Conférence - Gergely Csibra : Non-Verbal Generics

François RecanatiPhilosophie du langage et de l'espritCollège de FranceAnnée 2025-2026Conférence - Gergely Csibra : Non-Verbal GenericsGergely CsibraCentral European University, VienneRésumé :Humans learn most of their knowledge from each other, and much of this learning relies on communication. While language is the primary medium of human communication, it is not the only one, and, importantly, it is of limited use for infants and young children. We have been investigating how human communication is adapted to the need of transmitting knowledge to others, especially across generations, from adults to young children. In linguistic communication, special types of assertions, namely generic expressions, can directly convey knowledge about classes of entities. We propose that non-verbal communication, especially communication via and about objects, can also express generic knowledge. In a series of studies, we have found that young children quickly learn properties of objects demonstrated to them in an ostensive-communicative manner. We have also observed that knowledge acquired this way is more rigid than knowledge accumulated from individual experience. Non-verbal expressions can transfer knowledge and elicit the same kind of confirmation bias that is characteristic of knowledge acquired through linguistic communication.