Introducing the brain: general (Introduction)

by dhw, Thursday, March 03, 2022, 14:01 (786 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: My point remains God designed all evolutionary new-sized brains with new complexity. The only new designs existing neurons create is new dendrite branches and connections, but no new neurons except in the hippocampus.

dhw: New neurons in the hippocampus provide evidence that autonomous expansion is possible. You have always agreed that complexification takes place without your God’s intervention. The addition of new cells would only result in “new complexity” if those cells were used to meet new requirements, as opposed to hanging around doing nothing. To complete the picture, new connections are the result of the complexification process which would have taken place in all previous brains, but which is now so efficient that expansion is no longer necessary, and indeed some previously useful cells became redundant (shrinkage).

DAVID: New neurons in the hippocampus are necessary as we build memories over a lifetime. They are designed to fill a specific need. Shows God's purposeful designs at work.

I have always assumed that all enlargements and complexifications occur because of a specific need, whereas for some reason you think past enlargements took place in preparation for some unknown future need. If God exists, then of course both complexification and enlargement would show his powerful designs at work. You have agreed that he designed a mechanism for autonomous complexification, and you have given no reason why he should not also have designed the mechanism for autonomous enlargement.

DAVID: As for anatomic requirements, some Erectus were as tall as us with smaller brains , i.e., no need for new anatomy to prop up the skull when we arrived. Forget your elephant head ridiculous point.

dhw: Obviously our skull was large enough to accommodate the relatively small number of new cells. Our question is why it has stopped expanding, and complexification has taken over almost completely. You still haven’t given us your own explanation. Mine is that it could not have gone on expanding indefinitely. Why is that ridiculous?

DAVID: I've explained it many times. Humans are God's endpoint for evolution. Giant expansions have never been needed as we were evolved.

We know expansion is not needed, because complexification has taken over. But why would your God have decided to end what you believe to have been his technique of popping in to expand brains, and instead to leave it to his autonomous complexification design to cope with any future new requirements? Why would it be ridiculous for him to think: "Expansion can't go on indefinitely. This is the optimum size for my humans"? Don’t forget his decisions are always purposeful.