Thursday, July 29, 2004
Mobile evolution?
"Public information" is the name for special cues that animals exhibit when engaged in certain activities that other animals pick up on and imitate. This is a form of learning by imitation. This story is about a finding that animals can culturally evolve behaviours in this way - previously it has been thought that only humans developed like this.
What this made me wonder was whether mobile technologies might be used to enhance our displays and perceptions of this "public information". I've already read about PDAs being useful in learning scenarios because, unlike desktop PCs, learners can see what other people are physically doing with the devices, eg taking readings, taking a picture etc. But I'm thinking in more general terms today: could mobiles help us culturally evolve?
"Public information" is the name for special cues that animals exhibit when engaged in certain activities that other animals pick up on and imitate. This is a form of learning by imitation. This story is about a finding that animals can culturally evolve behaviours in this way - previously it has been thought that only humans developed like this.
What this made me wonder was whether mobile technologies might be used to enhance our displays and perceptions of this "public information". I've already read about PDAs being useful in learning scenarios because, unlike desktop PCs, learners can see what other people are physically doing with the devices, eg taking readings, taking a picture etc. But I'm thinking in more general terms today: could mobiles help us culturally evolve?
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(c) 2003-2005 Russell Beale
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