Human communication as joint epistemic engineering

Introduction

Imagine ordering a drink at a diner, pointing at an empty glass as an attentive waiter passes by. How did you select that particular gesture, and how could the waiter possibly interpret it as you intended? As any other signal we use to communicate daily, that gesture is highly ambiguous outside its context of use.

Research Question

How can human communication work by using referentially flexible and contextually dependent signals? MINDSHARING argues that interlocutors are communicatively effective because they jointly control their interaction-specific shared context.

Methodology

MINDSHARING integrates computational, developmental, and cognitive neuroscience to understand how that control is algorithmically defined, culturally acquired, and neurally implemented.

1. Context-sensitive Neural Networks:

   • MINDSHARING identifies communicative control parameters during interactive multi-turn linguistic and non-verbal referential games.
   • It then assesses the value of those parameters as potential communicative universals across worldwide cultures.

2. Prospective Longitudinal Studies:

   • MINDSHARING identifies the socio-cultural experiences that influence the acquisition of communicative abilities during ontogenetic development.

3. Concurrent Brain Stimulation and Imaging:

   • In communicating dyads, MINDSHARING tracks and perturbs the neural dynamics of communicative control parameters as dyads continuously adjust their shared context to novel communicative challenges.

Significance

MINDSHARING provides a novel causal account of a foundational element of human society: the ability to communicate with referentially flexible signals.

Contribution to the Field

MINDSHARING brings computational, cultural, and neurocognitive explanations into the interpersonal space where communication is used and where it is learned. It will deliver what existing accounts have not yet provided: multi-level causal explanations of the multi-level human ability to communicate with referentially flexible and contextually dependent signals.