Brain expansion (Evolution)

by dhw, Saturday, August 08, 2020, 11:23 (1349 days ago) @ David Turell

dhw: It means that the brain gets bigger through the process of implementation.

DAVID: Which didn't exist with the Moroccans' fossils.

dhw: Maybe your Moroccans were not the first big-brained humans. You seem to think that the fossil record is now complete. New discoveries are being made all the time. So maybe some small-headed Moroccans interbred with some big-headed Nigerians, and the Nigerians were the ones who started it all. WE DON’T KNOW how it all happened. That is why we have theories!

DAVID: Inventing again. We only know that facts we have. Your implementation theory is unsupported.

Of course I’m inventing. Nobody can explain the facts that we have, and so we invent possible explanations. Your invention is a divine being who stepped in one night and enlarged the brains, skulls and pelvises of a group of Moroccans. Tell me what evidence you have to support it.

DAVID: I'll stick with God, and with no evidence you are now avoiding the need for artifacts and offering meaningless verbiage.

dhw: There has never been a “need for artefacts” – they were an example! And what evidence is there for your theory? I have corrected your repeated distortion of my theory (it “requires a new artefact”), so I don’t know why my answer is meaningless verbiage to you. What don’t you understand?

DAVID: I'll stick with history. Bigger brains, better artifacts is all we know.

You don’t stick with history. Your invention is described above. The existence of bigger brains and better artefacts does not in any way contradict my theory.

You skipped the example of reading, so I’ll also skip to the brain cells:

QUOTES: “Brain cells talk to one another. This synchronized cell-to-cell crosstalk regulates neuroinflammation and the immune system…”

“A key factor is how neurons communicate among themselves. These novel molecules participate in delivering messages to the overall synaptic organization to ensure the accurate flow of information through neuronal circuits.”

"'It's like an orchestra," says Bazan. "You need a conductor, and this is the role that DHA plays. Such a large-scale complexity first requires violinists, or in this case, synapses, which are highly sensitive sites of stroke injury that become messengers to target vulnerable cells.'"

dhw: I regard these findings as support for the theory that cooperation between intelligent cells/cell communities is the key not only to brain expansion but also to the whole process of evolution. And to answer your usual question, their specific form of intelligence may have been designed by your God. (See also under "plant immunity".)

DAVID: And as usual I think God gave the cells all the instructions they needed to respond intelligently, with the appearance they are innately intelligent.

Yes, this is a matter of opinion on which we differ.