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Putting the cart before the horse? The origin of information donation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2023

Judith M. Burkart Open the ORCID record for Judith M. Burkart [Opens in a new window] ,
Sandro Sehner ,
Rahel K. Brügger ,
Jessie E. C. Adriaense  and
Carel P. van Schaik
Judith M. Burkart
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] https://www.aim.uzh.ch/de/ecg.html Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE), University of Zurich, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland
Sandro Sehner
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] https://www.aim.uzh.ch/de/ecg.html
Rahel K. Brügger
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] https://www.aim.uzh.ch/de/ecg.html
Jessie E. C. Adriaense
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] https://www.aim.uzh.ch/de/ecg.html
Carel P. van Schaik
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] https://www.aim.uzh.ch/de/ecg.html Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE), University of Zurich, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
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Abstract

Heintz & Scott-Phillips propose that the partner choice ecology of our ancestors required Gricean cognitive pragmatics for reputation management, which caused a tendency toward showing and expecting prosociality that subsequently scaffolded language evolution. Here, we suggest a cognitively leaner explanation that is more consistent with comparative data and posits that prosociality and eventually language evolved along with cooperative breeding.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 46 , 2023 , e5
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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