Fun Fact: Brain Size & Evolution

[Arthur Fuller]

While not being a scientist, merely a philosopher and more specifically a
philosopher of science, I must dispute the notion that brain-size is
equivalent to quantity of intelligence -- which, I admit, depends upon your
unit of measure. Squirrels cannot play piano; but they can navigate trees
and hydro wires far better than you or I. Whales can communicate over 1000
miles. Wolves hunt in teams, isolating the most likely victim. This last is
a double-edged sword; it may be that the most vulnerable deer sacrifices
him/herself for the sake of the herd. That's a difficult proposition to
prove, but I've seen similar behaviour in birds when attacked by hawks or
falcons. I have seen this more than several times. One bird flies off from
the rest and sacrifices her/hiself  for the sake of the rest.

There is a school of thought, originating from B.F. Skinner I think, that
supposes that all species act in their individual self-interest. Abundant
evidence contradicts this thesis. Similarly the proposed correlation
between brain size and intelligence. Taken literally, whales and porpoises
and elephants would top the scale, but none of them has invented written
language, and further, they are not very good at transmitting knowledge
from generation to generation -- a little I grant, but not much.

The evidence, insofar as my limited education reveals, is that there is no
relation between brain size and intelligence. That also applies to the
ability to navigate a maze.

Arthur

On Thu, Dec 7, 2017 at 10:23 PM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:

> Efficiency, yes.  But the rest is a maze. But the maze is fascinating.
>
> On Thu, Dec 7, 2017 at 9:11 PM John Bailey <sundayjb at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> 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
>>
>


-- 
Arthur
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