are distributed and have a variety of small effects.
[behavior is partially determined by endocrine levels - hormonal conditions influences perception, evaluation and response to situations. we normally would say that winning, for example, makes winners more [fill in some testosterone state such as confident, arrogant, etc.]
To see the difference between that kind of design element and those used in software, for example, it would be like altering the way the processor and memory responded in real time. The actual model of software presumes that processor and memory cycles are constant, not modulated by some hormone-like contextual adjustment. Also, instead of a linear program, the whole process is just a dynamic balance of many of these distributed and small effect mechanisms, a form of self-organization.
Nov 27
Although social cognition is just a subset of what the brain/body can do, interaction among people is complex because the brain/body has evolved functions selected for social interaction. That seems to suggest a regenerative loop. As social cognitive properties are selected, the behavioral dynamics become richer, in turn creating a pressure to select for the new/richer context.
I noticed there were several places in Dunbar’s presentation that were both stimulating and at the same time represented in a narrow framework, begging to be reformulated in a broader conceptual framework.
For example, he attributes one phenomenon to intentionality in which a person can know what another person believes regarding what a third person believes, etc.
In a way it might be better to describe social interaction as a process which we all have learned to consciously operate in the process as well as being able to shift that awareness to various other reference frameworks, and especially for Dunbar, another person’s point of view regarding another person’s point of view, etc.
So when you are chopping wood or driving a car, you are interacting with simple mechanical systems in a mechanical context. When you are interacting with other people, you are operating in a social interaction framework where the body has specially tuned dynamics just for that purpose.
===== notes on dunbar’s presentation =====
Robin I. M. Dunbar lecture | Nobel Conference - Gustavus Adolphus College
platoon
company
battalion
regiment
division
tribal societies
band
clan
tribe
groooming - emotional sets up cognitive relationships
cognitive - trust reciprocity
mind reading ability (social cognition tasks) -> number of friends
ability to think thru implications of social world
theory of mind develops
grooming time (social interaction) function of group size
grooming releases endorphins -> relaxing, trust enhancing
large social group requires large amount of grooming time
language improves ability to interact (social bonding),
but lessened emotional content
improved social interaction - laughter, music, religious ritual (language basis)
all help toward endorphin release [or whatever all bio-chem dynamics]
synchronized activity, belonging -> endorphin release
laughter -> more trust of stranger (oxytocin like)
frontal lobe volume -> social cognition
religious based social groups repairs damaged social relationships