Questions about the evolution of skills (& language) from an information-processing perspective

The methodology, the projects, and the status of the research program: to answer the questions below.

1. The first question examines how skills might work, how they come from DNA, go to the brain, and cause action.

• what is a skill, a skilled action, and the consequence of a skilled action
• how are skills represented as information structures
• how long does a skill persist - in DNA, in the brain?
• is perception best modelled as part of a skill, or as separate skill?
• can we estimate the storage required for a single skill in DNA and in the brain? How about all innate skills?
• how is a skill encoded in DNA transferred into a skill in the brain?
• how is a skill encoded in the brain changed by learning or discovery
• how are skills executed into action?
• how does a skill get a body to move, to act?
• how is perception integrated with action?
• can we estimate the information flow rates required for executing a skill - for the action - for the perception?
• can we model and simulate the consequences of such action - and show how it relates to fitness?

2. The second question explores the proposal that a skill might be represented in an 'inner language', like a programming language

• are there methods for decompressing (innate) skills, and are there methods for compressing learned skills?
• is there an inner (programming) language for representing skills?
• how is prediction and planning integrated with action?
• how can skills be combined, e.g. for doing several things simultaneously, or for incorporating one skill into another?
• is there a (species-dependent) hierarchy of skills, so that skills can call on other skills like subroutines?
• can we model some important skills such as mimicry, learning, and discovery?

3. The third question explores skills that benefit the group rather than specific individuals in the group. We propose group-level sets of coordinated skills that account for gender-specific behaviours as well as herd and pack behaviours.

• Can we find sets of interdependent individual-based skills such that the set (rather than the individual skills) increase group fitness?
• are gender-related skills an example of a group-level set?
• are there herd or pack behaviour patterns that might qualify?
• does each of the individuals in the population have all of the skills in DNA or in the brain?
• -- if not, how and when are they selected - of the gender chromosomes, at time of puberty?
• -- if yes, how are they selected and invoked into action?
• How are interdependent skills activated and coordinated?
  • can we model or simulate the interaction and coordination of such group-level sets?
  • can we model or simulate the consequences of using such group-level sets to increase fitness for the group?

4. The fourth question explores how complementary skills might incorporate information exchange mechanisms to coordinate the skills

• Can we find and characterize inter-individual information flow within such sets of interdependent and coordinated skills
• how does it integrate with action and perception of the individuals skills?
• can we model or simulate such information flow and model its role in the coordination of such group-level sets?
• can we find systematic attributes of information flow that are common across all coordinated skill-sets within the same species (and at the same relative stage in evolution)?
• are these information flows best modelled as integrated into skills that depend on them for coordination, or as separate skills?
• are the information flows structured, with similar order and timing of messages in similar exchanges (skill sets)?
• are information components (messages) structured, and are they reused?

5. The fifth question explores how a skill might evolve from one species to the next

• how is skill information from both parents combined into a single coherent skill in DNA
• how is a skill encoded in DNA mutated?
• What is the ratio of - improvement : worsened : dysfunctional (and possibly fatal)?
• Can we find skill progressions to illustrate evolutionary progress in skills, (e.g. catching prey with and without prediction)?
• Can we show how the progression adds fitness and is derived from the previous skill in the progression
• Are we able to simulate each skill in the progression
• Can we show how a skill modification or an additional skill evolves the skill to the next step in the progression
• Can we assess and compare skills in a progression - using measures such as complexity, time scope of skill, adaptability, and time scope of prediction

6. The sixth question explores the incremental evolution of group-level sets of coordinated skills

• Can we find skill progressions to illustrate evolutionary progress in group-level sets of skills, (e.g. mating rituals with or without competition)?
• Can we find methods to show how the progression adds fitness and is derived from the previous skill set in the progression
• how do gender-related innate skills mix and mutate?
• Can we develop measures to allow assessment and comparison of skills in progressions?
• can we use complexity, time scope of group activity, adaptability, and number of distinct complementary skills?

7. The seventh question explores the incremental evolution of the inner language and of the group-level information exchange

• Can we show how the functionality of the proposed inner language evolves to support the evolutionary progress in skills
• Can we find progressions in the attributes of information flow to illustrate evolutionary progress?
• can we use bi-directionality, bit-rates, size of information (bit-count), complexity of structure?
• Can we find measures to allow assessment and comparison of information flow, including the complexity of the information as well as the information exchange

8. The eigth question explores passing learned skills from one generation to the next. We propose that innate mimicry and apprenticeship can function analogously to evolution, i.e. copy and optimize learned skills.

• can we find and model skills or skill components that are not innate but that are passed to the next generation through group-level skill-sets:
• Stage 1: the apprentice mimics the behaviour of the master
• Stage 2: the apprentice turns into a journeyman and can do the behaviour without the master's presence
• Stage 3: the journeyman turns into a master and trains apprentices
• can we show that the skill is 'improved' through variation and selection?
• what innate skills are required for the different stages
• for the birds above - imprinting, mimicry, and the ability to convert mimicked behaviour into a stored skill