Evolution: more genomic evidence of pre-planning Part One (Evolution)

by David Turell , Wednesday, April 21, 2021, 18:35 (1310 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID: You are still ignoring the fact that sapiens arrived with 150 cc more volume than needed. Our brain now responds to new use because of fact the extra size/neurons permitted complexification to select from the excess.

I keep disputing what you keep insisting is fact. Yet again: my proposal is that the extra 150 cc WAS needed to implement a new requirement, and it continued to be used until 250,000 years later, when more new requirements would have required further expansion, but instead complexification was enhanced, and THEN the previously essential 150cc became redundant . I keep answering your objections, and you keep ignoring my own: WE KNOW THAT THE MODERN BRAIN CHANGES IN RESPONSE TO NEW REQUIREMENTS, NOT IN ANTICIPATION OF THEM. WHY WOULD IT HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT IN THE PAST?

Excess is excess no matter how you contort it. You are proposing a light use of all neurons in the brain when enlargement occurs, and with heavy use later 150 cc of them disappears. Strange, so heavy use makes some neurons unnecessary? Heavy use in our current brain grows volumes of new axon connections, which tells us any heavy use simply enlarges axon networks. We know our early brain was lightly used, but had great potential for complex use. As for the past I assume, as you do, the process was the same: enlargement in anticipation of future use with some excess neurons discarded as complexification occurred to fit the new uses. And of course with God as the designer.

dhw: There is no evidence that your God kept popping in to operate on the brains of sleeping hominins and homos in order to prepare their brains for some future requirements! What do you mean by they were not “chosen” for complexity? Since the only chooser you believe in is your God, are you saying that your God deliberately gave early sapiens 150 cc unnecessary cells, and 250,000 years later decided he didn’t need them for complexification? Why do you find your God’s little blunder more convincing than the proposal that enhanced complexification made previously needed cells redundant?

Blunder? Denigrating God as usual. The extra cells allow for precise tailoring in complexification, since we have free will and can choose our own uses of the brain without God's guidance. Free will is an important part of the equation you don't consider.

DAVID: The official theory is when language appeared it required the recruitment of several brain areas to develop and tie to each other in stronger networking fashion.

dhw: Precisely. The brain areas were already there, and there is no reason whatsoever to believe that they were not being used. Do you really think our ancestors never communicated? But the new requirement (a more complex form of language) required new networks (connections plus a degree of restructuring), i.e. complexification.

There are thousands of languages. The excess cells allowed for precise networking to fit each language. Makes my point.

DAVID: Same with all other developments. We had a brain wanting for developments, no matter how hard you obfuscate with verbiage about total brain use 315,000 years ago. At least I use current theory.

dhw: What do you mean by “wanting for developments”? All brains would have complexified until the capacity for complexification was exhausted, and then new cells were needed. But in sapiens' case, new cells would have been impractical (possibly because they would have caused anatomical problems) and so the capacity for complexification was enhanced. How does this contradict current theory? And why do you persist in ignoring current knowledge, that the brain RESPONDS to requirements and does not rearrange itself in anticipation of future needs?

We still totally disagree in interpretation. God designs the larger brain for future use by free-will hominins/homos in all stages.