Language evolution seminar

Speaker: Olivier Morin (CNRS Researcher, Institut Jean Nicod, Paris; Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History)

Title: Information in Images

Abstract: How do images carry information? This question, usually addressed by semioticians or philosophers, can also be answered quantitatively. This talk will present a framework that uses information theory to study and predict how the amount of information that images can carry may evolve. This framework differs from the traditional semiotic approaches, which seeks to uncover implicit cultural norms that could guide the interpretation of images, considered as elements in a visual language. Our goal is to measure the bandwidth of graphic communication. We focus on graphic codes—images conventionally and explicitly associated with meanings, as found in writing systems, pictographs, coin designs, heraldry, digital communication, etc. Our approach considers three forms of information that a visual symbol may carry: complexity, distinctiveness, and specificity. A symbol's complexity assesses the cognitive costs carried by the act of processing and storing it. Its distinctiveness measures to what degree it stands out relative to other symbols. Its specificity quantifies the degree of precision that it is capable of when pointing at objects outside itself. All three types of information can be tracked using measures derived from information theory. These allow us to bring an evolutionary and quantitative perspective to classical semiotic questions. This framework will be illustrated with a range of naturalistic studies, considering cultural history in a quantitative light.

Pre-reading:

• Morin, Olivier, Piers Kelly, and James Winters 2019Writing, Graphic Codes, and Asynchronous Communication. Topics in Cognitive Science. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/tops.12386
• Kelly, Piers, James Winters, Helena Miton, and Olivier Morin (Current Anthropology, in press) The Predictable Evolution of Letter Shapes: An Emergent Script of West Africa Recapitulates Historical Change in Writing Systems. https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/eg489/

Contact

Seminars are organised by the Centre for Language Evolution

Henry Conklin

Centre for Language Evolution