Faid

Piece of reality, like I explained, doesn't cut it. Unless, in your case, the "piece of reality" was some Patriarch that lived to his nineties, and the myth made him 2000 years old or something.
And long lifespans are just as absurd as the talking snake, Elijah. Even more, even: Maybe one day life will be able to produce a "talking snake" (a reptile that can immitate verbal sounds, or a reptile smart enough to make them- hey, it made a mammal that did), but it will never be able to cheat decay and death of the individual. but even if our technology finds a way instead, at this point both calims are nothing but absurd myths.

Faid

Do ALL smokers get lung cancer, Elijah? Do all fat people die of heart attacks?

The point is: as we age, our brain breaks down. That happens to all of us; some more, some less. And not just our brain: eyes, ears, heart, lungs, they all deteriorate. It has nothing to do with any "curse", or a supposed burden of "accumulated mutations" from the past: It's just ol' Entropy finding its way in.

Elijah

No but aging doesn't cause lung cancer or heart attacks and that's what we are talking about just aging as in time passing. Diseases and genetic disposition, all that other stuff have to be put to the side. Plenty of old folks stay mentally sharp up till the end. Yes your brain is a part of your body and can suffer from diseases or whatever just like your body, but even as the physically brain may deteriorate it doesn't necessarily stop the learning.

What we are talking about is that time lead to learning... to mental development. The more time an animal has the more time it has to learn. The longer an animal lives the smarter it usually is, both on an individual and a species level. We had time to develop is all I'm suggesting.

To your previous comment... I don't see longer lifespans aren't absurd because they are possible... may be a remote possibility but still possible. I do understand you seeing it as just as silly as the talking snake.

mung bean

Been off on another forum so I just caught up with this. Obviously I agree with Faid. My point re Alzheimer's was that, as I said, animals tend to break down after a certain period of time. This counters your assertion that they just keep getting smarter.
As for the remaining part of my post, you wish to assert that our increased intelligence is a result of longer life spans. I say that since we can tell from the fossil record that more primitive hominids had smaller brains than ours, are you also going to assert (as a Lamarckian) that either their genomes were no different to ours or that what differences there are have no effect?
If you aren't then you are admitting that the differences between us are the result of genetic changes. This is Darwinian evolution, or at least it is when combined with natural selection and the passage of time.

PS. Don't sweat the insults. I'm Australian.

Sauron

Ohmigod.

This is what happens when you put bait in the crazy trap.

Edited to add: under interests, Elijah's profile says:
Tantra, Comics, Weed

It's late night. How much you wanna bet this line of discussion isn't cause by, um, comics?

Elijah

Eww eww is that a personal insult??? Mods mods. That's not allowed around here... Can't joke around this joint. But I do agree totally with your assessment.

mung bean

So what's your opinion on the intelligence of the Galapagos Giant Land Tortoise?

mung bean

Tantra, comics and weed? That's a dangerous mix if ever I heard one.

Personally I prefer kendo, yaoi and PCP. All at once.

Elijah

I've never hung out with one so I have no opinion. You?

Sauron

Or the octopus, which only lives two years but has some of the best problem-solving and three-dimensional skills to be found in the entire animal kingdom.

So much for that "old=smart" theory.