Public lecture by Ross Pain (University of Bristol): Hierarchical cognition and the evolution of syntax

In this paper I explore some of the motivations and implications of tool-language co-evolutionary hypotheses. A central commitment of these theories is that language production is one instance of a broader phenomenon; namely hierarchically controlled, goal-directed action. An interesting implication is that, when understood through the lens of active inference, our capacity for syntax is an elaboration of mechanisms that are evolutionarily ancient and phylogenetically widespread. This changes the focus of research on the evolution of language: the challenge is not accounting for the evolution of hierarchical cognition from non-hierarchical forms, but understanding why phylogenetically widespread capacity become particularly refined in our lineage.