Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Joseph P on August 1, 2011 at 5:24pm

Whoah.  I don't suppose those are fake teeth, huh?  Meth abuse at its finest?

Permalink Reply by Michael D Kerrigan on August 2, 2011 at 10:45am

It was my understanding that the evolution of human intelligence peaked about a million years ago. As a species we have gotten smarter because we learn new things. But does that make us more intelligent? I know more things than Thomas Jefferson, John Locke, and Isaac Newton combined. But does that make me more intelligent? Our brains and our bodies apparently reached their current level long before the Neolithic Age. It is only our technology that continues to evolve.

Permalink Reply by Jackie Burgett on August 4, 2011 at 1:35am

Your comment reminded me of an article I saw in Scientific American, called the Limits of Intelligence. I thought you mind find it interesting. it's about the physics of the brain and how how distances in neural firings (and more complicated ideas) might limit our intelligence. The link doesn't go very far but I am sure you could find a copy at the library or something it is a good read and a much longer article.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-limits-of-inte...

Permalink Reply by michel valiquette on August 5, 2011 at 12:12pm

 

I agree , Suzan's Blackmore point of view on memetic is very interesting at that level. See on TED talk.

Permalink Reply by Hilde on August 3, 2011 at 6:41pm

if it were really just a matter of available energy, then i'd have to think, that, considering the obesity epidemic we're going through, energy isn't exactly something in short supply and a limiting factor.

Permalink Reply by Jim DePaulo on August 5, 2011 at 7:24am

Given that logic the top finishers in the Boston Marathon should all be obese.

Permalink Reply by Hilde on August 6, 2011 at 12:35pm

no, not really.

Permalink Reply by Jeremy Raines on August 5, 2011 at 12:44pm

I don't see why we couldn't. Evolution doesn't "peak." If technology has any effect on our evolution, as undoubtedly it will, we could certainly increase our caloric intake to accommodate a more robust cerebral cortex. Not that we are using all the brain we have now, I'm just saying there is no REAL limiting factor to increased cranial capacity other than sexual selection. Giant heads and high IQ's are SO sexy!

Permalink Reply by Jim DePaulo on August 5, 2011 at 6:41pm

No doubt a human/computer interface that will expand our intellectual prowess is almost inevitable in the near future.  However, from a strickly biological and evolutionary position expanded intellectual progress has for the most part peaked.

For larger cranial capacity female anatomy would also have to change, as the current cranial size is at the upper extreme for passage through the birth canal (a reality I'm confident any mother can attest to).  Larger headed babies will result in some really pissed off mommies - at the very least.

Permalink Reply by Jackie Burgett on August 5, 2011 at 7:28pm

Interesting enough there is a philosopher that talks about human/technology interface as a part of our cognition. His book Supersizing the Mind was a difficult read and I won't pretend to understand all of it, but taken this way technology has been a part of our evolution just as much as anything else.

"Clark is perhaps most famous for his defence of the hypothesis of the Extended mind. According to Clark, the dynamic loops through which mind and world interact are not merely instrumental. The cycle of activity that runs from brain through body and world and back again actually constitutes cognition. The mind, on this account, is not bounded by the biological organism but extends into the environment of that organism." (wikipedia on Andy Clark.)

Permalink Reply by Jeremy Raines on August 6, 2011 at 1:01pm

I'm sure the "first" hominid birth was no picnic either, but that didn't stop us. :)

Besides, evolution is extremely gradual. Increasing cranial capacity by a few cubic centimeters every 1000 years or so would probably go unnoticed as, for each generation, the birth canal would only have to expand a negligible amount to accommodate. Of course, I'm not sure that either the environment or sexual selection would favor this development, but it's a fun hypothetical.

I do agree that we will probably kill ourselves off long before any significant evolution in brain size could occur.

Permalink Reply by Chris Dodds on August 5, 2011 at 10:41pm

Available energy is only half the problem, the other half is in the way the brain is connected.  It is true that we don't use the whole of our brains now, however, the brain isn't just used for thought, it also controls bodily functions such as heartbeat.  If we were to somehow develop a way to use the entire human brain for thinking, that means that we would also have to find a way to consciously regulate our heart rate.

 

A common belief is that the more we learn, the more we forget.  In a way that  does make logical sense.  The human brain is like a computer, it only has so much storage space for data.  Perhaps our brains are constantly replacing old information with new information.  If that's the case, then modern technology may also prove an answer for that too, by giving us the ability to store at least a portion of our intellect outside the brain and even outside the body.

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