Brain expansion: different theories about rapid expansion (Evolution)

by dhw, Thursday, October 01, 2020, 11:35 (1275 days ago) @ David Turell

dhw: My proposal is that an existing mechanism, possibly designed by your God, may have performed the same function in the past as in the present. [dhw: i.e. complexification and adding new cells]
And:
dhw: We know that the brain changes in RESPONSE to new requirements. Where is your evidence that it changes in ANTICIPATION of them? And finally, back we go to my bolded proposal above: why is not feasible? And please stop pretending that it excludes God.

DAVID: My view of God's personality precludes His inventing independent mechanism for major advances. I am giving you my view. you have yours. We will not meet in the middle, as I do not see middle ground.

I know you have a fixed belief. But you have not yet given me a single reason why the alternative is not feasible! All you can offer is that you refuse to consider it!

DAVID: You want artifacts to appear before enlargement or to cause enlargement. My view, just opposite, is the enlarged brain is the one capable of creating the new artifacts and comes first as shown by the H. sapiens Moroccans, big brains, no new artifacts.

New artefacts are one possible driving force for enlargement. Please stop pretending you don’t know that there may be others, as emphasized by the Britannica article. I do not want new artefacts to come BEFORE enlargement. My proposal is that the IDEA precedes enlargement, and it is the effort to design and implement the concept which requires additional brain cells. You know this perfectly well, and it is the reason why you repeatedly refuse to give a direct answer to this question, asked on the “corvids” thread: please tell me whether you think the soul is capable of thinking new thoughts, using the information provided by the existing brain.

DAVID: Again not my nuance of theory: I strongly feel in my view of dualism, the soul must use the brain networks to create thought and is the driver of the creation. Of course in that process it uses information provided by the brain either sensory or from memory. How do you define 'information'?

As you do: knowledge gained through the senses or through experience. And we agree that the soul uses the information and is the “driver” of thought. As you refuse to give a direct answer to my question, let me help you by repeating our favourite example. Do you think a homo who wants to kill a bison, and who knows that the closer he gets, the more dangerous his task will be, is capable of thinking to himself: perhaps I could invent a weapon that will enable me to kill it from a distance? Or do you believe your God must operate on him to give him more cells BEFORE he can have such an idea?


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