A Day in the Life of a Meme.

Kitto

2012

Biosemiotics

Self Cite

At the core of our uniquely human cognitive abilities is the capacity to see things from different perspectives, or to place them in a new context. We propose that this was made possible by two cognitive transitions. First, the large brain of Homo erectus facilitated the onset of recursive recall: the ability to string thoughts together into a stream of potentially abstract or imaginative thought. This hypothesis is supported by a set of computational models where an artificial society of agents evolved to generate more diverse and valuable cultural outputs under conditions of recursive recall. We propose that the capacity to see things in context arose much later, following the appearance of anatomically modern humans. This second transition was brought on by the onset of contextual focus: the capacity to shift between a minimally contextual analytic mode of thought, and a highly contextual associative mode of thought, conducive to combining concepts in new ways and ‗breaking out of a rut'. When contextual focus is implemented in an art-generating computer program, the resulting artworks are seen as more creative and appealing. We summarize how both transitions can be modeled using a theory of concepts which highlights the manner in which different contexts can lead to modern humans attributing very different meanings to the interpretation of one concept.What is the essence of our human-ness? We propose that what is at the core of our uniquely human cognitive abilities is the capacity to place things in context, or see things from different perspectives. This enables us to be not just creative, but to put our own spin on the inventions of others, modifying them to suit our own needs and tastes, in turn leading to new innovations that build cumulatively on previous

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Concept Combination and the Origins of Complex Cognition

Kitto

2012

Biosemiotics

Self Cite

“…Attempts to develop a scientific framework for cultural evolution initially framed it as a selectionist process (Aunger, 2000;Boyd & Richerson, 1985;Gabora, 1996). However, this was difficult to reconcile with the highly cooperative nature of human societies and, when examined closely, the selectionist theory is incompatible with some basic facts about how culture evolves (Fracchia & Lewontin, 1999;Gabora, 2004, 2011, 2013Temkin & Eldredge, 2007).…”

Section: Cultural Evolution As a Selectionist Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Creative Process of Cultural Evolution

Oxford Scholarship Online

2018

Self Cite

This chapter explores how we can better understand culture by understanding the creative processes that fuel it, and better understand creativity by examining it from its cultural context. First, it summarizes attempts to develop a scientific framework for how culture evolves, and it explores what these frameworks imply for the role of creativity in cultural evolution. Next it examines how questions about the relationship between creativity and cultural evolution have been addressed using an agent-based model in which neural network-based agents collectively generate increasingly fit ideas by building on previous ideas and imitating neighbors’ ideas. Finally, it outlines studies of how creative outputs are influenced, in perhaps unexpected ways, by other ideas and individuals, and how individual creative styles “peek through” cultural outputs in different domains.

“…Yet another well-known dual process theory of creativity is the Darwinian theory of creativity (Campbell 1960;Simonton, 2011). Like biological species, creative ideas exhibit the kind of cumulative complexity and adaptation over time as an evolutionary process, not just when they are expressed to others but in the mind of the idea's creator (Gabora, 1996;Terrell, Hunt, & Gosden, 1997;Thagard, 1980;Tomasello 1996). Thus, it has been proposed that in creativity, as in natural selection, there is a phase conducive to generating variety and another conducive to pruning out inferior variants.…”

Section: Dual Process Theoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Engagement, Honing, and Mindfulness in Creativity

Creativity Under Duress in Education?

Unrau

2018

Self Cite

As both our external world and inner worlds become more complex, we are faced with more novel challenges, hardships, and duress. Creative thinking is needed to provide fresh perspectives and solve new problems. Because creativity can be conducive to accessing and reliving traumatic memories, emotional scars may be exacerbated by creative practices before these are transformed and released. Therefore, in preparing our youth to thrive in an increasingly unpredictable world, it could be helpful to cultivate in them an understanding of the creative process and its relationship to hardship, as well as tools and techniques for fostering not just creativity but self-awareness and mindfulness. This chapter is a review of theories of creativity through the lens of their capacity to account for the relationship between creativity and hardship, as well as the therapeutic effects of creativity. We also review theories and research on aspects of mindfulness attending to potential therapeutic effects of creativity. Drawing upon the creativity and mindfulness literatures, we sketch out what an introductory 'creativity and mindfulness' module might look like as part of an educational curriculum designed to address the unique challenges of the 21st Century.Liane Gabora, PhD, is a Professor in the Psychology Department at the Okanagan Campus of the University of British Columbia, Canada. Her research focuses on the mechanisms underlying creativity, and how creative ideas-and culture more generally-evolve, using both computational modeling and empirical studies with human participants. She has almost 200 articles published in scholarly books, journals, and conference proceedings, has procured over one million dollars in research funding, supervised numerous graduate and undergraduate students, and given talks worldwide on creativity and related topics. Her research on creativity is informed by her own experiences creating literature. She has a short story published in Fiction, another forthcoming in Fiddlehead, and has a novel underway titled Quilandria that merges her scholarly and creative writing interests.Mike Unrau, MFA, is a PhD student in Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies at the University of British Columbia (Okanagan Campus), Canada. He is studying creativity and social innovation, focusing on how creative mindfulness impacts collective trauma towards societal change. He is currently adjunct faculty with the University of Calgary and Mount Royal University, working in field education and simulated educational experiences, as well as social-based theatre and creativity. He has held international fellowships, given lectures and conference presentations, conducted workshops and led research projects in different parts of the world, including a presocial lab in India. These days Mike's passion is Somativity, a physical movement mindfulness approach he developed after living in a Buddhist monastery (Thailand and Canada) and cofounding a physical theatre company (Calgary, AB). He has published findings on somatic awareness as w...