Big brain evolution (Evolution)

by David Turell , Thursday, January 25, 2018, 00:10 (2493 days ago) @ dhw

dhw: Sentence by sentence: Yes, a new idea is a new idea. As such it cannot be a preconceived idea, but according to you as a dualist, it comes from the s/s/c, not the brain. Yes, the dualist’s living human self is a mixture of interacting material (brain) and immaterial (soul). Complex thought is thought, but according to you thought is NOT controlled by the brain, it is the product of the soul; the brain provides information and adjusts itself in order to implement the thought, i.e. to fulfil the desires of the s/s/c. The adjustment in pre-sapiens, when the concept is too complex for the existing capacity, is not to "its functions in its new size", but to its size, while in sapiens the adjustment is new complexifications.

You do not accept my idea that evolution builds on itself. There is no reason to reject the idea that earlier smaller brains never complexified at their level. I'm convinced they did based on what we know about how evolution builds on previous advances.

dhw: The new size and the new complexifications do not precede the implementation. None of this explains your contradictory belief that the SOUL is responsible for new ideas, but pre-sapiens’ SOUL could not have had new ideas until his/her BRAIN had ALREADY expanded.

Complex brains provide more complex implementation as shown by artifacts. More complex concepts require the soul using a more complex brain.

Once more, the logic is as follows (some of this may sound familiar to you): homimim has an immaterial idea for spears. NO BRAIN CHANGE. As he learns to knapp flint, attach the stone to a wooden rod, throw it with accuracy etc., his brain enlarges with all the muscle movement and coordination involved, so that by the time he is able to perform all these new actions, his brain has expanded to its new size.

No way! His brain added complexity just like ours does. Fits the history of evolution.

dhw: All these activities CAUSE the expansion. It’s exactly the same process as when illiterate women learn to read and write, the new actions CAUSE new complexifications. That is the logical sequence in both scenarios.

Yes, this is your exploding brain theory.