THE DILEMMA OF SAUSSUREAN COMMUNICATION

A Saussurean communication system exists when an entire communicating population uses a single 'language' that maps states unambiguously ont o symbols and then back into the original states. This paper describes a number of simulations performed with a genetic algorithm to investi gate the conditions necessary for such communication systems to evolve . The first simulation shows that Saussurean communication evolves in the simple case where direct selective pressure is placed on individua ls to be both good transmitters and good receivers. The second simulat ion demonstrates that, in the more realistic case where selective pres sure is only placed on doing well as a receiver, Saussurean communicat ion fails to evolve. Two methods, inspired by research on the Prisoner 's Dilemma, are used to attempt to solve this problem. The third simul ation shows that, even in the absence of selective pressure on transmi ssion, Saussurean communication can evolve if individuals interact mul tiple times with the same communication partner and are given the abil ity to respond differentially based on past interaction. In the fourth simulation, spatially organized populations are used, and it is shown that this allows Saussurean communication to evolve through kin selec tion.