Kevin Stadler

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Hello there, I'm Kevin, a PhD student in Linguistics from the University of Edinburgh! I work on computational and mathematical models of the pervasive phenomenon of language change. While signalling systems of varying complexity can be found in all living organisms, human language is unique in that large sets of arbitrary conventions are constantly being replaced by other arbitrary conventions at a pretty fast pace, and for no apparent reason. While the emergence of new conventions that help organisms adapt to their environment is unsurprising, what the advantage of replacing one perfectly working arbitrary signal with another one is is less clear, so I want to find out how exactly this process might work and why it's there in the first place! I'm also hoping that I'll find some time to sit around in the New Mexico sun and play ukulele.