?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Does+Meaning+Evolove%3F&rft.creator=D.Roberts%2C+Mark&rft.subject=Philosophy+of+Language&rft.subject=Semantics&rft.subject=Evolution&rft.subject=Behavioral+Analysis&rft.description=A+common+method+of+improving+how+well+understood+a+theory+is%2C+is+by+comparing+it+to+another+theory+which+has+been+better+developed.+Radical+interpretation+is+a+theory+which+attempts+to+explain+how+communication+has+meaning.+Radical+interpretation+is+treated+as+another+time+dependent+theory+and+compared+to+the+time+dependent+theory+of+biological+evolution.+Several+similarities+and+differences+are+uncovered.+Biological+evolution+can+be+gradual+or+punctuated.+Whether+radical+interpretation+is+gradual+or+punctuated+depends+on+how+the+question+is+framed%3A+on+the+coarse-grained+time+scale+it+proceeds+gradually%2C+but+on+the+fine-grained+time+scale+it+proceeds+by+punctuated+equilibria.+Biological+evolution+proceeds+by+natural+selection%2C+the+counterpart+to+this+is+the+increase+in+both+correspondence+and+coherence.+Exaption%2C+mutations%2C+and+spandrels+have+counterparts+metaphor%2C+speech+errors%2C+and+puns+respectively.+Homologous+and+analogs+have+direct+counterparts+in+specific+words.+The+most+important+differences+originate+from+the+existence+of+a+unit+of+inheritance+(the+traditional+gene)+occurring+in+biological+evolution+-+there+is+no+such+unit+in+language.&rft.date=2004-11&rft.type=Journal+(Paginated)&rft.type=NonPeerReviewed&rft.format=application%2Fpdf&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F5433%2F1%2Friv12.pdf&rft.identifier=++D.Roberts%2C+Mark++(2004)+Does+Meaning+Evolove%3F++%5BJournal+(Paginated)%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F5433%2F