Implications of the social brain hypothesis for evolving human-like cognition in digital organisms

Abstract

Data show that human-like cognitive traits do not evolve in animals through natural selection. Rather, human-like cognition evolves through runaway selection for social skills. Here, we discuss why social selection may be uniquely effective for promoting human-like cognition, and the conditions that facilitate it. These observations suggest future directions for artificial life research aimed at generating human-like cognition in digital organisms. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.