Mating Mind

Question 1

What’s the turning test?

Answer 1

• if computer can trunk interrogator into thinking they are talking to an actual woman then it is intelligent
• had to be capable of kindness, sense of humour, falling in love, making someone fall in love
• shows the challenges of demonstrating human intelligence
• SHOWS THAT WE CAN SHOW HOW INTELLIGENT WE ARE THROUGH TALKING

Question 2

What does Miller say about why we talk so much?

Answer 2

• To mate which is what everyone wants to do in their life, to do this they must talk to mate and get the sexual payoff
• ancestors wanted to inherit language so they can mate

Question 3

What is Robbins Buling’s Argument?

Answer 3

• contrasted our excessiveness of our vocabulary to simple language for trading, hunting and tool making
• proposed that language evolved because of males competing for social status by speaking with mor and better vocabulary that gives the male a higher status and reproductive advantage

Question 4

What are all the theories in common about language building? What’s the author’s theory?

Answer 4

-Sexual attractiveness depends on social status, which depends on verbal cues

• Miller thinks- sexual selection shaped human language in two ways
  1. Directly- through mate choice
  2. Indirectly- through social status

Question 5

Referencing both Miller and Thompson, compare and contrast Rapunzel and Scheherazade as symbols of love and sex. What does each reveal about our sexual history?

Answer 5

• Rapunzel her story tells us about the transition between asexual reproduction and sexual reproduction and which one is better
• Shaher reveals the importance of verbal courtship

Question 6

We like to talk more than listen. How does this pose a challenge for the presumption that individuals act for their own evolutionary advantage? What is Miller’s solution?

Answer 6

This poses a problem because if we did act for our own evolutionary advantage (to retain the most information and be the smartest) then we would constantly be listening and not talking and every time we talk it would be an act of selflessness, he proposes the reason we talk so much is because our language adapted because of verbal courtships
(Our language getting bigger to attract etc.)