Big brain evolution: changes in sapiens skull shape;addendum (Evolution)

by Balance_Maintained , U.S.A., Wednesday, February 21, 2018, 03:37 (2466 days ago) @ David Turell

Tony: I should point out that the two of you are arguing psychology, one of the least respected fields of science because it is considered a soft science, meaning that it is virtually impossible to get objective data sets to study...that said...

The first qualm with the discussion seems to be over the use of the word 'complete'. Try using 'mature' instead. Like fruit, the fruit is complete at all times, though it may be unripe, ripe, or overly ripe. These are degrees of maturity, not scales of completeness.

Secondly, human behavior is too complex to just say "It's because of their age". Normally when say that, we are tavitly acknowledging either a lack of experience, a lack of development, or a lack in judgement making capability, which ties directly back into the first two while also depending on brain development.

It is also important to realize that modern psychology also says that people who challenge their own biological makeup are not stark raving mad. Not sure how much I can trust a field that can accept a stance like that.

David: Great you are back. We are not at the level of psychology. Note dhw's Google entry about pre-frontal functions. I know psychological study is fuzzy.

Look at this study:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/06/160607220111.htm

"Research in the June 8, 2016 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience describes how the ability to control emotions moves from one brain area to another as teens mature into adults, offering an opportunity to understand how disorders related to emotional control emerge.

"Ability to control emotion"...sounds very much like psychology, unless you subscribe to a 100% mechanistic view of intelligence and emotion.

What they measured was brain activity. The interpretation of that activity, versus what it actually means, is actually pure speculation. We know this to be true because we have know way of definitively knowing what another person is thinking or feeling, or why.

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What is the purpose of living? How about, 'to reduce needless suffering. It seems to me to be a worthy purpose.