Daniel Cloud - This week we tackle the question, "What is life?" Seriously, our guest wrote an entire doctoral dissertation on that exact question. And we don't just stop there! We also discuss the evolution of human language, where it came from, and where it may be going. Have you ever thought about what words mean and where they came from? Why do you use a certain work in conversation instead of another? The choice of which words to use and in which sense to use them is both a "selection event" and an intentional decision.  

Our guest this week is Dan Cloud, and in his brand new book, The Domestication of Language: Cultural Evolution and the Uniqueness of the Human Animal, Dan explores the analogy between Darwin's model of domestication and the evolution of human languages and cultures. Daniel received his Ph.D from Princeton and became a Junior Fellow there soon after.  He currently teaches philosophy at Princeton University.  

"The idea of cultural evolution is older than the idea of biological evolution."

- Daniel Cloud

Quotes from Dan: 

What we learn in this episode:

What is Schrodinger's Crystal and how might it solve the question, "What is life"?

What is an aperiodic pattern? 

Why do words mean what they mean? Why do we use particular words in each situation?

Why does the world have so many various dialects?

Resources:

The Domestication of Language: Cultural Evolution and the Uniqueness of the Human Animal

http://www.cup.columbia.edu/book/978-0-231-16792-5/the-domestication-of-language/reviews

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