Explaining natural wonders: bacterial intelligence (Animals)

by David Turell , Monday, June 05, 2017, 14:46 (2727 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID: Local environmental change would relate to the ice ages. Note my entry today. I'm sure God created the fine-tuned universe which gives us life. He controlled Earth's evolution and life's development. The ice ages appear to have probable natural causes due to Milankovitch cycles and for civilizations sake hopefully high CO2 levels will keep a new one at bay. I know how to compare the whale/human environmental changes. Entering water is a deliberate transition for pre-whales. Trees to savannah is a slow local change. Salam looks to be prepared for the change to come, as do the pre-whales. God undoubtedly know of the change as He got animals into the water. And He undoubtedly anticipated the savannah. Not by chance!

dhw: Sorry, but none of this quite answers my question. You say ice ages probably had natural causes, and I’m sure one can find natural causes for trees giving way to savannah and for dry land giving way to water. So when you say your God “controlled Earth’s evolution and life’s development”, do you mean that he organized all the environmental changes, including these three, or that he simply “anticipated” them (infallible crystal ball-gazing), and they actually occurred by chance?

God doesn't actually tell us what is on or within His mind. I am convinced He controls evolution and the gaps in the fossils make it appear He knows what environmental changes are coming. I can't go further.

DAVID’s comment: the last ice age ended about 11,700 years ago.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_glacial_period

Survival concepts are described in this article. Little else occupied our brain at that point. It must have become more complex faced with this degree of environmental adversity.

dhw: An important observation, as it suggests environmental change initiated brain change, just as it may well have initiated other responses that led to speciation. In this case, it would have activated the internal drive for survival, and the lucky few were able to come up with concepts that enabled them to give the requisite instructions to their brains and bodies.

11,700 years ago, the brain change is not in size; that was fixed 200,000 years ago. Of course groups developed survival concepts and their brains became more complex and more prepared for when the warmer interglacial time (now) arrived. Size first, use second.