Dualism versus materialism (Identity)

by David Turell @, Tuesday, July 25, 2017, 18:46 (2438 days ago) @ dhw
edited by David Turell, Tuesday, July 25, 2017, 18:57

DAVID: Reading involves internal complex use of several parts of the brain and the brain rewires. Not at all comparable.

dhw: Implementing the idea of a spear required new use of the brain (no-one had ever before instructed their body to attach sharpened stones to specially prepared shafts, test the balance and practise the throwing) – hence material change to the brain in the form of expansion. The illiterate women’s idea of reading required new use of the brain, but instead of expanding (no more room for expansion), the material change to the brain took the form of rewiring. Entirely comparable.

Once again you are projecting a silly idea. Habilis used hand stone tools but could not imagine a spear, because we know he did not produce one. After a jump in brain size producing a brain-size gap in the phenotypic record of humans, erectus appears and he is capable of inventing the spear and does. I repeat: habilis could not know what he did not know. He could not wish a larger brain size so he could know more. He had to accept what he was given. So did erectus who made some better ideas with his larger brain.

You are ignoring or forgetting the history of H. sapiens. A vary large brain, which did nothing in size change for 250,000 years without any major new concepts appearing. Then 50,000 years ago all but the Western hemisphere began to civilize. Example: American natives were totally stone age until Europeans arrived 500 years ago. As current civilization appeared with many new ideas and concepts, the brain used its plasticity to reorganize and it became smaller! All of the evidence tells us your idea about brain size is totally backwards.

It took the complex capacity of our brain to create the world we see today. It is not just size. The Neanderthals had a bigger brain by 100-200 cc, but obviously weren't at our level of mental function. Our human brain is also much more internally complex in its wiring which allows for our level of thinking.


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