I was having a discussion in a different forum and a friend of mine mentioned how one of the reasons he isn't atheist is because he can't believe that random mutations and natural selection would cause us to have the amazing minds humans have. It got me thinking, why would evolution select for such huge thinking machines? The human mind seems somewhat overkill for the problems it faced as we evolved. Any thoughts?
There are human beings that didn't evolve with as complex minds as we diod. They're called apes. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Evolution s to make stuff bigger and better (or at least better) which is arguably what humans are, in comparison to all other species. IMO, though I suppose that's not much of a reply. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
The development of the human mind is absolutely the logical evolution for an omnivorous opportunist creature such as the human. Look at us. No claws, armour, no great speed, nothing truly spectacular. We survived because we started using tools, and our brains. Many other creatures have started using tools, but have not yet developed as far as we have. Such physically incapable creatures, ye perfectly suited to thrive in groups, and perfectly built to use tools in our forelimbs and apply leverage with our entire bodies. Anyway, we started using tools, and greater tool use required greater thought. Our one claw throughout our evolution was tools. To stay alive, that claw, tools, must become supreme, so we got better at it, and our brains grew better at working out how. Also, I heard a while back that during the last greater ice age the human brain developed a large layer of fat to keep it warm, expanding the skull over time. Just a theory of course.
i agree with adam (i cant believe it lol Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! ) We have no natural defence and the only thing we do have that we can use is our brain. But here is a thought that i had. It is sort of along the god/no god lines but i dont think anyone else has mentioned it. If we evolved then i think it would have taken a few generations to even work out fire (which was probably the best, and only, needed defence after it was discovered) I mean, look how long it took to discover the wheel (im not sure how long it took but i bet it was many many generations long). How could we survive for so long in an environment which was fraught with tigers, snakes scorpions etc. Whatever the environment was like, i dont think we could have survived long enough to produce another generation! Lets say the first generation could reproduce at 13yrs old. Does anyone think that a human, naked in the jungle could survive for 13 years!?? p.s. where would the idea of fire even come from??A comet maybe? but what would make us think that we could even reproduce such a thing!??
There are humans who live naked in the jungle for their entire lives. Humans survived for many many generations before the discovery of fire, it just depends on when you draw the line for the official origin of our species. And the idea for fire probably came from natural forest fires caused by lightning. Your comet hypothesis is, i'm sorry to say, absurd. I understand completely why we are smart, my original question was why are we SO smart as to think about thngs like philosophy, music, art, etc. ? These things don't have evolutional benefits, but everyone has thought about them at some point. I'm thinking they are the side effects of our large brains, sort of like a nice bonus.
This was just an example. I had thought of the lightening. Because we didnt come from evolution, god made us Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! otherwise, who knows.
It takes brains to make tools. The more brains the better tools. The hairless monkeys survive better with tools than without.
The most important, and often overlooked reason for our brains to develop the way they did , is because primates are very social animals. For the survival of the group, it is very important to know what is going on and who is who within the group. The reason most apes do not (or hardly) use tools, but still are much more intelligent than (most) other mammals, is because of this social pressure to become more intelligent. Since we are not that fast, etc. the social structure had to become more complex than with e.g. wilderbeasts, resulting in more and more brainpower. What is strange is that we often feel hindered in our intellectual development by an average social group... intelligence, beauty, strength, etc. are no problem for neo-darwinism to explain. Consciousess is.
Nova1021 Is it a matter of belief? To back up Merlijn, here is a book on the subject: Dunbar, Robin Grooming, Gossip and the Evolution of Language (1996) ISBN: 0-571-17396-9.