Despite almost half a century of research for theory of mind, its evolutionary origin is largely unknown. This paper proposes that the evolutionary origin of theory of mind starts from the beginning of the human evolu...Despite almost half a century of research for theory of mind, its evolutionary origin is largely unknown. This paper proposes that the evolutionary origin of theory of mind starts from the beginning of the human evolution to form hominins through bipedalism and the mixed habitat. The feet of the early hominins were still adapted for grasping trees rather than walking for long distances and running fast on the ground. The early hominins lived in the mixed habitat of grassy woodland with patches of denser forest, and freshwater springs. The difficulty of walking in the mixed habitat leads to division of labor for the home specialist group (small children, old people, and mothers with small children, and pregnant women) in the safe forest area and the exploration specialist group (young people without the care of small children) in the dangerous open area. The different tasks, attitudes, and mentalities in different specialist groups produce theory of mind as the ability to attribute different mental states to different specialist groups. (Uniformity of mind instead of theory of mind is for generalists without division of labor). The early Homo species with the open habitat developed theory of mind for hunter specialist group and gatherer specialist group. The middle Homo species with complex stone tools developed theory of mind for the cooperative specialist groups in the large production of complex stone tools. The late Homo species with complex social interaction developed theory of mind for mind reading to enhance cooperation and to detect cheaters in complex social interaction. For religion, the unusually harsh Upper Paleolithic Period developed theory of mind for imaginary specialists in terms of supernatural power, guidance, and comfort. Therefore, the three general types of theory of mind are for specialists in division of labor, mind reading in complex social interaction, and imaginary specialists in imaginary division of labor under harsh conditions. Self-awareness in the mirror self-recognition test is also explained.展开更多
The phenomenon described here has no scientific title, but occurs frequently in daily living, from science to philosophy, religion, and medicine. In every field of human endeavor, when a view is expressed, sharp and p...The phenomenon described here has no scientific title, but occurs frequently in daily living, from science to philosophy, religion, and medicine. In every field of human endeavor, when a view is expressed, sharp and profound differences of opinion ensue. Initially, we coin this phenomenon as ＂understanding blindness＂ or ＂mind＇s awareness.＂ Thereafter, we decide to refer to it as ＂mind blindness,＂ a concept introduced to science by Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, who coins it for a cognitive disorder associated with autism, Asperger＇s syndrome, and schizophrenia. Baron-Cohen＇s usage has subsequently been extended to dementia, bi-polar disorders, antisocial personality disorders, and even normal aging. In our view, definition and identification of ＂mind blindness＂ in philosophy, religion, science, medicine, and at end-of-life care can help mankind to better understand mechanisms of human behavior, and the causes of conflicts, controversies, contradictions, and sharp differences of opinion in human life, and even to solve some of them.展开更多
It is generally accepted that the human mind and cognition can be viewed at five levels; nerves, psychology, language, thinking and culture. Artificial intelligence(AI) simulates human intelligence at all five levels ...It is generally accepted that the human mind and cognition can be viewed at five levels; nerves, psychology, language, thinking and culture. Artificial intelligence(AI) simulates human intelligence at all five levels of human cognition, however, AI has yet to outperform human intelligence, although it is making progress. Presently artificial intelligence lags far behind human intelligence in higher-order cognition, namely, the cognitive levels of language, thinking and culture. In fact, artificial intelligence and human intelligence fall into very different intelligence categories. Machine learning is no more than a simulation of human cognitive ability and therefore should not be overestimated. There is no need for us to feel scared even panic about it. Put forward by John R. Searle, the"Chinese Room"argument, a famous AI model and standard, is not yet out of date. According to this argument, a digital computer will never acquire human intelligence. Given that, no artificial intelligence will outperform human intelligence in the foreseeable future.展开更多
文摘Despite almost half a century of research for theory of mind, its evolutionary origin is largely unknown. This paper proposes that the evolutionary origin of theory of mind starts from the beginning of the human evolution to form hominins through bipedalism and the mixed habitat. The feet of the early hominins were still adapted for grasping trees rather than walking for long distances and running fast on the ground. The early hominins lived in the mixed habitat of grassy woodland with patches of denser forest, and freshwater springs. The difficulty of walking in the mixed habitat leads to division of labor for the home specialist group (small children, old people, and mothers with small children, and pregnant women) in the safe forest area and the exploration specialist group (young people without the care of small children) in the dangerous open area. The different tasks, attitudes, and mentalities in different specialist groups produce theory of mind as the ability to attribute different mental states to different specialist groups. (Uniformity of mind instead of theory of mind is for generalists without division of labor). The early Homo species with the open habitat developed theory of mind for hunter specialist group and gatherer specialist group. The middle Homo species with complex stone tools developed theory of mind for the cooperative specialist groups in the large production of complex stone tools. The late Homo species with complex social interaction developed theory of mind for mind reading to enhance cooperation and to detect cheaters in complex social interaction. For religion, the unusually harsh Upper Paleolithic Period developed theory of mind for imaginary specialists in terms of supernatural power, guidance, and comfort. Therefore, the three general types of theory of mind are for specialists in division of labor, mind reading in complex social interaction, and imaginary specialists in imaginary division of labor under harsh conditions. Self-awareness in the mirror self-recognition test is also explained.
文摘The phenomenon described here has no scientific title, but occurs frequently in daily living, from science to philosophy, religion, and medicine. In every field of human endeavor, when a view is expressed, sharp and profound differences of opinion ensue. Initially, we coin this phenomenon as ＂understanding blindness＂ or ＂mind＇s awareness.＂ Thereafter, we decide to refer to it as ＂mind blindness,＂ a concept introduced to science by Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, who coins it for a cognitive disorder associated with autism, Asperger＇s syndrome, and schizophrenia. Baron-Cohen＇s usage has subsequently been extended to dementia, bi-polar disorders, antisocial personality disorders, and even normal aging. In our view, definition and identification of ＂mind blindness＂ in philosophy, religion, science, medicine, and at end-of-life care can help mankind to better understand mechanisms of human behavior, and the causes of conflicts, controversies, contradictions, and sharp differences of opinion in human life, and even to solve some of them.
基金included in"Higher-order Cognitive Studies at the Levels of Language,Thinking and Culture"(Reference number:15ZDB017)and"Neural mechanism Studies in Human Brain’s Processing of Non-literal Elements in Chinese Language"(Reference number:14ZDB154),both of which are major programs of National Social Sciences Fund
文摘It is generally accepted that the human mind and cognition can be viewed at five levels; nerves, psychology, language, thinking and culture. Artificial intelligence(AI) simulates human intelligence at all five levels of human cognition, however, AI has yet to outperform human intelligence, although it is making progress. Presently artificial intelligence lags far behind human intelligence in higher-order cognition, namely, the cognitive levels of language, thinking and culture. In fact, artificial intelligence and human intelligence fall into very different intelligence categories. Machine learning is no more than a simulation of human cognitive ability and therefore should not be overestimated. There is no need for us to feel scared even panic about it. Put forward by John R. Searle, the"Chinese Room"argument, a famous AI model and standard, is not yet out of date. According to this argument, a digital computer will never acquire human intelligence. Given that, no artificial intelligence will outperform human intelligence in the foreseeable future.
