Human evolution; savannah theory fading (Introduction)

by David Turell , Wednesday, July 20, 2022, 20:24 (855 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID: I think our brain acts like those in the past. Habilis and erectus had plenty of neurons to think and plan with to allow for the built-in complexification to work. All by God's designs.

dhw: I agree that our brains act like those in the past, except that when their brains’ capacity for complexification proved inadequate for new requirements, they expanded, whereas in our case, the new requirements were dealt with by enhanced complexification. I’m delighted to see that in this response you have dropped the notion that your God kept operating on various life forms in order to provide flippers or additional brain cells BEFORE they were required. […]

Didn't you note I noted 'all by God's designs'?

DAVID: All you are doing is supporting agnosticism which is your right. See the other thread to try to comprehend how I think about God in vast contrast to your method.

dhw: My proposal has nothing whatsoever to do with my agnosticism, since it allows for the existence of your God as the designer of the mechanisms. The other thread presents us with a God who believes he should/has to create countless forms that have no connection with the only form he wants to create. And yet you often call the God of my logical alternative versions “weak” and “bumbling”!

DAVID: You seem incapable of realizing how human you envision God to be.

dhw: In each of my theories I propose a particular theistic approach to evolution in order to explain the facts: experimentation, learning and getting new ideas as he goes along, deliberately creating a free-for-all as being more interesting than a puppet show (though always with the option of dabbling). I don’t see these “human” approaches as being any more “human” than your own belief that God enjoys creating and is interested in his creations, or – as you have now told us – that he wants us to think about him, recognize him, and ask questions.

As explained in the other thread God's possible reactions to his creations are secondary events, never on purpose as a cause of creation.

dhw: Please explain why you think your God gave us extra cells which turned out to be redundant. Since you have ignored my explanation of shrinkage, let me repeat it: the extra cells were needed at the time to perform a new function, but as further expansion might have caused problems, complexification later took over and was so efficient that some existing cells were no longer needed. Please explain why you find this theory unacceptable.

DAVID: To explain again: We came with extra neurons in our brain so we could use our brain as we wished which gave us free will. The loss of superfluous neurons had nothing to do with losing free will with the remaining cells fully adequate to allow us to think freely.

dhw: So your new theory is that our extra neurons gave us free will – i.e. all our ancestors were automatons! Why, then, did these additional cells make our brain “oversized”? Clearly these new cells would have been of crucial importance to us! Hardly an explanation of shrinkage, is it? And still you refuse to explain why you find my theory unacceptable.

Shrinkage must be recognized as clearly indicating we had excess neurons to begin with. I'm sure all our ancestors had similar brains. Further expansion is not something to be considered in any way as your wild explanation. And the complexification process was at the ready when the brain was designed and at work. Otherwise your tortured theory is acceptable.