Monstrous People > Mutants, clones and cyborgs
If Modern Humans Are So Smart, Why Are Our Brains Shrinking?
onishadowolf:
Lol No, our critical thinking skills are used differently. Problem solving other things, instead of how to take down the mammoth/bison/buffalo. Except for those good Ol' boys in the orange vests and camo lol
Contrary to belief, technology causes more complicated problems while taking other problems away. Just ask any IT guy at a office. :P
Angelus:
Brain size is not directly related to inteligence. We are the smartest animals on our planet, (I know people are going to argue this but show me a dolphin that understands chaos theory or an ape that can build a waste management system) but other animals are knowen to have larger brains. Ergo, not a factor in inteligence.
Muerte:
One wonders if said animals only use a small portion of their gray matter. And if it is found that they use 100% what is it that they are doing. One also wonders if the shrinkage is in any way related to the decline in ESP capabilities that we as humans seem to no longer be able to demonstrate/use. Has science/technology caused our bodies to have shed an unneeded portion of our brain like the the body has certain organs.
Devious Viper:
--- Quote from: Angelus on January 11, 2011, 11:06:05 AM ---Brain size is not directly related to inteligence. We are the smartest animals on our planet, (I know people are going to argue this but show me a dolphin that understands chaos theory or an ape that can build a waste management system) but other animals are known to have larger brains. Ergo, not a factor in inteligence.
--- End quote ---
No, it is directly related, but you're forgetting that scaling is the key part of the relationship: eg, an elephant's brain is 4 times the size of a human's, but elephants are also a wee bit bigger than us... The ratio of brain volume to body mass (the encephalization quotient, or EQ) is what matters.
Intriguingly, the human brain has shrunk so much just since the Bronze Age that for us to now have the same EQ as Bronze Age Man, we would have to shrink our bodies to the size of a pygmy...
--- Quote from: onishadowolf on January 10, 2011, 09:28:13 PM ---It's leveling off, stabilizing in other words. Because clearly it hasn't affected the average intelligence, of course some people beg to be an example of it affecting them. ;)
--- End quote ---
But that can only ever be an assumption, because we have no way of knowing what the average IQ levels of our ancestors actually were... If a cro-magnon or neanderthal person was raised from birth in a modern family, surrounded by gadgets and computers etc., s/he may turn out to be the most intelligent person on the planet today...
--- Quote from: Nina on January 10, 2011, 11:02:21 PM ---Id say the use of technology and modern living is making us stupid. We hardly need skills we needed before to survive, so the evolution is giving up on many traits that are no longer necessary.
--- End quote ---
This is - seriously! - what they call the "Idiocracy" theory: as complex societies have evolved, we simply don't need to be as smart to stay alive as we once did.
Alternatively, maybe we're streamlining our brains for efficiency: it already uses 20% of the body's calorific intake just by itself... But science doesn't yet know what the actual answer is.
Maybe scientists are getting dumber :-D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSROlfR7WTo
Nina:
--- Quote from: onishadowolf on January 11, 2011, 06:38:39 AM ---Lol No, our critical thinking skills are used differently. Problem solving other things, instead of how to take down the mammoth/bison/buffalo. Except for those good Ol' boys in the orange vests and camo lol
Contrary to belief, technology causes more complicated problems while taking other problems away. Just ask any IT guy at a office. :P
--- End quote ---
Lol! No, the differences are way smaller then you would think, thanks to making everything systematized most of human population, except those less fortunate, live this way. Im not talking only of hunting mammoths and I could care less of criminal minds of your ol boys in orange vests and camo lol.
Contrary to what you say about tech causing complicated problems, they are complicated and mind b boggling only to those who develop them, cause the end user gets the simplest program. And maybe that guy at IT office didnt earn his highschool diploma? :P
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