Table of Contents

Abstract: Language is the most important evolutionary invention of the last few million years. How human language evolved from animal communication is a challenging question for evolutionary biology. In this paper we use mathematical models to analyze the major transitions in language evolution. We begin by discussing the evolution of coordinated associations between signals and objects in a population. We then analyze word-formation and its relationship to Shannon's noisy coding theorem. Finally, we model the population dynamics of words and the adaptive emergence of syntax.

Abstract: The cardinality of the class, C , of complex intelligent systems, i.e., systems of intelligent systems and their resources, is steadily increasing. Such an increase, whether designed, sometimes changes significantly and fundamentally, the structure of C . Recently,the study of members of C and its structure comes under a variety of multidisciplinary headings the most prominent of which include General Systems Theory, Complexity Science, Artificial Life, and Cybernetics. Their common characteristic is the quest for a unified theory of a certain class of systems like a living system or an organisation. So far, the only candidate for a general theory of intelligent systems is Newell's Soar. To my knowledge there is presently no candidate theory of C except Newell's claimed extensibility of Soar. This paper juxtaposes the elements of Newell's conceptual basis with those of an alternative conceptual framework based on the thesis that communication and understanding are the primary processes shaping the structure of C and its members. It is patently obvious that a research agenda for the study of C can be extremely varied and long. The third section of this paper presents a highly selective research agenda that aims to provoke discussion among complexity theory scientists.

Abstract: Based on a robust, phenomenological model for the growth of a system parameter, a relation is derived to test the evolution of such a parameter through several distinct stages. It is found that data defining the acknowledged major changes in the evolution of earth, the life on it, and cultural and technological growth, conform to this model. The nature of these altering events indicates that information is the parameter involved, suggesting an unrecognized behavior in the Second Law of Thermodynamics.

Abstract: Living systems imply self-reproducing constructs capable of Darwinian evolution. How such dynamics can arise from undirected interactions between simple monomeric objects remains an open question. Here we circumvent difficulties related to the manipulation of chemical interactions, and present a system of ferromagnetic objects that self-organize into template-replicating polymers due to environmental fluctuations in temperature. Initially random sequences of monomers direct the formation of complementary sequences, and structural information is inherited from one structure to another. Selective replication of sequences occurs in dynamic interaction with the environment, and the system demonstrates the fundamental link between thermodynamics, information theory, and life science in an unprecedented manner.

Abstract: As a possible generalization of Shannon's information theory, we review the formalism based on the non-logarithmic information content parametrized by a real number q, which exhibits nonadditivity of the associated uncertainty. Moreover it is shown that the establishment of the concept of the mutual information is of importance upon the generalization.