Fun Fact: Brain Size & Evolution

[John Bailey]

I've heard that the number of folds (I'm sure there's a proper word
for them) is really important too, not just the overall size. Using
that thing more efficiently, as you say. I mean, computers have gotten
slightly smaller in the last half century too.

On Fri, Dec 8, 2017 at 2:01 PM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
> Fun fact: domesticated animals have evolved to have smaller brains than
> their wild species cousins.  No pain, less brain (size)?
>
>
> We humans are also mostly domesticated.  Are our brains smaller than those
> of our earlier cousins?
>
>
> It is also a fun fact that more intelligent species consistently have
> smaller brain-to-body size ratios.  So counter intuitive, right?
>
>
> Maybe brains become more efficient and smaller as intelligence grows.  Maybe
> intelligence grows with domestication.  But whales and elephants are on the
> smaller brain, more intelligent scale, and are not "domesticated."  Are
> there species (us) that have self-domesticated, therefore becoming more
> intelligent?
>
>
> "Domesticated" in this context does not mean under subjection of another
> species.
>
>
> Just a thought...
>
>
> David Morris
-
Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l