Big brain evolution: new human brain area found (Evolution)

by David Turell , Wednesday, December 05, 2018, 15:33 (2178 days ago) @ dhw

Quote: 'I cannot imagine a chimpanzee playing the guitar as dexterously as us, even if they liked to make music," Paxinos pointed out. (David’s bold)

"Humans have brains at least twice as big as chimpanzees (1,300 grams vs 600 grams, or 2.9 lbs vs 1.3 lbs), and a larger percentage of our brain neuronal pathways that signal for movement make direct contact with motor neurons - 20 percent compared to 5 percent in other primates.”

DAVID: The real significance of this finding is that it is an area not found in any other primate. It is not plasticity of an existing area, but truly a biological gap, not a bony gap in the evolution of our brain. Does anyone think dhw's cell communities can perform this advance? Only a designing mind fits the issue.

dhw: As regards the guitar playing, any new activity requires changes to the brain for its implementation. And I don’t know of anybody who expects chimpanzee brains and human brains to be the same. So what does this prove?

As regards new areas, we would need to know the whole history of brain evolution, starting with the very first brains, to establish when new areas formed in pre-chimpanzee and then pre-human brains. Just as we would need to know what new areas formed to create every organ that distinguishes us from bacteria. But yes, every new organ and every new part of an organ requires the coalition and cooperation of cell communities – whether your God guided them or not. It’s the same issue: are cells intelligent enough to innovate? You say no, and I say maybe.

Neat dodge. This is a demonstrated biologic gap, not a bony gap where it can be used as an excuse that we simply haven't found the fossils to fill the gap. This gap supports my design and designer argument.