Ganesh Kirthana, Gabora Liane
Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Kelowna, BC, Canada.
Front Psychol. 2022 Feb 24;13:786072. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.786072. eCollection 2022.
This paper uses autocatalytic networks to model discontinuous cultural transitions involving cross-domain transfer, using as an illustrative example, artworks inspired by the oldest-known uncontested example of figurative art: the carving of the Hohlenstein-Stadel Löwenmensch, or lion-human. Autocatalytic networks provide a general modeling setting in which nodes are not just passive transmitters of activation; they actively galvanize, or "catalyze" the synthesis of novel ("foodset-derived") nodes from existing ones (the "foodset.") This makes them uniquely suited to model how new structure grows out of earlier structure, i.e., cumulative, generative network growth. They have been used to model the origin and early evolution of biological life, and the emergence of cognitive structures capable of undergoing cultural evolution. We conducted a study in which six individual creators and one group generated music, prose, poetry, and visual art inspired by the Hohlenstein-Stadel Löwenmensch, and answered questions about the process. The data revealed four through-lines by which they expressed the Löwenmensch in an alternative art form: (1) lion-human hybrid, (2) subtracting from the whole to reveal the form within, (3) deterioration, and (4) waiting to be found with a story to tell. Autocatalytic networks were used to model how these four spontaneously derived through-lines form a cultural lineage from Löwenmensch to artist to audience. We used the resulting data from three creators to model the cross-domain transfer from inspirational source (sculpted figurine) to creative product (music, poetry, prose, visual art). These four spontaneously-generated threads of cultural continuity formed the backbone of this Löwenmensch-inspired cultural lineage, enabling culture to evolve even in the face of discontinuity at the level conventional categories or domains. We know of no other theory of cultural evolution that accommodates cross-domain transfer or other forms of discontinuity. The approach paves the way for a broad scientific framework for the origins of evolutionary processes.
本文运用自催化网络对涉及跨领域转移的不连续文化转变进行建模，以最古老的、无可争议的具象艺术实例——霍伦施泰因-施塔德尔狮人雕像（即狮身人面像）启发的艺术作品作为示例。自催化网络提供了一种通用的建模框架，其中节点不仅仅是激活的被动传递者；它们还能积极地激发，或“催化”从现有节点（“食物集”）合成新的（“源自食物集”）节点。这使得它们特别适合对新结构如何从早期结构中生长出来进行建模，即累积性的、生成性的网络增长。它们已被用于模拟生物生命的起源和早期进化，以及能够经历文化进化的认知结构的出现。我们进行了一项研究：六位个体创作者和一个创作小组以霍伦施泰因-施塔德尔狮人雕像为灵感创作音乐、散文、诗歌和视觉艺术作品，并回答有关创作过程的问题。数据揭示了他们以另一种艺术形式表现狮人雕像的四条主线：（1）狮人混合体，（2）从整体中减去以揭示内在形式，（3）退化，（4）等待被发现并带有一个可讲述的故事。自催化网络被用于模拟这四条自发衍生的主线如何形成从狮人雕像到艺术家再到观众的文化脉络。我们利用三位创作者的所得数据对从灵感来源（雕刻的雕像）到创意产品（音乐、诗歌、散文、视觉艺术）的跨领域转移进行建模。这四条自发产生的文化连续性线索构成了这条受狮人雕像启发的文化脉络的主干，使文化即使在传统类别或领域层面出现不连续性的情况下仍能进化。我们所知的其他文化进化理论都无法容纳跨领域转移或其他形式不连续性。该方法为进化过程起源的广泛科学框架铺平了道路。
