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Mithen and Metaphor
Neanderthal language capabilities are back in the news. According to well-known prehistorian Steven Mithen (whose “Hmmmmm” theory of language evolution I cited in Chapter 3), “the evidence points to key differences in the brains of our species and those of Neanderthals that allowed modern humans (H. sapiens) to come up with abstract and complex ideas Continue reading
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The Symbol Ungrounding Problem
Terrence Deacon‘s 1997 The Symbolic Species is briefly mentioned in Chapter 3, but his body of work could undoubtedly have occupied multiple chapters (even if we didn’t mention his brilliant discussion of the limitations of Shannon’s information theory in “Information and Reference”) as he is a leader in the emergence of semiotic cognitive neuroscience, which Continue reading
About THIS SITE
This site is intended to provide additional information related to my book Keywords In and Out of Context, published in Springer’s Synthesis Lectures on Information Concepts, Retrieval, and Services series.
I am Betsy Van der Veer Martens, professor emerita at the University of Oklahoma’s School of Library & Information Studies, and my most recent article is “On Thresholds: Signs, Symbols, and Significance” in the Journal of Documentation.
Keywords In and Out of Context 