Brain complexity: early ape pathways for hearing (Introduction)

by David Turell , Wednesday, April 22, 2020, 20:36 (1465 days ago) @ dhw

QUOTE: "Scientists have discovered an earlier origin to the human language pathway in the brain, pushing back its evolutionary origin by at least 20 million years."

DAVID: As usual I view it as God's preplanning evolution. It is simple to conclude God knew where He was headed.

dhw: It is simple to conclude that there is a direct line between us and our anthropoid ancestors. If I remember rightly, you used to tell us that your God must have intervened to give us the apparatus for human speech. But I’ll wait for you to confirm this before drawing any conclusions

DAVID: Many adaptations for sapiens speech: high arched palate, dropped larynx, epiglottis airway protection, improved lip and tongue control for a bigger variety of phonemes, recently found cerebellar circuits. Of course a direct line, while it is the cause we debate.

dhw: Yes indeed. So do you think your God intervened in order to dabble these adaptations? If not, we have a natural progression. If he intervened, and if his sole purpose was to directly design H. sapiens, why do you think he did a mini-dabble 20 million years ago instead of getting on with the only speech mechanism he actually wanted?

You keep forgetting that I view God as evolving from bacteria to humans in a slow progression as noted by the recognized time line of evolution. Part of the original plan. No corrective dabble. In my last book I noted a neurosurgeon who spotted an anticipatory vertebral change in a primate ancestor 22 million years ago.