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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 Open the ORCID record for Peter Gärdenfors [Opens in a new window] ,
Anders Högberg  and
Marlize Lombard
Peter Gärdenfors
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, LUX, Lund University, S-221 00Lund, Sweden. Peter.Gardenfors@lucs.lu.sehttp://www.ht.lu.se/en/person/PeterGardenfors/ Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa. mlombard@uj.ac.zahttps://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. mlombard@uj.ac.zahttps://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. Anders.Hogberg@lnu.sehttps://lnu.se/en/staff/anders.hogberg/
Marlize Lombard
Affiliation:
Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa. mlombard@uj.ac.zahttps://www.uj.ac.za/contact/Pages/Marlize-Lombard.aspx Stellenbosch Institute of Advanced Study, Stellenbosch7600, South Africa
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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.

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Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 43 , 2020 , e164
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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