CaSEs	
  seminars	
  
                  Transdisciplinary	
  approaches	
  to	
  human	
  culture	
  	
  
      	
  
                        Tuesday,	
  March	
  10th	
  
                          17.00-­‐18.00	
  
                          Room	
  24.S12	
  
                      Building	
  Mercè	
  Rodoreda	
  24	
  
                  Pompeu	
  Fabra	
  University	
  (Ciutadella	
  Campus)	
  
                             	
  
              Modeling	
  the	
  Evolution	
  of	
  Programming	
  Languages	
  
                             	
  
                         Sergi	
  Valverde	
  
                       Universitat	
  Pompeu	
  Fabra	
  
      	
  
                                              	
  
                             	
  
      Is	
   cultural	
  evolution	
  similar	
  to	
  biological	
  evolution?	
  The	
  analogies	
  and	
  differences	
  between	
  biological	
  and	
  
      cultural	
   evolution	
   have	
   been	
   explored	
   by	
   evolutionary	
   biologists,	
   historians,	
   engineers	
   and	
   linguists	
  
      alike.	
  	
  Both	
  share	
  some	
  traits	
  relating	
  to	
  the	
  evolution	
  of	
  species,	
  but	
  technology	
  is	
  much	
  more	
  difficult	
  to	
  
      study.	
   A	
   major	
   challenge	
   in	
   our	
   way	
   towards	
   a	
   scientific	
   theory	
   of	
   technological	
   evolution	
   is	
   how	
   to	
  
      properly	
  define	
  evolutionary	
  trees	
  or	
  clades	
  and	
  how	
  to	
  weight	
  the	
  role	
  played	
  by	
  horizontal	
  transfer	
  of	
  
      information.	
   Recently,	
   we	
   have	
   investigated	
   this	
   problem	
   by	
   looking	
   at	
   the	
   large-­‐scale	
   historical	
  
      development	
  of	
  programming	
  languages,	
  which	
  have	
  deeply	
  marked	
  social	
  and	
  technological	
  advances	
  in	
  
      the	
   last	
   half	
   century.	
   Although	
   the	
   records	
   of	
   programming	
   languages	
   are	
   very	
   rich,	
   there	
   has	
   been	
   no	
  
      systematic	
  attempt	
  to	
  classify	
   these	
   languages	
   and	
   their	
   historical	
   foundations.	
   We	
   have	
   analysed	
   their	
  
      historical	
   connections	
   using	
   network	
   theory	
   (see	
   figure)	
  and	
   reconstructed	
   phylogenetic	
   networks.	
   Our	
  
      results	
   suggest	
   that	
   technological	
   evolution	
   is	
   highly	
   uneven:	
   radiation	
   events	
   occur	
   in	
   bursty	
   pattern	
  
      and	
  they	
  are	
  tied	
  to	
  technological	
  innovations.	
  	
  The	
  method	
  consistently	
  captures	
  the	
  main	
  programming	
  
      paradigms	
  and	
  it	
  can	
  be	
  extrapolated	
  to	
  other	
  cultural	
  systems.	
  
          This	
  series	
  of	
  seminars	
  is	
  organised	
  by	
  CaSEs	
  (Complexity	
  and	
  Socio-­‐Ecological	
  Dynamics	
  –	
  
        www.cases.upf.edu)	
  a	
  research	
  group	
  of	
  the	
  Department	
  of	
  Humanities,	
  University	
  Pompeu	
  Fabra,	
  
                         Barcelona,	
  Spain