It's Only Human : The Evolution of Distinctively Human Cognition

What makes humans cognitively unique, and why are we unique in these ways?Armin W. Schulz suggests that the singularity of our ways of thinking is based in a positive feedback loop that joins innate representations, forms of cultural learning, and technology.This feedback loop explains a number of key applications of our cognitive abilities, from our industriousness through trade, our conceptions of morality, and our ability to engage with the thoughts of others.Discussing the evolution of human cognition is complicated by the fact that it must be recognized to be multi-dimensional, culturally variable, and only differing in degree from non-human cognition.Taking this complexity into account, Schulz develops an interactionist theory of the evolution and nature of distinctively human cognition.At the core of this theory is the idea that underlying human cognitive uniqueness is a complex, interlocking interplay between three different elements: (1) a set of evolved representational expec