Minds and Traditions Research Group, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
Top Cogn Sci. 2020 Apr;12(2):727-743. doi: 10.1111/tops.12386. Epub 2018 Oct 10.
We present a theoretical framework bearing on the evolution of written communication. We analyze writing as a special kind of graphic code. Like languages, graphic codes consist of stable, conventional mappings between symbols and meanings, but (unlike spoken or signed languages) their symbols consist of enduring images. This gives them the unique capacity to transmit information in one go across time and space. Yet this capacity usually remains quite unexploited, because most graphic codes are insufficiently informative. They may only be used for mnemonic purposes or as props for oral communication in real-time encounters. Writing systems, unlike other graphic codes, work by encoding a natural language. This allows them to support asynchronous communication in a more powerful and versatile way than any other graphic code. Yet, writing systems will not automatically unlock the capacity to communicate asynchronously. We argue that this capacity is a rarity in non-literate societies, and not so frequent even in literate ones. Asynchronous communication is intrinsically inefficient because asynchrony constrains the amount of information that the interlocutors share and limits possibilities for repair. This would explain why synchronous, face-to-face communication always fosters the development of sophisticated codes (natural languages), but similar codes for asynchronous communication evolve with more difficulties. It also implies that writing cannot have evolved, at first, for supporting asynchronous communication.
我们提出了一个关于书面交流演变的理论框架。我们将写作分析为一种特殊的图形代码。像语言一样，图形代码由符号和意义之间的稳定、常规映射组成，但（与口语或手语不同）它们的符号由持久的图像组成。这使它们具有独特的能力，可以一次性在时间和空间中传输信息。然而，这种能力通常仍然没有得到充分利用，因为大多数图形代码信息量不足。它们可能仅用于记忆目的，或作为实时相遇中口头交流的道具。与其他图形代码不同，书写系统通过对自然语言进行编码来工作。这使它们能够以比任何其他图形代码更强大和多样化的方式支持异步通信。然而，书写系统并不会自动解锁异步通信的能力。我们认为，这种能力在非文字社会中是罕见的，即使在有文字的社会中也不常见。异步通信本质上效率低下，因为异步限制了对话者共享的信息量，并限制了修复的可能性。这可以解释为什么同步、面对面的交流总是促进复杂代码（自然语言）的发展，但异步通信的类似代码发展起来却更加困难。这也意味着，写作最初并不是为了支持异步通信而发展起来的。
