Your thesis reminds me of erly research I did at the University of Wisconsin with game theory and its relation with concept development in primary classrooms. It also hearkens to Wittgenstein's theories of language and philosophy in the Tractatus.
Things to be considered are
- an opponent. It can also be nature, random influences, decay
- moves in turn. Steps that change the state.
- a function that evaluates the state.
Regards,
Joachim
Dear Jim:
Thank you so much for asking this important qquestion!
This is a paper relating to this subject matter, which may be useful to answer your question.
Best wishes,
Javier.
THE EVOLUTION OF LANGUAGE
Abstract:
The emergence of language was a defining moment in the evolution of modern humans. It was an innovation that changed radically the character of human society. Here, we provide an approach to language evolution based on evolutionary game theory. We explore the ways in which protolanguages can evolve in a nonlinguistic society and how specific signals can become associated with specific objects. We assume that early in the evolution of language, errors in signaling and perception would be common. We model the probability of misunderstanding a signal and show that this limits the number of objects that can be described by a protolanguage. This “error limit” is not overcome by employing more sounds but by combining a small set of more easily distinguishable sounds into words. The process of “word formation” enables a language to encode an essentially unlimited number of objects. Next, we analyze how words can be combined into sentences and specify the conditions for the evolution of very simple grammatical rules. We argue that grammar originated as a simplified rule system that evolved by natural selection to reduce mistakes in communication. Our theory provides a systematic approach for thinking about the origin and evolution of human language.
Authors: Nowak, M. A., & Krakauer, D. C. (1999). The evolution of language.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 96(14), 8028-8033.
Now that evolution of language is mentioned, there is also a study by Velina Slavova. It is about how meaning arises in response to the exchange with environment.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316582449_Information_Entropy_Meaning_Concept_Complexity_-_A_Statistical_Analysis_of_Data_from_First_Language_Acquisition_of_English_and_French
Regards,
Joachim
Working Paper Information, Entropy, Meaning, Concept Complexity – A Statis...
Continuing.....
Let us assume that game theory is a branch of mathematics and let us further assume that not all mathematics relies upon or even involves numbers.
A type of game that does not necessarily involve numbers is the NIM game where players employ strategic thinking to play. The importance of strategic thinking in maths and game theory led me to mention Wittgenstein earlier. Of course Dr. Wittgenstein some might claim, thought of all language as game. That may be where psychology enters consideration. So we turn away towards Educational psychologists such as Piaget and/or Vygotsky.
If we recall the history of curriculum development we can recall that Piaget's colleague Inhelder participated in the development of "New Math," that certainly featured much about language and game theory in its applications.
Do games necessarily involve competition or conflict? Dewey wrote about something called "play of thought."
- Badges
- Science topic