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Where does the elephant come from? The evolution of causal cognition is the key

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 August 2020

Peter Gärdenfors
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, LUX, Lund University, S-221 00Lund, Sweden. [email protected]://www.ht.lu.se/en/person/PeterGardenfors/ Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa. [email protected]://www.uj.ac.za/contact/Pages/Marlize-Lombard.aspx Stellenbosch Institute of Advanced Study, Stellenbosch7600, South Africa
Anders Högberg
Affiliation:
Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa. [email protected]://www.uj.ac.za/contact/Pages/Marlize-Lombard.aspx Stellenbosch Institute of Advanced Study, Stellenbosch7600, South Africa Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Linnaeus University, 391 82 Kalmar, Sweden. [email protected]://lnu.se/en/staff/anders.hogberg/
Marlize Lombard
Affiliation:
Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa. [email protected]://www.uj.ac.za/contact/Pages/Marlize-Lombard.aspx Stellenbosch Institute of Advanced Study, Stellenbosch7600, South Africa

Abstract

Osiurak and Reynaud do not explain the evolutionary emergence and development of the elephant in the room, that is, technical cognition. We first argue that there is a tight correlation between the evolution of cumulative technological culture (CTC) and the evolution of reasoning about abstract forces. Second, intentional teaching plays a greater role in CTC evolution than acknowledged in the target article.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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