Brain Expansion (Evolution)

by David Turell , Tuesday, April 07, 2020, 19:47 (1479 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID (under “Human evolution: tool and brain advances correlated”): There is no evidence from this presentation that dhw's theory that a drive for abstract design forced brain enlargement. Lots of new sized brains but not much advancement.

dhw: As usual, they do not try to explain why brains enlarged. There is no evidence from their presentation that God did a dabble before each stage of enlargement.

:A non-answer usual. The point of my comment: 'Lots of new sized brains but not much advancement'. Meaning not much real new thinking, which dhw's theory demands!! Has dhw ever found third-party support for his theory? Not here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein%27s_brain

QUOTE: ".."This unusual brain anatomy […] may explain why Einstein thought the way he did…"

QUOTE: " A stimulating environment can increase the proportion of glial cells and the high ratio could possibly result from Einstein's life studying stimulating scientific problems." (dhw’s bold)

dhw: This is a highly significant quote: the author regards it as possible that Einstein’s brain changed AS A RESULT of thought - here the EFFORT to solve problems. That is the key to my theory.

A very speculative comment, with no support in the literature I've reviewed today:

https://www.amazon.com/Root-Thought-Unlocking-Sharpen-papeback/dp/0134383036

Selling blurb: "Koob reveals the surprising correlation between intelligence and the brain's percentage of glial cells - and why these cells' unique wavelike communications may be especially conducive to the fluid information processing human beings depend upon."

In the book a reference to my old finding on Einstein:

In the 1950s, scientists studied the brain of Albert Einstein, a man renowned for his imaginative thought, which eventually resulted in arguably the most important discovery in modern physics. As Koob puts it more straightforwardly, "this is the kind of man who used his glia." Not surprisingly, Einstein had significantly greater number of astrocytes in his left parietal cortex, an area associated with higher thought, mathematics, and spatial learning.

Critical review: However, to anyone trained in science or critical analysis, Koob's evidence simply does not fully support his hypothesis, and the book is disappointing as an argument at large.

Comment: Glial cells are support cells and do communicate with neurons. How they contribute to intelligent thought is still unknown. Many papers reviewed.

DAVID: I've added the new info about Einstein. Not enlarged, but very different!

dhw: The soul which uses the small brain has the original idea, but the small brain cannot implement the idea, and therefore responds to the soul’s efforts to implement the idea. Similarly, if Einstein had a soul (dualism), or if the thinking section of his brain (materialism) came up with a problem (the initial concept), the effort to solve it may have caused the responses that made his brain different from other people’s.

Wow: your finally explained concept is the thinking soul forces enlargement, or with Einstein, the thought effort made his brain very different. Either soul or natural thought recognize the current brain is inadequate and must be improved (enlarged), but only by force of effort

DAVID: …..Einstein's brain is my proof of a very different type of brain allowing new abstract concepts. Only more advanced brains/soul mechanisms can create the newer advanced concepts as the artifacts show. [...] you think desire makes it grow! Based on what? Not growth of tiny areas from new memory issues.

QUOTE " From an evolutionary perspective, the specific parts of Einstein’s prefrontal cortex that appear to be differentially expanded are of interest because recent findings indicate that these same areas increased differentially in size and became neurologically reorganized at microanatomical levels during hominin evolution in association with the emergence of higher cognitive abilities." (David’s bold)

DAVID: […] It all fits my commentary about enlarged brains and the ability for advanced concepts and designs by the brain /soul complex.

dhw: There is no mention of a soul, and the association with higher cognitive abilities fits my own theory just as well as it fits yours, since there is no way of knowing whether the reorganization of the brain preceded those cognitive abilities (i.e. caused them, which = materialism, though you don’t seem to realize that) or came about as a result of the effort to perform new tasks or solve problems (see the first Einstein quote).

Another U-turn in your previous thinking. Remember our arguments about the brain as a blank slate. One point we agreed upon was a sizable genetic input. Einstein had a fascinating one based on his early years. See next entry which fully refutes your suppositions about him.