Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Doubting Didymus · 09-03-2002, 10:25 PM

Because we also have a horde of other instinctive attractions that preceed our attraction to brain signifiers.

Also, I strongly suspect that attraction to blondes specifically is a cultural, not an instinctive, phenomena.

(and I know you were joking, but there is no link between natural blondeness and stupidity that I know of).

OK?

GeoTheo · 09-04-2002, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Christopher Lord:
<strong>Hundreds of thousands? we've transformed wolves into pets in a few thousand simply by removing their need to fight to live. breeders may have also played a small role, but I doubt there were many directed breeding programs in the stone age.

Mostly, wolves domesticated so dramatically because we FED them in return for assisting the hunt.

Once the pressure which created powerful weapons (killer instinct, big claws, fangs, venom, big brains, and so on) disapears, what becomes of the killer who posses them?

Evolution can engage in an ever-spiraling arms race, why not arms reduction when the pressure is gone?</strong>

I tend to agree with you on this. I'm really into dogs and the pariah type dogs really are smarter.
This has nothing to do with trainability, they are smarter in independant problem solving. They can hunt for their own food also. I would say the stupidest dogs are the hounds. They are "hunting dogs" but they technically only aid humans through locating the prey and baying it. They can't catch their own food.
I somtimes think of "primitive" people as being kind of like "undomesticated people." I see this as a positive thing. Wild animals are generally healther and more vigorous than tame ones.
As far as people go I have heard it said that when we domesticated plants and animals and began an agricultural lifestyle, We domesticatd ourselves also.
Of course this also led to more free time than the hunter gathering lifestyle allowed which allowed us to generate more technology. So I guess it was a trade off. Interestingly people from pre-literate cultures have no problem becoming literate. Would "domesticated people" have problems living by their wits in the woods?
Perhaps some would. Even though we have all this technology as it becomes more "user friendly" we not only become more dependant on it we understand less and less the principles behind it. Having a computer doesn't make you smart.

[ September 04, 2002: Message edited by: GeoTheo ]</p>

GeoTheo · 09-04-2002, 02:07 PM

Somthing just occured to me. Gorillas have huge heads. It is not due to a big brain but a sagital crest and the attatched jaw muscles. They also seem to have a lot of hair on the head.
This very obviously is related to diet. They eat tougher plant matter than the fungivorous(fruit eating) chimps. Yet chimps brains are porportionately bigger. Incedentally chimps do not have the largest brain/size ratio of all primates compared to humans. Some small monkeys rival humans in that ratio. Explain that.

Doubting Didymus · 09-04-2002, 02:48 PM

Geotheo, are you sure about that? (monkey brain ratios). Where did you get that information?

Your point about Gorrilla heads illustrates my previous point quite well. You would not 'have' to fill your head with brain just because it is advantageous to have a bigger head.

Doubting Didymus · 09-04-2002, 06:04 PM

By the way, this thread is clearly an evolution thread. It will probably get the attention it deserves in the evolution forum, yes?

GeoTheo · 09-05-2002, 09:16 AM

DD:
I read it recently in a library book (the brain ratio thing) I will try to back track. I read about 5 or 6 books a week. (We don't have a t.v.)
It was a chart of relative brain/weight ratios and another chart of overall brain weight.
Man was not at the top or either list. I think certian cataceans have us beat in both and some monkeys were right up there.

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09-03-2002, 10:25 PM	#31
Doubting Didymus Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: East Coast. Australia. Posts: 5,455	Because we also have a horde of other instinctive attractions that preceed our attraction to brain signifiers. Also, I strongly suspect that attraction to blondes specifically is a cultural, not an instinctive, phenomena. (and I know you were joking, but there is no link between natural blondeness and stupidity that I know of). OK?

09-04-2002, 02:07 PM	#33
GeoTheo Veteran Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Bemidji Posts: 1,197	Somthing just occured to me. Gorillas have huge heads. It is not due to a big brain but a sagital crest and the attatched jaw muscles. They also seem to have a lot of hair on the head. This very obviously is related to diet. They eat tougher plant matter than the fungivorous(fruit eating) chimps. Yet chimps brains are porportionately bigger. Incedentally chimps do not have the largest brain/size ratio of all primates compared to humans. Some small monkeys rival humans in that ratio. Explain that.

09-04-2002, 02:48 PM	#34
Doubting Didymus Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: East Coast. Australia. Posts: 5,455	Geotheo, are you sure about that? (monkey brain ratios). Where did you get that information? Your point about Gorrilla heads illustrates my previous point quite well. You would not 'have' to fill your head with brain just because it is advantageous to have a bigger head.

09-04-2002, 06:04 PM	#35
Doubting Didymus Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: East Coast. Australia. Posts: 5,455	By the way, this thread is clearly an evolution thread. It will probably get the attention it deserves in the evolution forum, yes?

09-05-2002, 09:16 AM	#36
GeoTheo Veteran Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Bemidji Posts: 1,197	DD: I read it recently in a library book (the brain ratio thing) I will try to back track. I read about 5 or 6 books a week. (We don't have a t.v.) It was a chart of relative brain/weight ratios and another chart of overall brain weight. Man was not at the top or either list. I think certian cataceans have us beat in both and some monkeys were right up there.

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